A doll quilt

Today I am sharing a finish, but it isn't a finish that was made by me. This little finish was made entirely by Caden, my 7 year old.

He wanted to make a quilt for his Mr Clown. Mr Clown was actually a stuffed toy of mine that I was given from my Grandparents after a trip to the US when I was 7. He lasted me well and I passed him onto Caden when he was a baby.

Mr Clown has lost his arms a few times and no longer plays a tune when you wind him up. But he is still very much loved. And it is really surprising that we haven't made him a quilt before now. 

Caden's design was a very simple one. Just a focus strip of printed fabric down the middle and blue on either side. 

He backed it with some flannel that I have had in my stash for a long long time. I asked him if he wanted me to bind it or if he wanted to finish it all himself. He opted to finish it all himself and he sewed it right sides together then turned it right sides out and top stitched it closed. 

We only had to use the seam ripper once. And he was so stoked with himself that he used the sewing machine on 'full speed'. And now Mr Clown has his very own quilt. 

Do you sew with your kids? 

Little Designers

Last week when I was folding some of my fabric Caden came in and asked me if I could use some of the fabric to make him a new quilt.

I said sure and handed him a quilt book for him to pick a pattern out of. About 10 minutes later he came back to me and told me that he liked none of the quilts. I offered him another book to pick from and he told me not to worry.

So I didn't. Then on Friday I walked into my sewing room and found this next to my machine.

He designed his own quilt!! We are currently 'in talks' about how it is going to be put together and are picking the fabrics that would make it just right.

So watch this space! Hopefully in the not too distant future I will have a Robot quilt top to share with you all.

Giant Star Quilt

I can cross one thing of my to-do list for this weekend. And that is to finish my giant star quilt!

I didn't quilt it as much as I had planned, it was a little to big and bulky for my machine and my muscles!

But I still like it. And so do the kids...

It's already had a wash and dry to make is a little more cosy.

And it seems that Ollie likes it too.

The finished quilt measures approx 68 inches x 68 inches.

Next on the to do list is this-

What are you up to this weekend?

Giant Star Quilt

I seen In Color Order's Giant Start Quilt tutorial a long long time ago. I pinned it and then forgot about it until about a month ago. I knew that I wanted to give it a go. And since it is turning in good snuggly under a quilt weather I thought now is a good a time as any to give it a go.

I recently picked up some Chevrons and a gorgeous Robert Kaufman print, London Calling and knew they would be perfect for this quilt.

Now I planned it out on paper then sat down to put it all together.

I thought I had it all planned perfectly, then I finished it. Held it up and noticed that I really could have done it a whole lot better!

So next time I am not to plan quilts at midnight and wake up early the next day and start doing them. I still like it, A LOT. But I am kicking myself that the prints in the star points don't match up.

It doesn't matter though, I could always make another one, right!?

Caden's Quilt

I used Reunion charm packs again for this quilt top. Caden's quilt is a little bigger than both Mahli and Ethan's quilts, because well he is bigger than both of them.

There is 2 charm packs of Reunion used in this quilt. Whatever squares I had left over from the top I used to make a scrappy binding.

I love all of the colours in the binding!

I used white again for the boarders.

And for the back I used a fabric that he has been begging me to make something for him with and pieced it with some white.

It measures 41 inches x 45 inches and Caden has declared it 'just right'.

Ethan's Quilt

I showed you Mahli's quilt the other day, so now it's Ethan's turn.

For Ethan's quilt I used a pack of Reunion Charm Squares and plain white quilters cotton for the top and it was backed in some Cars fabric that I had in my stash.

Ethan is mad about Cars and Lightning McQueen.

His quilt measures the same as Mahli's- 40 inches x 36 inches and I was on the money with backing it in the cars fabric. He just loves it.

I am linking up here:
My Creative Space
And Sew We Craft Together

Charmy goodness

Since unpacking all of my fabric, I have discovered two things.

1. I have a lot of fabric.

2. I really need to start using some of it before I buy anymore.

Those two points were what prompted me to make the kids some charm quilts for Easter. That and it is starting to cool down here so the kids will need some more blankets since we don't own a heater and the locals have been telling us it gets down to 0 degrees Celsius here in winter!

Mahli's quilt was backed with a nice cosy flannel. I can't remember what this one was called. I think I bought it about 4 years ago. It is lovely though. 

Because the top was so so pink, I chose to use plain white for the binding. 

I think it helps to tone down the pinkness of the top.

The top was a charm pack of 30's Playtime and the boarders were Sweet Broderie from Rosalie Quinlan.

It measures approx 40 inches x 36 inches and Mahli has tested out it's size and has declared it just right.

Making

This week has been a bit of a mixed bag craft wise.

I've done some sewing for the kids quilts

I've been crocheting- I started to make a simple stripe blanket

but I put that on the back burner and decided to just focus on some dish cloths first. That seems like a much easier project for my skill level!

I've painted and then let the kids take over my project with some coloured buttons. 

It's not finished yet though.


I even had time for some stitching!

What did you get up to this week?

I'm on a roll

So this post better not jinx it!

Over the weekend I managed to get two quilt tops done and the quilts basted.

They are not the best looking quilts around, but I am trying to use up fabrics from my stash that have been sitting there untouched for a long long time. And well they need to be completely finished for Easter.

For the boys quilts I am using a charm pack of Reunion and then a simple white border.

I forgot to take a photo of the backing of the quilt above, but it is a Lighting McQueen fabric as both Ethan and Caden love Cars and Lighting McQueen.

 

Mahli's quilt is a charm pack of 30's Playtime and the border is Sweet Broderie from Rosalie Quinlan.

 

 

So I still have one more quilt top to make and then baste it, then quilt and bind all three.

I think I might just manage it!

I am linking up here:
Show and Tell Wednesday
And Sew We Craft Together

A good idea at the time...

So on Friday night I thought it would be a great idea to make the kids a quilt each for Easter. Just a small on since we are going on holidays soon and they like to have blankets for the car.

And then I remembered that Easter is NEXT WEEKEND!

What was I thinking?!

So I pulled out some charm packs, Reunion for the boys and 30's Playtime for Mahli, and got started on a quilt top.

I got the charm squares pieced for one quilt on Friday night and now just need to add a boarder, baste, quilt and bind it.

Fingers crossed I get some decent sewing time this week so I can get them all finished.

Summer House

I was on a roll this weekend. I finished not one but TWO quilt tops in as many days! I was super excited but this fact and just had to share my latest quilt top with you.

It was made with a Jelly Roll of Summer House by Lily Ashbury. I started it a long long time ago.

When I first started piecing it I had no idea how I wanted the layout to go, so I just cut the jelly roll strips in half and started sewing them together. Then the other night I decided I wanted to finish it soon, but still didn't know how I wanted to go about that. As I was falling to sleep that night it just all came to me!

I decided to cut the strips down to 10.5 x 10.5 inch squares and then rotate every second block.

It came together really quickly and I am really happy with the results.

But I need some help!

What colour backing would you use?

And what about the binding??

I am linking up here:

Show and Tell Saturday