Author Archives: Bernie

Gift and a T-Shirt

It has been a busy week and I am happy to see Friday roll around. I really enjoyed working with Maureen and writing the posts about her work. It was a lovely bonus to see the sale on her Garden Dreamer fabric created a good number of sales which kept me busy cutting and shipping (it will be on sale through Sunday, March 19th if you are interested.) By the way, I truly appreciate all of the readers who are supporting my shop – thank you!

Thanks also to Mari of Academic Quilter. Mari and I became friends a couple of years ago (which is hard to believe actually) via our new blogs. We have struck up a great friendship and even got to have lunch and do a little fabric shopping together last summer when I was in Maine. That was so much fun. Yesterday I found a package in the mail. Usually getting the mail is so boring unless I have recently ordered fabric. Nothing much comes in the mail anymore with the exception of a few catalogues and the occasional advertisement addressed to ‘Occupant’. Sigh.

Not yesterday however! Look at this adorable lovie she made for my sweet grand baby! She even used the colors of the nursery (gray, lavender and pink). The backing is a soft gray and white flannel. Being the generous quilter Mari is, she even enclosed the leftover fabric for me to use. Thank you Mari. <3
These tiny blankets are so cool – the tags around the perimeter are made with ribbons and twill tape, and other trims which provide sensory stimulation when baby fidgets with them.

I have also seen mom’s hook toys to the loops and lay baby near it to grab the toys. It can be used in the car seat with toys attached or not. It was so kind of Mari to think of me and this little girl. I will hand deliver this when I go to Vermont – which is in only THREE weeks!! I can’t wait!

Moving on now (because I talk and think about this little girl too often and don’t want to become annoying!) I did get a fair amount of sewing done last week. I made this cute t-shirt with Butterick pattern, number B5954. Remember I posted about not having enough fabric? I decided to make the sleeveless version which took every bit of the fabric.

This version takes about 1/2 hour to sew because it is just the front and back pieces, sewn together at the shoulder and side seams. I finished the seams with a bright blue bias tape because I like that little surprise of color. I am only 5′ 4″ so I did have to alter the length and when I make it again, I would make it even a bit shorter. It is so comfortable and I am pleased with the result! Looking at these photos, I realize I should have pressed it before my modeling stint. Sorry about that!!

Cute Top But in Need of an Iron!

For the month of March, my challenge from Island Batik is to make something that is paper pieced. You already know how frustrated I become with paper piecing. I called my friend, Sophia, and invited her for a sew day. I knew I would need her help to get started! Sophia has a degree in Mechanical Engineering and has that logical sort of brain that I so envy. She spent the afternoon with me and it was so helpful. Plus I got to spend the afternoon sewing with her which we don’t often do. It was a very nice to spend the time together.

Choosing Colors for the Sashing

Before she arrived, I picked a few easy paper piecing patterns and printed the sheets. She and I looked and decided this star pattern would be a good one to learn on. (I took a class last fall to learn to paper piece but you know what happens if you don’t practice…. I couldn’t remember how to get started on the blocks!) This pattern is a free download on Craftsy.com. It is slated as a beginner pattern, which is mostly true. The problem is there are no real instructions – reminding the quilter to cut strips a certain width or to trim each section, adding in that crucial 1/4″. But never fear, I had Sophia coaching me! While my precision isn’t as close as I would like, overall I think it looks nice.

Perfectly Imperfect Points!

I finished the top and have begun quilting it a bit. I love the colors and it will be nice to hang this mini in my sewing room. I need a new one on the wall.

The Top is Finished!

OK – that is my week in a nutshell. Gifts, Etsy orders, and a fair amount of creative time in the sewing room. This girl doesn’t need more than that! Happy Weekend everyone!
Linking to my favorites. I am including the end of quarter FAL link up at She Can Quilt because I had listed garment sewing on my goals for this quarter! Please check out the tab at the top of the page titled Link Ups.

Meet the Designer – Maureen Cracknell, Part Two

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Welcome back! Today I want to share a bit more about Maureen Cracknell and her gorgeous work. If you haven’t yet read it, part one of this interview was posted here yesterday.

When I spoke with Maureen last week I became intrigued by her stories and her developmental process as an artist. What most impressed me though, was her humility. She spoke with such a genuine tone and it was incredibly easy to have a great conversation with her. I asked her to talk about what inspires her when she is working on a line of fabric and she told me some wonderful stories.

It seems that sometimes, drawing, painting and then designing a line of fabric is very therapeutic for Maureen; it is a way to process and work through a life experience. She shared two of these stories with me.

The first one was when she designed her very first collection, Wild and Free. This was the first line Maureen designed for Art Gallery Fabrics. Her mentor, Pat, had been encouraging her to take the step and design a line of her own. However, Maureen held herself back by worrying it ‘wouldn’t be perfect’, that maybe her work would be only ‘mediocre’. She was afraid to put herself out there and kept saying she wasn’t ready yet.

In June of 2013, Maureen’s father passed away. This was a time of intense grief, as one would expect. Out at a restaurant, sharing a meal with her family, Maureen ran into a friend of her father’s. He was expressing his condolences to her and he asked her if she was designing fabric. Maureen was somewhat taken aback and replied no, she was not. This friend told her that her father had mentioned Maureen would be using her artistic skill to design fabric. Her father told this friend that he was so very proud of her and knew she would do well as a designer, that he was proud she was going to be ‘making fabric’. This conversation between her father and his friend stuck with Maureen and she took it as a message from her dad that she could indeed do this.

At about the same time, Maureen received a call from her mentor, Pat Bravo. They talked and Pat mentioned that the whole Art Gallery booth was ready for the upcoming Fall Quilt Market show. She said they were only missing one thing. Maureen, of course, asked “what is that”? Pat’s reply was, “you, we are missing your fabric”. Maureen was blown away and this was just the gentle push she needed to jump in and begin.

In Wild and Free, Maureen used drawings she already had as well as new pieces of art to create the line. There is even a design based on drawings she made with her children. The star fabric, Midnight Roof, is one of these. This simple blender is based on a game Maureen often played with her children where she would draw a line and then the child would add a line. They continued this back and forth sharing and together, they would create stars. She and her children also played this game to create hearts (with each person drawing half of the heart) as well as portraits where they each add to the portrait, turn by turn.

When Maureen agreed to jump in and start designing her own line, Pat generously made herself available to Maureen, teaching her how to use Illustrator for design purposes. They had many Skype sessions with Pat guiding Maureen through the design process as well as teaching her to use the software. Not long after they began, Maureen’s first line, Fleet and Flourish, was displayed in the Art Gallery Fabric booth at Quilt Market. Maureen won Best New Exhibitor that year! What an amazing start to her career as a designer.

The next story is as heartwarming as the first! The current Maureen Cracknell line that is flooding quilter’s stash everywhere is Garden Dreamer. It is just a fantastic collection of florals, both large scale and small, with shades of greens, blues, corals and purples. Truly a gorgeous line of fabric, she told me the story of how it came about.

When her children were little the Cracknell family lived in a house which happened to have a very small yard. Her neighbor, Leslie, kindly asked if Maureen would like to bring her children to play in her yard so they would have a little more space to run around. As any sane mother of three young children would, Maureen happily accepted the offer. She and her neighbor became very close and their children grew to be friends. While the children played, Leslie taught Maureen to garden. They spent many playdates together in the yard, weeding and tending the garden. This was Maureen’s introduction to gardening and she enjoyed being in the yard with her friend and both of their children. Her neighbor had a very green thumb and grew gorgeous perennials in her yard. She took the time to teach Maureen how to garden, what the names of the plants were and what sort of environment they would grow in. Sometime later the Cracknell family moved to a larger house. When they moved, her neighbor dug up plants, dividing them from her perennials so that Maureen could plant them in her new yard. Unfortunately, not too much later, her neighbor was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer. Maureen was very supportive of Leslie during the treatment phases but ultimately she passed away. Grieving this loss in her life, Maureen created Garden Dreamer in tribute to her neighbor. She says that “Leslie passed away just before I began sewing but I know she would be thrilled about all of this.”

I think the emotion Maureen pours into her work translates to beautiful color and composition. Her fabrics are full of joy. I asked Maureen whether she had any input into the adorable selvages that Art Gallery puts on her fabrics. She explained it was actually up to the in house designers at Art Gallery. They design her promotional materials as well as the beautiful selvages. I don’t believe I have bought a piece of fabric just to get the cute selvage, but it is a fun bonus to see a pretty selvage trimming the fabric I bring home. Art Gallery for the win here!

Fleet & Flourish Booth at Quilt Market

We had a nice time reminiscing about her experiences at Quilt Market as a part of the Art Gallery team. It was heartwarming to hear the love Maureen has for her partners at Art Gallery. She is both indebted to them for all she has learned from them as well as invested in the company as a loyal member of their team of designers. She spoke about the way that Art Gallery fosters an environment of collaborative teamwork.

From left: Sharon Holland, Pat Bravo, Katarina Roccella, BariJ, and Maureen Cracknell

I want to interject here. My experience thus far with Art Gallery as a new shop owner has been superb. I have called numerous times with questions on process, delivery dates, shipping cost, etc. Each time I have been greeted with warmth and a kind hello. Sometimes I find myself talking with a knowledgeable customer support person and other times my call is taken by none other than the owner, Walter Bravo. He treats me with as much attention as he would a large operation; I am never made to feel less important because my orders are usually five bolts at a time. This impresses me deeply. Prior to retirement, I managed a Human Resources group for quite a few years. I know first hand the benefits of fostering an atmosphere of teamwork and collaberation within a group of employees. The team becomes like a family and the positive effect of this trickles down and is felt by customers, thereby increasing their loyalty to the company. I am an example of this. I am proud to carry Art Gallery Fabrics in my shop.

Being the curious sort and not wanting the conversation to end, I also asked who makes the decision to make her fabric into the usual gorgeous cottons that Art Gallery produces as well as knits, canvases, voiles and, soon, rayon fabrics. This is a collaborative decision made by the designer and the team at Art Gallery but the head designers have the final say. I am happy to see the other types of fabric offered as it allows for so many different sorts of projects. Art Gallery does an awesome job with their lookbooks. If you haven’t taken a peek, it is worth your time. There are samples of everything from home decor, quilts, dresses, skirts, totes, bags, pillows and more. Free patterns are offered on many of the examples. If you want to see the book for Garden Dreamer, click here.

I hope my posts have given you a peek into Maureen’s work and creative process. I feel like I made a new friend after chatting with her and I am grateful for that.

As I mentioned yesterday, Maureen’s Garden Dreamer fabric is on sale through Sunday, March 19th. Save 15% this week only. No coupon code needed, prices are already adjusted.

Meet the Designer – Maureen Cracknell, Part One

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Welcome to the second installment of “Meet the Designer” at Needle and Foot. Just in case you missed the earlier posts, I have been interviewing some of my favorite fabric designers and then sharing the interviews here on the blog. In February I highlighted my talk with Sarah Golden, designer and artist here in Northern California. Her first fabric line, Maker Maker, was recently released by Andover Fabric. If you would like to get to know a bit about Sarah, you can find that post here.

Last week I had the good fortune to spend a wonderful hour chatting with Maureen Cracknell by phone. Coordinating this hour was not easy. Maureen is a wife, mom to three children, a fabric designer for Art Gallery Fabric, a talented quilter, and an Etsy shop owner. Suffice it to say she doesn’t have a great deal of free time. I was honored, however, that she made time for this interview.

It was quite the surprise to find out how recently Maureen began both sewing and quilting as well as designing fabric. She has such a huge following, it somehow led me to believe she had been sewing forever. This is not the case. Maureen has always spent a great deal of her time as a maker and artist. She draws and paints, and also enjoys knitting and embroidering. When she first started her blog, Maureen Cracknell Handmade, back in 2010 these crafts were the focus of her blog. It wasn’t until 2011 that Maureen learned to quilt. As her blog picked up she began to focus more on quilting and quilt fabric. She had blog sponsors and hosted giveaways, often blogging about her favorite collections.

In 2012 Maureen wrote a blog post about her favorite collection at that time. It was Poetica, designed by Pat Bravo (designer for and owner of Art Gallery Fabric). When Pat learned of this post, she contacted Maureen and asked if she would make a quilt with her newest fabric line, Rock & Romance, for the upcoming Quilt Market show. Maureen was stunned as she had not done this sort of project for anyone before. She was not given very much time to create the quilt top. Based on the theme of the fabric, Maureen wanted to make something that was both feminine and appealing to the younger crowd. She designed her Skull Quilt pattern and created the top. (Her pattern is for sale here.) To Maureen’s huge surprise, the quilt top was then passed off to Angela Walters to be quilted. Can you imagine? Being very new to quilting, then being asked by a well-known designer to create something and finally, having it quilted by Angela??

Skull Quilt; Designed and Pieced by Maureen Cracknell and quilted by Angela Walters

What a heady experience. This quilt has so much meaning to Maureen and is still a treasured piece.

Quilting Detail, Skull Quilt

Let’s jump forward five years. Currently, Maureen has four very successful lines of fabric on the market, Wild & Free, Fleet & Flourish, Nightfall and Garden Dreamer. She also has two more that will be released within this year. I find this to be incredibly prolific designing. She describes her work as both, romantic and bohemian, often with florals and/or woodland creatures featured in the fabrics. Purple is one of her favorite colors and is usually found to play a major part in her design.

Her current line, Garden Dreamer, is so pretty. Florals, bumblebees, and trailing vines are featured. Maureen describes it as “Happy, colorful and dreamy.” I love it, so much so that I am stocking it in my shop! I asked Maureen which line was her favorite and she replied, “my favorite is usually the line I am currently working on.” 🙂 Right now she is getting ready for the release of Soulful, which will be introduced at this year’s Spring Market. Her next line is still hush-hush but will be featured at the Fall Market.

Maureen sees potential design in many places. Be it a carving, a stamped design, floor patterns, or intricate tile work – all of these have been incorporated with her blender pieces. Pat Bravo mentored Maureen as a new designer and taught her to include calmer prints, or blenders, to her lines so they wouldn’t feel chaotic with only large scale, bold designs.

When designing a line of fabric, Maureen will usually come up with about thirty designs. She works to reduce it to about 10 or 12, some of them repeated in different colorways. Pat was very helpful in culling the designs for the first couple of lines. As Maureen gains confidence, she is beginning to do this with a bit more independence. She remarked that she is happy now because her designs are now manifesting much more closely to the design she sees in her head. For a designer, I would think that is the ultimate goal; to be able to produce work that is just as it was envisioned. Any designs that she decides not to include in a collection are tucked away as inspiration for another line.

In addition to her design work, Maureen provides endless inspiration to the quilters who follow her. She designs patterns, blogs about her work, and is currently hosting the Sewcial Bee Sampler with her friend and fellow Art Gallery Designer, Sharon Holland. (Look for a Meet the Designer interview with Sharon coming up in just a few months!) You have probably read posts from many bloggers about how the blogging community isn’t as tightly knit as it was a few years ago. With Instagram’s incredible increase in popularity, the blogging world has slowed down a bit. In an attempt to strengthen the quilting community, Maureen and Sharon created this event. It is a quilt along with a weekly block design published each Wednesday on both of their blogs. This event has become wildly popular with each maker creating blocks and sharing them on Instagram, using the hashtag #sewcialbeesampler. As I write this, there are over 2,300 photos shared and this is only the sixth block! There are twenty five blocks to create so I bet there will be a billion photos by the time this wraps up. (OK, maybe a slight exaggeration but it is going to be a large number!) It isn’t too late to join in, if you are interested. Click here for more information on Maureen’s blog. It has more been more than Maureen and Sharon expected, and I can say as a participant, it has really become a fun community project.

Birthday Crown, created by Maureen Cracknell

At home Maureen’s business continues to explode. She still has her Etsy shop where she primarily makes custom birthday crowns which are embellished uniquely for the child. These gorgeous crowns have become a tradition for many families and Maureen feels like she needs to continue making them for the children who saw their siblings wear one in the past. It is time consuming with each crown taking about an hour to construct but gives her great satisfaction to be contributing to these family traditions.

Now that she has four lines of fabric released, her house is overflowing with her work. She has decided to move her studio to a building in town. Currently they are working on the studio space and she has plans to move into it soon. (Check her blog for updates on this.) We talked about being a mom, working from home and how difficult it is to actually stop working when everything is right there and available. She is hoping that by moving her studio out of the house, she will be more present for her children when she is at home and more focused on her work when she is at the studio. Her children are involved with the transition to the studio and love the idea. Maureen plans to offer classes there as well as a place for local kids to hang out and experience art after school. She lives is a small rural town in Pennsylvania and really wants to provide this experience for the local teens.

In their off time, during summers and such, Maureen and her family enjoy traveling to various cities. She and the kids are all quite artistic and they love to get away and experience urban life and visit museums. As a mom, Maureen loves raising her children in a safe, tightly knit community but also feels compelled to make sure she provides exposure to all this is available in this world of ours. I totally get what she is saying. My children have also been raised in a small rural community and it is absolutely necessary to provide experiences that allow them to see how much of society lives and what is available to them outside of our little town.

I am going to stop the story here! I will be back tomorrow with Part Two of this interview. I want to share a bit about what has inspired some of Maureen’s work. I know you will enjoy it so be sure to check back in the morning! As with my first Meet the Designer post, I have marked down the Maureen Cracknell fabric in my shop. For this week only, save 15% on the Garden Dreamer line through Sunday, March 19th. I have several lovely bolts to choose from as well as a gorgeous fat quarter bundle for you. Come take a look. No coupon code needed, prices have been adjusted already. See you tomorrow!

The Kindness of Friends

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Yesterday I received a package in the mail. It was completely unexpected and absolutely made my day. I looked at the return address on the package, trying to figure out what it was and saw it was from Janine. Janine blogs at Quilts From the Little House and we became friends a couple of years back, when both of us were quite new to the quilt blogger community. When I saw her name I smiled to myself, wondering what the heck she had sent to me!

Take a look at this sweet gift – all wrapped up in a pretty floral fabric.

As if the fabric wasn’t enough of a surprise, the gift inside was even more so. I got a bit choked up when I opened this. She made this adorable frame for me and tucked a picture of my new grandbaby inside.

I love the little saying in the bottom right corner, Life is Grand. Isn’t that perfect for a first time grandmother? She did a fantastic job with the frame. I think she decoupaged the plaid background on to a wooden frame and trimmed it out with a deep burgundy braid around the outer edge. It is lovely and I smile at Janine and Baby Girl each time I walk by it!

I want to talk about several more very kind quilt bloggers! I have been supported by this community so much during the new year as I expanded my Etsy shop to include quilter’s cotton fabrics. People within this community have cheered me on, shopped my little shop, and shared what I have been doing. I am so appreciative of each act of kindness.

There are six bloggers who are, as I write this, making some really great projects using fabrics from Needle and Foot. They are participating in a Grand Opening Blog Hop to celebrate my shop and all of the gorgeousness it now offers. This event begins on Monday, March 20th and you won’t want to miss it! There will be projects and fabric shared as well as giveaways at each stop along the hop. Mark your calendars and join in on the fun! I think I will leave it a surprise as to which bloggers are involved. A little anticipation is a good thing. Just know I am truly grateful to each of the six for helping to celebrate my expansion!

Finally, I had the good fortune to meet and talk with fabric designer, Maureen Cracknell, by phone this week. We had such a great conversation and I will share this with you on Tuesday next week as the second installment of my “Meet the Designer” series. Maureen is a talented and incredibly kind individual and I feel grateful to have had this opportunity. I hope you will come back and check out the interview and get to know her better too. As with the first Meet the Designer post, all of the fabric in my shop, designed by the featured designer (Maureen Cracknell this time!) will be on sale for the week. This will be a great opportunity to pick up some gorgeous Garden Dreamer cuts at a reduced prices.

So much is going on right now! I am loving every bit of it. I will leave you with this sweet photo of Baby Girl. I love these tiny hands and feet and suspect this picture will make you smile.

Baby Quilt Number 3

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I don’t know if you remember but when I was posting about the lattice square baby quilt I made last fall, I said that there would be three new babies born in the start of 2017 in our family. This will bring my parent’s number of great-grands up to 12! I wanted to make a quilt for the third baby who is due at the end of this month. This morning I finished the quilt top.

Isn’t it adorable? The bright, rainbow colors make it a cheery quilt for a new baby girl.

Using this free pattern, When You Wish, designed by Kristy of Bonjour Quilts was a snap. It is a collection of HST’s arranged in quadrants. To download the pattern, just sign up for her newsletter. Just so you know, Kristy doesn’t over do it with the quantity of newsletters she sends out and I enjoy reading them. She has a nice selection of patterns for sale in her shop too.

This quilt finishes out at 40″ x 40″ and because of it’s reasonable size, I look forward to quilting it.

I have this little black and white print called Cheerios, in my shop that might be fun for the binding. It is from the Sweet Tweets line and is the one on the bottom in the photo above. I will hunt through my stash for the backing though. There is a plethora of choices in there and I want to use up some of the yardage. It was great to make this quilt top solely with the fat quarters in my stash.

Happy to have this quilt top done and I will likely get started on quilting it this weekend. I am really looking forward to seeing pictures of all three babies on their quilts. I will share them with you when I get them together. Have a wonderful weekend all.

Linking to my favorites, all of which are listed at the top of the page, under Link Ups.

Baby is Here

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Just a quick post to share the news. My son and daughter-in-law have a beautiful baby girl. She was born late last night at 12:38 am.

Isn’t she just gorgeous? Parents and baby are doing wonderfully. Baby Girl weighs in at 8 pounds and 4 ounces and is a very long 21 1/2 inches. She has such kissable cheeks! The kids and I FaceTimed this afternoon which was such a treat. Technology is going to make living across the country from this little girl almost bearable.

The whole birthing process is nothing if not exhausting. This girl is tuckered out. I think her parents probably look much like this as well. It is an amazing thing to watch your baby become a father. Indescribably awesome. These two will be fantastic parents. Such a sweet family of three (plus the dog and two cats!) I am reveling in this little miracle. <3

When You Just Can’t Focus

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Today is a crazy day. So much to be done and my mind is just wandering from one thing to the next with little actually being accomplished. Baby Girl is just far too content on the inside and my daughter-in-law is having labor induced today. So far things are going just fine but I am excited for the baby’s arrival and, as any mother would be, empathizing with my DIL and remembering how it was to deliver the first child. Exciting, nerve wracking, lots of unknowns. My DIL is a physician which means she has less of the “unknowns” than I did but still… until you experience it, you don’t really know what it will be like.

So I am distracting myself and playing in the sewing room. It is so cold out – we got a dusting of snow which often seems to happen just when my daffodils are blooming.

As for projects, I have a number of things stacked up in the sewing room! My first priority is a bunting I am making for Baby Girl. I have each flag ready to go. I will applique her name on it when I find out what it is. Until then, I can’t really do anymore on this.

I am using gray fabric for the letters. I suspect I will be working on this tomorrow!

Over the weekend I started to cut out a shirt. I didn’t have quite enough for the entire layout and figured I would run over to the store and pick up another yard of this gorgeous charcoal gray knit. However, they are out and it isn’t coming back. 🙁 So, I am changing plans and will make the sleeveless version. It is cute and will be a good way to make sure the pattern fits correctly. If I am happy with it, I want to make it with the three quarter length sleeve and a cowl neck. I love the version with the cross over in front.

When I got the pieces cut out, I realized I didn’t have the right needle for my machine. Clearly, this just wasn’t in the cards for me and set it aside. I will go pick up needles later today!

Moving on from the shirt, I decided to cut pieces for a baby quilt I am making for my niece. Her third child, a girl, is due at the end of the month. I am using the pattern, When You Wish, by Kristy at Bonjour Quilts. It is a free download when you sign up for her newsletter.

I had plenty of fabrics to choose from and they create a nice rainbow effect.

This quilt is just a very effective arrangement of HST’s. I have most of the HST’s completed and have begun stitching them together. I love the look. I am saving my HST trimmings. Some time ago, I saw something on Kitty Wilkin’s blog, Nightquilter.com, about leaving the trimmings out for the birds and seeing them in nests in the spring. We are just coming into spring and we have a plethora of birds so I want to see if we get any colorful nesting going on!

I plan to gather a few more and put them out in a suet feeder. I will let you know if I get any results.

Ok – last thing for today — I made this awesome frosting over the weekend! (Talk about jumping into a completely unrelated subject!) Julia and I were making a treat for my husband to celebrate a (work-related) special accomplishment. But he can’t have dairy products so I was looking for a new way to ice a cake. The cake was chocolate and it seemed like this Peanut Butter frosting recipe would be a fun one to try. Oh. My. Gosh! It was amazing.

Peanut butter, coconut oil, almond milk and powdered sugar. Amazing. Not at all healthy and three zillion calories, but for a treat? So yummy. Here is a link if you would like to give it a try.

That is the latest and greatest. I will be on pins and needles (ugh, terrible play on words) all day. Hoping for a swift delivery of Baby Girl and that her amazing mama does well throughout the process.

A Quilt for Baby Girl

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We are playing the waiting game for Baby Girl (my first grandchild) to arrive. Everyone is so excited to meet her but she seems to be taking her own sweet time. My daughter-in-law is great about my constant texts – although I had better knock it off or she might block my number. 😉

I did get the baby quilt finished and sent off. It turned out so cute! Remember I used the Simply Snuggly pattern by April Rosenthal, making adjustments to size it down just a bit. The baby’s room is lavender and white. My daughter-in-law asked for lavender, gray, white and pink for quilt colors. I had fun shopping for these. This was the initial fabric pull but I didn’t end up using all of them.

The quilt is a collection of HST’s set on point with sashing between each one. It was very simple to piece.

I enjoyed quilting this sweet little project. I free motion quilted a flower on each HST. Once those were finished, I did little loops on the long sashing rows and a little heart on the sashing between each block.

Simple and sweet for Baby Girl.

The backing was made with a cute bunny print and I added a few leftover HST’s to jazz it up a bit.

The quilting shows nicely from the back. There are some puckers, or ripples, where I quilted the sashing. I am guessing it might be from the order in which I quilted it? Quilting the blocks and then coming back to the sashing might not have been the best choice? Maybe I should have been more methodical and quilted each row in its entirety and it may have given me a smoother finish. But it is what it is, right? I washed it and it is all crinkled up and ready for Baby Girl to use it.

I bundled it up and sent it off. The strip of fabric I used to bundle it up is actually a scrap from the binding fabric. Sweet lavender and white flowers.

Hopefully I will have news of the baby to share with you soon. Until then, I will try to be patient and leave the kids alone! Believe me, it isn’t easy. 🙂

Linking to my usuals, as well as She Can Quilt for the end of Q1 FAL link up. Check the Link Ups tab at the top of the page for the details.

A Fresh New Totebag

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I am loving having all of these gorgeous bolts of fabric downstairs. I like to look at them, rearrange them, sell pieces to my wonderful customers and best of all, make stuff with them. I know, it probably isn’t the path to becoming rich – using up my own inventory – but it’s all just sitting there, taunting me, calling out to me. My willpower only goes so far. I am human after all.

When I was in the process of selecting this first round of fabric purchases, I tried very hard to make sure that the lines I bought were able to intermingle. I like offering choices and having pieces that work well together. This pink paisley print is actually from the Modern Tykes line (from Henry Glass). The line is a set of adorable juvenile prints. But this paisley holds its own. It is a deep pink with gray and taupe accents. Pink isn’t usually my color but I like this one. I also carry a selection of Color Weaves – a textured solid made by PB Textiles. The gray piece works perfectly with this paisley print.

I love both of these fabrics together and thought they were a good choice for a springtime tote bag. I used (for the second time) the tutorial, Summer Madras Tote by Anna Graham (Noodlehead.com). (Here is the first one I made, in case you want to check it out.) It is a very simple bag that takes maybe an hour to put together. The tutorial is very easy to follow. I like the outer pockets finished with a bit of trim.

This bag is roomy and will be perfect for shopping or filling with fresh produce at the farmer’s market. I have a feeling I will get plenty of use out of it!

I have a second bag in the making as well. This one is based on a tutorial by Beth at Cooking Up Quilts. For this, I will use a piece of fabric from Maker Maker, by Sarah Golden. I have been wanting to try a recessed zipper and her tutorial makes it look simple. That remains to be seen!

I also finished the baby’s quilt this week. I sent it off to my kids and will share a post on that next week. The baby is due any day now. We are all so excited to meet her.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend. I am experiencing QuiltCon vicariously through all of the posts on Instagram. So many amazing quilts!!

Today is the last day for the sale on Maker Maker fabrics. I have each piece marked down by 15% – no coupon code needed.

Linking to my usuals – check them out at the top of the page, under Link Ups.

Kennel Quilts with Island Batik

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Island Batiks offered two challenges to the group of Ambassadors for the month of February. One was to create a fun project for Galentine’s Day. I posted about that one a couple of weeks ago. The other was to make and donate at least one kennel quilt. This was new to me. I had not heard of kennel quilts until now. These little quilts (about 12″ x 18″) are made and used by shelters when they are supporting animals in need who may have been separated from their owners due to emergencies, weather crises or other unfortunate circumstances.

Here is the explanation from Island Batik.

In 2016, Island Batik joined forces with an existing group of industry partners and supporters of the Petfinder Foundation to create the Piece for Shelter Pets (PFSP) initiative. The initiative supports the Petfinder Foundation, a “public charity that works to end the euthanasia of adoptable pets by assisting animal shelters and rescue groups across North America”, through financial contributions made possible by the sale of fabric, thread, and other quilting related products. PFSP sponsors include The Quilt Pattern Magazine, Island Batik, Aurifil Threads, QuiltyBox, Benartex, and Hancock’s of Paducah.

The TQPM Small Kennel Quilt Team is a volunteer organization sponsored by The Quilt Pattern Magazine (TQPM) that springs into action (or should we say “stitches” into action?) when disasters strike, sewing small kennel quilts for animals in need while they are separated from their humans and possibly injured. Creating kennel quilts is a way for quilters to help our animal friends in times of need by doing what we love. TQPM Small Kennel Quilt Team supplies kennel quilts to shelters across the United States. Learn more here.

Making one or two kennel quilts is a very easy way to support these little critters who are in need. Because they are tiny, it is a perfect scrap busting project. When I made mine, I was able to stitch batting strips together, using up some of those long strips that are left when we square and bind a quilt. I would encourage you to click through the link above and make a few.

I used a set of 5″ wide strips that came in the box of treasure supplied to me by Island Batik. They are so pretty – the lime green adds a nice, bright touch, don’t you think? I took some of the strips and made six rail fence blocks for this little quilt. No binding is needed. Just stitch right sides together, turn right side out and finish by sewing up the opening. I quilted a series of diagonal lined to keep the quilt together.

With the second quilt, I just sewed the strips together length-wise. Really, the project is very easy and probably took an hour or so to do. If you decide to make a few, I would love to see them. Post a picture on Instagram and tag me @needleandfoot. Also use #kennelquilts – it is lost of fun to see what the other quilters are creating!

Thank you Island Batik for partnering up with the Petfinder Foundation to support animals in need.

Linking to a few favorites, including Sew Some Love a link up for projects being made for charities at Kat & Cat Quilts. Check them out at the top of the page, under Link Ups.