Lyla's Star Quilt

Pattern: Little Miss Sawtooth Star by Melanie Traylor

Top Fabrics: February 2019 Sew Colorful Pink Fat Quarter Bundle by Fat Quarter Shop ("Pink Xs," "Pink Mini Flowers," "Pink Ruffle Plaid," and "Pink Chickens" from Simple Goodness by Tasha Noel for Riley Blake Designs; "Pink Meadow Flower Patch," "Pink Meadow Spot," and "Pink Meadow Text" from In the Meadow by Keera Job for Riley Blake Designs; "Dandy Dot Petal," and "Perky Petals Petal" from 30's Playtime 2018 by Chloe's Closet for Moda Fabrics; "55185-13 Coral" (coral with white polka dot) and "55188-13 Coral" (coral with red and green flowers) from Little Snippets by Bonnie & Camille for Moda Fabrics; "Coral Daisy" from Farm Girl Vintage by Lori Holt for Riley Blake Designs; "Pink Cross Stitch," "Pink Daisy," and "Pink Floral" from Vintage Keepsakes by Beverley McCullough for Riley Blake Designs), Aqua Fat Quarter Bundle by Mixed Designers for Southern Fabric (Etsy), and misc. aqua fat quarters from Tumbleweed Quilt Shop

Backing Fabric: "Pink Ball" from Pemberley by Citrus & Mint for Riley Blake Designs

Binding Fabric: Candy Pink Candy Stripe from Sweet Shoppe by Andover Fabrics

Batting: 80/20 Silky Blend Happy Cloud Quilt Batting by Fat Quarter Shop

Started: late September or early October 2019

Completed: April 2020

Made for: Lyla Rose

Notes: After reading Tomi dePaola's "The Quilt Story" one night, Lyla requested "a quilt with pink stars on a blue sky." I had been making all sorts of excuses about why I didn't need to do the Little Miss Sawtooth Stars Quilt Along, but obviously it was meant to be!

Charm Square Tree Skirt

Pattern: Charm Pack Christmas Tree Skirt by Fat Quarter Shop

Top Fabrics: Little Tree by Lella Boutique charm pack, Little Tree "Tin Snow"

Backing Fabric: Little Tree "Poem Frost"

Binding Fabric: Little Tree "Farmhouse Stripe Snow Cranberry"

Started: unknown, but I finished piecing the top in early September 2019

Completed: April 28, 2020

Made for: our family

Notes: I was determined to finish this in time to use for Christmas 2019, so I purchased a label dated 2019. But the first Christmas it will actually be used will be Christmas 2020. I also attached 2 of the blocks backwards, so not all of the scallops point outwards like they're supposed to.

Christmas "Crazy Quilt"

Pattern: my own, using Lori Holt's Crazy Quilt Papers

Top Fabrics: Merriment by Gingiber layer cake, Moda Bella Solids Snow jelly roll 

Backing Fabric: Merriment by Gingiber "Holly Snowflakes"

Binding Fabric: Merriment by Gingiber "Cocoa Fur"

Batting: 80/20 Silky Blend Happy Cloud Quilt Batting by FQS 

Started: October 2019 

Completed: December 22, 2019 

Made for: Nate 

Notes: First quilt I basted using the "pool noodle" technique.

Quilt for Baby Maloney

Pattern: Lucky Star Block by Amanda Rolfe, adapted from Super Star by Riley Blake Designs

Top Fabrics: Kona Cotton Bright Rainbow Fat Quarter Bundle From Robert Kaufman (I believed I used K001-323 Flame, K001-1077 Citrus, K001-25 Ocean, and K001-1301 Purple), Details Noir Q4481-669 by Hoffman Fabrics (a digitally printed panel that cuts apart into 8 fat quarters)

Backing Fabric: black with white polka dot, and pinwheels made from Kona scraps from the top

Binding Fabric: black and white stripe

Started: August 2019

Completed: on or around September 29. 2019

Made for: Carly Maloney's baby Ben, born January 2020

*tap tap tap* Is this thing on?

Wow! It's been a hot minute, hasn't it!? My creative life has gone in different directions in the past few years, with stamping and card making taking more and more of a back seat until, well... basically I don't do any paper crafts anymore. I'm still faithfully using (and loving) the Project Life App for our annual "family yearbook," and I haul everything out and try to remember how to scrapbook for a few weeks once a year to make a physical December Daily album. Over the past several years, my creative pursuits have been focused entirely on knitting. It was basically all I did during any moments of downtime, and nearly every evening was spent knitting for hours on end. Then somehow, over the course of 2018 and 2019, I found myself finishing fewer and fewer projects. More and more, my hours were being spent in front of my sewing machine, working on project bags for my Etsy shop, a handful of clothing items for Lyla, a few fun items for myself. During a lot of 2019, and all of 2020 so far, literally the only time I even picked up my knitting was at the weekly knitting night at the library.

At some point during the last year I decided I was going to take up quilting in earnest. I often listen to the American Patchwork & Quilting podcast in the car, and it seems that a common interview question is "When did you start quilting?" or "What was your first quilt?" Every time I hear it, I try to think how I would answer that question. And I honestly have no idea if I even could. I don't remember learning to sew (or learning to knit, for that matter) - It's just something that feels like I've always known the very basics of... but not much more than the very basics. I did take that quilting seminar in middle school with Mrs. Amaru. We traced cardboard squares onto fabric with Sharpies, sandwiched our quilts with cheap, fluffy polyester batting, and tied the layers together. It was fun, but I don't remember learning anything I didn't already know. (In fact, it's likely that I may have been a little bit of a know-it-all during that seminar.) Over the years, I'd made a bunch of quilted things here and there, but I'd never really made a quilt. And even though it happened within the past year, I don't really know when or why I made the decision to focus on quilting - And I can't really point to my first real quilt. But it's become basically my main focus now, and the way I spend nearly all of my "me time." So I decided to resurrect the ol' blog as a way to keep track of my quilting projects. (Tyler says I should find a partner who codes and create a Ravelry for quilters. LOL) So hello to you if you happen to be following along - Although really my intention is to create a record for myself, but I'm happy to have you if you're here. So... here we go!