Recent Finishes

I Spy Quilt #2 (of four).  I finally got this quilt out to Henry's buddy, Oliver.  He's two and a half, so I doubt he'd have seen a post about it, but it still seemed like bad form to show off a quilt online before he got to open it.

Close up of some of the prints for the front.  I used Kona medium gray for the solid squares.

I used an IKEA solid for the back and Connecting Threads solid for the binding.


And the full quilt:

Here is Henry's recent accomplishment.  I heard him working hard on this from the other room.  When he was sticking the pegs in the holes he said, "almohts," and then, "did it."  After awhile I went back in to the room to check out his handiwork.

me:  "Tell me more about this, Henry."
Henry:  "EYES!!!  eye, eye, eyes!"    

So true.

Modern Vintage Quilt

I made this quilt top in July of last year.  I designed it as a baby quilt, but I liked the colors and the fabric combination SO much that I was afraid to finish it.

(A quilt this pretty might make a girl want to have a second baby before she's ready!)

So, I left it as a lonely little quilt top for a l-o-n-g time.  Then in February, I practiced using a long arm quilting machine.  (By the way, I do not recommend a long arm machine for doing straight line quilting.  The axis locks do not coincide as closely as you want them to.  Trust me.
I should have asked for advice before attempting.)

Anyway, I chose to quilt lines on either side of the horizontal seams
and then diagonal quilt lines on every other row.

I pieced my binding from leftovers of the blues and aqua and turquoise.   

This quilt gets its name from the mix of fabrics used.  I adore the vintage sheets featured in this quilt.   I collected some of them for this picnic blanket, then I received one through the Vintage Swap (that print on the back) and lastly, I added some scraps given by a friend.  

The modern fabrics I chose are also some of my very favorites--solids, shot cotton, polka dots, stripes, a 30's reproduction and one print from Wild Thyme. 

Mixing the modern and the vintage blended the very best of both worlds to me. 

Not long ago, Ben and I decided that our family was just the right size as it is.  Almost immediately after that, I heard that a close friend was pregnant with her second.  I've been so excited to pass this quilt on to their new addition.  I didn't know if their baby would be a boy or a girl, but I knew that this quilt fit the personality of the baby's parents.  They are a special couple that I admire especially for how they live with old fashioned intentions in a modern world.

So, Grace Eliza, welcome to the world.  You are a lucky girl surrounded by much, much love.