Border for little boy quilt...

Yesterday I asked a question on my blog and on my Just Another Hang Up Facebook page. I pieced a little boy quilt yesterday and needed advice as to what color binding I should use on the quilt, which looks like this...

Black was the most popular comment, but gray, white, and taupe/tan were also suggested. When I asked that question, I had no idea what color to use for the border. I had considered all of the colors that were mentioned, and I thought any of them could have worked with the "right" fabric. Unfortunately, I was considering fabric from my stash and (later) a fabric store, and I couldn't find that "right" fabric in those colors to compliment the quilt from those two sources -- both of which have an extensive supply available! If you look at the photo above at the colors around the edge of the quilt, they are mustard and mostly black. There wasn't enough contrast in the binding if I used black fabric for the border, so I moved on to other colors. Then I latched on to this combination, and I knew I had a winner!

I love the barely off-white with gray flecks fabric, and the mustard check fabric made the little boy quilt more playful than the other more subdued colors I'd been considering.

I've never tried a double border like this, but I learned that it can be really useful when pairing fabrics. The mustard check fabric didn't look nearly as good right next to the mustard squirrel fabric. It needed a little space between the two to make them both shine. With this technique a black border would have worked too, with the same white with gray fleck fabric between the quilt and border, but I like the more playful mustard color.

I love how this turned out and I can't wait to get it quilted. I think I'll go with an outdoorsy theme, like animal tracks for the quilting design!

Thank you for your input yesterday. I appreciated it!

Half Square Triangle Baby Quilts...

A couple of weeks ago I came across this cute photo from "The Wooden Triangle" on Pinterest.  These are wood blocks painted as quilt squares. {Love them.} All of the designs on these wood blocks are half square triangle patterns, which are so quick and easy to sew up.

Source: The Wooden Triangle

I usually make my baby quilts from half square triangle patterns, and I prefer to use large blocks so I can piece a quilt top in one day. If you look at the blocks above, each one of the wood blocks could be an adorable baby quilt. I was attracted to that block on the top of the photo sitting on the table...

Source: The Wooden Triangle

When I make a quilt, probably because I'm a newby at this and I don't want to make a mistake, I always sketch what I'll be doing. This helps me lay out the fabric squares the right way up before sewing. For example I wanted all my squirrels and all the teepee tents the right side up and all the arrow fabric going in the same direction. {See photos below.}

{Please ignore that I do not know how to spell "squirrel" on that  piece of paper -- it's not a word I use every day.} Anyway, you'll note that my sketch replicates the wood block above. Here's the top I created from this pattern today...

There's nothing I love more than a sunny day in Colorado, but it's hard to get a good photo with all that gorgeous sun shining. Here's the up-close version...

This little kid quilt is a wacky combination of fabrics, but I love it so much. The teepee and arrow fabrics are from Hobby Lobby. Love that touch of gold in the arrows. The squirrel fabric is Cotton +Steel Magic Forest Squirrels Neon Yellow. I usually put a 4.5 inch frame or boarder on my baby quilts, so the question is...

"What color fabric would you choose to frame this crazy little quilt?"

Little Girl Scrap Quilt...

Here's the second quilt I finished that I made with fabric from my stash. This one is similar to the one I posted a couple of weeks ago, except it's got more soft blue tones...

I get a real sense of accomplishment when I make this kind of quilt. I love that I'm using my stash...

I'm generally drawn to more modern fabric designs rather than these little 1930'ish reproduction prints, so I was really surprised I had plenty of them to make a couple of baby quilts.

I chose another flower pattern for the quilting for this little one. I love that the quilting reflects the flowers in the fabrics...

And the backing for the quilt is just more of the same light blue. Using my scraps makes me feel very frugal and accomplished...

Little Boy's Scrap Quilt...

I was inspired by a photo on the internet (don't ask me where I saw it -- can't remember) to make a scrap baby boy quilt from blue and gray fabrics in my stash. I had plenty of those colors from the quilts I made last year. I tried to make it a little abstract. I've decided I don't do abstract very well. There's something about it that goes against my grain. I've seen some beautiful quilts that are abstract in nature, but I have to work so hard at it that it's not fun for me. Anyway, here's what might be my one and only attempt at an abstract quilt...

I chose an ABC pattern for the quilting. I'm not sure you can see it in these photos, but it's cute.

The back is simply more of the same fabrics that I used on the front.

I don't have a recipient in mind for this quilt yet. I'm hoping to get a stash of baby quilts so that I can choose one and give it away when there's a need.

Wishing you a wonderful day!

Scrap Quilt...

After an unsettling and hectic January {my mother-in-law and father-in-law passed away within two weeks of one another} things are settling back to the new normal. At times like these I treasure quiet, boring moments. On Tuesday I got back the quilts I'd made a month ago from the longarm quilter, and last night I finished binding one as I watched the Olympics.

This is the first of a few truly scrap quilts I've made since the new year. This year I had a goal of using my fabric stash for quilts. That resolution didn't last long. My first mistake was browsing through a fabric store on the internet. Still, I am going to try to make more quilts out of my stash, and this little baby girl quilt is proof I can do it!

I love having quilts long-arm quilted. I take a somewhat cute patched quilt to Donna {my long-arm quilter}, and she gives it back to me looking like a million bucks!

I chose a sweet flower quilting pattern that reflected all the flowers in the fabrics. 

I designed this quilt using half square triangles to produce a diamond shape. I cut plain white and patterned fabric in 6" squares. Using this technique to make half square triangle blocks, I used one white square and one patterned square to make two quilt blocks. Then I trimmed down all those blocks to 5".  I had eight blocks going across and nine down. The boarder was 4.5" wide {before sewing} and the binding was 2.5" wide {before sewing}. The finished size of this baby quilt is about 42" x 46". It's heading off later this week to its destination!