I am at 35 weeks in my pregnancy and I am beginning to feel it!  Many nights find me crashing on the couch after I put Elias to bed.  Sleeping, knitting, or reading seem to be my favorites lately.  That said, however, I feel like I am still making good progress on things I want to accomplish before this baby arrives.

I finished baby #2′s baby blanket!  Yay!  My first project with crochet and I LOVE how it turned out.  The colors are great, the weight feels good  for any season, and I think it will snuggle around baby very nicely.

 

 

Material is dyed for a new rug for the nursery.  I wanted to use what I had on hand so I attempted to dye some orange wool red, TWICE, but I still have orange wool.  My dryer may or may not be a new shade of red…don’t tell Tony.  So the rug will be orange, robin eggish blue, and gray.  I picked wool for the thickness it gives.  Nothing like a good cushy rug under your feet.

This is the frame I made and an old sheet used as the warping.  If my energy holds out tonight I will start the weaving.

 

Also completed is the top of a quilt for the nursery wall.  I need to quilt and bind it.  A sneak peak for you now.  More to come later on it.

 

 

So even though my feet are starting to complain about this extra traveler on board with me, progress is being made.  A good thing.

I have seen Bloggers’ Quilt Festival all over the blogs I check over the past few years, but I have never entered it.  Well, that is about to change!  For those of you not familiar, it is simply a way for bloggers to share one of their favorite quilts that they’ve made.  There are prizes and so much eye candy and inspiration.

 

The quilt I am sharing is” City Tromps.”  I made this quilt this last winter with some of Denyse Schmidt’s fabrics and some gray solid.  I wanted to make a modern, easy to piece quilt that would show the fabrics well.

 

I quilted it with a bit tighter (for me) basic meander.  I also added the word “modern” in the quilting.  This was one of my first times adding words into my quilting, and I must say that I am addicted.  It adds some spice for you as the quilter, since sometimes a meander can get somewhat tedious.  It also adds quirkiness to the quilt and it is always fun when people catch it as they look at the quilt.

 

Something else I learned on this quilt, is to just go with the flow.  I totally ran out of gray thread as I was quilting and for a second I panicked, but then I thought I should just use what I had on hand.  So out came the blue thread.  Another quirky element that I really enjoy.  It is not very obvious, but I know that the blue thread is there in one corner and it is kind of like a little secret just between the quilt and me.  Can you see it?

 

I added a wool elephant applique on the back of the quilt.  I thought long and hard about how I was going to get that guy on the back without quilting over him or around him.  I decided that I would add him after the quilting was done with a bit of fusible web and hand stitching.  Waalaa!

 

“City Tromps” hangs out on the living room couch, hence the added wrinkles, and works perfect with the pillows I had previously made.  I must like gray.  :)

 

Pop on over to Bloggers’ Quilt Festival to check out all the amazing quilts people are sharing.  Talent and inspiration galore!!

I finished binding 2 more quilts!  Really, binding is one of my favorite steps of quilting.  It is relaxing, peaceful, and just something to keep your hands busy.

The first up is my latest Boxed Blessings sample.  This is done out of scrappy civil war prints with a black box frame and binding.  I like it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the quilting, I did a basic meander.  Nothing special, but I think it always looks nice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Boxed Blessings is an Ingrid Barlow pattern available via your local quilt shop, me, or a PDF sent directly to your inbox.  So many ways to get your hands on this pattern!

 

 

Next up is Bloom by Thimble Blossoms.   I used all Fig Tree material for it, which I think matches the style perfectly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I like how the pattern had me use fat quarters for the backing.  Makes it interesting.  I also added an extra strip that I had leftover from the front.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the quilting I did sweet little flowers and butterflies.  If my next baby was a girl, I would totally hang this on her bedroom wall!

I am thrilled to introduce you all to “Urban Twigs!”  This is my newest pattern and I just love it…for multiple reasons.

1.  It uses a jelly roll, so you can have all the fabrics from one line in a project.  So often I have a hard time deciding which fabrics to purchase, and a jelly roll allows me to get a little piece of each.

2.  It is simple to piece.  You don’t have to think too hard–a good thing!

3.  It has some modern whimsy.

4.  The quilting I did on it turned out perfect!  Yay!

5.  A pattern you can make up for your friends or call your own.  Gender neutral!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elias loved checking out the quilt the moment it came off the quilting frame.  Ahhh, it does a mother’s heart good!

 

I did a tall loop next to a smaller loop for my quilting.  It was so easy since I could follow the strips.  To add some interest, I swirled some words into the quilting as well.  Mushroom.  Woodland.  Gnome.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hope you all like Urban Twigs as much as I do.  You will be seeing more about this pattern soon!

I have been quiet here on the blog, but trust me, the sewing machine has not!  Since finishing all of my old knitting projects…new ones have now been started…I tackled some of my unfinished quilting projects.  In 3 days, I quilted 5 quilts!  I am most proud of myself!  I told myself at the beginning of this pregnancy that I had until week 30 to do all my quilting.  Week 30=too big to be standing over a quilting frame, sore feet, and killer back.  I am now at week 29 so I am just rolling in before my deadline.  Yay!  Plus, I felt great doing it.

The  first one I quilted was my new “Anything Goes” sample.  It is wonderful in flannels!  I can’t wait to use it next winter.  This is an easy pattern for any skill level quilter and truly looks good with any fabric…hence “Anything Goes.”  Size–Throw (66″x72″)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the quilting I did some loops with holly leaves/berries.  I wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out as I was doing it, but I find that it always looks better when you pull it off the frame and look at the entire piece.  With quilting you just have to breathe and carry on calmly!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here is a shot of our wee family on Easter Sunday.  A celebration of life indeed!