Crabby Baby Quilt

No, not for a crabby baby!

The couple I made this quilt for last year are now having a baby in July.  Their wedding was on the beach last year and they chose a beach theme for their nursery.  I just got back from the shower and boy did she get a lot of ocean themed gifts!  

This quilt is my interpretation of the ocean/beach theme.  I finished it at 10 am and the shower began at 11:30 (plenty of time!  Gotta love a deadline!!!)

I tried to make the beach, water and sky.  I used different quilting stitches in each color, too.  The crabs came from Patches, a local quilt store. We live in Maryland so crabs are on many items.  I ironed them on and quilted around them as I went.  


One of my favorite things about this quilt is actually the back.  I used minky so it is very soft and has a nice weight to it.  I absolutely adore how the wavy quilting and the crabs show up on the back!  So cute!

I quilted the pebbles with pebble quilting!  Ha!

 I got to use some beachy and watery fabric from my stash.  I did buy that fabric with the cute little blue crabs.

 As I was making the quilt, I cut each layer with both layers right side up on top of each other.  Then I used the curve method to sew them together by bringing the part under the foot together about an inch before you sew it.  No pins!

I did have to rip one out and try again as I must have pulled it too hard and it was a little ripply.  And I ripped out some of the quilting that was really horrible because I forgot to put down the presser foot (it is hard to tell on my machine with the darning foot-is it like this on all machines?).  Ahhh!  Adventures in sewing!

The back is not this poofy-just the light I guess.  Can you find the crabs?

I used a light blue crab as the label. Thanks to my daughter for holding the quilt!  See her cute shoes?

 I love to make baby quilts!  The good news is I have a few more to make!

Linking up to:

Quilt Blocks for Boston

I made three quilt blocks for Boston.  The Boston Modern Quilt guild is collecting blocks to give to survivors of the marathon tragedy. We have all been saddened and shocked by the actions of the two brothers.  Someone from my guild is collecting blocks from us tomorrow. I used the Boston Marathon colors of yellow, gray, blue, and white as requested.  I hope they can cheer someone up!

A beautiful day for a wedding!

We are having perfect Spring weather this weekend!  Just beautiful!  My whole family was at the wedding of my son-in-law's sister.  The flowers were blooming, there was a fountain gurgling, lovely green grass- just perfect! My little grandson was the ring bearer (not that they let the five month old hold the rings!) and both his parents were in the wedding.  My granddaughter made friends with the flower girl and they had a lovely time running and dancing.

I gave the newlyweds a quilt, of course.  It is my Madrona Road challenge quilt and has been done for a while but I couldn't take any good pictures of it (I was laid up for awhile).  So here it is:

Madrona Road Challenge Quilt

Side One

This is the flipside of the quilt-I actually quilted from this side.

I used some curved straight line quilting and some fun curvy fillers.

All rolled up and tied with a bow!  I remembered to label it.

I really do love having a quilt with two sides!  Sometimes the back is my favorite side!  Anyone else?

Linking up to:

test

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Earring giveaway!

Travel over to my sister's blog, Banba's Artful Realm, for a great earring giveaway.  My sister, Maureen, makes the most beautiful jewelry.   She uses beautiful stones and specializes in wire wrapping.   She is just getting started again in her Etsy shop and she has lots to offer.  I wear her jewelry and get many compliments!  Here are the earrings she is giving away.

She has some pretty necklaces and bracelets, too.  Go check it out!  Click here to see the giveaway!  And thanks for supporting a fellow artist!!

Bright and scrappy trip!

;

This is how far I have gotten with my scrappy trip blocks.  I started them during a workshop that I helped teach a few weeks ago.  I manage to get two or three done at a time (although several are in progress).  

I think it is amazing how different they all look.  Some look very scrappy, some look more planned.  Mine seems to be pretty intense in color (probably because those are the fabrics I had with me at the time and I just kept with similar fabrics once I got home).  

If you haven't seen an overload of these blocks, you can check them out on Flickr or Instagram.  The original tutorial is by Bonnie Hunter on her Quiltville blog.  You know, in case you have a few scraps around and you feel the need to sew a block or two.

It was snowy and cold all weekend.  Now it is near 70.  Weatherman is predicting snowy and cold for next weekend.  Sounds like good sewing weather to me!

href="http://www.shwinandshwin.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">

Row Robin Neighborhood Quilt

My quilt guild had a wonderful Row Robin.  We each made one row to begin and then the quilts went one to five other members who each added a row.  My first row is the blog header above.  I asked for my friends to add to the neighborhood. 

 And boy oh boy!  What a wonderful neighborhood they have created for me!  We have a hobbit house, fruit trees, some foxes and some owls, some high rise apartments and some walkways, and many beautiful stars!  

You can tell the wind was blowing (and it was freezing cold!!).

My improv star log cabin in beachy, sea glass colors.

I added the white border and bound it in stripy binding.

Here's a little glimpse of the quilting.

I am having the friends who made the rows sign the white squares in this line.  I only managed to get two of them this month so I will bring the quilt to our next meeting, too.

Thanks for reading! Stay warm!