Star Wars Quilt

I promise I'm still alive! I've holed myself up in my sewing room to finish a Star Wars baby quilt. I made a deadline for myself - it needed to be done by the baby shower. I hate showing up to a shower with just a bare-bones quilt top and taking it back home with me at the end. That needs to stop. I will not accept tardiness or procrastination from myself when it comes to sewing projects. You don't star a new project until the next one is finished. 

Okay, I'm done with my pep talk. 

The last stitch was sewn in the day before the baby shower. :fist pump:

I found all the patterns (for free!) at Fandom in Stitches. If there is a movie or TV show or book that has a fan club, they most likely have paper pieced quilt blocks to go with it. 

I had waaaaaaaaaaay too much fun making these. And, for the most part, they are all scraps or fabrics that I had in my stash! :double fist pump:

The process of paper piecing is easy. Sew seam, iron down, cut out next piece of fabric, sew seam, repeat. 

The one BIG snafu that I ran into was the issue of uneven tugging. Since the bias of each piece of fabric in the blocks goes every which way, there is a lot of shifting and pulling that they exert on each other. Hopefully, next time, I'll be able to avoid that by basting the edges of the blocks as soon as I finish them. 

For the sashing and borders, I found some really cool fabrics at the store - the silver is actually a gray with silver accents. Looks very Star Wars-y to me. The red is marbled with a darker red, so it adds more detail and interest there as well. 

Again, I cheated with the binding. I bought extra wide double fold bias tape instead of making my own. :shrugs:

I really like the simplicity of the blocks without the faces, so I did minimal embroidery. Chewie got eyes. Otherwise he looked like a dog in need of a haircut. 

Yoda got his wrinkles. You can't be 900 years old and have silky smooth skin (unless you're a time lord, but that's a different fandom). 

R2D2 was probably the most time-consuming block since there are so many teeny-tiny pieces. I think he's my favorite though. ^_^

And you can't neglect the back of the quilt! I found some fun Star Wars flannel at the fabric store. Then I made the Millennium Falcon for the signature and name block and then offset it with light sabers. You can't have Star Wars without light sabers. 

After deliberating over what sort of catchy name I should give the quilt, I landed on a pun. 'It's a Wrap!' Please tell me you get that. ;) 

Well, I'm off to go work on my next sewing project!

Until next time!

SG

Baby Quilt: Tractor

Some friends of mine are having a baby! Actually, last year was the year of weddings, this year is the year of babies. So I've been cruising along and making quilts as the inspiration hits. When I found Lori Holt's tractor block tutorial, I knew I needed to make it. I didn't know who the quilt would go to, but I had to make it. I finished the piecing the tractor and sewing on the borders. I just needed the final motivational push to quilt it. 

Last year, one of my friends married a farmer and moved to the other side of the country, and now they are expecting their first little one! I had all the motivation I needed right there in that email. ^_^  

Since they're farming, I thought it would be appropriate to include a Bible verse pertaining to the theme of the quilt. Deuteronomy 11:13-15 fit the bill perfectly. "13 So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul— 14 then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil.15 I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied."

I'll try to get better pictures in the next few days. :)

Until next time!

SG

Captain America Quilt Block

Have you been over to Quiet Play? Kristy is a paper piecing pattern making queen. Her patterns are easy to follow and they have fun themes. Want Star War Lego blocks? Woodland critters? Australian animals? Retro kitchen? She's has all that and more in her craftsy shop! Recently, she posted on her blog that she's been developing Marvel Lego squares, and she needed testers! I jumped at the opportunity and was able to give Captain America a shot. I love the results: 

And I was able to take out a few pieces in my scrap stash! Not much of a dent since the block is just 10"x10", but it's something. 

Now, I'll admit... I'm still pretty new to the world of paper-pieced quilting and am by no means an expert in that field, so if you look closely you'll find plenty of 'oops.' My biggest nemesis is skinny diagonal seams. They like to torment me and give me grief. Oh well...  The block is finished. ^_^

Now to figure out what I want to do with the block. Hmm...

Until next time!

SG

Spring Chicks Baby Quilt

Some friends of mine were expecting their first baby. As I was cleaning out the craft supplies, I found the inspiration for the gift I needed - an embroidery pattern.

This quilt features 'shoo-fly' quilt blocks off-set by hand-embroidered squares. I only had to buy the coordinating fat quarters (courtesy the local Joann's store) to make the shoo-fly since I had all the white muslin already in my stash. The chicken designs are from 'Rise & Shine' by Yesterday's Charm. The border fabric is also from Joann's. Just don't look to closely to the actual quilting of it though... getting the quilt top, batting, and backing to all line up perfectly is not my forte... As for the binding, well... I cheat. I buy wide bias tape (single fold) to do the last step. I use the machine to sew one side down and then hand sew the other to make a clean finish. 

I must admit, I've missed working on it. Maybe I'll need to make one for myself and add it to my collection. ;)