Quilt #4: The Pretty Quilt

I have finished Quilt #4 from my UFO (Unfinished Object) pile!  About 8 years ago, I bought some pretty fabrics that were a line called Garden Song from Nancy Halvorsen.  I thought the colors were so pretty.  I showed them to my quilting friend, Carol, and she said that she had made a quilt top using the same fabrics, only she didn't like how it came out.

I asked if I could see it and she said that I could have it if I wanted it.  She had browns in the center where the blue is now and the pretty fabrics just didn't show up very nicely.  Anyway, I took the quilt home and looked at it, wondering what I could do with it to make it better.

It sat in the UFO pile for many years.  Then finally one day, I took it out and came up with a plan.  I cut out the center rows of the quilt and discarded them.  When I sewed the remaining rows back together, the pretty blues were in the center and the other colors seemed to just shine.

I put a border on it and finished it up last month!  I quilted some free-style flowers on it and now I just love how it turned out.  It's pretty, bright and makes me happy.  :)

It's hard to tell in the photo, but perhaps you can see some of the flowers quilted in the blocks.  Now it's one of my favorite quilts. 

Here's a pic of my little kitty coming to snuggle while I was sewing on the border.  She did not want to miss out on getting this quilt finally finished!  :)

Baby Blanket & Accessories

A few weeks ago I bought a new desk for my sewing room.  The old one was very narrow and didn't fit my sewing machine very well.  So now that I have a nice place to sew I have been in my sewing room working on things and actually finishing up some projects!  I know, don't faint.  Sooner or later I do finish things.  Mostly the later.

One of our family friends had a baby last week and I made this cute little quilt for her.  I started it about a month ago and didn't finish it in time for her shower, but I feel good that the baby is only a week old and I have the gift done! 

I had all of the fabrics in my stash.  I used the girl with the fox image on the fabric as the focal point and worked in some cutesy colors to coordinate with her. 

The pattern was pretty simple and it went together in just a couple of days.  I would definitely make this pattern again. 

And then in my spare time (!) I made some matching bibs with terry cloth on the back.

I found a pattern for some little shoes and decided to try it out.  They came out cute, but I think they took as long as the quilt did to make!  They were very tiny and I had a hard time fitting them und3er my sewing machine.  Mostly I had to sew them by hand.  They may be the first and the last pair that I make -ha ha. 

Here are the bibs with the shoes.

And here is the entire gift.  I hope she likes it!