"Fright"

On Labor Day, Mom and I went to Pine Needles Quilt Shop in Gardener's Village - it's is unbelievably cute, if you haven't been - and I spied this darling table runner.  I almost bought the pattern then, but I thought "I should probably finish the 10 other projects I have going..." so I skipped it.  I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since.  Seriously.  I have to get my hands on it!  I gave one of the ladies at the shop my name and number for when they had kits made up - I can't wait that long.  I have GOT to make this!  And I don't even have a table!

I wish I would have taken a picture of the example runner in the store, but until I can make it back over...here is a picture from their website.

The colors were really off on the webpage, so I had to do my best to doctor it up to see the details

Oh it is SO cute!  Apparently this pattern is several years old, so they don't have these fabrics, but they do have a similar, but more modern, line they suggest using.  I need, I need, I NEEEEED!!!

Baseball Charity Quilt

Quilts for Kids is an incredible organization that gives beautiful quilts - made by volunteers - to kids, of any age, in need of comfort from a range of traumatic experiences.  Really, there are few things as comforting as cuddling into a quilt.  Quilts are just full of love!  Quilts for Kids will actually send you a quilt kit with fabric and a pattern that you then quilt and send back to them to give to a child in need.  To add to the fun, you don't know what fabric or pattern you will end up with!  It's a complete surprise...and I was really surprised with mine!

I received a package with the brightest colors of green and yellow and orange - not me at all.  But this quilt wasn't for me, so I continued on.  It actually ended up being pretty cute.  A little boy somewhere will love this baseball themed quilt!

As a quilting volunteer, you must provide the backing and binding fabric.  Amazingly enough, the green fabric I used in this quilt matched beautifully, so I used it for the backing and binding.  It, too, is ready to be shipped out!

Practicing

Last November, when I got my sewing machine, I made a few, small practice samplers to get the hang of free-motion quilting.  I didn't like the feeling that I was wasting fabric, and I caught on to stippling and loops pretty quickly, so I decided to make a couple coverlets to really practice the two techniques.  They are far from perfect - it's kinda fun to see how far I've come in a year! - but they are far from bad, too.  And they are the perfect snuggling size.

 

The green coverlet is for one of my husband's dear friends and her new husband, and the red one is for a co-worker that moved out of state that cross-trained me and became my close friend!  I am SO late in sending them out, but better late than never.  It is something I am trying to improve on this year - being more punctual with gifts!  So far, I have done quite poorly, so I think it will be a goal that is carried over into next year.

Close up of the stippling/meanders

Close up of the loop-de-loops

I love the contrasting bindings!

All rolled up and ready to be shipped!

Anderson

My sweet nephew was born a few months ago during my "I'm not quilting right now" phase of the year.  There are just some times that I refuse to sew...my heart just isn't in it!  But I have hit the season of "look out world! I'm at the sewing machine!"  Here is Anderson's quilt.

I started these blocks in high school (a quilt kit my mom bought me), but never finished them - I tend to leave sewing projects unfinished if they are for myself (something I am working on!  I need to spoil myself too!) or not for someone in particular.  Unfortunately, some of the blocks were so incorrectly pieced that I chose not to use them, which left me with the design I have and an added border.  Sometimes mistakes are good for the finished product, however - I really do love how it all turned out!  Initially, I hand-bound the quilt, but after washing it, some areas had pulled away so I zig-zagged over my stitched.  It made the borders wavy, but Mom assured me it made it more sweet and whimsical. 

This is the first quilt I've made with a minky.  Now I know why! ;) Minky is horrible to sew!  I am a big-time presser/ironer too...and you can't iron minky without those darling dots disappearing.  It was a test of my OCD. ;)  I do have to say - minky is not horrible to quilt on.  Once it was basted on the back, it was beautiful to quilt!  And you really don't get anything more snuggly than dotted minky.

It makes my heart giggle!

 

 

I quilted it in a coordinating brown thread.  I had lots of victories with this quilt!  I had perfect thread tension, my meanders and getting better, and I think I finally found the quilting thread my machine likes best! (Coats and Clark Quilting and Piecing, which is 65% poly and 35% cotton) I had one funny moment, too.  I couldn't figure out why the minky was making it so difficult to quilt...it wasn't the minky.  The feed dogs were engaged for almost half of the time.  Oops! 


  

 

My husband thinks it is "reeeaaally cute" and my mom says it looks like a quilt "a little kid will grab and snuggle and bury his face in!" 



All wrapped up to give away

Kay and Reuel's Babymaker

My Aunt Katie married a great guy - Reuel - last fall.  My aunt helped me through a hard patch in my life and has been a great example and friend to me.  Where I don't usually make quilts for everyone who gets married (not even close!), I really did want to make one for her.  It has been finished for a while now, but for various reasons, I still have it in my possession!  Bad me!  She has seen it however, loves it, and is eagerly awaiting its arrival to her home.

After the pokeys incident with Katie and Cody's babymaker, and after lots of research on how to avoid it happening again, I came to the conclusion that I would try invisible thread...I AM A BELIEVER! Black thread on the back and invisible thread on the front...quilting went without a hitch.

My mom helped me pick the fabrics and I drafted a pattern of a finished quilt I had seen on Pinterest. The colors and design, I feel, are perfect for my aunt's personality.  Warm and country feeling.  I did a custom quilting on this quilt, too, and really love how it turned out.  My favorite part is the outer border with the straight line quilting.  It just speaks to me.

 

The whole quilt was an absolute joy to make, start to finish.  Oh!  And I discovered something wonderful!  Crayola washable markers are fantastic for marking quilts!  You have to wash the quilt in warm water afterwards, but since I do that for colorfastness (I use Shout Color Catchers on every quilt prevent any bleeding) anyway it was no big deal.  Cheap and easy!

 

Fun story about the backing...my Grandma gave me a carload -literally - of fabric from her stash as she was preparing to move.  I have no idea when or where it was bought, but it goes perfectly with every other fabric in the quilt!  I am pretty ecstatic about the gorgeous match.


I'm still trying to figure out quilt labels...I'm getting closer here
 

 

And a special thanks to my sister, Emily, for her help...crazy thing!

Katie and Cody's Babymaker

Have you seen "The Proposal"?  Fantastic movie!  There is a part where there is a hilarious conversation about a "babymaker" quilt...so I resolved that all quilts I make for weddings will be "babymakers".

Here is the movie conversation if you are curious:

Grandma Annie: {taking a knitted blanket out of the cabinet} "If you get chilly tonight, use this.  It has special powers."

Margaret: {takes blanket} "Oh.  What kind of special powers?"

Grandma Annie: {smiling} "I call is the baby maker."

Margaret: "Okay...Better be super careful with this!"

Anyway!  Katie, my sister, and her long-time boyfriend, missionary, and sweetheart - Cody - got married shortly after I discovered my love for quilting, so their babymaker was the first I made!

      

Sidenote...aren't they so cute?  I love this picture so much - their whole relationship people said they'd never last and they are the best couple! (Sorry for the poor quality...had to steal these from Facebook)

While I'm at it...aren't we cute sisters!?

 

Back to the quilt: the only picture I have of the quilt is what their photographer took.  Here comes some brutal honesty - I hate this quilt most of all the quilts I've made (sorry Kate and Code!).  The pattern was so poorly written that fabric measurements were off, rows were missing from the diagrams, etc, that it was just a PAIN to construct.  The front is mostly dark and the back is all light yellow, so I thought it would look so nice to have dark thread on the front, light thread on the back...didn't know (with my little experience) that the dark thread from the front would make little pokeys all over the back, despite my extreme efforts to perfect the thread tensions.  After researching online, I came to the conclusion that that is just what happens when you use differing threads.  I wasn't going to take it all apart and start over, besides that I didn't have time before the wedding, so I made peace with the idea that I didn't have to see it again.  Oh, and I made sure it didn't bother Katie and Cody, which they said/say it didn't/doesn't.  And I have to say, it does look really really good on the front. (I guess the back isn't that bad...I'm just a perfectionist).  I have seen it on their bed and out on the couch when I've visited their home, so I know they haven't stashed it away - and that brings me comfort!  And, they are due with their first in December...so I'm claiming the magic powers! ;)

This was a quilt of many firsts.  Besides the tiny pokeys on the back, I feel pretty good about it! Now that time has passed!

Their sweet baby Boston!

Zariah

My husband has a 15 month old sister - Zariah.  She is a little bundle of joy!  The older she gets, the more I fall in love with her.  She is at the perfect little age right now - just in between a baby and a toddler.  Oh she's so cute!  For her first birthday, I pieced a quilt for her.  I hand appliqued the curly brackets and "Z", so it wasn't quite finished on time...and then summer rolled around...which means my sewing hibernates until the fall season is threatening.  So I got it done 3 months after her birthday - could have been worse! - and it is absolutely gorgeous!  And let's be truthful...if I had a little girl, regardless of if her name started with "Z", I probably would have kept it. I love it that much.

 

I used a combination of left over fabric from Katie and Cody's babymaker as well as some new picks.
Approx. 40"x40"

Two of my favorite fabrics in the quilt

As if I wasn't elated about the finished product, this next part is total icing on the cake.  At Zariah's birthday party, I showed my mother-in-law the unfinished product.  She was very sweet about it and liked it a lot.  But a quilt changes form immensely just from being quilted and bound.  When I presented her with the finished quilt, she about came out of her skin!  She ooh-ed and aw-ed over it and was so excited.  (It it the best when people kinda make a big deal about a quilt...they are a lot of work and meant to be treasured!)  She called Zariah's name and held up the quilt for her to see...I honestly had no expectation whatsoever for Z's reaction...she's 15 months...  What came next about made me cry.  She turned to her mom - her eyes got so big and she smiled across her whole face, ran as fast as she could to the quilt, stretched her tiny arms as wide as they would go to grab as much quilt as possible, and just buried her face into it!  She knew it was hers and she was delighted.  I want to make this girl quilt after quilt just because of her reaction!  I know it will be well loved.  To tatters, I hope!

I love those curly brackets!

The backing fabric
Is this not absolutely delicious??

Gracie

My cousin, Candace, is one of my very best friends - we have been since I was born.  This quilt is for her beautiful little girl, Gracie Jo.  She is all girl and all tom-boy rolled into one.  My aunt jokes that Gracie is actually my daughter...I just think God knows what He's doing giving Candace a toddler like I was! ;)

Originally, this quilt was going to be for me, but a fabric calculation error made it apparent very early on that it was only going to be a toddler size, and immediately I knew it was for Gracie.  I am giddy over how it turned out!

 

Front: Made with "Honey, Honey" Charm packs
Approx. 40"x40"

Back
 

Candace received it so beautifully, and, while Gracie (approx. 18 months) gave no sort of reaction, I knew it would be well loved.  Candace told me later that Gracie insists on sleeping with her quilt, and not mommy's quilt, each night at bed time.  Sweet little thing!

 

 

 
I'm not technically her aunt...but she will grow up thinking and calling me "Aunt Tacy", so I went with it!

Dreaming

I quilt.  I'm relatively new to quilting, but I quilt...and I love it!  My sweet husband bought me my very own sewing machine for my birthday in November 2012; previous to having my own machine, I shared my mom's machine with her.  Since November, I have made close to 10 quilts with more in the works and hundreds more in my mind and on my Pinterest boards.  There is no stopping me!  I read somewhere that I need to be labeling my quilts, and both my mom and grandma have encouraged me to take pictures of my quilts (as many of them are given as gifts) so I can remember them and see my improvements over time.  I agree with them.  So I made this blog.  But I feel really awkward about it!  I see so many professional blogs from amazing quilters who make a living with their works, and it seems strange to me to try to put myself on the web with them.  And when it came to naming my blog, I really felt stupid...like I was naming a grand business...and I really don't imagine hundreds of people following me here.  Nonetheless, I did it.  Here is it, Lilly Minnow Quilts.  Maybe one day I'll be the next big thing and I'll be glad...otherwise, I'll lovingly tend it and it will be a great journaling of my works.  As for the name - Lilly Minnow - they are my cats.  Yes, I'm a crazy cat lady!  I don't have kids, but I do feel like their mommy!  And they try to be so...helpful...laying all over everything I'm trying to work with...finding spools of thread to tangle when I'm not looking...they are always there watching me work.  So it seemed fitting.  So, Mom, since I know at least you will read this...thank you!  ;)  Here we go -