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Friday, April 12, 2013

Finish Report :D Baby English 1.0 w/Book Set

Another finish that I'm so in love with.  :D


Baby English 1.0
40" x 40"

This quilt is for my youngest sister, who's about to have her first baby. It's one of this year's rare not-UFO/NETY projects. I knew I wanted to do a mix-and-white chevron or diamond HST layout so I could play with some cool Free-Motion Quilting in the white bands.I also needed to stick to stash during this UFO/stash-busting year. Plus, there is ZERO fabric budget for at least another 4 months of wallet tightness. Moving and then unexpected attorney costs will do that!




So, in my stash I found yards and yards of this fun Owl and the Pussycat fabric. Grabbed some blues to play with it, grabbed that shrinking Kona-snow bolt I'd bought on a super-sale a couple years ago, and went to work.




My inspiration was this chevron quilt made by Kathy at Tamarack Shack, who was totally cool with me mimicking the quilting.




But then I wanted to make my fmq coordinate with the novelty print, which has these bead-looking strands and the sailboat-on-the-sea thing going. (Mastering the spirals fill will have to wait.)  So I did rows of pearls against the blue bands to make those pop out more and put wave-evoking spirals down the centers. I free-hand marked those somewhat, because I couldn't stitch them out with consistent spacing otherwise. I did use cotton thread (that's the 50wt Aurifil there), which pulls minky fluff through from the back. You can see the blue pops in the stitches. But in this particular case, it had an enhancing effect, so I didn't use poly thread to get away from that. (I don't want this effect on the current FMQ work, which also has a minky back, so I'm using a poly thread there. More on that in a couple weeks.)




I just love the dimensionality created by the simple single-line quilting down the blues. You can kind of see here how they pop out so well:



The batting is a thin poly, but it's coupled with a minky back, which adds to the puff. It's about the same as the puff you'd get with a thick poly and a normal quilter's cotton back. I am always completely enchanted with the quilting on a minky back!




I had enough of the blue plaid left to use that for the binding. Turned out great!





As I was cutting the blues, I thought "I really need to try to use more of this print!" (There's this *crazy* yardage of it - something like 8 altogether. No clue what I was thinking. I must have picked it up at a yard sale or something.)  So I decided to make a tote to go with the quilt.  




And then, of course, I needed to get the book to go *in* the tote to go with the quilt. And I found a hard copy with cover art that goes with the fabric so perfectly!  





I used Poppyseed Fabric's tutorial here. Tweaked it a little to incorporate some of the left-over HST's, which I'd made using the 8-at-once method that Lynn describes here. So fast!!!




Now I'm just waiting for a name to do the label, and then this set will sail off to Texas.  :D


(Selma says: "Hi! Whatcha doin'?!"


~*~*~*~


37 comments:

  1. What lovely finishes. I love the coordinating quilting!

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  2. Wow! What an adorable set of finishes! And your FMQ is divine. I love the beads with the spirals. So lovely!

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  3. So cute! Your quilting is amazing and I love the bag & book combination. Great finish!

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  4. What a fantastic gift! I actuallly prefer your final choice of quilting for this better than the fill. It could not be more perfect!

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  5. You absolutely get a whoop whoop! The quilting matches the fabric theme perfectly, and I love the overall look. You should be so proud! I've been playing with half square triangles a lot lately, and there are so many possibilities.

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  6. Your quilting designs are perfect for this quilt. It's amazing how designs in the fabrics can really direct us to the right quilting designs. Your more open designs compared to my denser fill makes for a softer, cuddlier quilt especially with the Minkee on the back! Great job!

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  7. Everything is beautiful! Great job!

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  8. That is an incredible quilt and tote. Love the rich blue tone in the fabric. Your sister and her baby will love it!

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  9. I think we need to have a "finishing party celebrate. Absolutely beautiful. Overall quilt design, fabric and free-motion quilting is spectacular. Love it...and the tote too.

    SewCalGal
    www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com

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  10. Gorgeous, Lynette! I love your quilting -- fabulous! So glad you linked up to TGIFF!

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  11. That is just too stinking cute! I love the coordinated set & I'm sure your sis will too. If not, you can send the lot to Switzerland. LOL Beautiful quilting in those channels too. Love it all! Well done!

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  12. Absolutely love the owl and pussycat fabric!!! Nice Job!

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  13. Totally, totally cute Lyn!!!! And love the idea to include a bag and the book - awesome :*)

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  14. Awesome. Interesting blog too. Shared lots of details without being boring. Your quilting is so good. I can't believe how good the back looks. I would have puckers from end to end I think. Love it, pinned!

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  15. Awesome. Interesting blog too. Shared lots of details without being boring. Your quilting is so good. I can't believe how good the back looks. I would have puckers from end to end I think. Love it, pinned!

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  16. What a great baby gift! I'm completely impressed how it all came together!

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  17. Loved reading your post. The quilt is great all round.

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  18. What a wonderful quilt. Love the quilting.

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  19. Love the quilting you selected, and the minky backing looks great!

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  20. Love it. I'm a huge fan of minky backs, but haven't used it in a long time. And I love that you made a tote to match. well done.

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  21. Congratulations on your finishes!
    Esther

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  22. Lovely quilt! Gorgeous quilting! Pretty colour!

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  23. Fantastic finish! I love the colors, and the quilting, and the book and bag are the perfect companions!

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  24. Cute blue quilt for a baby girl, looks so fresh & summery.

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  25. What a cute quilt! The quilting is especially pretty on the back where the shadows bring it to life! Thanks for sharing!

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  26. That quilt is just super duper! LOVE how you played off of the design in the fabric for your quilting. I do that a lot and it really causes the quilting to pop even more! great job!

    Thanks for linking up over at my blog and the It's A Saturday Sharing Day!

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  27. Beautifully done Lyn! So many wonderful details and I love that you have made a matching tote and all form fabrics which you had. Now to enjoy the anticipation of the new arrival....

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  28. Oh my goodness! Your waves and those pearl-strands are incredible! So neat and even! And the minkie will be soooo snuggly! Great job!

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  29. Absolutely gorgeous! I only wish I could someday be that good!

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  30. This is gorgeous! I always love your quilting and I think the back of this is wonderful as well as the front :)

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  31. You quilt and quilting are stunning. (HI! Selma :))

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  32. The quilt is so great. I just love your quilting and such a great idea to make the bag and find the book to go along with the fabric. What a great gift for your sister's baby.

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  33. Oh, forgot to tell you that I love your new heading. You have beautiful cats.

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  34. This is such a pretty quilt! How fun to have the opportunity to make something new without feeling too much guilt over not working on a UFO. You did such a lovely job with the quilting, which really suits it. I love the look of those bubble (pearls), but I am challenged to make them completely spherical when quilting them myself. Yours are beautiful. I've never quilted with minky, and I can't say it appeals to me, but I'll never say "never." We've got two new babies coming into the family this year, so I know I'll be doing some baby quilt-making.

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  35. That is gorgeous! I love the fabric, and the texture that the quilting gives it...and the bag...and the book.... I'm really not into baby quilts as heirlooms, but I think you've hit the perfect blend of usable and so pretty it's got to stay in the family forever. :-)

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  36. Oh I do love this whole combination...but couldn't help but smile at that last picture of Selma!!! SO CUTE!

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