let your kids go crazy

Last week was fall break in school, so the kids were with me all week. No vacation was planned, and we didn't go anywhere, the entire year. I will have to put that on my list for 2014. ;-) So, I tried to concentrate on housework and getting things back into order. I should put a cleaning lady on my list as well. My eight-year-old son told me that he wanted to sew! How cool is that? So, instead of taking one of his previously started projects out, I thought of a new one. I grabbed my tote of Christmas fabrics and taught his how to go crazy. He loved it.

He wanted nine blocks in his quilt, so we agreed on a 6 x 8" block, 2 x 3 rows. I cut a few foundation blocks, and we got started. My son really enjoyed picking out the fabric and making sure that we only used the fabric once in each block. He also understood the concept of contrast. It wasn't always easy to understand how to sew on the patch so that the first piece was completely covered, but I also had problems there. We managed to get one block done, and then he decided he wanted to pick out the fabrics, iron them and position them; it was my job to sew them on.

We now have four out of nine blocks, and I am looking forward to getting the other five finished, and that before December! He will have his first ever X-Mas quilt that he can share and remember - Mom and I made this one together.

I know a lot of you sewing fanatics have young children at home, and I would really like to encourage you to teach and share with your children this technique. It is great to use up those scraps (it doesn't have to be for Christmas either). It also doesn't matter if the sewing lines are 1/4" or 1/2"; they just have to be relatively straight.

Start with a small project similar to the one below using 6.5 x 8.5" unfinished blocks. The final size will be about 17 x 19 inches and a great size for a wall hanging, placemat, doll quilt, center piece or tote. Teach your kids how to sew, how to rip a seam, how to iron (correctly), and so on.

If you accept this challenge, I would love to see what you came up with, and we will have a little contest - first, second and third place winners. I look forward to hearing from you.

Get your patch on!
Karen

customed designed quilt from recycled baby clothes

Happy New Year 2013!

And now I am finally allowed to share with you my very first customer quilt (not my first sale, but my first real paying big job).

I really enjoyed designing this quilt with the mother, Beate, who wanted to have a patchwork quilt made from her daughter's baby clothing. After working through a couple of sketches, I realized Beate wanted something "traditional" but also very bright and cheery - "modern."

That's the name I gave to the quilt - Trad Mod für Lilli!

It was very important to find a unity in the quilt. It isn't always easy taking old baby clothes and fitting them into a quilt. They are usually very different in color - some bright and some very soft. I found that it was simpler to use just the light colored & pink fabrics, mostly former onesies, and used stabilizer on the back so the fabric wouldn't pull when sewn together.

The best part about this quilt, is the fact that I was allowed to use really bright coordinating fabrics. I love color and found this really great fabric from Riley Blake called Apple of my Eye designed by the Quilted Fish. It has the pink in the main apple fabric and the rest is pulled from there. I simply love it. I secretly wished I could keep it myself. ;-) The backing is a cuddly flannel from Debbie Mumm called Love U Flannel for Moda. The striped binding is from the Sugar & Spice collection also from Riley Blake.

view all of the photos from TradMod for Lilli here.

Lastly, and most important, I have a very good long arm quilter, Brigitte Heitland of QD Service in Werther, Germany. She is honestly, the very best quilter I know! Her sense of style is impeccable. She came up with the the heart shaped designs which totally accentuates the theme of the quilt. She also created this really cool border quilting that does not "outline" the border strips as we typically do, but creates a new pattern.

I am always amazed to see what Brigitte can whip up with her long arm machine. Thank you so much!

If you are interested in having a quilt made from your children's clothing, please contact me. I would really love to make a boy's quilt.