A Little Spring

Spring has sprung! Or, at least, it had before this storm moved in. And to celebrate, I thought my girl needed a little spring quilt.

I absolutely adore this fabric... although I forgot to save the name of it. The spring birds are so adorable. You can almost hear them, "cheep-cheep" for their mama!

It was my first attempt at free motion quilting. And, I'm in love. It's so much fun, and the results are beautiful. I need some practice- some wider loops, fewer corners... perhaps I need another trip to the fabric store to find some more fabric to practice with!

Cheep-cheep!

Happy Spring!

Check out Quilt Story's Fabric Tuesday!!!

Fall Table Runner

I love the fall!

*the reds and golds*

*the smell of crisp leaves*

*the cool air*

It's a great time of year for quilting! 

I couldn't resist this fabric with its fall colors and patterns. 

It was perfect for this crazy quilted table runner. 

Now all we need is a big bowl of chili, some pumpkin pie, and some warm apple cider!

We're linked to some linky parties!

The Trendy Treehouse
Show us What You're Working On

Family Quilts

We decorate sugar cookies at Grandma's house at Christmas time.

We have a bubble-gum blowing contest at the Mulnix family reunion.

And, when we have our first baby, Nana makes us a family quilt.

To begin, Nana picks a book that has meaning for our family. She picks books that have a message we want to pass down to our children. For Trendy Mama's family, she picked Bear of My Heart by Joanne Ryder. Trendy Mama and her family love to camp and fish, so this story about a sweet little baby bear and her mom (or dad) who explore outside is perfect for them. And the message the parent bear tells its cub -- "You are the bear of my heart, dear, and I am the one who loves you..." what a sweet refrain for Trendy Mama's family. Trendy Mama's cubs truly are the bears of her heart and she and her hubby are the ones who love those cubs with all of the fibers of their beings. And, those cubs know it!

So Nana picked the perfect book.

After she has selected the book, she designs a quilt that represents the book. My words cannot do this  quilt (or our family quilt which I'll write about later) justice. It is perfect - each fabric is selected with care, each stitch has meaning, and for the rest of our lives...and our children's lives...and their children's lives... this quilt will remind them that they are loved by many.

This family quilt is not just for that precious first baby. Instead, it represents the beginning of the family. 

The best part about this quilt is how it evolves. When the babies are little, they can lay on it and play. Taylor could find the fish swimming in the stream. Now, Taylor and her sister, Kami, can point to the mama bear and the baby bear and trace the quilted heart in between them. Mama can read the story as her girls are on sitting on the blanket. 

The quilt hangs in the girls' playroom as a constant reminder of their family story: That they are the bears of their parents' heart... they are the bears of their Nana and Pappy's hearts... that they are the bears of their family's hearts... and we are all the ones that love them!

Jenny's Quilt

Ok, so my youngest is a junior at OU

(boomer sooner!!!)

and she needed a little comfort from home:

a quilt

But not just any quilt. A quilt that is fun and modern. A quilt that will help make a room beautiful. A quilt that reminds a little girl, who may not be so little anymore, that mama is always thinking of her, is always there for her, and always loves her. Always.

Pop Garden Filmstrip is just the quilt. Don't you think?

The design was inspired by Crazy Mom Quilts' Filmstrip  quilt.

I used Heather Bailey's Pop Garden fabric. 

Love this fabric, love this quilt, LOVE my girl!

Homemade Baby Gifts

Clearly, we love babies. We also love making things. So, of course, we love mama-made baby gifts! Babies don't really need a lot: just love, milk, and someplace safe to sleep. But, they sure can use a lot.

Things like: 

towels...

burp cloths...

quilts...

bows & tutus...

onesies...

(picture forthcoming)

and receiving blankets!

We found this self binding receiving blanket tutorial from Piece N Quilt and couldn't wait to try it out. Now, we can't wait to make more self-binding receiving blankets. (For all my preggo friends out there, yes, you can expect these receiving blankets as gifts. Sorry for ruining the surprise!) 

We made a few modifications. We made ours a little smaller than Piece N Quilt called for- just because that's the amount of fabric we had. She also recommends flannel, but we used seersucker-our favorite! Seersucker is a great weight for receiving blankets- not too heavy, not too light, just perfect to snuggle up that new bundle of joy.  We also top stitched along the edge of the binding and along the edge of the blanket itself to help it maintain its shape through washing. (I'm saying "we" because my sweet little baby was awake and wanting to help while I was making this, so Nana helped out by playing with her while I sewed! It takes a village to raise a child and make a blanket apparently!) 

Didn't it turn out sweet? 

Now, the only thing it needs is a little baby to wrap up!!  

Fractions Quilt

When my husband and I got married, Nana decided to employ the old tradition of making the newlyweds a quilt.  She keeps in mind our home and our personalities and then just "keeps her eyes open" for the perfect quilt pattern and fabric.  

Let me just say, Nana has an eye for fabric.  Really.  It's amazing.  (And she is going to try to get me to take this part out, but it is TRUE, so I'm leaving it in.)

I digress.

First, Nana found "Fractions" by Mountaincreek Creations at her favorite fabric store in Norman, Patchwork Place.  This pattern is just perfect for us.  It has simple, clean lines and is just a little unexpected and different.  Like I said, perfect for us! 

The colors were inspired by nature- golds, greens, and reds.  Colors that remind us of the many places we have called home.  The golds of the aspen trees in the  Colorado Rockies.  The deep hues of Vermont in the fall.  The ripening fields of the Kansas plains.

And the batiks are just a little bit "hippy."  Like me.  : )  

One of my favorite parts of the quilt though is the hand quilting.  Nana used a variegated thread to quilt in a flowing pattern that adds movement to the geometric pattern of the quilt.

  It's beautiful.

Nana likes to hand quilt over the winter.  The quilt sits on her lap and keeps her warm as she sews.  And, thank goodness for speakerphone!  Nana talks to all of her children often (on speakerphone) while her hands are busy.  

This isn't just a quilt for our family.  Instead, it is a quilt of our family.  It reflects our personalities and our many homes.  It is both a centerpiece of our living room and a centerpiece of our family.  And, as I  curl up under it during the winter, I think of how my mom curled up underneath it too while she made it.  When I look at the intricate hand stitching, it reminds me how each stitch was sewn with love.

  

Woodland Creature Quilt

Whenever one of us mamas announces that we are pregnant, the other mamas get to work.  Immediately.

It was no exception when Funky Mama told us the good news that she was expecting her first.  We knew, however, that Funky Mama's baby to be needed something, well, a little funky.  No log cabin quilt for this family! This babe needed a quilt as unique as she would be. (Are you surprised that this baby is a she? If you haven't caught on by now, the mamas seem only able to produce the female variety of babies, which is fine by us - imagine the hand-me-downs!  We'll keep trying though, for the sake of our spouses, to have some baby boys (we'll let you know how it goes!).

Since Funky Mama is truly gifted in the art department, she got to drawing. And, as Nana always does, she got to quilting.

The results?

This lovely Woodland Creatures Quilt.

Not only is the quilt unique, but each square has its own fun personality.  You can almost hear the tweety bird chirping, "hello."  And that fox.  He looks like he is up to something.

As for this little guy...

What does he say to you?

(We'll post more pictures of each of the blocks soon.  However, the Woodland Creatures stayed at home while the mamas are visiting each other.)

How Pink Became My Favorite Color

When I found out I was having a little girl, the first thing I said was, "Are you sure?"  Then, I asked, "How accurate is this sonogram?" After much reassurance from Doc and our sonographer, I finally believed we were having a girl.

It was hard for me to believe at first just because I am not what you would call a girly-girl. Ribbons, bows, frills, and pink were not in my vocabulary.  Once I accepted that we really were having a girl, I started thinking of all the sweet colors we could decorate her room with-- baby yellows, grass greens, sky blues... you get the picture. No pink.

So you can imagine the shock (mine and everyone who knew me) when I decided our sweet little baby girl's room was going to be pastel pink and green!  Nana knew better than to wait for me to change my mind and this quilt was born.

The colors are perfect! Soft pink mixed with light green.  And it's just the perfect touch of old fashioned.  Nana used Gracey's Baby Star for the pattern and the fabrics are a mix of old scraps and new favorites.  

Now that she is here, our sweet baby girl loves to look at the different patterns and colors.

And, as you can see, pink has quickly become my favorite color!