a quilt fit for a princess

It's been 2 years since I bought my Far Far Away 2 fabrics.

And one year since I promised a birthday quilt for The Middle Child.

And 6 months since I started the quilt.

Anyways, it came one year plus a couple weeks after the birthday deadline, but all was forgiven when I presented her with her own very Mama-made special quilt :) My girl is now SEVEN, and full of fairy tales and fashion and make believe and creativity and helpfulness and caring and so many wonderful attributes. I lucked out getting this kid, I tell you, she is so much more than the sum of the best bits of her dad and me. Love her to pieces.


I finished the quilt while away at the cabin, and spread it out on the grass and had her sister lead her over with closed eyes for the unveiling. Big grins from ear to ear!


She spent time studying all the blocks and declared the owl running away with the underwear as a favorite, along with Rapunzel.




For the top, I used Kate's Fussy Cut Fairytales pattern, which I modified to make twin size. It is a great compliment to these fabrics, and I adore the distinctive floating border! On the back I used some leftover pieces and pieced them together with blocks of pink and green solid.


I quilted with an overall stipple. Man, it was a heavy quilt to move around given all that linen content in the Heather Ross prints! The quilt was hand bound in a Kona solid. Don't ask me to remember which one. It made a nice and cheery frame!

She loves it. I love it. I really do think it is my favorite quilt to date. And it looks fantastic on her bed. Just need to make a matching sham or two! And the sweetest part was, that night as she tucked her in snugly under her new quilt, she said, "The thing I like best about my quilt is that you made it for me, Mom!". A true princess.

Shared at Quilt Story.

Far Far Away quilt top completed

At long last, I have completed The Middle Child's FFA2/3 quilt top!


I used Kate Conklin's Fussy Cut Fairytales pattern, a lap quilt pattern which I then modified to make twin sized. This is a great pattern as Kate uses a stack and slash method which allows you to do fussy cuts with essentially zero wasted fabric. But it is the floating squares border that really does it for me. It is a bit time consuming, but I think it makes the quilt.


I am not yet sure how to quilt this....Kate's is hand quilted but I am not sure I want to take that on. I think I may wait until my Juki arrives and quilt it on that!

My daughter loves it, and has already requested matching pillows!

Linking up to Sew Modern Monday.

finally, a bit of sewing!

It feels like I have not sewn anything since the dinosaurs roamed the earth. Almost as long- since Christmas break! Where has the time gone?? So I went on strike this weekend and said I must, absolutely, definitely be allowed some ME time, or I was going to crack and go into full-out Quilting Withdrawal. And, thankfully, my evil plot worked.

Not HEAPS of sewing, but enough to wet my whistle. About 10 blocks (out of 30) for The Middle Child's Far Far Away 2+3 quilt, which will be twin sized for her bed. She is sure to point out REGULARLY how both her brother and sister have received a quilt by Mom, and not her....ah, life as the middle child! More for her to talk about with the therapist someday.

More importantly, I did some prep work. My time these days seems to come in little snippets, and I rarely feel it is enough to warrant hauling out all my sewing stuff for 30 minutes- easier to knit a few rows instead. But I miss quilting! So,what I did was go through all my scraps, iron them, and slice them into 2.5 inch pieces, and sort them into 2 bins- warm and cool colors. I also made some white squares. So, if I have a quick half hour I am all set to whip off a granny square block!

I also got everything prepped for the remaining 20 FFA2/3 blocks- same deal. I figure if I pick away at it bit by bit, eventually, it will be done, without needing an extended chunk of time. Problem, solution! Yippee!

Off to the sewing machine I go :)

Mother-daughter quilt collaborations

I was thinking that I would make Last But Not Least a doll quilt for Christmas, using the design she drew as she was so excited about it. But, seeing as my kids have the attention span of goldfish and in 6 weeks she would likely not even remember, I thought I would instead make this a "together" project that we could work on over the weekend, between ballet, tap, hockey and several hundred loads of laundry. You know, life.

So we started by pulling fabrics to represent her purple, pink and yellow color scheme- I love how well the Anna Maria Horner print goes with the Hope Valley! We chose some Erin McMorris that I have been hoarding for 2 years for the back.


Next, I made a quilt sandwich and bound it up with some of my favorite yellow seed stitch fabric. Then I ironed some Heat and Bond to the back of strips of fabric, and then had the girls cut them up into nice wonky squares, just like in the "design"!

Last But Not Least then used her drawing as a guide and instructed her sister as to where the squares should be placed. I gave them a press and then sewed them onto the sandwich, ticker tape style.

Voila! A completed doll quilt. Smiles are free.

When asked if she was happy with the quilt she designed and help to make, her answer was, "It's nice and all, but I think my picture looks MUCH better." Can't win 'em all. To be fair, she was cranky and suffering from separation anxiety from Kitty, who was in the wash due to an unfortunate swim in the toilet at some point in the midst of all this fun. Life.

Well, for those of you who have more than one child, you know what comes next.

The Middle Child announces, "Don't I get to make a quilt?"

Of course you do. Fair is fair.

She is all about princesses and puppies, and since I have a huge stack of Heather Ross FFA2 that I am still planning to use to make a quilt for her bed (eventually), I suggested we start there. She selected the fabrics she wanted and got to work making a design of her own. But don't forget the pink puppies, Mom! Out comes the Pips.


I made this one wonky long cabin style, kind of like the blocks I had started with the Ghastlies. I must have been in a wordy mood that day as I chose another text print for the binding here, by Sweetwater (though I am too lazy to get up and go look at which one). For quilting, I just did some straight line quilting around the edges, because, let's face it, at this point it was time to make supper already.


The Middle Child was very pleased with the result (no critiques at all this time!).

So, my friends, that is the tale of 2 minis, made with my daughters, on a sunny and crispy cold Saturday afternoon. Probably the most fun I have had quilting in a very long time. And that's what it's all about!

Linking up at Canoe Ridge Creations and Quilt Story.