Welcome to Farm Quilter

Enjoy your stay under the variable skies of Eastern Washington and watch the seasons change, from planting to harvest here on the farm...be sure to wrap up in a quilt during the winter, it's cold!!

Tuesday, June 18, 2019

Needle and Thread, with Mixed Up Fabrics

Grandbabies are coming hot and heavy in the last year!!  I made Libby her patriotic quilt last year (see it here).  I had to send the flimsy, backing and binding to a fellow quilter in Washington for her to finish it for me.  I am horrible at quilting with my DSM and wanted this quilt to be a keeper!  Presley arrived in May, Gunner is coming in July and a "gender unknown" is due in September!  Well, I had to shift gears a bit and decided to make "tummy-time" quilts.  I used several different kinds of fabric cut into 5" squares to give different textures for little hands to explore.  I also put many different kinds of ribbons for the same reason.

Some of the fabrics were a challenge to work with!  I am so used to using 100% cotton and found the poly stuff is slick, stretches in every direction, and easily puckers.  I did find some faux suede which was a dream to work with!

The "textured" fabrics were fun to look for and led me down aisles I never venture down.  The ribbons ranged from silky to grosgrain, crocheted, and pleated grosgrain.  I dug down into my "stash" (it was a shallow dive) of ribbon...do you recognize this ribbon?
I just did a SID with my walking foot (I don't have a hopping foot for my DSM)
I love using the Dimpled Minky
for the backing and I wrapped it around to use as the binding as well.  I didn't use any batting (so they aren't true quilts) so the hand of the quilt is amazing.  I hope they also use the quilts in the car and strollers as they are light and warm.

After the quilt was finished, I embroidered the names of the grandbabies on the faux suede fabric.


Another grandson (Gunner's big brother) will be 2 in August, so I played with a design I saw somewhere in my hunting online (if you know where, I'll happily give credit).  I used an inexpensive blanket I bought after Christmas at Walmart for the backing (fleece blankets work great!).  I used my walking foot to sew wavy lines across the quilt.  I found that putting binding on with corners that are less than 90 degrees is a real pain!!  The blanket I used as a combo of batting and backing had rounded corners and I didn't have enough fabric to make a bias binding, so I did a weird slanted cut to get rid of the curves.
I quite like the ripple effect after I washed the quilt.  I did wash all my fabrics prior to cutting them and after I finished them.  He loves his new quilt!



It is so very nice to be back sewing and being creative again.  I am quilting the Tummy Time quilt for the baby due in September...a beautiful light green dimpled Minky fabric!  I'm also making 2 more to have just in case...one with pink and one with blue Minky backings because I purchased a yard of each color and only used 1/2 of the width for each quilt.  I need to find more baby fabric to make another one with the light green.

Thanks for hanging with me during this long dry spell for caring for my dad - he turned 98 on Father's Day.  I am trying to keep this quilting related because you really don't want to hear about the day to day of my boring life!!

5 comments:

Susan said...

Yes, I do want to hear about that! Happy birthday to your dad, a little late. It is good to see a lot of beautiful baby projects finishing. The textured fabrics are just great for babies. The quilts all look happy, too!

Susie said...

What lovely quilts and all these Grandbabies! I love the idea of the quilt with different feel for them to explore. Our boys loved the satin "how to wash" tabs on blankets and things and would hold it and play with it so I am sure the babies will love the ribbon. I also saw a quilt with lots of different animals on for them to spot when they are older which I have filed away when I need another baby quilt.

I love the colours for Gunner's Big Brother, great for Boys who seem to get dirty within seconds of being dressed!!!!

Happy Birthday to your dear Dad on June 16th.

Glad you are able to do some quilting things now, sometimes you need a break to come back to it refreshed and ready.

Hugs, Susie & Treacle xx

Alycia~Quiltygirl said...

Oh what fun!!! Grandbabies!!!! And they will all be so close in age!!

Alycia~Quiltygirl said...

I like it!!! and it is a quilting finish... and just maybe you are getting some mojo back! Happy Belated Birthday to Dad!!!

KaHolly said...

These baby quilts are awesome! I never think to add tabs. You can tell I’m not a grandmother! Poor me.