NICU for March Of Dimes

Each year the NICU challenges the rest of the hospital to fund raise by participating in several events.  The money is raised for the March Of Dimes in their prevention of birth defects and prematurity. We march, we sell stuff, we host events.  This year, I was asked to make a quilt for a silent auction.

I picked a block that has always fascinated me and put together this treasure with around 20 jelly roll strips and 5 different grays. It's a generous sized lap quilt, filled with 100% cotton batting and quilted in a 2" overall grid.

Good Luck to the winner of this cozy quilt!

Update: The raffle was banned as "gambling," so I gifted this quilt to Fayza, my housekeeper.

Making Memories

A friend brought me 2 old quilt tops, sewn many years ago by her mother.  This friend wished to divide the 2 tops among 5 family members, so each could have something made by her mother.  I told her they would be small, wall quilts, or table runners.  She agreed that would be the perfect size.  She said she preferred the blue quilt, but thought the rest might prefer the other quilt.

I was very excited to do this challenge!  Since it wasn't MY mother's work, cutting into it felt exciting, and I looked forward to seeing what I might render from these 2 quilt tops.  

I started by cutting out the center of the postage stamp quilt.  It was perfect, glorious, and I LOVED the color use.  I was very tempted to keep this one for myself, I loved it that much!
#4 was made from blocks cut from the 4 corners of the quilt.  #5, from blocks along the sides.  #3 also blocks from the sides, and I found a purple from my stash to make a centered design. #2 was the lone quilt made from the blue and white.  I carefully selected the blocks from the quilt that had a lot of variety, and a little brown stain to keep it real.  I machine quilted them all fairly dense, backed them with unbleached muslin, and gave them a gentle wash then into the dryer to wrinkle them up a bit.

This was a very fun project!

Striped Traingled Diamonds on the Diagonals

The triangle is a shape that I find interesting and want to try all the variations of setting that I can think of. I made a scrap quilt with 6" striped triangles.  In order to run my striped sideways, I had to cut each triangle instead of cutting from a strip.  It left these small (3") triangles from the sides so I piled them up and started wondering what could I do with them?  This is a small table runner for the entryway where we drop our keys and stuff as we walk in the door.  I scrapped together the batting and used strips from the strip basket for the binding.  A true "upcycling" scrap project!

Water Painted Fishies

My 6 year old grand-daughter wanted to do a craft on a busy evening.  So I drew some fish on a piece of blue dyed muslin, gave her the colored pencils, a few paint brushes and a cup of water.  The delightful table runner is the product of her work and it looks great in the center of the table!

A Modern Baby Quilt

An old friend Dena is becoming a first time grandma, just a month after my joyful experience.  I made her children's baby quilts and now what delight to make her first grandchild  quilt!
Pure solid half-square triangles, made from 2 charm packs, with a couple mottled colors and 1 strip, the asymmetrically bordered.  The child's sex is a delightful secret to the family, so I needed to make a bold gender neutral statement.

Blue Ice

Started on a very rare, very cold San Diego weekend right after the holiday. The colors matched the coldness I was feeling!  I had to add one little red spark, and then as quickly as it happened, the cold weather was over and San Diego was back to it's usual balmy weather!

Backed with a clearance fuzzy lap blanket, this quilt is as cozy as can be and keeps the cold away! Gifted to April for Ryan who lived snuggling with it. 

Another Advent Calendar

One more this season!  Popular Gifts for families with school aged children.  this one was a kit purchased last year on the spring quilt run, at clearance.  Just one panel, with folding to make the pockets.  Fill it with treats and countdown ready!

Merry Christmas, Kaileena!