Baby Girl Quilt for Olivia

This commission quilt was made for a coworker and friend who is expecting her first grandchild. One of the requirements was that it not have too much pink as the mom is not fond of all pink for her baby girl. However, purple was most definitely acceptable and I was fortunate to find this cozy cotton flannel fat quarter bundle by Studio RK for Robert Kaufman. Another request was to personalize the quilt with the baby's full name. I "purpled out" the last name for security reasons. 

Typically, I print a label onto fabric using my inkjet printer but the printer is permanently out of service so we went for something a little more rustic. I hand printed the message using a fine point Sharpie on a white broadcloth. It is a square of fabric folded on the diagonal and stitched into the binding. The printing is off center on purpose so that specific birth information can be added later. I included a scrap of the white fabric for writing practice and some tips for writing on fabric.

The quilt design stayed simple since flannel is thicker than typical quilting cotton and I wanted to be careful not to create bulky seams. The name is fused and machine appliqued to the quilt top. Special thanks to Wendi at Shiny Happy World who offers a free applique alphabet called Shiny Happy Words. It was perfect for this quilt.

The quilt is machine quilted with flowers surrounding the name and a simpler meander over the rest of the quilt. If I were to do anything differently for this quilt, it would be to use something other than flannel for the binding. It was really bulky and difficult to work with.

Since I have been on a bit of a sewing break, it was nice to spend some time at the sewing machine for this project. Every sweet baby girl needs a special quilt to welcome them to this world.

Orphan Block Potholders

Making new potholders usually falls into my schedule in the January time frame when all the organize, renew, and refresh vibe is going around. It's okay that I did not get to this until November. My poor old potholders from two years ago got a real workout. There were holes and a few good burns on them.

These orphan blocks came from a fun quilt I made for my son during the brief period of time he was interested in learning to play the electric bass guitar. And it made for a great shop sample back in the day as well.

I love the colors and had a bit of fun with the quilting, making each one different.

They all have the same backing, a classic fabric by Kaffe Fassett.

Here's how I layer everything for one pot holder:

• Fabric for the top
• ThermaFlec
• Batting
• ThermaFlec
• Fabric for the bottom 

Sometimes I'll even do two layers of batting, but not this time.

I have one more project coming before the end of the year. I've been much more focused on family this year and have been spending my creative energy making art that doesn't require me to go off to another room to create.

I hope you all have been sewing and creating up a storm this holiday season and are enjoying all the special people in your lives, too.