Niece and Nephew Quilts are Finished and A Recap

I've been sharing with you the quilts I've been making for my nieces and nephews, the ones who have not received one in a while.  I overlooked three of them so thought I'd get caught up on that and do a recap.

The ones I've already posted about are Josh, Ashley, Laura, Nikki, Travis, Paige, Natalie, Emily, Carrie, Karlie, Kourtnie, and Kacie's. (Each name has a link attached in case you'd like to see them.)  All of them were made since 2018.  Thank goodness, I have a fantastic quilter (Shirley Jackson) I can depend on!

Jason is the one nephew who had never received a quilt from me.  When he was born (and I'm embarrassed to tell you how old he is, so I won't) I was crocheting afghans for new babies.  I also crocheted a large afghan for him when he was first married.  (Oops, that hints at how old he is.  Don't pay any attention to that.)  Anyway, it was definitely his turn!  I named his quilt "Long Time Coming".

For Tim I tore into my box of batik strips (again!) and made a variation of the Jelly Roll Race Quilt, using different size strips and pieces (instead of WOF strips) and sewing some diagonal seams instead of straight. It wasn't nearly big enough to suit me, plus I wanted to change it up, so I added strips around it going in the opposite direction.  It ended up plenty big enough, and I ended up with another happy nephew.  

Tina's quilt was Amy Walsh's "Zen" pattern.  Yes.  I used batiks.  I've used this pattern before, but this time I sewed some of it in a hotel in Seattle.  I've set up a little sewing area in many a hotel.  An important thing to pack for that is my Ott sewing light.  You know how bad hotel lighting is.

You may remember that, in 2018, I went a little crazy cutting up my batiks into 2.5" strips.   

Now, that box looks like this .....

Hooray!

Now all the nieces and nephews have new quilts.  (Another Hooray!)  Should I start on the great-nieces and nephews?  Well, I do have all those scrappy squares I cut up a few years ago.....

Linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Quilter, and Super Scrappy.

Rennes' Quilt

Rennes is the most recent great-nephew to get a quilt from Aunt Sandy.  (These little ones just keep coming!)   

I bought a few blues and grays when I was in Shipshewana this past summer so I would have enough to make a scrappy version of "Child's Play", a free download from sewcanshe.com.  

More HSTs, but I'm getting used to them, so I've stopped complaining!  

Auditioning fabrics for the binding was hard.  I though they all looked good.

  

Family baby quilts always get hand quilted.

I'll probably use this pattern again.  I really love it.

So does Rennes!

Linking up with So Scrappy and Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Quilting is More Fun Than Housework

An Early Finish - Safari Babies

I may have planned too easy a goal for November.  The Safari Babies quilt is already done!  I quilted it with a simple meander on my domestic machine and put on a bright binding for a fun finish.

 

Such cute safari babies!

I've already found some line drawings for another quilt like this one.  This time - underwater babies!

Linking up with So Scrappy, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, and One Monthly Goal

I Spy a Penelope Rose

I do love an I Spy quilt.  There are so many fun novelty prints out there. Penelope Rose would be here soon, and her quilting Gramma already had a bunch of quilts awaiting her arrival, so I decided a toddler sized I Spy quilt would be the perfect gift.  I dug into my bag of scrappy novelty prints and my Biscotti jars of strips, and made a plan.







  






























Even the simplest block works with interesting fabrics and bright colors.

















I had everything from kites and cows to ice cream cones, silly hippos, baby chicks, and lobsters. 

Even platform shoes!

A little meander quilting .....

..... a fun backing and a special customized label from Gramma.

Don't tell any of my 'Bama friends, but I threw in a few Auburn blocks for Mom and Dad.

I made it big enough so Penelope can use it for a long time.  

Gramma loves it.  Big sister Dallas isn't sure.

I think Penelope will love it.  As soon as she wakes up.

Linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict 
Linking up with Tish's Adventures in Wonderland  
Linking up with So Scrappy    

Jeep Girl

It was my sister Carol's turn for a new quilt.  I asked her if there was a theme or type of quilt she wanted, and without missing a beat she said, "A Jeep quilt".  I wasn't surprised.  She is most definitely a Jeep girl!

I couldn't find any Jeep fabric locally so I had to shop online.  Darn!  I hate when that happens.  Just kidding.  I can almost always find exactly what I need on quiltshops.com.  























We decided on the pattern Pastoral Countryside from All People Quilt, and I added one more fabric to the mix.  

It was Shirley Jackson to the rescue again, and the quilting was perfect. 

And you know what the best part was, right?  Giving it to my sister in person!

I love, love, love that kind of reaction!

Linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict.
    Linking up with Tish's Adventures in Wonderland

Antelope Canyon

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth.  It's just been a very strange year.  I have done a few quilty things, but I haven't actually blogged about much of it.  In the next few weeks I'll try to catch up a little.  

I finished my sister's batik quilt and gifted it in March of this year.  You can see photos of it here.

Sweet little Nolan was gifted with his Bear Paw baby quilt in August. You can read about that here.

Earlier this year I started a sew-along with two friends of mine to make the Lauri Shifrin quilt, Antelope Canyon.  I was excited to start on an interesting project ..... 

..... until I saw the directions.

Yikes!  Then I got into cutting it out.

Did I already say, "Yikes!"?

It's actually made of only 4 large blocks that come together to make the pattern, but I had to stay really focused to keep everything in order.  This is just the center of one of the blocks.

When I posted a picture of the finished top on my Facebook page, my niece Kourtnie told me how much she loved it.  That's when it became a "quilt for Kourtnie".  My friend Shirley Jackson quilted this one for me and did a beautiful job as always.

It was fun presenting it because of Kourtnie's reaction.  I love it when someone loves a quilt I made for them.

Turns out, I'm really glad I made this one.  It was well worth the effort.

Linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Linking up with Tish's Adventures in Wonderland 
Linking up with SoScrappy
Linking up with Quilting is More Fun than Housework

Nolan's Baby Quilt

So much has been going on in my life this year that quilty goals and blog-writing keep getting pushed to the bottom of the "to do" list. There's no way to make up for lost time, but it's never too late to start again, so here I am.  I've been making the quilty part a priority  lately. Now it's time to blog about it.

A brand new great-nephew appeared on the scene in January. Knowing that bears were part of the nursery theme I chose to make a bear paw quilt in nursery colors as his "being born" gift.  I took one of the sheets to my LQS to find the perfect fabrics.

Any pattern with half-square-triangles goes together quickly, and these blocks did just that.

 Hand quilting always makes a quilt extra special.  

Scrappy binding.....

.....leftover blocks on the back.....

.....Baby's name embroidered as a label.....

.....and done!  Don't you love watching people's faces when you gift a quilt?  

Mommy loved it.  Nolan seemed especially pleased with his new sunglasses from Aunt Sandy, too.

I believe he was looking ahead to all the future snuggling time with his new quilt.

This is Nolan a few months later enjoying his quilt and even dressing to match.  He's quite a guy!

In the days ahead I hope to show you at least a little of what I've been up to lately.  I haven't been a total slug!

Linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict.  Can I get a Whoop Whoop?

Linking up with Tish's Adventures in Wonderland