I sewed this picnic quilt quite awhile ago and just finally finished the “hand-quilting” on it. I use the term hand-quilting loosely because these giant stitches with embroidery floss don’t really count (but are as close to hand quilting as I’m gonna get).

It’s a really simple blanket of quilting cotton and laminated cotton with batting sandwiched in the middle. It’s just like this one I made awhile back. I think I’ll keep this one in the car for all of those impromptu picnics I plan to go on.

I spent last weekend working on a quilt for a much anticipated baby. My friend Rickelle chose all the fabrics for her baby quilt – which I love. We’re leaving the binding off until the baby is born in the next week or so and we find out if it’s a boy or a girl. If it’s a girl, the binding is definitely going to be HOT pink, which I think will be darling.

The fabrics are a collection of Amy Butler and Joel Dewberry. I’m not sure what the black and white damask is, I bought it in NYC at Purl for Amy and she donated it to the quilt. The finished size is going to be approx 44×60 – It feels big but I think it’s a great size to last a kid a long time. I quilted the back with diagonal lines and I really like how it turned out. I just followed the bar on my quilting foot to determine the distance between each line.

I’m really happy with how it turned out and can’t wait to get the binding on and wash it up so it gets all puckery and wonderful!

Amy and I also have spent some time sewing little birds for the baby’s mobile. I’m so excited about this project! We got the idea and the pattern from Spool and it is turning out SO cute.

Yay little baby! I can’t wait to meet you!

Um, so, I love having sewing classes at my store.

Last week Eden took the kids sewing class and is now addicted. She completed her pillowcase and my machine made it out alive. (when i dropped her off for class, I tried really hard not to worry about turning my machine over to her, but I still did… a little.)

When it turned out that I needed to have the kids with me all day at Tangle Saturday (Jim always ends up having out of town shows on the weekends I work.), Eden asked if she could sew something. She whipped out these blankets for her and Honor. I cut and pinned and she did the rest, including most of the pressing.

Notice the pillowcase she made too.

These blankets are just super-simple, two layers (one flannel, one quilting cotton) sewn inside out and then turned. I was worried that they would be weird without batting, but ended up being great for this time of year. They both have drug them around everywhere.

Now she wants to sew blankets for everyone she knows. I’ve gotta teach this kid to quilt…

(I apologize in advance for the low-quality, cell phone photos.)

Today I finished sewing the Birdie Sling. This is an Amy Butler pattern and I used Amy Butler fabric from Tangle. This was my first, ever sewing project that used an actual pattern, so I’m super proud of myself for figuring this one out. I’ve discovered how much I love and rely on my 1/4″ sewing foot so I’m going to see if there is any chance I can order a 1/2″ and 3/8″ foot too. Someday maybe my lines will be straight!

Sunday I ditched church and instead sewed Eden this little smocked dress. The recipe is in the new book, Weekend Sewing. It is such an amazing book, I want to sew at least half of what’s in there! I was amazed at how easy smocking is. All you do is use elastic thread in the bobbin (this should be hand wound without stretching) and regular thread on top and sew lines across the fabric. After the fabric is sprayed generously with water the smocking sucks right up. 3/4 yard of fabric and about an hour = I foresee several of these in Eden’s summer wardrobe. I might even try making one for myself!