The Snake Boy Quilt

 Way long ago, when my boy was only four years old, I made him this little quilt. He picked out all the fabrics himself, and he totally loved it! Then when he was about 7 he lost it. I was sad, he was sad, we were all sad! He begged and begged me for a new one, this time bigger and better. I kept putting it off for other projects. Even after I ordered the fabric I was really slow to get started on it.

Finally on Sunday night it was done. Little Mr. M is now 9. So it didn't take so long;) He didn't pick out the fabrics this time, but he thoroughly approved them all. It is all about him. His favorite colour is orange, he loves snakes, and is always dressed in camouflage.

 Most of the fabrics are from the 'Backyard Baby' collection by Michael Miller. I found them online at Fabric.com. I threw in the camo and found some fun grey chevron fabric for the backing and Ta! Da!

 I love the snakes and other creatures in jars, and the little ants crawling around.

Here is my happy boy ready to head to bed with his new quilt. I'm really hoping this one doesn't get lost!

Lavender lap quilt and pillow case.

 Little Miss I. knew that as soon as I finished Miss C's quilt it was her turn. I have been collecting fabric for this one almost as long as for Miss C's. I had a very clear idea of the colours I wanted, and it wasn't available at Joann's. I did find two fat quarters there actually. I got two more at PurlSoho when I was there last December. The rest came form a quilt show I went to in March in Lancaster, PA. There, I really hit the jackpot. They had a great bunch of vendors along with lot's of inspirational quilts. Oh, the quilt pattern is one I've used twice before. It's from the book Bend the rules of sewing by Amy Carol.

Now that my oldest is back to school and my middle one is in school in the afternoons, I managed to find the time to finish this quilt and also whip up a matching pillow case that saw on pinterest that I highly recommend.

Little Miss I. is pleased as punch. Now I just need to get on with painting the toddler bed white, so I can get her out of her cot/crib. Little Mr M. is next in line for a new quilt and has just today approved my fabric choices. So you all have that to look forward to, I guess!

Eternal Summer Quilt

 A few years ago my other half had me make him a quilt. It was made of old U2 t-shirts and brushed cotton/flannel. It was a pain in the butt to make. The whole time I was doing it my son was begging me to make him one too, then little miss M wanted one as well. The kids ones were small and therefore much easier and funner to make. I swore off quilts after that though. That is until my sister, Miss C, said she wanted one. I laughed at the time and told her that even if I was going to make a quilt for her it would have to be a wedding or a 30th birthday present!. She told me it was her 30th in three years and smiled. So that thought stuck in the back of my mind until I saw this quilt over at the Purl Bee Blog. I thought of Miss C at once. It became my inspiration and I started to buy a quarter of a yard of fabric here and there. I ended up with 11 different fabrics. I then saw this quilt at the Retro Mummy Blog. I loved the look of this one too. I kind of combined the idea of both of them and came up with this design.

This is a picture of the quilt top, spread out on my bed. I didn't want to machine quilt it and I didn't really want to make binding, so I found this tutorial on the Cicada Daydream Blog. I went ahead and tied it with embroidery thread. Then folded the backing over to make a simple binding.

 Here it is drying out after I gave it a wash.

 And here it is on Miss C's bed looking very summery.

I had various problems a long the way making this quilt. I learnt that you get more fabric when you buy a quarter of a yard of fabric than you do if you buy a fat quarter. I ended up having to sew scraps of fabric together to make some of my squares. When my sewing machine stopped functioning properly, I discovered that you can put you needle in the wrong way! Ha, I felt pretty dumb when I found that out. The last thing I realized is even when you buy new safety pins to hold the quilt layers together, they can still leave rust marks on your fabric. So it didn't turn out to be perfect, but then if it did it wouldn't have been a true handmade gift! Happy 30th Miss C!