A Colorful Custom Quilt

 

I have a recent finish to share today! This is a custom job for a friend, and it got to go on a road trip to Payson, AZ for fun pictures while we playing in the (FREEZING COLD) creek. Though we were REALLY up there to be labor for my grandparents over Memorial day weekend :)

Here is the gorgeous quilt!

Plus my photobombing cousin in the background :)

I decided that the bundle of Alexander Henry fabrics my friend provided were begging to be paired with some solids and made into my Toss Up pattern. It showcases the larger prints so well, and comes together SO fast.

I had so much fun quilting this one, too! I used a different free motion pattern in each part of each block, and I really couldn’t be happier with it.

The back is a pretty pink print, not sure what it was though. Seriously in love with that quilting.

And one more shot of the entire front. I had a wonderful quilt holder to help me with this quilt; he’s so awesome!

This lovely quilt will soon be winging its way across the country to its new home.

Oh, and a quick shot of us in the FREEZING COLD water:

PS- we were in the freezing cold water because when I was a kid, I would go stay with my grandparents for the summer, and when we would drive across the river crossings, my grandpa would let me hop out of the car and walk in the water next to the car. What more could a kid ask for?? I have an awesome grandpa. So now when we go visit, we go with grandpa and my kids, so he can walk in the water with his great grandbabies :)

A Much-Needed Update

Guess what? I have been busy busy, and I have updated my Toss Up pattern! The content is the same except for one diagram edit, but it’s prettier now :) I have been meaning to make this change for a year, but I never got around to sitting down and doing it. I’m such a slacker. So here’s the new look!

And I might have finally tied myself to the computer long enough to finish another pattern last night, too.

Late night Instagram photo

 

Luckily, the writing was done on that one, I just had to finish making it look pretty. That one will be available as soon as my editor(aka MOM) has a chance to check my formatting for me :)

The Post Office is my favorite place…

I finished up that custom order from the last post! And while I am not always drawn to yellow, by the time I was done with this one I was converted! I am very grateful for custom orders that push me a little out of my comfort zone.

My customer wanted a finished size of 35” x 54”, to fit a bed. I believe this is a good size for a toddler bed, especially one with rails, since it wouldn’t have much of a drop. I wanted to try it out on Zoey’s bed, but since who knows what germs are in that cesspool, I didn’t :) She also really liked my Toss Up pattern, so we went with that, though I had to completely refigure the block sizes, which was a PAIN. But totally worth it for the end product!

I quilted a meandering flower pattern, which I think makes the whole thing super cute and feminine. And cute. Did I mention cute? And I didn’t stitch my finger :)

The fabrics were all from stash (yay!), and luckily I had enough of that Oh Cherry Oh yellow flower for the backing. The solids are both Kona; the cream is Bone and I don’t remember what the yellow is, whoops. The almost solid light pink is actually a Basic Grey grunge solid, love it! Oh, and the binding is a yellow pinstripe from American Jane’s Punctuation line.

Now, to explain my post title…so this is the first time I have had to ship internationally, so I had NO idea what I was doing with customs forms and whatnot. So, after standing in the really long line full of old people while my 2 year old shrieked, yelled, danced, and said embarrassing things, I got to the counter. I had done all my forms right(yay!), but then as I went to get my wallet out of my bag, it WASN’T THERE. Seriously. So I couldn’t pay! The lady had already date stamped all my stuff, so I had to go back THAT DAY, too. And it wasn’t the closest post office to my house…it was the one near where I was right then. Anyways, I went and met the hubs for lunch and he pulled me cash and I went back on the way home, but by then, it was 2 hours after naptime and the kid was cranky. Thank goodness there wasn’t a line when I went back!! So, that’s my saga. My wallet was still at home in my bag from the LQS from Saturday…doh! But at least now I will know what to do to ship international next time!

And isn’t that quilt just so cool? :)

What I’m doing today

I’ve been working on this custom order for the last few days. Just got it basted, and gonna head in to quilt it as soon as the kid is down for her nap! Now, if I can just not run over my finger this time… :)

Oh, and somehow I miscut my backing, so it’s like 1/2” too narrow…luckily the top is just a little bit bigger than it needs to be, so I can trim it down :) But seriously, did I forget how to measure or something? Duh!!

Presenting…(plus a giveaway!)

My pattern, Toss Up!

It is officially done and up for sale! Whew! That was a lot more work than I expected :)

I had quite the adventure crash-course learning how to use Illustrator and Photoshop, let me tell ya. But it was definitely worth it!

While I worked on writing the pattern, I had the quilt sitting, basted, for at least a week while I waited for inspiration to strike on how to quilt the dang thing. I felt like it needed something a little different, but I was fresh out of ideas. Finally, with the help of my awesome quilt consult(aka the hubs!), I came up with these random interlocking squares, set on point. I just used my 9 1/2” square and marked as I went along. I think it turned out pretty cool at least :)

Oh, and notice all these fantabulous pictures? They are courtesy of my incredibly awesome friend, Melanie, who offered to help me get some good shots. SHE is the one who pushed (and shoved) me to write this pattern(mostly because she wanted it, tee hee), and I am so glad she did!

Speaking of Miss Melanie, she is hosting a GIVEAWAY for me, starting today, to debut my pattern. So, head on over to The Crafty Cupboard if you want some free fabric(and a pattern!) to make your own Toss Up quilt :)

Oh, and in case you don’t want to make it yourself, I do have the quilt listed in the shop as well. At least for now. I still can’t decide if it wants to stay and live with me or not :)