fat quarter baby blog tour!

The Fat Quarter Baby blog tour begins today! Fat Quarter Baby is the first baby quilt book by It's Sew Emma for Fat Quarter Shop. The book features 20 crib-sized quilts, perfect for baby... as well as for grown-up babies! There are ten quilts for baby girls, and ten quilts for baby boys. Any of them could easily be made larger by adding more blocks.

I chose to make "Laura" because it's full of STRAWBERRIES. I think that my strawberry fabric obsession is well documented. So here's Laura:

It's just five large, appliqued strawberries and four 4-patches. I knew right away that I'd be using Fog City Kitty and Sunrise Studio fabrics with all those ripe strawberries. So, I have strawberry printed strawberries - I think that makes these double strawberries? This quilt needs just 9 fat quarters, some background fabric and a tiny bit of accent fabric. You'll even have plenty of leftover fabric! (I think that I could probably have made two of these quilts with the unused fabric.)

My applique skill is still a work in progress, but I'm learning. Luckily, Lori Holt showed three applique techniques on her blog a few weeks ago. I opted for the lightweight, non-fusible Pellon method, and it was super easy. I even had fun making the strawberries!

I stitched them to the backing fabric by hand. I do like to just sit down and quietly stitch before bedtime. (Now if could just find somebody to thread those miniscule straw needles for me...ugh!) Or you could easily applique them by machine, too.

Add a few little speedily pieced stems and leaves and you're done!

"Laura" was a super-speedy quilt to make - it took me just a few days to piece and applique the top. 

Check out the other bloggers on the tour - in the next few days, they'll show you the other 19 quilts in the Fat Quarter Baby book. You'll want to make all of them! I'm also a bit partial to the whale and bowtie quilts for boys (in other words, I want my own bowtie quilt!), and the tiara quilt for girls. Get the whole scoop and links to the other bloggers on the Jolly Jabber blog here. The Fat Quarter Baby book is in stock and can be ordered here.  The fabrics that I used are Fog City Kitty by Pam Kitty Morning and Sunrise Studio by Holly Holderman. You'll find them all here by the yard. And finally, there will be a Laura quilt kit, featuring Fig Tree's upcoming collection, Strawberry Fields Revisited (I love this collection!). The kit will be available in January here. 

Thanks for visiting with me today! I'll be back on Wednesday with... my first published quilt pattern in Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Volume 12! I can't wait to share my block with you, and there will be a little giveaway, too.

for the frill of it

It's finally here! I am so excited that the new Pam Kitty Garden fabric has arrived!

How perfect is this? The colors and patterns seamlessly coordinate with all the previous collections by Pam Kitty Morning. But now she's added AQUA to the lineup. I love those cute little bluebirds with umbrellas. (I'm sure that they are singing in the rain.) And then there's the vintage seed catalog with an overprint of flowers and tiny strawberries. The plaid will be the perfect binding fabric. Pam Kitty Garden comes in two colorways, Aster (aqua/red/yellow) and Pansy (navy/pink/green).

Ok, so now what to make with it?

How about For The Frill Of It by It's Sew Emma?

This pattern features 9 dresses in two different styles - a wrap top and a sundress. Maybe if Diane Von Furstenberg made dresses in Pam Kitty Morning's fabric they would look like this. (Or maybe I'm just crazy, or perhaps I've been overly influenced by Diane's reality tv show "House of DVF" that just wrapped last week. Haha. Get it?)

Where was I before that digression?!

Oh, the other dress! It's a sundress.

As I was sewing the sundresses, I cracked up at how funny the partially completed blocks were... see, it looks like I was making something else, right?

I used a solid Kona White background for all my blocks. The plainness feels fresh right now. Most of my recent quilts have had print or white-on-white backgrounds.

I also really like how the navy prints help to cut the sweetness factor, and I used them sparingly.

The pattern is fully pieced, with stitch-and-flip corners. No triangles, no templates and no paper piecing either! I found that they were much easier than I had expected... especially the sundresses.

All nine dresses have been made, and now it's time to stitch them together into the top. I also need to order some fabric for the pieced border, once I figure out which prints to use!

Meanwhile, I'm already working on a second, secret project with more Pam Kitty Garden fabric! There are LOTS of half-square-triangles. Here's just a sneek peek. I'll have the full quilt to show you in late January.

Pam is also working on a few projects using her new fabric. Have you checked out her blog here? She always has something entertaining going on!

When I was writing this up, I discovered that Fat Quarter Shop has even created a kit for this same quilt, which will be available to ship in January. It has the same fabrics as mine, but different placement, and my border will probably be different colors. Or of course, you can use your stash and personalize your dresses.

In case we don't have a chance to talk tomorrow, Happy New Year! Have fun and be safe! I'll be at home watching tv - New Yorkers don't go anywhere near Times Square! I used to live on West 43rd Street, RIGHT THERE IN THE MIDDLE OF IT. Now I like seeing it... from afar! (The ball was installed today! Here it is!) 

Happy New Year!