Twinkle Little Star

There is a whole lotta quilting going on in the studio!  Good friends of ours are expecting their first child this fall, so I wanted to make an extra special gift for them & the baby.  It's a boy, which really forced me to think outside of the "pink zone"!

I immediately was drawn to my stash of reproduction prints, since they are great for babies & children.  There are lots of novelty motifs that can be incorporated & the colors are usually bright & cheerful.  Originally, I was going for a red, white & blue theme which is classic, but after digging out all my prints, I decided to throw in yellows, oranges & greeens as well. 

I wanted to incorporate a star design into the quilt, something simple, but would accomodate all the different colors.  I remembered that I had saved a copy of Stefanie's very sweet Charming Stars Quilt pattern & knew I could modify it into a baby quilt size.  So I decided on a 9 block version with white sashing.

Sweet Stars

This is still a WIP, but aren't they cute?  If you look close you can see puppies & ducks among the florals.  I really do love the mish mash of pattern & color against the white.  It's quite clean looking, & I think it will be even more tailored looking with the white sashing.  I had to cut all my 5" charms from FQs, but if you have charm packs on hand, this project goes together very quickly.  I will be sure to post more pics as I go along.  I am going to be hand quilting with some of the new Finca perle cottons - so this should be a really fun & colorful quilt once it's all togther!

Summer Love

I must admit, it's a bit harder to blog when summer arrives.  The sunshine, BBQs, visits with friends & family & nights around a fire all seem to take first priority.  Summer is too short right?  Well, here are a few highlights of what's currently going on in my studio.

A delivery of Finca Perle Cottons arrived last week!  Don't the candy colors look yummy?  These are all variegated, which blend beautifully in handstitching.  I plan on doing more handstitched quilts & will be eager to use these pretty threads.

I have also been restocking fat quarters for the store.  These new prints will be listed sometime this week, as well as some bunting & patchwork pillow kits.  There are also some new pillowcases that will be posted.

A little summer sewing as well.  This pillow reminds me of sorbet with all the bright colors & prints.  I used a chunky DMC variegated perle cotton for the handstitching.  I think it lends a bit of fun to the patchwork.

I would love to hear about any fun summer activities you have planned.  Is summer keeping you from your sewing machine or do you find more time for stitching during this time of year?