First Birthday Quilt

Zoe's quilt and pillowcase finished April 2019

by Alisa

Mom and I made a quilt for my niece Zoe's first birthday. It features Love You! fabrics from Sandy Gervais for Moda and a sweet custom tag from Border City Quilts. I designed and pieced the top and turned it over to Grammy for sashing, custom machine quilting, binding and a matching pillowcase!

The quilt is a  modification of the free Criss Cross Quilt pattern by Monique Jacobs for Bluprint in the Crib/Lap size. There is a great video tutorial available from Angela Waters of The Midnight Quilt Show. I really enjoyed making this pattern, it was very forgiving. I had to trim the columns a bit narrower than recommended, but it didn't impact the overall design at all.

For the top, I used a jelly roll from Love You! by Sandy Gervais for Moda along with 1 extra 2 1/2" strip from each of Love You Arrows Aqua and Love You Arrows Multi yardage. The top and bottom borders and the backing are 2 yards of Bella Solids yardage in White Bleached. The binding is cut from a yard of Love You Small Hearts Lipstick yardage. Batting is Warm and Natural from Warm Company.

Mom made the coordinating pillowcase from her Burrito-style holiday pillowcases tutorial using the Love You collection fabrics: Arrows Aqua, Arrows Multi and Small Hearts Lipstick.

Zoe turns one in May, we hope she likes her quilt!

Birdhouse baby quilt

27 x 37-inch baby quilt with Tracy Lizott'e "Housing Boom" panel made by Linda Theil, January 2019

by Linda Theil

I recently completed this 27 x 37-inch baby quilt using the "Housing Boom" panel from Tracy Lizotte's Beautiful Birds collection for Elizabeth's Studio LLC Patt #4319 (2016) Available on Amazon.

Closeup of "Housing Boom" panel from Tracy Lizotte's Beautiful Birds
collection for Elizabeth's Studio LLC Patt #4319.

The 2-inch sashing is white-on-white, and cornerstones are fussy-cut from the overall bird-print #4310 in the same collection. 

Binding is also cut from the overall bird print, #4310. Since it is a baby quilt that will be laundered frequently, I used machine stitching to secure the binding. 

Quilting is also machine stitched following piecing lines.

Note: The individual birdhouses are not printed square, and so care must be taken to square up each birdhouse and not simply add one-quarter-inch to each side of the printed image.

Solomon's Square Stars

Anita Solomon's "Make It Simpler Star Variation/Square Star" block
 pieced and hand quilted by Linda Theil 2018-2019

by Linda Theil

I took Anita Grossman Solomon's class, "Make It Simpler Star Variation/Square Stars", on March 27, 2018, hosted by the Western Michigan Quilters Guild in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Anita Grossman Solomon, Wyoming MI March 27, 2018.
Photo credit: Linda Theil

Solomon is a New York-based designer and teacher who is known for her innovative approach to piecing. I was introduced to her work in 2011 when I took a class based on her "Arrowhead" block from her book Rotary Cutting Revolution (C&T Publishing, 2010).

I posted an article, "Arrowhead quilt block from Solomon's Rotary Cutting Revolution" , about that class in August, 2011. I think she is a genius and I was thrilled to have the opportunity to take her "Square Star" class last winter.

I don't think that her method of making a "Square Star" block appears in any of her books, but she has an online class titled "Quick Techniques for Classic Blocks: Wrenches, Stars & Twists" available on Bluprint (formerly Craftsy). There is a fee to take this class; I think the cost is $8 for a one-month Bluprint membership.

In the Grand Rapids class, Solomon insisted our fabrics be heavily starched. I had never done this before and was astonished by how much easier handling and sewing became with these stiff pieces. My fabrics were selections from the "Daily Zen" collection by Michele D'Amore for Benartex, and cuts from a fat quarter collection of cream and indigo batiks.

Anita Solomon's "Square Star" block made by cutting a square-on-point block
 into nine pieces,and reassembling into star configuration

More "Square Star" configurations including a single-color red star
and white star in second row of samples

I made more blocks the week after my class and put them up on my design board.

Twelve stars on design board, ready for piecing

But, I didn't get around to piecing and quilting for another nine months, until after Christmas this year. I took about a week to piece and sash, quilt and bind. At some point I added the yellow center to one of the blocks.

Pieced "Square Star" quilt with 2-inch sashing (blocks are 8-inch square, finished)

I added a 1.5-inch red border and a two-inch blue indigo border, then added another two inch piece to both of the short ends of the quilt.

Pieced "Square Star" quilt with1/5-inch red border and 2-inch blue border

I was going to do machine quilting, but changed my mind and quilted the piece using ivory #8 perle coton to match the backing.

Hand quilting using #8 perle coton

Finished "Square Star" quilt, hand-quilted and bound with indigo batik.

I really enjoy Solomon's inspiration and ideas. She has produced a magnificent body of work to explore and enjoy. I also really like this quilt.

UPDATE: February 15, 2019

This post has been edited at Anita Grossman Solomon's request. She offers readers free patterns on her website at Make it Simpler; she offers this new free pattern at:
http://www.robertkaufman.com/quilting/quilts_patterns/splish_splash/

Jelly Roll Race Throw Quilt with Storage Bag

by Alisa

In 2016 I purchased supplies to make a quilt for a coworker. When she announced her retirement in the summer of 2018 it was finally time to get to work!

The quilt is a throw-size Jelly Roll Race-style with angled seams. These two YouTube tutorials were my guides:  START YOUR ENGINES! Jelly Roll "Drag Race" Quilt by Jordan Fabrics and Jelly Roll Race 3.0 by Missouri Star Quilt Company.

The fabric from Sarah J Maxwell for Marcus Fabrics Primo Batiks in Desert Sky is no longer available. What I used was: one jelly roll in Desert Sky, 1 yard of the Desert Sky Dot Roses Greenish Gold yardage for the binding and 4 yards Desert Sky Spiral Motifs Navy/Multi yardage for the backing and binding.

The quilt was machine quilted and hand-bound by Material Obsession Long Arm Quilting Studio in Tecumseh, MI.

The custom label is from Border City Quilts on Etsy.

I am very happy with how the throw quilt turned out but my favorite detail of the gift was the reversible storage bag I made to go with it.

I used the method demonstrated in How to Make a Storage Bag Any Size by Sew Very Easy. I used  one 19"x40" cut from each of the border and backing fabrics I used for the quilt, plus 2 yards of twill tape. My bag had 1.5" box corners and a deeper top ruffle than suggested. The bag held the folded 11"x12" throw.

The throw and bag made a great gift that my friend was thrilled to receive.