Tanzania-Inspired Baby Quilt

What quilter doesn't love making baby quilts? I had so much fun making this one for my nephew and his wife. We have been obsessed with African animals since last fall, so we were thrilled that the parents-to-be chose animals as their nursery theme. Lorna McMahon of Sew Fresh Quilts launched her Elephant Parade Quilt Along at just the right time! 

You know I couldn't just follow the pattern. I had to tweak it just a little and add my own details. I pieced fewer blocks and added a cute border. 

Our memories of our Tanzanian safari were stitched into this baby quilt. There's nothing sweeter than a mama and baby elephant!

I had done all the piecing of this quilt on my vintage Featherweight. When it came time to embroider the eyes, I didn't want to switch to the Bernina, so I tried free motion embroidery on the FW. It worked! I'll show you how I did it very soon.

I went with yellow for the birds because I was already planning to use it in the border, and because we saw these cute birds everywhere.

By the way, the blue elephant below was pieced from fabric leftover from the wedding quilt. 

I simplified Lorna's flower pattern (and used orange fabric from the wedding quilt)...

... to mimic the fireball lily.

The leopard tortoise makes an appearance.

 The border print is Peek-a-Zoo by Timeless Treasures. After cutting the directional borders for the front, I didn't have enough left for the back.

 

Since I had to piece the back anyway, I figured I may as well make this a 2-sided quilt. I super-sized Lorna's adorable giraffe. One of the leaves is the label, with a space left blank for the baby's name.

 

When I saw the picture of Lorna's design, I told her it reminded me of my favorite view of giraffes on safari. They are so funny and beautiful!

Heidi is a beautiful mom-to-be. Mark is ready to go with his new burp cloths.

Great Grandma crocheted a beautiful baby blanket. Mollie is thinking, "Hey, that looks just like mine!"

 

They had a surprise for us, too! Great Grandma cut into the gender reveal cake to find she'll be 6 for 6 with girls. No great grandsons yet.

 

So there you have it. Washed in Ivory Snow, all crinkly and soft.

 

Elephant Parade

 Started 4/9/15

Completed 4/16/15

43 X 52" (after washing)

Designed by Lorna McMahon of Sew Fresh Quilts

Quilted Star Ornament Tutorial

 I have a quick tutorial for you today for simple fabric Christmas ornaments.

While I was decorating for Christmas, I decided to make a star garland from my old stash of African prints. The stars were so much fun to make, I thought I'd share the process with you. This is a great way to use up fabric and batting scraps.

 You will need some fabric scraps, batting scraps, ribbon for hanging or stringing, glue dots (or hot glue), shapes cut from freezer paper, pinking shears and a sewing machine.

I cut some 4" stars out of freezer paper using my Sizzix machine.  You can make any shape in any size. Press your freezer paper shapes onto a fabric scrap, leaving at least 1/2" between shapes.

Layer a piece of fabric (right side down), then some batting, and the fabric with shapes on top. Pin the layers together.

Using a slightly longer stitch length than normal, stitch around each shape, close to the edge of the freezer paper. (I'm working on the Featherweight because I dropped off the Bernina for service. Vacations are the perfect time to bring machines in for service!)

Overlap your beginning and ending stitches about 1" to lock the stitches, as indicated by the arrows below.

Clip the threads. Cut out the shape with pinking shears, about 1/8 - 1/4" away from the stitching line. I found it easier to see where to cut with the freezer paper still attached. 

Once the shape is cut out, remove the freezer paper.

Aren't they fun? I'm thinking about sewing together the bits and pieces to make scrappy stars.

I was trying to decide how to attach the stars to the ribbon and remembered I have lots of glue dots in my stash leftover from scrapbooking and Girl Scouts. 

The larger dots were perfect for the garland. You can just barely see it through the sheer ribbon at the top of the star.

I used two tiny dots to attach a ribbon for hanging an ornament.

If you don't have any glue dots handy, you can stitch or hot glue the ribbons. If you don't have pinking shears or a pinking blade for your rotary cutter, a straight cut will work just fine.

I'm still tweaking my Africa-theme Christmas mantle. The bows on the carved animals are causing some controversy in the family! Bill spent a year in Liberia when he was a kid. He bought the animals and his parents brought back the wall art made from barbed wire. 

You might not hear from me again for a couple of weeks. Bill and I are leaving soon to meet Julia in Tanzania. I suspect there will be more animals to add to the mantle, and there will certainly be lots of fabric to add to the stash! (Be on the lookout for a fabric giveaway before Christmas!) If I find a decent internet connection, I'll try to blog while we are away.

Baadai! 

(See you later)

Added 12/3/14: When I decorated the tree last night, I found this cute selvedge star. Apparently, I've made these stars before! This one is actually dated 2008. It was made in a quilt as you go style, stitching together the selvedges and quilting through the batting and backing all at once. If that makes no sense, I can clarify after the trip. I just wanted to show you another option for these ornaments.

Sweet 16!

Since this is supposed to be a quilting blog, I'll open with a quilt.

I made these tessellating stars from a fat quarter pack of African fabrics for Bill's office 6 years ago and haven't seen it since. I love how it looks on my yellow walls.


It came home for a visit to help decorate for Julia's birthday party.
I was pleased to see that I had done a really nice job on the quilting, and a little disappointed that my work has not really improved or changed much in 6 years. I need to work on that.


The party was a mother daughter open house to support African women. We sold Bead for Life jewelry and Zienzele baskets. Please visit their websites and do whatever you can to help. Women can make a difference in the world!


Speaking of women making a difference, we finally watched this documentary about the civil war in Liberia. Bill was living there in 1980 when the first coup took place and Liberians suffered through more than 20 years of unspeakable horrors. This is a very powerful film.


To quote the Today show, "on a lighter note," cupcakes!
The letters were die cut from Amy Butler paper and stuck on toothpicks with glue dots. So easy and cute!


Julia wanted to go to her favorite place on her birthday- Beavertail Lighthouse in Jamestown, RI. They love climbing on the rocks, and keeping up with Pete was quite a workout! He was testing out his new Merrill hiking boots. They work!


Our Sweet 16!
I can't tell you how I feel about my daughter, or I'd be sitting here in a huge puddle of tears! If you have been reading my blog, you already know how awesome she is.


I love these kids!


We packed a picnic lunch (OK, we picked up some subs!) and discovered this is the best place to play bocce! For the record, Pete and I kicked their butts.


The flowering trees are blooming in quick succession this year. Usually, only the PJM rhodies and magnolia are blooming for Julia's birthday. (Last year, they were almost 2 weeks late.) This year, the lilacs and crab apples are starting already!


We have another busy week ahead with Julia's Confirmation on Wednesday. I'll try to not let the whole week go by without another post. I'd like to show you some quilts from a local show last weekend.