So satisfying...

Quilting has taken back seat to all the usual summer fun this year, so I'm especially excited about this finish because it's been a while since I've had one.

My sweet nephew, Baby J, was born in April, right around when I was first working on this quilt. In a few days, the postman will be delivering this: 

I had it quilted at one of the local quilt shops here in town, the Bernina Sewing Center. I wanted a fairly simple pattern that wouldn't take away from the busy-ness of the fabrics, but that also had a modern feel. I really like how the pattern looks on the quilt!

An orangey-red dot is on the back, and I used the same fabric from the sashing for the binding.

Can't wait for this gift to arrive!
And next? Another niece was born last Friday. Looks like it's time to start another baby quilt!

April's Goal: Complete!

My April Lovely Year of Finishes Goal was to finish piecing the quilt top for my newest nephew (who was born since my last post about his quilt!). It looks like I'll get to meet him in about a month, and I can't wait! Not sure the quilt will be quilted by then...we'll see!

 It was a bit breezy while I was photographing it:

And then breezy turned to gusty:

But in between gusts, I caught this relatively flat shot:

I will happily admit that I love how this turned out! 

The original pattern from Kim Schaefer's Cozy Modern Quilts included an outer border slightly wider than the sashing, but I think I'm going to leave it off.  I'm not usually a fan of square quilts, but I think that for a baby/toddler quilt, it's just fine--I usually prefer rectangle quilts so that both my feet and my chest/shoulders can be covered, but that shouldn't be an issue for a little guy for a while!

And since you really can't see the sashing print in the full quilt pictures, I took a few close-ups.

It's not from the same line as the majority of the fabrics, which are Marcia Derse, but I think it works. And no, it's not barbed wire. :) More of a loopy scribble. It's from Michele D'Amore's Urbanicity collection for Benartex. It is directional, so I cut the sashing strips with that in mind. And I only sewed one strip on upside down!

I admit my ulterior motive at these close-up photos--the quilt colors looked great on a 13-year-old piece of Ikea furniture that I repainted this weekend. Goodbye, dull, pale gray; hello, beautiful teal! 

Now to decide on my May goal!

p.s. Linking up with A Year of Lovely Finishes and Quilt Story's Fabric Tuesday.

April Goal: Quilt for My New Nephew!

It's the first week of April, and time to name my April goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes. I had an easy decision this month--my newest nephew will be here before the end of the month. I'm having the quilt machine quilted by someone else, so my goal is to piece the top.

The nursery is gray and navy, and my sister-in-law: a) didn't want the quilt to be real cutesy or baby-ish, and b) wanted to be surprised rather than having input on the fabric/design. Works for me! 

I had a hard time finding "the" perfect fabric. Then, two weeks ago, I ran into Marcia Derse's fabrics at Patched Works in Milwaukee. I've been drooling over her designs for several years but hadn't ever purchased any. My search was over! I love it. It is definitely not baby-ish. I hope she loves it, though I've told her that it's pretty far out there, as far as a baby quilt, and made her promise that if she didn't like she'd tell me (cause I'd happily keep it myself and make her something else!).

I also bought a quilt book that day, which I rarely do. Much of the time, I like to either do my own thing or work loosely off a pattern. But when I saw Kim Schaefer's new book, Cozy Modern Quilts, I fell in love. There are many quilts in it I'd love to make, so it was worth the purchase!

Here's the quilt I picked, and I already have my fabric cut! Woo hoo! Can't wait to see it come together.   And then the bonus--meeting my new nephew!