Breagha's Lollipop Quilt

It all started with Moda's Lollipop charm packs by Sandy Gervais........I ended up buying 7 of these from Ebay.  I just love this designer and especially loved the Lollipop series.

Then came the decision of how to use the charm packs (and I only ended up using four of them to make this quilt).  I decided on Eleanor Burns "Tossed Nine Patch" pattern which uses five inch squares.

And this is the end result.  A perfect pattern to showcase all the fabrics in this line.  The quilt finished at 54 inches square, a perfect size for little fingers to drag across the floor or for a little person to snuggle under. 

I did not back this quilt in flannel.  I desperately needed a break from the "flannel" backings.  I backed this in a very soft, natural muslin fabric. 

Breagha's little stack of quilts is growing and although she is under the age of 2, it will be interesting to see which quilts will be her favorites as she gets older.  Grandma plans to ensure she has a good collection before that happens.

Breagha's Newest Quilt

This quilt was made for my little grandaughter to use when she goes to the park or for a picnic.  My daughter has been using a very old quilt for this purpose and I simply can't have my grandaughter sitting on something "old". 

The cat in this picture does not belong to us.  He lives next door but likes to come over every single day - even going so far as to sleeping over almost every night.  I guess you could say he does live here, lol.  He is a quilt lover himself and has to do a "test run" on every quilt that is made.

Back to the quilt......I used my Go Baby to cut the squares, which measure 2" when cut, 1 1/2 inches when sewn.  I initially thought the fabric reminded me of crayon colors but when my daughter, Michelle, saw it, she said it was pink and rainbow colors.....and I liked that alot better.  I handquilted flowers on the white centers and again, Michelle wanted a change, she thought using colored quilting threads for the flowers would make them "pop".  So I gathered up all the quilting threads I had and did the flowers in a variety of yellow, pink, red, burgundy, green and blue.  The squares were handquilted in pale pink, in the ditch. 

It really does make the center flowers stand out, colors were used randomly throughout .

Backed the quilt in flannel. (Yes, I know, for someone who doesn't like flannel, Breagha's quilts are almost all flannel!!!!) The binding was done in yellow as well.

It's a lovely yellow with bright green frogs. 

So, that's one more quilt done for Breagha.  Next stop is the post office to have it shipped over to Scotland.  It should arrive in time for a spring outing......

Breagha's Scrap Quilt

This past Mother's Day my husband told me to go ahead and order one of these awesome little machines.

Of course, when I placed my order, they were already sold out so I had to wait two full weeks........oh, what a difficult time that was.

As soon as it was delivered, I pulled all my small pink scrap pieces and all the plain white I could find.  I had Breagha's quilt cut in no time flat - what an awesome little machine, especially for using all those scrap pieces that a person can never throw away but can't be bothered with. 

So, this was the end result:

This is truly a scrap quilt.  The batting was pieced together as well as the backing.  The only piece that didn't come from scraps is the pink binding. 

Breagha will be arriving from  Scotland in just three more days and her grandma has a few quilts waiting for her. 

Breagha's Surprise Quilt

I ordered two kits for the Sunshine Girl Quilt that I had planned on making for Breagha as soon as I finished her Sunbonnet Sue Quilt.

I had never used a "quilt kit" before so I was surprised to learn that the fabric had to be cut - I just assumed the pieces would be precut.  Took all the strips and cut them from 2 1/2" to 1 1/2", which took me more than a day to do.  Then I quickly did up a sample block to see how this would turn out. 

Here is the sample block.  Pattern indicated you could either sew the strips perfectly or make the block "wonky".  Well, I tried for perfect and ended up with wonky and as far as I was concerned, it was too wonky for my taste.  So here I sat with two kits, all the fabric cut to 1 1/2" strips and I wasn't about to carry on with the Sunshine Girl pattern.

So, I did the only thing I could think of with these strips.  Cut more strips of plain white fabric and this is the result

I did a log cabin quilt and I love, love, love it.  Total of 132 blocks - 11 x 12.  Each block contains 13 pieces for a grand total of 1,716 pieces of fabric sewn together.  Bordered it in white and use a red binding.  The red binding fabric matches the tiny red center of each and every block. 

Backed the quilt in a white flannel with tiny pink dots on it.  I can not believe how many flannel backings I have used making quilts for Breagha.    I handquilted the entire quilt, each and every piece and then the white border is surrounded with handquilted hearts, wrapping it up with love.

This quilt will be waiting for Breagha when she comes to visit her Grandma at the end of June.  I haven't told my daughter, Michelle, what I did with the kits other than I changed the pattern.  We refer to it as the "Surprise Quilt" and even though it is a Log Cabin, it will be, forever, known as Breagha's Surprise Quilt.

Closer View

Connecting Threads - Order #4

I simply can not get enough fabric from Connecting Threads.  This order arrived this morning and what is particularily interesting is the new line called "My Little Farm". This was ordered because there is a little girl (Breagha) who might really like the animals in these prints. 

Connecting Threads - Order #3

Canada Post just delivered my third order from Connecting Threads.  I can't say enough about this company.......the shipping costs are so low and the quality of fabric is wonderful.  This shipment contained 18 yards of new fabric - gotta love it!!!!

Breagha's Sunbonnet Sue Quilt

Put the last stitches in this quilt last night, laundered it this morning and have it packed up and ready to ship to Scotland. 

There is no flannel backing on this quilt - I used a natural cotton.  The binding caused me no end of grief - I always have such a difficult time choosing the color for the binding.  Before even starting this quilt, I had decided on a pink binding but when I finished it, I desperately wanted to bind it in orange.  Don't ask me why - I have no idea what goes on in my own mind.  However, I stuck to my original plan and bound it in pink.  This was one of those quilts that left me feeling so very sad when it was completed.  I had such fun making this for Breagha and involved her mother along the entire "quilting process".  The excitment is now to get it posted and off to Scotland.

There is alot of handquilting in this quilt - the only part I didn't touch was the actual Sunbonnet Sues. 

Spring is finally arriving and that will put an end to quilting for a few months.  I plan on sewing in the next few months but nothing compared to the activity that goes on during our long, cold winters.  I also plan on visiting Connecting Threads often in the months ahead so I have lots of fabric to add to my overflowing stash.