What else can you do with a Half Pack Kit?

 Well, we have several other patterns that also require 5 half yard cuts of fabrics. The pattern used here is called Baby Links and I used the Maple Woods Half Pack Kit for the sample, but ANY Half Pack Kit would make this quilt.

Note: Every Half Pack Kit comes with a Half Pack Pattern, so if you decide to order one please let me know which Half Pack pattern you would like included with your kit. The Baby Links pattern is a separate purchase, but binding would be included in the Half Pack Kit because Baby Links only requires 4 half yards for the quilt top, the fifth half yard is your binding fabric. This pattern makes a smaller quilt than any of the Half Pack Patterns. The finished size of Baby Links is 39" by 43".

To view all of the Half Pack Kits and Patterns click the following links: Half Pack Kits, Half Pack Pattern Gallery

To view the Baby Links Pattern, click here.

Animal Cracker Quilt :: A Finish

 I have another finish!

I used the blue version of the monkeys print for the back.

I made up several kits for this quilt if you want to make one too. The Animal Crackers Quilt Kit is $59.99 plus applicable tax and shipping. The kits include all of the fabrics for the top plus the binding fabric and the pattern, with my corrections to it as it includes an error as printed. But my kits included the corrected pattern!

If you click the link to view the kit there are other links in the product description to the exact fabric I used on the back AND a link to all of the Animal Crackers fabrics I have left in stock.

Boxed Up :: A Finish

 This one took me a while to quilt. I used rulers for the whole thing. It took so long because I didn't get a chance to work on it for over a week. Too busy with other things at the shop!

Here is another photo of it without shadows.

The pattern is called Boxed Up. Its a Cluck, Cluck Sew pattern - which means it is a good one. This is the crib/baby size and finishes at 48" by 58". The fabric collection I used for this is called Swatch.

Here is a close up view so you can see the quilting better.

I used my Westalee 2" circle template and a straight ruler on my Bernina Q20.

Fun Baby Quilt Pattern

 I found a free pattern online from one of the fabric companies and decided it would make a great baby quilt kit. Whenever I use a free pattern for a kit, I always make one first. I'm sure glad I have that rule because this pattern had a pretty major cutting error in it!

It turned out pretty cute though once I figured out why things weren't fitting together as they should! Because of the error, I don't have this ready for sale yet. I have to fix the pattern first and make sure that the fabric requirements listed are correct too! I'm not going to share a link to the pattern because I don't recommend it as it is written. Once I fix it up though, it will be better than the original and I am going to include some recommended short cuts to make this even easier to piece. The binding will be the red fabric that frames all of the animal print squares.

The kits I sell will have the corrected pattern in them. I'll let you know when they are ready for sale. The pattern says this should finish at 39" by 48", but I haven't measured mine. And, I didn't take the time to do all the arithmetic to figure out is that is correct or not, but it's close to correct.

Dinosaur Quilts by Corky

 One of my customers, Corky, has been making dinosaur quilts. She found a pattern online, Dinosaur Quilt.

She modified the pattern by changing the half-square triangles to prairie points for the bumps along the spine of the dinosaur. 

Corky is currently visiting family in Alamosa and she is staying in an RV with limited space. She brought both of these quilts into the shop to use our classroom area to baste the quilts together with their backing and batting so she can quilt them while she is here. All of the fabrics used for both of these she purchased from my shop.

Baby Quilt

 File this one under "done is better than perfect."

I should have taken more time in squaring up the top after quilting to get the design centered better. Oh well! 

This is part of a baby mat panel that I have in my shop. I cut off the left side with the numbers because I wanted it to be just a quilt. I free-motion quilted it myself on my new Q20 using an all-over swirls motif. 

Here is what the whole thing looks like. It's about 42" by 54" off the bolt.

The idea of this baby mat is that you can put baby in the center on the right hand side and then use something like an embroidery hoop to mark the age of the baby when the photo was taken.

This is great for the mom who loves to photograph her baby every month. You don't even need to quilt it!

Quilt for Baby

 I have gotten a bit behind in some shop sample sewing. I've had this panel for far too long without sewing up a sample.

The panel is large, 36" by 60". I had the entire panel quilted by my long arm quilter then I cut off the two smaller blocks at the bottom. I plan to turn those into pillows. I squared up the top portion and added binding for a super quick and adorable baby quilt.

A baby quilt doesn't get much easier than this! Mine finishes at about 35" by 45". You could also add a simple border before quilting if you wanted it to be a bit bigger. I still have quite a few of the prints from this collection in stock, Zoology Fabrics.

Funny Farm Quilt Top

I'm in design mode - designing some panel quilts. This is the first one. The fabric line is Funny Farm.

This is a panel we've had in the shop for a few months, but I'm just now getting around to designing a project for it. The quilt will finish at about 40" by 52".

I got a couple of Christmas panels to work on next. I have one of the quilts designed but haven't had a chance to make it. That is high on the list for this week. The other one is still in the planning stage.

Noah's Story

One of the shop samples I mentioned in my last post is this one.

This adorable fabric line arrived recently. The quilt is cute and easy. The center is not pieced. It's not a true panel but functions as one for this pattern.

Fun with ABCs :: Fastest Quilt Ever!

My shop recently received some cute kid prints.

Included with the line is the adorable panel.

The panel is 36" by width of fabric. So I took a panel home along with a backing fabric and binding. This was one of the easiest and fastest kid quilts I've ever made. I quilted it simply by outlining the blocks and going around the "tape measure" border.

It took me a little over an hour to baste and quilt it! Seriously, I brought it home Saturday afternoon after the shop closed at 3 pm. I had the thing done before dinner. I sewed the binding on after dinner. 

It finished at 36" by 42" which I think is a great size for a kid or baby quilt.

For the back I choose the squares print from the line and I used the letters on black for the binding. These are the first and second prints on the left in the first photo of this post.

 It's ready to hang at the shop!

Sweet Meadow Quilt :: A Finish

This was a quick sew. The fabric arrived in my shop a week ago. We promptly cut kits and I got it pieced the same day.

The center is a panel which really speeds up the process. The quilting was also fast since I chose to do a simple all-over meander. 

The back looks great too.

The entire quilt is flannel and it is oh so soft! It measures about 41" by 48".

Moda Love

I came across the Moda Love pattern a few months ago. My Moda sales rep. gave me a charm pack of the new Flow line which will be arriving in the next few weeks. I decided it was a good opportunity to make a Moda Love quilt.

I used a couple of Crossweave Wovens, also from Moda, for the background and the turquoise second border. I will also use the turquoise as binding.

The pattern is only for the center. It only uses 30 charms and makes a 32" by 32" finished size block. I wanted my quilt to be a bit larger so I added a 2.5" cut size border of the background fabric. Then a 2.5" cut size border of the turquoise. And finished it off with the rest of the squares from the charm pack and more of the background fabric. The finished size of my quilt will be about 48.5" by 48.5".

The pattern includes directions for three sizes. The largest uses a layer cake. The smallest uses a mini charm pack. I made the middle size which uses a charm pack.

Raggy Squares and AQC Update

I made up a cute sample for some kits we will carry for Raggy Baby Quilts. I'm calling it Raggy Squares.

Here it is before washing.

And here it is after washing and drying.

Super simple since I cut the squares using the Accuquilt die that cut the fringes. Took about 3 hours to cut and sew. The washed quilt measures 34" by 41" which is a good baby quilt size.

Alamosa Quilt Company Update:

My shop opened last Monday! We had a good first week and reached the milestone of emptying the first bolt.

My Baby Quilt

My LQS is having a Baby Quilt Show. I needed a photo of a baby quilt to advertise the show so I dug out this quilt.

My mom did the embroidery while she was in college. Her mom and a friend assembled the blocks into a quilt and finished it. Then mailed it to me in Hawaii when I was born. The quilt was never really used except as a decoration so it is still in great shape. It is a treasure!

Changing the subject, Miss Spooky Boo is finally starting to feel better. She started eating some and drinking last Friday, the day after our trip to the vet. Up until yesterday she was still sleeping all but an hour or so a day. Yesterday she went out several times and even disappeared for a couple of hours. Shew! She sure had me worried! We still have quite a few days left of daily antibiotic. Hopefully it will kill what is ailing her.

A Finish for Friday

My Impromptu girl version is finished!

I used my version of the Flower Design from the book Free Motion Quilting with Angela Waters, pages 67 and 68.

For the back I used some floral fabrics from my stash.

The finished quilt measures 47" by 62". I hope to make the boy version of this quilt at my upcoming retreat at the end of the month. I've had all the squares picked out and the backing fabric ready to go for a couple of months now.

The pattern is Impromptu by Rachel Griffin. My brief review of the pattern along with the link to Rachel's online store can be found by following this link.

Hoping to Have a Finish by Friday

I'm quilting my Impromptu quilt. The link will take you to my post showing the finished top along with the pattern information.

Impromptu Girl Quilt

I purchased a new pattern recently, Impromptu by Rachel Griffin. Click here to go to Rachel's store where you can get your own copy of the pattern.

The pattern calls for a layer cake and some yardage for background. I had a layer cake laying around with no assigned purpose and thought this pattern looked like a good use for it. The pattern makes a pretty large quilt, 90.5" by 90.5" finished. I didn't want to make something that large, so I just made fewer blocks.

I sorted the fabrics in the layer cake into three piles: girl fabrics, boy fabrics and gender neutral. This is the "girl" version. It is about 47" by 62" prior to being quilted.

The pattern is well written and easy to follow. A good pattern for a beginner or anyone who'd like to make a good size quilt pretty quickly. It's a great use for a layer cake or any fabric you'd like to highlight by using large pieces rather than cutting it really small.

The "boy" version will get assembled at some point in the near future.

Quilting Zig Zags

I am trying to quilt and finish at least one of the many tops I have completed.

I chose to work on this one because I had the backing fabric already and a piece of batting large enough. I also knew how I wanted to quilt it. I'm using Bernie to quilt this one because it is small and I'm doing lines.

The center is done. I'm now working on the two long sides and taking the quilting into the side border. Quilting lines is not fast, but it also isn't hard. It is easy to quilt a couple of lines in between other tasks, which is how this one is getting finished - slowly but surely, one line at a time.