I've Heard the Birds Singing for a Year

I just love this collection of fabric prints from Riley Blake's collection called Summer Song 2.  It's been singing to me for two summers now, meaning I started it last year.

That's okay though because I've been putting off the quilting part until I became better at free motion machine quilting.  This is the biggest quilt I've machine quilted and I'm pretty happy with it.



The beginning: sewing strips together.

Cutting the strips into squares.

Laying out the rows how you like. My bed is the only surface I have big enough for this except for the floor. My back and knees tell me, " Please, NO MORE FLOORS! "

Sewing white strips in between. It's really easy. 

Piecing the rows together and labeling them. 

It's coming together. 

A year has passed before I felt comfortable enough to machine quilt this beauty. One step at a time, right? And take your time.

Finished in two days rather than rush to finish in one.  Goodnight quilt. 

Not many people like to do this, but I love to do the binding. 

Embarrassment! Yes, it's been in storage since last summer. But, good things come to those who wait, right? 

Viola! Finally finished. I just love the colors. If I had a grand daughter I would not be parting with it. 

Can you picture a young girls room with this laying over her bed? In a field for a picnic? On a fort floor? Or just curled around her to keep her warm? 

I call it Pinkalicious because the colors that stands out to me are the delicious pinks. They remind me  of ice cream, pink flowers, funny pink birds,  and pink cotton candy. Yes, summer it is.

 

I love this picture on the rail fence with Vroman's Nose in the background. The greens of summer and the blue sky are truly a wonderful background for this quilt.

Lessons learned: 

1. I've mentioned before how I enjoy using jelly rolls. The ease in which they go together is wonderful.  I have learned, however, there is more to quilting than strips. I will experiment with more designs when I can. 

2. My greatest learning experience from this quilt came from the year long wait. I knew I wanted to machine quilt this with stipples, or meanders, but I just wasn't ready. I wasn't totally confident when I started to do this, but once I started and relaxed my neck and shoulder muscles, the process became much easier. 

This 60x60 quilt is for sale. Visit my FB page at From One Twenty Seven for more information. 

Thanks for visiting on this beautiful sunny day. 

Finally! Mother's Day and Father's Day Quilts

I'm finally able to post the quilts I made for Mother's Day and Father's Day.  We all lead such busy lives and it's hard to catch up with the people you love, no matter how hard you try.
The following quilts were made because of a need to give the people I love a piece of what I love to do: create with fabric.

For the Moms

I made three lap quilts from kits I bought from Craftsy. They are the French General fabrics from Moda. This is such a versatile kit, no matter how you put it together, it looks great.  I'm lucky enough to have 3 moms: Rita, Chari and Janet.  I started making these in February and finished the three in April. I was able to give it to two Moms on Mother's Day, but it took until August to catch up with the other mom. All were so excited to receive these. I hope they will enjoy them for a long time.

We have a beautiful covered bridge in the county I thought would be a good place to take some photos of the quilts.  A number of people stopped by and complimented me on the quilts. 

And One for Dad

He's always put his kids before himself. Whether it be sports, fishing, hunting, etc.. he would teach his boys  the essentials and instill a love of the outdoors and  being active . I hope this quilt  will always remind him how much he means to  his boys. 

I tried to choose what he loves: fishing, golf, and hunting. When he goes south for the winter, I hope this lap quilt will keep him warm on those chilly nights. ( Yes, FLA does have some cold weather) 

I hope each of you love the pieces of me I made for you. Love you all!

This post is linked to Making Monday, Free Motion by the River, Quilt Story, Let's Be Social, Main Crush Monday, My Quilt Infatuation, Fabric Frenzy Friday, and Can I get a Whoop Whoop. Click on the links on the left sidebar to visit each site. 

Not a Throwback Thursday, but a Throwback from Four Years

Four years ago I made these crate seats as an option for student
seating in my classroom. Since then I've been asked many times if I would make these seats for others. My answer has always been: I've provided the directions to make them at http://fromonetwentyseven.blogspot.com/2012/08/crate-seats-and-storage.html and they are really easy to make.  This is also the most looked at post on this blog. :)

This year I decided to make a few more of these seats for myself because, for some reason, the kids love them.  I  also created two online stores this summer, one is at MyBigCartelt http://fromonetwentyseven.bigcartel.com/ and the other is a Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/fromonetwentyseven/. I like the idea of the FB page because it allow you to send me a message of what you want and I can respond with options and prices.

The crates I made this year are a basic blue with a cotton blue stripe, padded top. These are very durable and sturdy , contrary to what my better half thinks.  If you are interested in purchasing one, a set, or more of the crates, head on over to my FB page, request friendship ( I'll respond as soon as I can) and then send me a message of what you would like. We can discuss color options, prices, and delivery then. :)

Lessons Learned:

1. Sometimes the easiest thing for me to make is difficult for other. I shouldn't assume just because I can do it others can. This applies to many, many parts of my life and others.

What do you think about these crates? I would love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks for visiting  This and That from One Twenty Seven.