I’m not sure if I’m more excited to show off my new fence or this quilt. Seriously, the fence color is spectacular and I hope to keep it that way. Hello Luscious baby quilt is stunning in itself and looks lovely against the fence.
The quilting was done with my walking foot. I didn’t venture or brave using my darning foot. Maybe I should have, but the results are still wonderful.
To get rid of the blue chalk I had to wash the quilt 3 times. So much crinkly goodness once it came out of the dryer. I’m adoring this quilt. Backing fabric is also from my stash and coordinates really well.
Hello Luscious was way more girly than I remembered, but this quilt really balances it out. Now it’s time to send it to it’s new home.
This may be a fun pattern to try in more neutral or boy’s colors too. Hmmm…
It’s Friday, Earth Day, and the weekend is about to begin. Do you have any big plans? None really here except some yard work. Our gorgeous new fence needs some flower boxes to adorn it. Bust out the power tools and let’s get creative.
Another finish to share as part of the April Showers series for a little boy who’s nursery has an outdoors theme. Even better that I’m sharing this quilt on Earth day. Luckily for me I had enough blocks left over from P’s new quilt to make a smaller baby version. Toddler Bedroom Makeover reveal coming soon. Seriously need to clean up that disaster of a room.
Notice the Sugar Pop backing again? I still have enough in my stash for another backing. That may be the most of one print I have bought in a while.
Do you have a go to backing for quilts?
Of course I bound in a solid color. Over the years that has become my signature binding? Signature may not be the correct word there, but MOST of my quilts have a solid binding. Maybe trend is better? I would love your input in the comments.
For now this quilt lives in Denver and is currently being snuggled by a new baby.
Updated as of March 2024. Lots of traffic from this post still on the blog. I love a scrappy Irish chain quilt for a baby shower.
Scrappy Irish Chain may be a new favorite for me. Maybe it is the simplicity of the blocks or the overall scrappy look. The baby has arrived. It’s a BOY!
In the card to the parents I included this story about the quilt.
After I finished quilting we went to a wings and pizza place nearby. I bound the quilt while at dinner. I tried my best not to get wing sauce on the quilt. While the quilt survived our dinner, my hope is that it’s used and gets lots of stains in it’s life.
For the backing, I dug deep into my stash. The print is from the Taxi line from 2009?
Hubby helped me pick out the binding. Red or blue were the top choices. Red won and looks great on the quilt.
Instead of just straight lines I tried a more of the square and rectangle free motion quilting.
Look for another scrappy Irish chain in the future.
The tutorial to make these blocks can be found over at Sew Mama Sew. Beyond excited to finally share my secret sewing and this gorgeous quilt. Lots of contrast and bold colors. Click on the photo below for the tutorial.
There were blocks of leftover from this quilt and I wanted something that could go with the quilt as well. A pillow cover is a great way to use the rest of the fabric and have a coordinating piece.
Materials Needed:
9 leftover blocks (can be random or not)
Scrap piece of batting 18″ x 22″
Any fat quarter or scrap of fabric 18″ x 22″
1/4 yard of remaining fabrics
Thread
Scissors
Rotary cutter and cutting mat
Safety and straight pins
Layout of Blocks:
For the pillow I opted to use the aqua, yellow and teal remaining blocks as pictured below.
Piece the blocks together. Press bottom and top row towards the middle block. Press center row away from the center block. This will help the rows nest into each other.
Piece the rows together and press all the seams in one direction.
Layer your scrap fat quarter, add the batting, and then the top. Trim the top as needed. Pin paste the quilt sandwich prior to quilting. I prefer doing this so the pillow top doesn’t fray with use and washing.
Quilt as desired. I chose a pattern with simple lines as you can see the back of my pillow top.
The backing of the pillow was made in an envelope style pillow cover. Cut the 1/4 yard in half at the fold of the fabric. You will now have two 9″x22″ sections. Starting on one side, finger role the edge over and press as you move along. Do not burn your finger, it does not feel good.
Fold over and press again as pictured below.
Topstitch the hem on both pieces.
As you arrange these strips for the back, they should overlap each other by at least one inch. You can do more if you have wider fabric. Lay these fabrics right side up.
Lay the quilted pillow top face down onto the overlapping strips. Pin everything together. I put a couple of extra pins at the overlap so I know to backstitch in that area while sewing.
Sewing a 1/4 inch seam all the way around the pillow.
Backstitch in the corners and the overlap as noted above. After going around the entire square with your seam, trim off any excess fabric from the backing. Flip the pillow cover right side out and push corners out.
Insert pillow and enjoy.
The arrows going towards each other is by accident. Not because I’m great at planning.
If you happen to make a project with the tutorial share with the hashtag #charmingplusquilt.
It’s been a hectic few weeks around the Nagel household. Birthdays, work events, and some secret sewing that I can share on Friday. This Friday, March 18th. I’m beyond excited and hope you enjoy what I’m sharing.
The Scrappy Ohio Stars quilt has been done for three weeks and I haven’t really had time to sit down and write about it. It’s enjoying it’s new home and being put to use.
This quilt has become one of my favorites. The secondary pattern the Ohio Star creates looks like a Buffalo Check. Thanks Katie for that mention, now I can’t un-see it. It’s not a bad thing, just my eyes are drawn to that now. So many fabrics from past projects and Rachael’s too. Notice all the polka dots? That is a Rachael signature pattern.
After finishing this quilt I had about a fat eighth of Kona White left in my stash. I dug deep to find some white scraps that could work. The binding is super old and one of the first modern fabrics I bought in 2010ish. For quilting I kept it simple with straight lines, typical me. To be honest I traded this quilt with a friend for a keg of craft beer. I wanted to finish quickly at the sewing retreat and move on the next project. Plus, it went to a guy, he’s probably not going to notice the quilting.
Rachael and I did a quick photo shoot of the two finished quilts together. Not advisable on a windy afternoon as the quilts almost flew off into the ravine. Luckily, Rachael is a quilt wrangler and the quilts were saved.
When I get requests for custom quilts I try to do something a little different with the layout and design. This recent finish is no exception. As I mentioned in my first post, the mom is a dancer. I wanted something that had movement and some negative space. I wanted the quarter square triangles to move.
My original thought was blocks tumbling into each other across the quilt. As I began to layout the quilt, it ended up looking a bit more like a sideways pyramid. I left it alone for a couple of days and then decided to add in some blocks dropping into the pyramid from across the quilt. Think an hourglass filling up.
Piecing this took some time. Yes, I could have cut strips of the gray to put into the quilt, but I probably would have botched that. Not much yardage left on the bolt of this color and I wanted to make sure I had enough to finish. Lots of starch was used to keep the seams laying flat.
For quilting I wanted to replicate a dancer moving across a stage. I started with semi cicles around the border and went from there. Arch here to here moving across the quilt. My mother in law put purple thread in my stocking this year…it was perfect for this quilt. Overall I tried to keep the arches random and spread out.
The end result is a little different than I anticipated. Overall the look is there and the movement I envisioned.
The binding is a solid Kona purple I found in my giant trash bag full of scraps. For the back I used the remaining scraps of Heirloom that I picked up in a destash. Lots of piecing to make this work.
Still some scraps left over and some other precut triangles. I predict another baby quilt using these fabrics. As for the pattern, I want to try it on a large scale quilt. I ran out of quarter square triangles and it created a size limit.
The baby has received it’s new quilt and I was sent a picture of her snuggling on it. Love seeing my quilts in action.
![charming plus pillow cover tutorial [1]](https://quiltytherapy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_20160316_1907484681.jpg)
![charming plus pillow cover tutorial 8[1]](https://quiltytherapy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_20160316_1426357581.jpg)
