penny patch quilt along : finished top!

When I saw the really cute Penny Patch quilt that Rachel is hosting at Stitched in Color, I couldn't help but to chop up some yardage that I'd recently purchased.

The intended recipient is a colleague and friend of mine, a science teacher and mountain biker -- her husband is even a professional downhill mountain bike racer.  I knew I had to incorporate goofy science prints (the notebook fabric with doodles of science experiments in the Robotic collection by Birch Fabrics fit the bill nicely), alongside as some fun bicycle prints.  I even cut into my prized Heather Ross pink bicycles!

I decided to make it 5x5 even though I've already cut enough squares to make it 5x7 ... I'll use the extra fabric on some other baby gifts that I'll whip up later.   I felt like this was the perfect size for toting around with a baby.

I've been very pleased with how this has turned out!  I can't wait to quilt it ... I'm thinking of trying the dogwood quilting method, which I haven't tried yet.

finished quilt! : The Baby Swoon

Hey there!  Long time no post.  I've been super crafty & busy and unfortunately have not taken the time to document any of it.  I'm here to remedy it!  I recently put together a set of handmade gifties for a sweet little boy recently born ...

I have wanted to make a Swoon quilt ever since the super-sized blocks took over the quilting blogosphere a while back.  I purchased the pattern, and before I started making my own quilt blocks I thought I'd try it out on some stashed fabric.  I made a baby cowboy-themed quilt block some time back and was pleased with how it turned out.  After I found out that my cousin, who lives in Texas (where my family is from), was having a baby boy I knew I had to finish up the quilt to send off to him! Unfortunately baby K has been born -- but I'm still managing to get this off before he's too big to use it as a stroller quilt.

 

I was quite pleased with how the quilting turned out ... I followed Angela's directions for quilting a Swoon block, and pretty much did as she told me to do.  Despite not spending a lot of time doing the actual quilting on a block, I feel like the outcome was okay!

I also added the quilt label that I've been adding recently, a little tab inserted to the binding that says "made with ❤" on one side, and "jenifer f. 2013" on the other side.  And yes, I machine sewed the binding on ... I think that if I could get even better at this it might become my go-to binding technique.  The backing was a scrappy pieced backing, my favorite.

I also managed to use the leftover HST on two little bibs, and I also sewed up a little "latchy catchy" that I saw on Etsy and pinned once upon a time.  I thought that was a clever idea for keeping the door quiet on a sleeping baby!

Last, but not least, I added in a knit cap and booties that I made a while back.  The knit cap was practice for two-handed stranded knitting (pattern long ago forgotten!). (ravelry link)

The booties were made when I saw some friends down and taught them how to knit socks.  We made baby socks with worsted weight wool (leftover Malabrigo Worsted), and they are the perfect add-on to these goodies.  (ravelry link)

Hopefully it won't be a year before I update again ... see you before then!

handknit hat : the piggy one

I am here for quick post : a handknit gift that I made for a friend of my daughter's who happens to LOVE pigs.  What to do, especially when you're a knitter?  Make her a piggy hat, of course.  

I made this hat rather quickly with some bulky yarn in my stash -- alpaca / wool blend, so it'll be warm, but it can't be machine washed.  As her mom is a sewer and crocheter, I'm hopeful that it'll be okay. :) Still, I prefer given machine washables when possible. 

Oink, oink! 

Notes:

Pattern : Oink a Piggy hat
Yarn : Knitpicks Sierra (discontinued but just like the current Cadena that is offered)
Ravelry : project page here