California Dreamin' ~ BQF

Since I finished my California Dreamin' quilt

right smack dab in the middle of Amy's Quilt Festival

I figured I'd go ahead and enter it.

I made my first quilt in December of 2008

when I was 8 months pregnant with our 8th child

It was quickly followed by another quilt

that I finished just 2 days before my sweet Lexi was born;

I had most definitely caught

the quilting bug!

After drooling over the fabric for almost 6 months

I finally decided to order it.

I'd only purchased designer fabric one other time

so this was a really big deal for me!

I thought I knew just how I was going to sew it up,

but then I started second-guessing myself.

After all, it was only my 7th quilt

what did I know??

So I just let my lovely fabric sit for awhile.

I finally decided to go with

Allison's Orange Quilt

but I changed up the dimensions a bit.

So I wouldn't waste a drop of fabric,

I cut a 5 inch strip

cut 2 squares out of it

then cut the remainder of the strip in half

and cut those 2 1/2" strips into 5" and 9" pieces.

Except for the two times I sewed merrily along

only to find I'd been using an empty bobbin

and the last 1/2 hour or so I spent with my seam ripper

I can say in all honesty

that I loved every minute of the 962 I spent making this quilt;

this fabric just makes me happy.

And it feels sooo nice.

Actually

that's not entirely true;

I didn't exactly love arranging the blocks.

In fact, it was stressing me out a bit

so I just stepped back and let Tony & Tyler

do it for me.

Of course

I stepped back in to help a little....

This was my first time to use white in a quilt.

I love it

but I did worry about the darn thing getting all dirty

before I'd even finished it.

Silly me

I forgot the final step to making a quilt is

- hello -

washing it!

After crinkling,

the quilt is a perfect throw size at 56 x 74.

I briefly considered wrapping it up

and sending it to Jenean as a thank-you

for designing such beautiful fabric

but I quickly decided she couldn't possibly love it

as much as I do.

when you've got a bit of time

fix a big glass of iced tea

and go browse the Spring 2010 Bloggers Quilt Festival.

Grab a napkin first, though

so you can wipe the drool off yer chin

and

if you're just dying to see more ;-)

I've got a few more pictures on my family blog

the new shirt-dress

I've been seeing little shirred sun-dresses

and shirts re-made into toddler dresses for over a year

I decided to combine the two ideas

and use these

I knew as soon as I laid eyes on the red one

that it'd be perfect for a Independence Day sun-dress for Lily.

I spent a buck fifty on it

and started looking for a blue shirt for Lexi's.

I almost passed up this one, because of the bulldog on it

but then I was like, duh! I don't have to use that part.

Don't hate me because I'm smart like that.

These were so much fun to make!

I can see why gals open ETSY shops;

How many shirred sun-dresses out - of - men's - shirts

does one girl need?

almost finished

if it weren't for waayyy to much of this

I'd have my binding on already.

Which is a shame

'cause today is such a perfect day

for finishing the binding.

~

I used a sheet from Target

(with a little row of Cali' Dreamin' pieced in)

so I had some excess fabric.

I figured - no big deal

the back is supposed to be a few inches bigger than the front...

Somehow, though

my excess kept getting folded back under the quilt.

After the 6th time

I got smart and cut it off.

Oh yeah,

I'm that brilliant!

pilot caps

once upon a time

not so very long ago

these

were just plain ol' shirts.

the poor things

~

xxs, xs, and s

sweet pea pilot caps!

Of course

I took several liberties with both the pattern

and instructions

but I was so tickled to find them.

Tony

- or was it Brandon? -

...anyways.

One of the big boys had

the sweetest little white pilot cap.

It was perfect;

lightweight, so he didn't overheat

but it'd keep the wind out of those tiny baby ears.

I don't know what ever happened to it;

I'd actually forgotten it

until Dana featured Meg

during Celebrate the Boy month.

Now

I want to make one for every little boy

I might ever know.

And their mamas will love me for it ;-)

seams to me

I'm not as accurate of a seam-er

as I thought I was.

Even with careful cutting

and slow-going sewing

with my 1/4" foot

my blocks were somewhat screwjawed.

Josiah and I were both a wee bit sad

as I evened them up.

~

The strips are all sewn

and waiting to be ironed

so I should have the quilt top finished

by tomorrow afternoon

yay!

64 blocks?

check!

bargains galore

an ugly orange-ish leather jacket

which will one day become cute baby shoes.

I will master them someday.....

dress pants for TJ, should be just perfect as is

2 swimsuits for Aiden-Boy

a dark red corduroy Children's Place shirt

also for Aiden

2 jammie pants - Aiden, again

a like new long-sleeve shirt for Josiah

stripy leggins for Lily

a soft brown Children's Place shirt for Lily

and

a floral corduroy shirt that goes with it

to be made into a skirt

a long-sleeve turtleneck onesie for Lex'

that I plan to remake into a summer dress

3 cotton/lycra shirts - aka fabric

and

2 vintage sheets

I'm not just crazy about either of them

but they'll be good quilt backs

especially for a picnic quilt

all

for $11.50!!

it's about time!

I'm finally ready to begin playing with my fabric

I felt happy just pulling it out of it's plastic-y mail envelope

and refolding it for its photo shoot.

Sewing with it will be just dreamy

(get it?! :-)