Baby, we're ready to quilt!

Baby quilt #1 is pin-basted and ready for Bernina's golden touch. I'm using Hobbs Heirloom 80/20 for the batting. It's 80% cotton with 20% polyester, which makes it soft yet durable. A perfect choice for baby quilts because they do endure a lot of use. That's another reason I quilt baby quilts more heavily. Rather than quilt an all-over design across the top, I like to begin with stitching-in-the ditch and make sure the seams are quilted in. Then I apply some free-form quilting to the open areas. I'm so excited to get started!

For the thread, I chose Superior Thread's King Tut 40 wt./3 ply extra long staple cotton (www.superiorthreads.com). I love the variegated colors with a 1-inch color change. For the top thread I'm using color #956--Angel Pink and for the bobbin thread #940 ELS Cotton Candy. The top thread is lighter and will work best for stitching-in-the-ditch. When I get to quilting the open areas, I'll probably use the same cotton candy color thread for both top and bobbin. The pinks and lavenders will look great on this flannel backing fabric from Timeless Treasures.

I'm hoping to get a lot of quilting done this week. Hannah just got cast as a dwarf in Snow White with Christian Youth Theater (www.cytvanport.com) and I know I'll be busy helping out on the costume committee by this time next week.

Copyright©2012, Sharon Baggs

Quilts Coming Together!

Week 2 of working on the Pinwheel quilts for the twins and they are coming together nicely. This one has the bright pink accent strip, separating the blocks from the pieced border.

The second quilt has the light gray accent strip, with the border construction in progress. The bright pink in the pieced border gives it some pop.

Copyright©2012, Sharon Baggs

Pinwheels for two

I'm working on two baby quilts that will be almost identical except for the sashing. I'm using different green fabrics to separate the blocks. Here's a look at the first row. I have to arrange each row to check the placement of the cornerstone sheep.

The pinwheel blocks are pinned to the sashing and ready to be sewn. The red hearts are Fons and Porter markers that are very helpful for keeping things in order.

Here's the pinwheel block with sheep cornerstones and the framed novelty block. The quilt will require 8 pinwheels and 7 frame blocks.

I'm happy with the green sashing and the gray in the pinwheel. Glad I switched the colors :)

Copyright©2012, Sharon Baggs

Playing with Pinwheels

I'm back in the saddle. Now that Sarah has left for Indonesia with the Peace Corps., I'm getting back to the sewing studio. Here's what I'm working on this week:

The three blocks are a mock-up of my design of framed blocks and pinwheels. I decided to reverse the gray and green, so the pinwheels will be pink and gray from the half-square triangles. The sashing will be green. I'm fussy-cutting the sheep for the cornerstones. Except for the green fabric, the featured fabric is Farm Yard Friends from Studio e fabrics (www.studioefabrics.com).

Sarah left Saturday for Washington DC, her first stop before heading to Asia. Here's the family at PDX:

Copyright©2012, Sharon Baggs