We made a Baby!!!

We all made babies - from play dough.

Play Dough Babies

It was one of the fun games at the baby shower on Saturday.

The Invitation

The mom-to-be chose the winners.

The Parents-to-be

Harry and Sally (not their real names) got married in July 2014 at the gurudwara (Sikh temple) in Washington DC, followed by the Quaker wedding ceremony in a church. Harry is a Sikh and Sally is a Quaker. And they made such a lovely couple. 

Wedding in the Gurudwara

Paul and I were fortunate to attend the ceremony. And I had so much fun - dressing up for the occasion, dancing in the baraat (wedding procession), enjoying the sumptuous food and wishing all the best to the couple.
When they announced that they were going to have a baby, I immediately dived into my stash to pick out fabrics to make a baby quilt. The theme was animals and a special request from the baby's aunt (my friend Manveen) - to incorporate Snoopy. Snoopy was the favorite cartoon character of the father-to-be.

For Harry & Sally's baby

Step 1 - Choose Fabrics

I wanted to make sure that the quilt was gender-neutral, since Harry and Sally chose to not find out the sex of the baby. The colorful turtle fabric was an obvious choice, just as the tossed owls and the fire-breathing dragons. The cat fabric is rather dull and grey and not my usual style. But I chose to incorporate it because of Flower - Harry and Sally's beloved cat who passed away a few years ago.

Owls and Turtles

Monkeys are my favorite. Swinging from the branches - they sure know how to have fun.  Can you find the giraffe?

I heart monkeys

Birds and Bees too.  The sole light purple square came from the scraps leftover from an outfit of Harry's mom.  I like to think that includes grandma's blessings in the baby quilt.

Birds and the Bees

Step 2 - Choose the pattern

Since the fabric was the major attraction, I did not want to cut the squares smaller than five inches.
Therefore, I chose a simple 9-patch layout with bright green sashing.

Smiling Fish, Lounging Puppies

I made nine 9-batch blocks. Some with colorful hearts on a black background and others with a cream background with the birds/red haired girl. Since Sally has red hair, it seems to work.

Green sashing

Step 3 - Piece

This part does require some playing around on the design wall, making sure that two similar squares are not adjacent to each other.  More importantly, there should be enough contrast between adjacent squares.

Yoga Cats

Yoga cats, orange puppies and bright colors make my day.  The yellow fabric with animal frames was gift from my quilty buddy - Sylvia.

Bright Turtles

Step 4 - Layer, Quilt, Bind and Enjoy

I used the same green for sashing and binding.

A finish!!!

The backing is this adorable Snoopy fabric. 

Charlie Brown with Snoopy

I had been looking for Snoopy fabric and it came to me when I least expected it. I found it in Georgia (visiting Paul's parents), the day after Thanksgiving when I chose to go for some Black Friday shopping. And there it was :-D happily waiting for me.

No, I did not forget to label it.

Labelled

So the final step is to enjoy the compliments, take pictures of happy parents and pose for pictures with dear friends.

Harry & Sally

Love the smiles!!!

So glad they loved it!

This is my first finish of 2017 and I am very happy with it.

with Manveen 

Manveen was the gracious hostess, as usual. We had a great time and we wish Harry and Sally all the very best of luck as they welcome the new bundle of joy into their lives.

Thank you for inviting us!!!

So, we did not make that kind of a baby.  But I am glad someone did - and that gave me a reason to make another baby quilt!!!

I will be linking with all my favorite linky parties and as usual, I'd love to hear from you.

Grape Salad

So, you are busy sewing when the needle breaks, or the thread tension is off. Did you notice that 1/4" seam is not consistent? Oh, by the way did you accidentally sew the wrong pieces together? And those folded seams - do not even get me started...

When two or more of those things happen to me, I decide it is time for a break.

It was the long weekend of New Years' Day and I was determined to make some solid progress on Joyce's Quilt which is already delayed. And then the frustrating things began to happen. I turned off my machine and went to the computer. Let's check email.

Baby Shower!!! In four days!!!

This was a perfect distraction. So, I put away Joyce's quilt and got started on a baby quilt.
Shall I make a whirlygig? No, too many pieces
What about a D9P. Hmm, No. I have made too many of those already.

And then I remembered Sherbet Strips. It was a fun fast project with a lot of pizzaz. I decided to replicate Sherbet Strips in green and purple.  And here it is - meet the first finish of Fifteen...

I used strips from two different strips sets - one green and one purple. Added a white strip in the middle and cut into squares.

Placed four by four in a rail fence fashion and we have ourselves a quilt top!!! I wish I had taken more pictures, showing the strips and the piecing process.

As I pieced the top together, I began thinking of a name. What shall I call this little gem? That is when Paul walked into the door carrying the grocery bags. 

I got you grapes to put in the chicken salad, he said.

GRAPE SALAD, I screamed, scaring poor Paul. 

Yes, it is purple and it is green just like grapes. Mixed together they make Grape Salad!!!

I wanted to make sure that the backing matched the quilt top. Fortunately, I had this soothing green fabric in my stash. Alas, it was not wide enough. May be it was time to make a "creative quilt back"

I used my favorite warm & Natural batting and quilted it simply (super fast) with straight lines using a scallop stitch on my Janome. 

The binding is a purple chevron fabric. It was just perfect - it matched the front and the back and brought everything together!!!

And here  is the label.

All right, just one last look at it and then I must wrap it up. The shower was on Sunday, the 10th!!!

A quick finish is so gratifying. I felt terrific. In the week that followed, drunk on my success with Grape Salad, I finished piecing the quilt top for Joyce's Quilt. Where are the pictures, you ask?

Now, THAT is a separate post!!!

How is the new year 2015 coming along for you?  I'd love to hear from you!!!

Every end is a new beginning, but...

As soon as I completed "Bear Hugs", I wanted to get started on my next quilt. Are you kidding?
I bought and cut the fabric for the next quilt even before I completed Bear Hugs quilt. Here are the fabrics for the next quilt.

Blue Batik and a matching solid, Steel Grey Batik and a somewhat matching solid.  I have a rail fence pattern in mind. Yes, it is for a boy's quilt and I am hoping it will finish at twin size. I am so excited to start this one. I am going to call it Alex's Quilt. I am so loving these colors already.

So, what is the problem?
Get started already. You can blog later.

Wait. There is a double baby shower on February 1st. And I want to go to this double baby shower. That means, I need to keep Alex's quilt aside and make some receiving blankets, burp cloths and bibs. The good thing is this - I like making receiving blankets, they come together really quickly, and I have these cute flannel fabrics to work with. The bibs are so cute. I need another word for cute, seriously.

Blue fabrics - both are expecting boys!!!

So pause on Alex's Quilt. Full steam ahead on Baby Shower items. Life is good!!! I will post pictures of completed blankets, bibs etc. I do love comments!!! Hint, hint hint.