Hannah's Butterfly Quilt

Hannah and my daughter are very close friends and, even though they don't see each other very often, they both talk about each other quite frequently. It's sweet to see their bond that formed so very early in their lives. This month, Hannah is the first to turn 3 years old and today we delivered her birthday gift.

Details... this quilt is made almost entirely from vintage fabrics from the exchange I did during the summer.

And it has sweet little butterflies all over the pattern...


The borders seal the deal - it really is a butterfly quilt!

Binding...

The back is a fun and colorful polka dot.

Happy Birthday, Hannah! It was great to see you today. XOXO.

Butterfly Quilt

Here's a little sneak peek of this week's quilt... this is made almost entirely from vintage fabrics in sweet floral prints.

I've also arranged for a few little vintage butterflies to appear here and there. It's coming along quickly and I really like the sweet, colorful vibe.

Bib Factory

My daughter needed some new bibs and when I spotted some in a store in Exeter last weekend, I really wanted to buy them for her - until I saw the $20 price tag! For something that is bound to get stained and worn out? It had never occurred to me to sew my own. Then when I started digging into my fabric stash, I found a BUNCH of fat quarters from my recent vintage fabric exchange that I thought would be fun, cute, and quirky bibs. Here's the first two from the bunch... very easy to make and I think they are way fun.

Edge stitch (one of the many that my new machine can do with ease):

I used my free motion on my new machine to embellish the butterfly... I like the wonkiness of it.

I even hired a model to test out the new bibs!

This was actually the first one I made... we are a little out of order on the blog today. This one I used free motion to stitch all over the bib. It's jumbo size, which I love.


Another model? Or is that the same one? I can't keep track of all the beauty.

Happiness

I love fabric. My heart beats a little faster when I am in a fabric store. When I stumbled upon a Vintage Sheet Swap going on across the country, I was excited to participate. I found some funky prints from a local thrift shop (the exchange was intended to be sheets from the 70's or earlier), washed them, and cut them up into fat quarters (18"x22" pieces of fabric). Then I, like everyone else, shipped them to a woman in Oregon, who sorted the fabric and re-distributed it to all of us. I ended up submitting 48 pieces of fabric. All in all, the exchange brought in 2,314 fat quarters in 318 prints from 72 swappers. Wow!

My fabric arrived in yesterday's mail. It's a little overwhelming because there are SO many, but it's so much fun to imagine the quilts, bags, and other projects I want to make with my fabrics.

This one is my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE. I love love love love it and wish I had an endless supply.


Here are some of the others that I think would make an interesting quilt. Maybe with some solid colors included to balance out all the florals?

I received a lot of oranges, which I'm not usually a fan of. But these soft colors look pretty nice together and I imagine it'd make a fun throw blanket or a funky baby quilt.

Another favorite... I love the big bold print on this one.

This one definitely caught my eye, too. I love the shape of the bouquet and the bright, lively colors.

Here are some others that look nice with it... maybe a quilt?

This one is wildly different from all the rest, but it's also a favorite. No idea what I will do with it, but I love the boldness.

A box of fabric in the mail? SO much fun. I can't wait to get to work and I sincerely hope to find another fabric exchange like this one in the future. I had so much fun searching for fabric and weeks of excitement and anticipation in imagining what I would receive in return. It's like Christmas in July.

Fabric Exchange

I was so excited to participate in Oh Fransson's Vintage Sheet Swap. Crafters from pretty much around the world were on a mission to find and cut up vintage sheets in funky and fun prints. Then we all sent them to a very organized lady in Oregon who sorted and redistributed the fabric back to us. In total: 2,314 fat quarters (18"x22" pieces of fabrics to use in quilts and other projects) in 318 prints from 72 swappers - one of them being me! I contributed 48 pieces of fabric in 8 prints that I found at a local thrift store.

My fabric contributions (I couldn't resist... I saved some for myself, too):


And today I got an email that my box of fabric has shipped. I am absolutely beside myself to see what is coming... a box full of mystery fabric, delivered to my door? Heaven! Plus, they are posting project ideas and instructions on the Oh Fransson blog for inspiration.

I'm VERY interested in doing something like this again, so please let me know if you hear of anything. What fun!