Random Quilting Projects 2009-2011

Although I have learned so much with each new quilt that I have made, I thought it would be a bit tedious to blog about each project I have made in the last few years. I am going to post pictures of some of them and give a few details about them. 

Advent Wall Hanging

An advent wall hanging I made for Mikko's (my oldest son) Kindergarten teacher. Its hard to see but each of the ornaments are cut outs, stuffed, and backed with felt. I sewed buttons on the wall hanging so that each ornament could be attached. It was quick and easy, as it was a panel, with a couple of borders. 

Crib Quilt

Pattern: Bean Counter Quilts - Due Date

Fabric: Swanky by Chez Moi for Moda

A crib quilt made with charm squares for a friend. Swanky by Chez Moi was such fun fabric to work with. 

 I found this wonderful Quilt Kit a quilt shop. It used Animal Party by Amy Schimler for Robert Kaufman Fabrics and the pattern is called Animal Junction by Heidi Pridemore. I thought it would be great for my young son. So I  bought the quilt kit, but I put off working on it because we were in a transition. We moved from Wisconsin to Missouri, and quite some time lapsed before I got to work on this quilt. I got the top done, but then put it away and didn't quilt it. When I finally pulled it out to quilt, I was inspired by the animal bubbles on the backing. 

I decided to hand quilt this one. I had never done that before. I got an embroidery hoop and started hand quilting around the circles. I enjoyed it so much. Although hand quilting takes so much longer, I really like it. It is very relaxing. 

By the time I finished this one, my baby boy, was going on 3 years old and he was in a big boy bed! So I folded it up and decided I would give it away to someone else in the future, but definitely someone very special because this one holds a special place in my heart. I actually did give it away to my sister when she was pregnant with her baby boy, but then after I saw the baby's nursery, I took it back and made another quilt... That's another blog post, yet to come! So I still have this one, just waiting for the right baby boy!

Fall Wall Hanging

I walked into a Quilt Shop in Elk River, MN, The Noble Quilter and I saw this panel and I wanted it! This was my first project without a pattern. I found several coordinating fat quarters and chose a coordinating backing. It was a couple of years ago and for the life of me I cannot remember the name of this fabric. I do know it was Moda. 

I decided it deserved to be hand quilted, so I followed the flowers and pumpkin and quilted it. I also added in some of my own "swirls" where there was a lot of open space. 

I had quite a few scraps leftover so I decided to pull out my "Anka's Treasures - Little Charmers II" table runner pattern and make a matching table runner for the living room coffee table. 

As you can see my points are starting to line up better and one of these table runners only takes me a couple of hours! 

I have made several other simple quilts over the last few years, but honestly I forgot to take pictures of them and then gave them away. I know I really need to improve the quality of my quilt photography since I am trying to blog them now! 

The quilts represented in this post span from 2009 to 2011. I seriously started to learn to quilt in 2008, but I really began to work at it consistently in 2009. 2010/2011 I took about a year break due to personal circumstances. In the Fall of 2011 I really began working at it again and honestly I can't believe how much my quilting has improved in the last year and a half! I have branched out and tried quite a few new things and I can't wait to share those with you in future posts!