As promised, today I’m sharing the finished Candy Pinwheel quilt, made from my Candy Pinwheel block of the Festival of Half Square Triangles. (To see more on the block and quilt assembly, check out my Candy Pinwheel tutorial.) A few of you asked how I was planning on starting and ending my rows. As you can see, I decided to use a solid turquoise fabric. I really love this color, it’s probably one of my current favorites – FreeSpirit Designer Solid in Light Jade.

For the corners, I left off one half square triangle to give this angled look. I thought that was pretty cool…my daughter (the recipient of the quilt) almost starting crying because “my quilt is missing the corners!” Well, I still like it.

As I mentioned on Wednesday, I decided to make the Candy Pinwheel blocks either all warm or all cool colors. Mostly…there are always exceptions to the rule and I do have a few that used a warm/cool combination.

I quilted this with straight lines, 1/4″ down each side of the diagonal seams. I was actually a bit nervous to quilt this, because my daughter wanted minky on the back. I followed many people’s advice to just use a lot of pins and my walking foot (which I already use anyway) and really, the quilting proved to be a non-event. No issues whatsoever. And the end result gives a nice, poofy look to the quilted squares.

The quilt measures 39-1/2″ x 47″. It is bright, happy, super cuddly, and already much loved. And on a very random side note, does anyone know what kind of daffodils these beautiful flowers are?

I’m thinking of taking the next few weeks and working on some mini quilts. I would like to tackle a type of block or quilting style in each that I have not done before. What do you think? Anyone want to join me?

This mini is just such a quilt. I’ve done a bit of hand stitching, but not “official” embroidery from a pattern in a quilt until now. These adorable animals are patterns purchased from Penguin and Fish. They are great for newbies, with the most complicated stitch being a chain stitch and french knot.

Jellyfish:

Alligator:

Whale:

Newt:

X-Ray Fish

This mini quilt is a baby gift finished just in time for a friend. I don’t think she reads my blog…or at least I hope not!

The blocks are made up of brightly colored squares from my stash. The embroidery has been done on Kona Ash. Each square measures 8″ finished.

I added a thin white border around the center section and then Riley Blake’s Feeling Groovy stripes as a thicker border. The binding is from Lizzy House’s 1001 Peeps. I think the bright colors will be perfect for this special baby as she grows.

The back is a fabric I bought awhile back at Ikea. I just really like the feminine but modern look.

I quilted this a few different ways. First I quilted straight lines 1/4″ on each side of the nine center block seams, backstitching at the start and finish. Then I went completely around the white sashing and rainbow sashing. Hopefully the below photo shows what I’m talking about a bit better.

Overall I’m really happy with this mini quilt! I hope the new future owner takes a liking to it as well.

I have had this stack of fabric sitting in my sewing room for quite some time. Months ago I swapped Alison for two of the fabrics – one from Jennifer Paganelli’s Poodle line and one from Dena Design’s Leanika line. I wasn’t planning on using them together when I swapped for them, but once they arrived I loved how they coordinated.

I paired them up with a couple different Kona pinks and browns, Sandi Henderson’s Henna Garden in Spring and Pink and another Poodle print from Etsy. I just love the combination.

For the back I simply did wider strips of the same fabrics. It makes it reversible which is always nice. I quilted it with straight lines, 1/4″ on the top and bottom of the seams of the strips on the front. The binding is the lighter Kona pink from the front. It measures 57″ x 40″. This quilt was donated to the 100 Quilts for Kids program.

I also wanted to give you a garden (ahem…farm) update. I am 2 months in and so far it has been pretty successful. The weeds think so anyway!

I have had pretty good success with all the seeds. What you are looking at here is sunflowers, cosmos, corn, pumpkin, watermelon and cantaloupe (still too small to see in this photo), carrots, scallions, cucumber, lettuce, peppers, beans and tomatoes (which are almost all out of the photo). Everything was started from a seed except the peppers and tomatoes. I have spent a LOT of time weeding. I noticed everyone around me has mini tillers that they use to keep the dirt tilled up and the weeds from taking over. Maybe I will consider that next year if I do this again. 600 square feet is a lot to maintain. But it has been fun and I look forward to harvesting more vegetables soon. The lettuce is already ready and tasty!

I am probably the last person in blogland to use Aneela Hoey’s Sherbet Pips fabric. I just adore these little girls on swings. They remind me of my daughter on our tree swing in the backyard and that makes me smile.

I decided to showcase that print and pair it with some coordinates from my stash. They include designs by Patty Young, Dena Designs, Liz Scott and Urban Chiks. The turquoise solid is a Moda crossweave and so pretty. I really love the combination of yellow, turquoise, white and pink!

I went for a simple design, just 5 1/2″ patchwork squares. I quilted it 1/4″ on each side of the horizontal and vertical seams. It came out of the dryer nice and poofy, a good quality for a child’s quilt I think!

The main print on the back is a floral from Sandi Henderson’s Farmer’s Market line. I was really hoping to use up some of my stash and I think it worked out well with this project.

The final quilt size measures 39″ x 47″. I think this quilt would make a lovely addition to a little girls room. It is listed in the shop!