Hexies a la Mode

In December 2014, Beth Helfter of EvaPaige Quilt Designs posted on Facebook that she needed a “quilt tester” – someone to make a quilt from her pattern to make sure the measurements were correct and directions were clear. It sounded right up my alley – so I volunteered! (I ignored the fact that I was nearly 9 months pregnant with my second child!)

I'm not even sure how I stumbled across Beth on Facebook. It was probably one of those suggested pages. I'm sure glad I found her! She is super fun, and her writing style on her blog makes you feel like you really know her!

LSU T-Shirt Quilt

Our friend, Matt, is a big LSU fan. He's been collecting t-shirts for quite awhile. When he discovered that I could make a t-shirt quilt with them, he was happy to pick out his favorites!

I had learned quite a bit after making the baby clothes quilt. I knew a better interfacing was needed in order for the finished quilt to be cuddly and not stiff. I decided to try Pellon 911FF.

After a few conversations with Matt, a plan was born! I waited patiently for the best combination of sales and coupons and ordered LSU cotton and fleece fabric from Jo-Ann's.

I cut each shirt apart at the seams and ironed on the interfacing. I measured all the shirt designs and cut all shirts the same size square based on the largest design.

To market! To market!

To quilt market that is!

International Quilt Market is held twice a year. It is where fabric designers, pattern companies, and all companies quilty release new fabrics and products to quilt store owners. There is much hype in the quilting world around quilt market. Designers and quilters dream of having their work at the market, and quilt shop owners flock to the market to find the latest and greatest items.

One large fabric manufacturer that reveals their newest fabrics at quilt market is Windham Fabrics.

In preparation for this year's fall quilt market in Houston, TX, Windham (on their blog) asked for 16 quilters to volunteer to make a mini quilt using their newest fabrics. These mini quilts would be displayed in their booth at the market to showcase the new prints.

Of course, I raised my hand calmly threw my hands in the air and shouted, "Pick me! Pick me!"

Then I got the email saying I was one of the sweet 16!

The catch? I would have less than one week to complete the quilt. And I wouldn't have any idea what fabrics I would be receiving. "You get what you get, and you don't throw a fit."

The rules? Make an 18" mini quilt with the fabrics they send in a way that highlights the patterns.

I waited patiently impatiently for the overnighted FedEx package to arrive. It came at 1:30 on Wednesday, October 1st.

 

I couldn't wait to see what exciting challenge was waiting for me inside!

Flannel Four Patch

While garage saling in Las Vegas, NV one day, I found a bag of flannel. The blocks for this quilt were already sewn together in the bag! (At this same garage sale, I got this one and these too! Five quilts!)

I didn't start working on the quilt until after moving to Missouri a couple years later. A few of the blocks were sewn "backwards" so I ripped out the vertical seam and sewed them together on the other side.

Patchwork Fleece Quilts

In September (2013), I led a crafty service project session at our church's women's retreat. Each group of about four women made a fleece tie blanket for an elderly person. If you've ever made one, you know that the first step is to cut a square from each corner of the two fleece fabrics. Being a quilter, I couldn't bare to throw those out!

I collected all the fleece squares from the service project and cut them into 3 1/2" and 4 1/2" squares. Then I stitched them together into patchwork squares. I added brown fleece borders and brown fleece backs (from Jo-Ann's) to create small baby sized quilts. For one blanket, I ran out of the brown fleece so used a purple fleece remnant from Wal-Mart.

Trent's Baby Clothes Quilt

Not long after making the cross country move from Las Vegas, NV to Missouri, my friend Kiffany from Vegas (the same one I gave one of these quilts to) mailed me a box of her son's baby clothes in order to make a memory quilt. I had seen the idea on Pinterest, and she loved it too!

I read up on tutorials for t-shirt quilts and knew I would need to back each clothing item with interfacing to keep it from stretching. I couldn't find exactly which interfacing would work the best, so I picked what I thought would work.

Starflower Baby Quilt

Just after moving to Missouri, I met a lovely woman in our church named Summer. She loved doing all types of crafts, but especially scrapbooking and cross stitch/embroidery. She had recently completed a set of embroidery blocks with a baby theme. She had used them to teach her elementary aged son how to do cross stitch. He had picked out all the colors and stitched about half of the blocks.

Since I was pregnant (and a quilter!), she decided I was the perfect recipient of these blocks.