Quilt Squares

I was worried about lining up the quilt squares. I've had some successes:



And some disappointments:



It turns out that a lot just depends on how carefully I cut the squares to begin with. I thought I was very careful when I cut, but apparently not careful enough. I've sewed fairly consistent 1/4" seams, so that hasn't been the issue. And, as I've read, the fabric can be stretched a little when necessary. Emma's patchworking mum told me to pin the meeting points, but I'm regrettably too lazy to do that, so I'll live with the disappointments. In general I'm pleased.

Impromptu Rocket Shirt

She was feeling left out with all the quilting, so she asked for a "rocket shirt." I found an old pink t-shirt, cut out some felt pieces from my stash, and sewed them on. (The rocket was inspired by an old Tinyprints birthday invitation.) I've washed it once, and the felt looks ok so far. She was happy enough to let me sew a few more rows.

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Next Quilt, Part I

B. decided he also wanted a quilt for his birthday. Knowing that I am usually late with handmade gifts, he wrote a note telling me to start the quilt on December 30. Needless to say, I did not. His birthday is on Valentine's Day, and unless the fairies give me a hand, it will be late.

But in early January, I did take him to the fabric store to let him choose the fabrics for his orange and blue quilt (his favorite colors). Instead he chose something very different. The fabrics are all his, except that I added the black and green print, and I convinced him to omit the red fabric he liked. The purple surprised me, but it works.



We are placing the squares fairly randomly. He draws from seven pieces of paper to determine the next fabric square, but we've agreed that we don't want two identical squares next to each other. I am sewing strips of 9 squares to allow us to rearrange as we want (each row will be 18 squares across). This is my (legitimate?) excuse for not chain piecing.