Quiltus Interruptus

And just like that, my major WIP for the last 9 months is finished!

Born on July 16, little I entered the world at 9 lbs 1 oz and 20.5 inches. He and I are both doing well, and Mr. RLQ couldn't be prouder. I is also enthusiastically greeted by A, who is 2.5 years old now and excited to be a big sister.

Of course, this little man (born at 39 weeks 4 days) is probably going to take a bite out of my quilting time. And, like most second kids, I am a *little* behind on the featured quilt for his nursery. I'm tracking the progress here and here, but here's what it looks like right now.

Needless to say, I might be a little behind. but while he is waiting to snuggle under this one, he can snuggle with me instead!

Dinosaur Fun

39 weeks pregnant is... perhaps not the optimal time to start a quilt. With my daughter, I put the final stitches on her Winnie the Pooh quilt while contractions were 12 minutes apart (and Trick or Treat was done several months beforehand). But as is often the story with second children, I was too busy chasing the first (and having a rough second pregnancy) to get ahead of the crafting game. So although I've had the feature panel picked out for a while, I am just now getting to the nuts and bolts of fabric selection and composition.

I started with the Have You Seen My Dinosaur panel, by Wilmington prints. I love the colors in this, and it's hard to find a dinosaur panel that says "boy" without screaming it. Serendipitiously enough, I actually bought this panel in September of last year, exactly one month before our son went from "gleam in our eye" to "baby in my belly."

I love panels, but working with them is often a challenge. I wasn't terribly huge on either of the "suggested" designs that got released with the line (Designer PDF), so my mom (who also quilts) suggested a book called Panel Play.

I've done improv quilting with panels before (most notably on Spookyville), but the Panel Play book ups the game a bit - it has some neat ideas for putting panels in a "frame" of diagonal stripes, or making certain design elements appear to "spill out" of the panels, and it encourages a lot of creativity and use of a design board to "design as you go." Given that I have no plan yet, but want the quilt oh, next week or so, such an approach is not without its appeal.

Next up, the creative process. See Dinosaur Panel Play 1.

More Easy Peasy Peasant Fun

Why mess with success? As a reminder, I am 37 38 39 weeks pregnant and way way WAY behind on ALL of my sewing projects. Most notably, stuff for my own son (due July 19th), but also on a number of birthday gifts that were planned to be handmade.

My niece V turned 1 in April, and she was next on the list for some handmade finery. I was happy enough with how the Octopus Peasant Dress turned out that I decided to use the same pattern again; it's simple, the lines are toddler-friendly, and early reports from the first recipient were positive.

This time, I cut the drama and went to my local quilt shop, who stocked an irresistible print from Michael Miller's Oragami Oasis.

I'm not as nimble in this stage of the pregnancy, so the dress took a little longer this time around. But I got it done in a couple of sessions and was very pleased with the results:

I love the way the border print gives the dress a deliberate "direction," and skipping the ruffle this time around led to some nice, clean lines that I think I'll probably copy again. I just got word that my niece received the dress this past weekend, so now all that's left to do is wait for her to be big enough to wear it!