Baby Quilt Friday!: Buttermint Swirls

Time again for Baby Quilt Friday--a look at the stories and sentiments behind my quilts from The Little Box of Baby Quilts. Out of the 20 quilts in the "little box," this is certainly one of my favorites. And the making of this quilt all started with a trip to the grocery store.

"Buttermint Swirls" from The Little Box of Baby Quilts, copyright 2007 Jenny Wilding Cardon/That Patchwork Place. Machine quilted by Cheryl Brown.

Down the candy aisle, I spotted a pretty little group of pastel colors. Inside a bag of buttermints. Like these. I bought the bag and took the candies to my local quilt shop to match up candy colors with solid-colored flannels. Then I went home and ate the candies. The whole bag. It was a big one. 

Yes, sometimes inspiring can be fattening. But it's not often that you actually get to taste your inspiration. Opportunity seized.

I wanted texture for tiny baby hands, and I love this fun swirlygig design. The swirlygigs start with big and small circles of flannel. Layers of circles give each swirlygig a great lift off the quilt, so it's incredibly dimensional.

The layers also provide a little extra coziness and warmth. I know this because I have actually used this quilt. When you make a quilt for publication, it's all about keeping it pretty, keeping it wrinkle-free, keeping it clean. But now that "Buttermint Swirls" is back from her months-long trunk show, she's here to stay. She is the first of a few choice quilts that we, as a family, have decided to keep.

Just this week little Charlie has started to run his fingers along the swirls as he spends some "tummy time" on the quilt each day. And if you were to test the quilt in a lab to find her rightful owner, you'd know she was his. Charlie's DNA is all over it, in the form of drool. Flannel is much more absorbent than I thought it would be. Bonus.

So, not much of a story about the making of this quilt. Just the anticipation of what stories she will bring to us, now that she officially belongs to us. It'll be so much fun to hear what Charlie says about her a few decades from now. I didn't know it while I was making the quilt, but she has always belonged to Charlie. Now she's his, all HIS.

You can see more quilts from the "little box" here, see a video about it here, and read more about each quilt here.

Next week comes the quilt I gave away on this blog, "Elementary!" Don't miss her a bit--she went to the perfect home. Hope to see you here again next Friday.

Scraps

With Jack underfoot and a baby under my ribcage (and now in my arms!) for so many months, quilting hasn't been much of a priority. But it has been greatly missed. It moved up on my priority list this past weekend. Much sooner than expected. I started experimenting a bit--not just with a pile of fabrics or a block design, but with how much I could actually accomplish in these bits and pieces of time I am beginning to receive from my boys. How far could I get sewing a seam, cutting a shape, following an idea?

When my quilting time felt like it was up, I looked down at the tiny pile of scraps I had created. Hmm. Got further along than I thought I would.

What a surprise. What a thrill. What a pretty little pile.

Bits and pieces of fabric, bits and pieces of time. Just what I needed. Thanks, boys.

Baby Quilt Friday!: I Love Mama

Time again for another installment of Baby Quilt Friday--a deeper (and yes, sometimes darker) look at what went into designing the quilts in The Little Box of Baby Quilts. My heart and soul went into creating it. But, as evidenced in last week's post, absolutely none of my fabric stash did.

"I Love Mama" from The Little Box of Baby Quilts, copyright 2007 Jenny Wilding Cardon/That Patchwork Place. Machine quilted by Cheryl Brown.

I had experimented with appliqueing fuzzy fabrics in my previous baby-quilt designs. Now I wanted to try and machine sew with fuzzy fabric. I was feeling a bit timid. It's stretchy stuff. I can find my way around a sewing machine just fine. But I prefer not to play with the buttons and knobs. Ever. Everything is always in the middle. Eternally set on 5. I also didn't want anyone making these quilts to have to fuss with their buttons and knobs. So with absolutely no adjustments to my machine, I started sewing cottons to fuzzies.

Learned a lot.

The first thing I learned is that messing around with buttons and knobs was not a necessity. My technique just had to be finessed. I've heard many people like to sew with their stretchy fabric on the bottom so the feed dogs help push the stretchy fabric along. I found it was easier to sew with the stretchy/fuzzy fabric on the top so I could SEE if the fabric was stretching or not. It worked for me. If you've never attempted it before, I suggest trying it both ways on a scrap or two and find out what works best for you.

The second thing I learned is to SLOW DOWN. One thing I love about quilting is the abundance of straight seams--push the pedal to the metal (or the plastic, as the case may be) and find out how fast you can go. But the fuzzy fabric didn't want to let me go too fast. Like the sweet little old lady you are sometimes forced to drive behind. She's going 20 mph in a 40 mph zone. You don't get mad--you can see her tighty-whitey curls angled just a smidge above the steering wheel. You don't honk your horn or tail her gate or lift your middle finger. You know her nature. You just gotta be patient. Fuzzy fabric? Same thing.

The third thing I learned is to double up on pin use. I used a pin for every two inches of fabric I sewed. A bit of a nuisance. But if straight seams are your goal instead of ripped-out seams, pins are good.

Strip sets make the construction of this brick-style quilt pretty
simple. The lettering, with a few modifications, is borrowed with
permission from Sandy Bonsib and her wonderfully creative quilt book, Folk Art Quilts.

Initially I was planning to make this quilt reversible, with an "I Love Dada" panel on the back. But that would be making 21 quilts in nine months, instead of just 20. Funny. At the time I could imagine designing and sewing 20 quilt tops in nine months, but I could not FATHOM designing and sewing 21 quilt tops in nine months. Impossible. So it stayed a one-sided quilt. Still like the idea, though...

You can view more quilts from the "little box" here, watch a video about it here, and read more about each quilt here.

Next week is one of my favorite quilts--in fact, our now four-month-old Charlie uses it for a bit of tummy time every day. It's called "Buttermint Swirls." Hope to see you back here next Friday for the story behind the quilt.

ALERT: Jackspeak

While listening to an intricate yet riveting conversation between his mother and father, Jack tries his best to join the complex exchange...

Me: "Anyone want an ice-cream treat? I feel like heading to the Dairy Queen drive-thru. I'm gonna get one of those brownie things--a Brownie Earthquake? It has brownie triangles, and Oreos, and ice cream and whipped cream and hot fudge. Man, those are so good. Brett?"

Brett: "Ummm... yeah, a Blizzard. With Butterfinger and... what goes good with Butterfinger?"

Me: "How about Heath bars? Do you like toffee?"

Brett: "Not particularly."

Me: "How about Oreos?"

Brett: "Hmmm. Naw, I guess just a Butterfinger Blizzard this time. What do you want, Jacky?"

Jack: "I want an ice cream cone. With ice cream in it. All the way to the bottom."

Me: "I bet they can do that, honey. I'll let them know about your special request."

Baby Quilt Friday!: Silly Stripes and Doodle Dots

Hey, it's Friday--time for another look at a baby quilt from my book but it's a box, The Little Box of Baby Quilts. I thought up the name for this quilt, "Silly Stripes and Doodle Dots," before I ever put a design on paper.

  
From The Little Box of Baby Quilts, copyright 2007 Jenny Wilding Cardon/That Patchwork Place. Machine quilted by Cheryl Brown.

The inspiration for starting this quilt was obvious. I wanted to use lots of bright striped and dotted fabrics. Sounds easy enough. But no quilt comes without her own little hurdles. Even though I had been quilting for more than ten years, I had no striped or dotted fabrics. Not even a strip or a scrap.

Yep. There's a story there.

I had been quilting for almost ten years when I had Jack in 2004. Then, three weeks earlier than expected, I suddenly had a baby. A baby. A baby in my care, when I had never been around babies in my entire life. A baby. A baby who cried every night for three months solid, for three or four hours a night. A baby. A baby who demanded my complete attention, always. All ways. 

Frankly, I was scared of that baby. When he cried he scared me, when he coughed he scared me, when he slept he scared me (yes, I was the kind of mom that woke the baby up to make sure he was still alive). I was a mess. I was a mess in my mind, a mess in my heart. When I was pregnant I tried not to have any expectations of what motherhood would be like, but geez. I didn't think it was going to be like THAT. 

I decided I needed to get rid of any distractions in my home so I could focus more intensely on this adorable, terrifying baby of mine. I mean, for good or bad, he was here--I needed to make the best of our situation, right? Quilting was a huge distraction. Not just the act of quilting itself, but the clutter I had created around quilting too. I called up our local quilt guild and told them I had some fabric to donate. Like, seven garbage bags full. Except for a small pile of batiks and some batting, a nice lady came from the guild and hauled away all of my fabric. The guild was working on a service project for an Indian reservation here, so it was good timing.

I made that call without a thought. Just picked up the phone. The next day, my ten-year-old stash was gone. And somehow, I felt so much better. For months afterward, I focused on that baby of mine with all my might. ALL MY MIGHT. And then, slowly, a routine kicked in. And then he smiled. And then he babbled. And then he wanted mama. And then it was okay. Big, satisfying sigh. Everything was going to be alright after all. 

And then I was like OH MY GOSH WHAT WAS I THINKING??? My stash is gone. GONE!!!

What else was there to do? I started building a new one. All new stripes, all new dots. I now have a four-year-old stash that looks nothing like my first stash. Funny how a baby can change what you see, what you enjoy, what you choose. Even all the way down to your fabric.

If you have a stripey and dotty stash, this quilt will come together like a lightning bolt. The pattern is incredibly simple--just squares to cut and sew, cut and sew. Raw edges mean super-easy sewing and lots of texture for baby's hands to explore. It's really a fun quilt to make, and fast from start to finish. (As long as you have at least a few scraps of fabric on hand to start with.)

The moral of my little story for quilters? If you're feeling dragged down by your stash, pack it in your GARAGE for heaven's sake. The moral of the story for new moms? With the skills and the personality and the character you have, just do your best. If it's been a rough start for you and baby, don't imagine a future filled with only rough starts--just focus on the one day you're in. And be patient. That baby will come around. And when he does, he will be the light of your life. Most of the time.  

You can view more quilts from the "little box" here, watch a video about it here, and read more about the quilts here.

Next week comes the quilt "I Love Mama." It actually says that in the center of the quilt. And why not? Babies DO love their mamas! Looking forward to your visit back here next week.

On Polaroid: pictures #3 and #4

I haven't kept up with posting about Jack's photo-taking adventures like I had hoped, but I have kept my promise to him to find a special something to take a picture of once a week. Time to catch up here.

Photo #3: Around the House

Jack decided on this particular day that it was picture-taking time. But it was evening, and baby Charlie was fussing, so we couldn't go far. No matter. "Let's find something to take a picture of in our yard!" Jack said. So we went searching.

We looked at rocks, we looked at plants and trees and bushes. We looked on the deck, on the patio. Front stoop. Back hollow. Nope. Then, in the backyard, Jack's eyebrows rose. "I know!" He dashed into the front yard and stood in front of our entryway door. "That," he said, pointing.

"That" is a wired and jeweled star that hangs to the left of our front door. I found it at our local thrift store for seventy-five cents. It's kind of weird. I love it. The hook on the house holds holiday items from time to time, but during most of the year the star is the star. I love that Jack thought to take a picture of it even when it was nowhere near his view. That means--for better or worse--it's memorable.

Photo #4: In the House

In our living room we have a large cabinet that holds my husband's strange little musical instruments--a tabla drum, small bongos, rain sticks, and two American Indian flutes. When inspired, Brett goes to the cabinet, picks up an instrument, and treats us to some beautiful, new-agey music. On this day, Brett was at work. "Can I see Daddy's flute?" asked Jack. I took it out of its handmade carrying case (which Brett made just for this flute) and told Jack to be very careful. He held it cautiously for a moment, and then took it into his room and announced that he wanted to take a picture of it on his throw rug.

 

And so he did.

Each time Jack takes a picture, it's the same technique--he finds the subject in the viewer, then holds the entire camera a good six inches from his face. Snap. Seems to be working pretty well so far.

Jack recently wanted to take a picture of two women jogging by our house in tight spandex tops. I waited just long enough for them to jog past the neighbor's house before I answered. "Oops, too fast for us," I shrugged. Jack bought it. For now.

Time for another photo-taking adventure soon, maybe this afternoon. Let's hope for pretty flowers, a bird's nest, a butterfly resting. Or perhaps a pair of old and portly man joggers.

14 questions from a four year old

Over the past several weeks I've attempted to answer a whole new arsenal of questions from Jack. It used to be that answers to his questions were pretty pat, straightforward. But these days, I'm getting stumped. With some questions, I've simply forgotten the details (see question #1). Other questions are more sensitive. Still other questions stop me in the moment--because there are thousands of ways to answer--as I try to choose the answer I want him to hear most. The best-case-scenario answer. The cup-is-half-full answer. The answer I would have liked to hear at age four.

See if you can answer some of these questions in a way that would quench a four year old's curiosity (meaning he won't ask the next question, which is inevitibly "Why?").

1. Why is the sky blue?

2. Are we flying through outer space, on Earth?

3. Why are there other countries?

4. Why do I have to die?

5. Why do people's knees have to move when they walk?

6. But HOW does Daddy get the seed into your tummy?

7. Why is this my bed? And what does the Easter Bunny look like? Is he a pink bunny with polka dots? Because I want to go to his castle and meet him and say hi. How far is the Easter Bunny's castle? (Yes, these were a set of consecutive, stream-of-conciousness questions, asked while Jack was jumping on the bed. I had no idea the Easter Bunny had a castle.)

8. Do I have screws inside my body?

9. Why did you want to make me and Charlie?

10. Why don't you want to have more babies? I want a sister!

11. What are inside carpets?

12. Why can't I be three years old ever again?

13. Are there ninjas in our city?

14. Is heaven better than Kaysville?

If you have any pat, straightforward answers for some of these extra-sensitive questions, please, send them my way.

And as for question #14, Jack, yes--I do believe that if heaven exists, it IS better than our little town. But I think there just might be a little touch of Kaysville in heaven, too.

Baby Quilt Friday!: Inch by Inch

Welcome back to Baby Quilt Friday, where I'm featuring one quilt a week from The Little Box of Baby Quilts. Today comes Jack's favorite out of all 20 quilts, "Inch by Inch."

From The Little Box of Baby Quilts, copyright 2007 Jenny Wilding Cardon/
That Patchwork Place. Machine quilted by Cheryl Brown.

I started the quilt with this easy-enough sketch:

I thought it looked cute on paper. I started sewing. I sewed all four rows of the Streak of Lightning blocks (a well-known, public-domain quilt block) and cut the background rectangles for the caterpillars. Threw everything down row by row on the floor to have a look.

Then, as I recall, I burst into tears.

The quilt was a mess. Busier than Bejing is today. Too, too, too many colors. Waaay too much stuff going on. And the caterpillars weren't even in the picture yet! After I wiped my tears and took a one-week break from the design, I returned to it for a fresh view. Ah, yes. Too many colors. So, let's take some out. I made another 15 Streak of Lightning blocks, all with blue backgrounds. That seemed to bring it all together.

Still have the original 15 blocks. I have no idea where the other 10 are right now. But that's okay--I would have no idea what to do with them if I knew where they were, anyway. Ideas welcome.

Luckily, the caterpillars came together just fine. When the quilt top was completed and I once again threw it on the floor for a final look, Jack--then just 18 months old--crawled over and plopped himself down on the quilt top. He rubbed his head on one of the caterpillar bodies. Then he lifted his head, puckered up, and kissed that caterpillar's face.

Triumph. (From a baby's point of view, at least.)

After having so much fun working with fuzzy fabrics for the Ten Little Piggies quilt, I decided to try again with the Inch by Inch quilt. I really like the end result. Appliqueing with fuzzy fabric is incredibly easy--the fluff hides your stitches. I could've appliqued the circles blindfolded and it would have turned out okay. Well, maybe not blindfolded. I'm not THAT good at it. But yeah, really easy.

One quick tip for using those fuzzy fabrics, though. When you are cutting, make sure you have a plastic-bag lined garbage can nearby. As you cut, shake the pieces over the can to get rid of any loose fuzzies. When you are finished cutting, your rotary mat will be a mess, too. I turned mine face down, rubbed it on the carpet in my office, and then vacuumed the carpet. I found that to be an easy way to clean up a potentially huge (although a very cute and cuddly) mess.

You can view more quilts from the "little box" here, watch a video about it here, and read more about the quilts here.

Next week comes the quickest quilt in the bunch to make. It's a raw-edge, sashed quilt called "Silly Stripes and Doodle Dots." Yep, you guessed it--starring striped and dotted fabrics. In lovely lime greens, bright blues, and happy purples, no less. Hope to meet you back here next week!

A second podcast with Annie

In October of last year at Fall Quilt Market I was lucky enough to be interviewed by Annie Smith, quilt designer extraordinaire and owner of the design company SimpleArts. She is the founder of the first podcast for quilters, Quilting Stash. To my great surprise, Annie made a trip through Utah in June and hosted a potluck lunch for several quilters in our area. I packed up Jack and Charlie for our first real all-day outing as a threesome--I just couldn't miss the chance to see Annie again. It was worth the six city blocks we walked to see her (I accidentally parked on the wrong side of Salt Lake City's Liberty Park--it's mammoth).

To my even greater surprise, Annie included me in her podcast about Utah quilters, just to catch up on recent happenings in the WildCard household. You can listen to the podcast here. The first podcast from October is here. My, how things have changed! In the first podcast I talk about quilts, quilts, and quilts. In the second, I talk about babies, babies, and babies. And Mark Lipinski. In a good way.

Thank you again and again, Annie, for keeping in touch--and for keeping ME in touch with the quilting world with every podcast you post!

ALERT: Jackdo

During a reorganization of the 1,982 magnets on the fridge (along with a few egg shapes that were cut, colored, and taped on the fridge back around Easter), Jack randomly lines up letters . . .

Is he subliminally telling me it's time to sew again? I think yes.