Baby Quilt Friday!: Flying Frogs

Back to Baby Quilt Friday. On a Sunday. And I totally skipped last Friday. How 'bout that? Anyhoo, it's time for a closer look at another quilt from The Little Box of Baby Quilts. Way past time. Perhaps it's time for me to change the title of these posts to "Baby Quilt Day." Comments?

This week is all about "Flying Frogs," a quilt that I have been told is a favorite by many. It's one of my favorites, too. Everyone in the family gets to choose one quilt to keep, and husband Brett has decided that this one is his. Might have something to do with the story that goes along with the quilt...

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

After finding these fun pink, orange, yellow, and green fabrics at Quilt Quilt Quilt, a wonderful shop in Sandy, Utah, I got the idea for a froggy quilt with Flying Geese blocks. I had plenty of green to finish the quilt but ran short of the other colors in a hurry, mostly because I sewed a full set of Flying Geese blocks before deciding I needed to change the color order. Whoops.

Jack was just a babe then, and the shop was a 40-minute drive away. But my husband worked near the shop. I gave him some swatches and asked him to pick up more fabric for me on the way home from work. Ever-dutiful husband of a quilter, he agreed to the plan.

Brett called me on his way home from the quilt shop. "They ran out of that fabric," he said. My gut clenched tight. "No way," I whined. "There was plenty of fabric just two days ago on the bolts! Are you sure? Did they say anything to you about the swatches?"

"Yep," Brett told me. "They said a clown convention was in town. They came in and bought up all that fabric you wanted. Like, for their costumes or something."

A clown convention? A CLOWN convention? What the hey? What were the odds? I had no idea clowns had conventions. I was devastated. I had a deadline. I had half a quilt made. I had a chip on my shoulder. Why was this happening to me???

Thirty minutes later I heard the garage door opening. Brett came into the kitchen, a sly smile on his face and a bulging bag of fabric in his hand.

OH.

"So, there wasn't a clown convention?" I asked.

"Nope," said my sneak of a husband. "I can't believe you believed me."

I was humiliated. I was mad. But, lucky for him, I was more thrilled and relieved.

And so goes my life with a prankster. He used to call my sister pretending to be a salesman with a foreign accent of unknown origin, pressuring her to buy paper and blank videotapes. She caught on to his act much more quickly than I ever have, so he had to retire his foreign-salesman routine. I, however, never learn. He's been "keeping it real" like that for 14 years now. Real silly.

Love that silly man of mine. And that's why this quilt will remain forever his. Although he certainly does not deserve it. Stinker.

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--which is actually, technically now this week--is all about "Training Wheels," a quilt for monster-trunk-loving little ones. Hope to see you back here then!

ALERT: Jackspeak

Dressed in full cowboy attire by 6:15 a.m., Jack is still prancing around with his lasso at 9:45 a.m. I call to him from the bathroom...

Me: "Jacky, time for bath."

Jack: "Okay, I'm ready. But I'm still a cowboy."

"That's good. Cowboys get dirty. Cowboys love to take baths."

"Yep. We gotta get clean from all that Texas."

Baby Quilt Friday!: Rick Rack Cuddler

Oh dear, I've done it again. A Baby Quilt Friday on a NOT FRIDAY. As one of a bazillion-gillion bloggers--of which a full bazillion are mama/craft bloggers--it probably doesn't matter much that my Friday is on a Monday. But still, I like to keep my word when I can. So, please accept this apology. Very sorry.

So, this week is all about the little quilt below, from The Little Box of Baby Quilts. In fact, this quilt is the littlest quilt in the bunch, called "Rick Rack Cuddler." 

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

Baby size, baby pastels, baby squiggles. Perhaps the baby-est of the baby quilts in the bunch of twenty from the "little box." Some of the "little box" quilts come with a story about life, others come with a story about a specific quilt block or design. This one was inspired by only one thing--that big fat rick-rack that Moda makes. Saw it. Loved it. Had to have it. Then didn't know what the heck to make with it.

Ain't that how it goes with impulse buying of any kind, be it fabric, rick-rack, or otherwise? Can I get an Amen? Anyone? I love how this kind of quilter consumerism has a very official-sounding name--stash building. You know, like, "I just bought two yards of this fabric and I have no idea why. It just called to me. No, I have no one to make a quilt for... no projects on the immediate horizon... no design I want to dive into. NO, I'm not a shopaholic or a fabricaholic or a holic of any kind. I'm STASH BUILDING."

I have only one rule about stash building. Don't take it to the grave with you. Use it all before your last breath. Helps a little with those iffy purchases. A little. You know, one yard instead of two kind of help. Any help helps.

Anyhoo, back to the quilt. I decided to use my favorite new rick-rack purchase in a variation on my favorite quilt-block design. Love the Log Cabin. Get your press-cut-sew station just right and you can wander into a hypnotic trance for hours. And who doesn't need a little hypnotic trance every now and then?

This quilt certainly won't take hours upon hours to create. If you've built a Log Cabin, you'll find the design simple enough. Sixteen units, four blocks. What will add or take away from your sewing time is how you decide to sew the rick-rack. I sewed along both sides of the rick-rack instead of straight down the center, which is more common. That added time at the machine for sure. But I like the effect. And when the quilt gets washed and dried, the rick-rack won't curl up--it will lie flat for all eternity. Nice perk for the recipient. All you need to decide is whether or not the baby you're stitching for will care. Pretty likely they'll love it either way.

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

Hope to see you back here in just four short days for another edition of Baby Quilt Friday. Only four days? Sheesh--better start a new post now.

Baby Quilt Friday!: Elementary!

Yes--it's yet another edition of Baby Quilt Friday. On Sunday. Sorry.

This week's look at quilts from The Little Box of Baby Quilts turns to my quilt called "Elementary!," here:

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

I gave away the original "Elementary!" quilt in a post a few months ago to celebrate my one-year blogiversary. As you can see here, she went to the perfect home. I'm so darned happy about that.

As with several of the quilts in the "little box," I had a quick-and-easy theme in mind for this quilt. Why? Because I've been there. You get the baby-shower invite in the mail. "How wonderful!" you think to yourself. "I'll make a quilt for that fabulous baby on the way." The shower is in three weeks. No problem, you chuckle to yourself--baby quilts are teeny. Just a few blocks. Not like a twin or a queen, or even a throw. Easy peasy, George and Weezy. Right?

Fast forward two weeks. You picked out some fantastic fabrics from your stash. You added to those fabrics during your weekly stock-up trip at the quilt shop last week. Still, not a selvage cut, not a seam sewn. Pop machine quilting into the mix and you're down to two options. Find a super-simple pattern and GET GOING. Or make that trip to Babies 'R Us to buy what so many babies already have. Nothing wrong with option two. But you wanted to do something special.

Quilt in a week, quilt in a day (c'mon, WHAT?). You're wishing quilt in an hour and quilt in a minute had been invented. Option two is looking like the easy way out. But you press on (and cut on, and sew on) to achieve the nearly impossible. When all is said and done, you DID finish it. The baby soon to be born WILL have that cuddly, cozy, something very special from you. But do you think Baby really wanted your blood, sweat, and tears all over that quilt--literally? You breathe a sigh of relief about making the deadline and vow that next time, you'll give yourself more time.

Yep, I've been through it. Done it. Hated it. That's why there are so many rated-"E"-for-easy quilts in the "little box." Not sayin' you can go from first cut in the fabric to last stitch on the binding in one day. Nope. But a week or two? No problem.

"Elementary!" is just about as easy as they come. Four colors, strip piecing, iron-on lettering. And the quilt will last that baby until kindergarden at least, both in theme and in size. Unless, of course, it gets loved to shreds first. Which is what any quilter really wants, isn't it?

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

I have no idea which quilt I'm posting about this Friday--yes, this FRIDAY, I hope. Please excuse me while I go and catch up on my life. I am running quite a bit behind. 

 

Jackdo: Rock, Rock, Rock-n-Roll Preschool

The stage is set. (With a Spidey blankee and a receiving blanket.) Audience seating has been carefully positioned--prime front-row seats in the form of bouncers, Bumbos, and playgyms. The music? Pure rock-n-roll. The venue? Kaysville, Utah, living room.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, introducing the preschool-sized sensation who named his one-man band . . . THE ROCK AND ROLL SOCK.

He begins his set with a soulful rhythm. His number two fan, thrilled to have snagged a chance to experience the show from the first row, pounds his hands and feet to the beat. Almost. (Number one fan is behind the camera.)



As The Rock and Roll Sock launches into an intricate guitar solo, number two fan looks on in infantile amazement. He is speechless. Obviously.



Rock-and-roll attire perfected (two different socks, Angus Young-style shorts, and no shirt), one final chord is held until the crowd of two is in a stupor.

I missed some of my favorite artists breezing through Utah this year because of being a new mom, again. Erykah Badu and John Mayer, specifically. But The Rock and Roll Sock just made my summer music experience complete. Jacky, rock on.