Evan's Quilt (Photo heavy!!)

At the end of December I did a post about WIP's.  On my list of things to finish was Evan's first year quilt.  Four of my grands had their photo's taken every month of their first year with a fabric background.  I take each fabric and make a quilt with it.  The quilts are all around the same size, 56 inches wide by 72 inches long.  N, P & L's quilt were all quilted by the same lady, but she is no longer doing the quilting anymore, so I had to find someone else.

I stumbled upon the nicest lady ever; Kathleen from Allotallove.  Not only does she do the long arm quilting, she also sells quilt tops and quilt's from her Etsy Shop.

I used Fireside Backing fabric from Dinky Doo Fabrics. It's so warm and soft, perfect for the backing.

I requested a basic swirl for the quilting as it's a boy's quilt.

The cloud print you see below; I used that for the binding, as I ran out of the plain grey print.

I always put a label on the back, as a reminder of who made it and when.

Overall I am super pleased with how it all came together.  From Evan's mum's choice of fabrics, to how it was quilted and how it looks and feels when finished.

I have a couple of quilt tops just sitting there which I may decide to get Kathleen to quilt for me, as she was very reasonably priced and had a fast turn around.  

What to do when it's cold and snowy outside......

Snuggle up under a quilt and sew the binding on it and that will keep you toasty warm.

Rose did a beautiful job again on this quilt; she also quilted Nora's quilt.  I will post a full photo of it when it is completely finished.  I love this material I used for the backing and binding, it's called Architextures for Robert Kaufman,  I have used the tangerine colourway on another quilt and this is the grey colourway.  I would use it again, it's a good neutral to use.

I got a number of pocket tissue covers and matching key fobs finished for the animal shelter also on the weekend.

That will have to do for them for the moment as I have some other sewing I need to get crossed of my list, including making Barbie clothes.  I have four "naked" Barbie dolls sitting on the dining room table, so need to make a wardrobe of clothes for them and the rest of Nitara's Barbies for her birthday in January.  

If anyone has some links for free Barbie clothes patterns please let me know.  I have found a couple but not 100% happy with them.  I also need to run up four Baby Doll Pouch Blanket's for the girls for Christmas, as I think both the big girls and the babies/little girls will enjoy them.

On a night I am tackling a knitting project and will show you that once I get a decent way into it.  I would like to get an adult hat also knit before Christmas as well as a little present for someone.  All in all I have plenty to keep me out of mischief for the forseable!!

Are busy with making things for Christmas?

Our Little Munchkin's Quilt - Photo Heavy

I picked up my sewing machine on Wednesday, so was able to finish our Little Munchkin's quilt.   My "model" is sick {{SIGH}} so I had to be quick with photos, as he was having a hard time holding the quilt up!  This is the front, it's a twin/single size.

 Here is the back.

A close up of the back.  I did NOT do the quilting on the body of the quilt I got a professional to do it.  I can't quilt like this as I am no where near as talented as this lady.

 A closer look at the back.

 Another close up of the quilting.

The label I put on the quilt (see further down the post on this process).

So to recap the story of this quilt.  Our Little Munchkin had her photo taken every month for the first year of her life.  Each photo she was placed on a fabric background.

The grey neutral material was used in 5 month photo.  The Christmas fabric (top left) was used in the 1 month photo.  The hexagonal fabric was used in the newborn photo.  The lemon slice fabric was used in the 8 month photo, the yellow paisley one was used in the 9 month photo.

The ghost fabric (top left) was used in the 11 month photo.  The lilac (bottom left) was used in the 2 month photo.  The brown polka dot in the 12 month photo, and the green and brown one in the 4 month photo.

 The heart and ladybug fabric in the 3 month photo.  The pink floral in the 6 month photo.  The fishes in the 7 month photo and the letters in the 10 month photo.

We obviously have all the photos and need to get a big frame to put them in.    There is also a lot of fabric leftover, so dd said she was going to make some clothes for Our Little Munchkin.  We put her in sewing lessons when she was young (dd), so she knows her way around a sewing machine, but hasn't sewn in years.

I forgot to take photos of how to make the label, as it is a DIY project and very simple.  You need some freezer paper, material (I generally use muslin), a printer and a piece of paper.

What ever the normal size of a piece of paper is, I think 8.5" x 11", take that and use it as a template to cut out a piece of freezer paper that size.  One side of the freezer paper has some "glue" on it.   With that side facing the back side of your material, iron (no steam)  the freezer paper onto the material, it will stick to the fabric.  Trim the material so it is 8.5" by 11".  

Using your "word programme" type out the words you want to use on your quilt label on your desktop/computer.  Print it out on a piece of paper to make sure you are happy with the font and size.  My font size was 11 and I used I think Calabria maybe?  When you are happy with how it looks, feed the fabric with the freezer paper on it into the printer and print it out on your fabric.

Pull off the freezer paper.  With another blank piece of paper on top of the fabric, iron (no steam) over the lettering and hold it there for a few seconds.  I think I did 30 seconds just set the ink.  I then put a border around the grey label with leftover pink fabric and hand sewed it to the quilt.  I will do a step by step tutorial on this when I finish my next quilt.

By the way you can buy special sheets from your local fabric store that does practically the same thing and is supposed to be more colorfast.  I have never had any issues doing it my way, but that's just me.

To see some of the photos of Our Little Munchkin's monthly photos, you can click on this link.  I am so pleased how this turned out.  Now onto dd quilt.  I am quilting that myself as dd did not want to pay to have it quilted.  I paid for Our Little Munchkin's but refused to pay for dd.........they make more money than we do....LOL

There was a bit of plastic broken on my on/off switch on my sewing machine, so they glued it back together.  So how long will that last before it breaks again....any guesses?

Top done....

It's 66 inches wide, and 85 inches long.  Now to get the backing material and get it too the lady who will quilt it.  Should have it back by middle of May.

Now to sort out a partially made quilt top I started ages ago.