Whitniffic Whatnots

I said I wasn't going to do it again... but here I am, five months later, halfway done with another Cotton Cuts mystery puzzle quilt! And I'm seriously considering joining the next one too... Debating between Can Can, HipHop and Hustle for the Fall Mystery... They really need to stop (but not really) with these amazing colorways! I think that's what's got me hooked. I don't particularly love the traditional look of the finished quilts, but these fabrics...! Portofino or Berlin? I went Portofino. I'm actually really loving the look of this quilt so far. I think I may be acquiring an appreciation for classic quilt designs after all. Of course, I'll almost always choose a more modern design if I can, but there is something to be said about the cozy nature of a traditional quilt. There are a couple neat changes to the mystery packages this go-around. First off, the month one kits included actual fabric swatches on a cute little card to hel

I attended the First Quilters Quilt-a-Thon again yesterday, and once again returned home with a big dose of inspiration! Tina, the group organizer, brought along an exhibit book she picked up at the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, KY on her recent travels. The exhibit was called Twisted , and it ran from December 15 to March 13. The book featured beautiful photos of quilts created by Mary Kerr, for which she rescued found antique quilt blocks and fragments by incorporating them into new, modern quilts. They're absolutely gorgeous! Ojo de Dios; pieced by Mary Kerr, quilted by Candace West Pumpkin Harvest; pieced by Mary Kerr, quilted by Gina Perkes Homespun; pieced by Mary Kerr, quilted by Donna Ferrill James Along with the book, Tina brought along an old set of wedding ring blocks that had been donated to the group years ago by a friend of the church, hoping that one of us would be inspired to "adopt" them and turn them into something new and beautif

This is a continuation of a previous post- Oh, Baby!   TO RECAP: my husband's best friend and his wife didn't waste any time in becoming parents-to-be after their wedding last May! The baby shower was a few weekends ago, and I whipped up some little gifts to tide me over until my mystery quilt-along quilt for the baby is finished.  Snap-Back Bandanna Bibs The bibs are just as simple as the burp cloths , except they have snaps to keep them on. Because I had about 18" of fabric leftover from the two flannel prints (and plenty of the others), I originally decided to roll with that to size the bibs. That was a silly choice; the first one I made turned out MUCH to large for a newborn! I clearly don't have a lot of baby experience. #clueless #butmydogismybaby My 38-pound baby now has a cute new bandanna! I folded my flannel pieces diagonally to get perfect squares (fun little trick!) and trimmed them to 18x18", then cut them along the diagonal. I di

This is a continuation of a previous post- Oh, Baby!  TO RECAP: my husband's best friend and his wife didn't waste any time in becoming parents-to-be after their wedding last May! The baby shower was a few weekends ago, and I whipped up some little gifts to tide me over until my mystery quilt-along quilt for the baby is finished.  Super Simple Burp Cloths I decided to start with the burp cloths. We had bought a half yard of each of the critter print flannels, and a yard of the grey print, so I wanted to maximize the usage of these. I figured if I cut each hand towel in half, it would make two long skinny towels and give me more bang for my buck. My half towels came out to about 8" x 25", so I cut a 26" piece off of my half yard of flannel, leaving a square-ish 18"x18" piece (perfect for the bandanna bibs later). I then cut the 26" piece the long way, folded in half to fit on my cutting mat, into two 8" strips for my burp

This is a continuation of a previous post- Oh, Baby!   TO RECAP: my husband's best friend and his wife didn't waste any time in becoming parents-to-be after their wedding last May! The baby shower was a few weekends ago, and I whipped together a few little gifts to tide me over until my mystery quilt-along quilt for the baby is finished.  The Snuggly Swaddle Pocket To make these swaddle pockets (no clue what these are actually called... just swaddles?), I did a quick Pinterest search and found a cute free pattern . It was kind of a weird puzzle to assemble from the multiple-page printout, but I finally got it together... and it looks like it might be a bit large for a newborn? I'm not sure... maybe not. I chose to make two of these; one out of the dark polka dot print with a mint green flannel lining, and one out of the minty triangle print with a grey flannel lining. I followed the directions in the pattern to construct the "snugglers",