mama urchin

My parents — really my mom — recently spruced up their bedroom a bit. They have a new bed quilt and gorgeous new draperies in an up-to-date color palette but kept their beautiful dark cherry furniture. I think it was just the right kind of change, it made their bedroom — which is on the main level of their home — look much more current but didn’t break the bank. Anyway, back in February I was visiting a fabric store and saw the Twiggy fabric collection by Moda and was inspired to make my mom a quilt.

I used some of two layer cakes to make 35 rail fence blocks. I then laid them out in a way to create the brown and cream zig-zag lines. After completing the top and back — sorry for the it being sideways in the photo — I sent it to Amanda Jean who agreed to stipple it for me. I love how the back — when facing the right direction — looks like a forest with a sky. My mom loves it of course and keeps getting annoyed with my dad when he puts something on top of where it is draped across the back of a chair.

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This is quite possibly the best and quickest thing to make for a baby shower. It’s good for girls or boys and all babies love blocks and balls, most moms do too. To make the balls I used the the purl bee’s pattern for fabric beach balls — there are three sizes, mine are medium. I decided, like Erin, to omit the circle on the end because I went to the trouble of lining up the points. Also, I think the circle is mostly there to complete the beach ball look which wasn’t what I was going for anyway.

The blocks are made from six 5-inch squares sewn together to make a cube. Each side is a different fabric. I then used two pieces of foam stacked on top of each other to fill the block. I was afraid one piece of thicker foam would be too hard to squish into the block but now I think it might have worked. Last thing was a bag made from the chenille — babies love that stuff. I sewed a contrasting fabric at the top but instead of a drawstring — not really safe for babies — I used a length of elastic small enough to gather the top so the blocks and balls don’t fall out. It can still be easily stretched to load up the bag. The last thing I added was a small loop of orange twill tape so the bag can be hung up or easily carried by a tiny hand.

I like giving pillows as gifts. I mean, who doesn’t need another pillow? They’re small, they’re fun, they’re quick. What’s not to love? This one went to Martha. I’d been hoarding these two Amy Butler prints to make something for her for the longest time. I had a half yard of each so it couldn’t be something too big and of course it had to fit in her clean design aesthetic. When she posted photos of her new studio space I noticed that her chair could use a pillow — you know, for her cat Fritz to sleep on — but I still wasn’t sure what exactly to make. Just a few days later I came across this mini quilt by Rita and had my inspiration. Why not make a squares-in-squares log cabin and then cut it up and turn one quarter a-la disappearing nine-patch? I quilted along the seam on the inside of the grey strips. A good wash for that quilted wrinkle-y goodness and it was in the mail.