Babies Cause Creativity!

One of my recent blog posts included a photo of the cute little hat I knit my new grand-niece Riley Rose. Well, just two days ago I had yet another grand-niece, Piper Floriane --  nephew Adam and niece-in-law Kara's first baby. I started to knit a hat for her, too, but ended up ripping the stitches out three times. There's either something wrong with the pattern, or something wrong with me! (Hmmm, I wonder which it could be!)

If you're a Facebook friend of mine, you know that my wonderful sister-in-law Michelle stopped by yesterday with her SUV loaded with quilting supplies, from entire bolts of batiks to yardage of first-quality quilting fabric, and all sorts of quilting supplies, books, and patterns. (She and my brother are moving to a condo in Florida and she simply hasn't the room to store her enormous stash of quilting treasures! -- I suggested that they buy a second condo just for their hobbies and arts!)

She had one package of fabric all ready to be made into a quilt, including the book containing the pattern. The fabric is called Vintage Alphabet by Michael Miller fabrics, and the pattern is from the book "Sweet and Simple Baby Quilts" by Mary Hickey (page 60 -- and the fabric is identical to the quilt from the book). Click this link to buy the book on Amazon: Sweet and Simple Baby Quilts If you're looking for easy, cute quilts to make in a day or two for that new baby in your life, definitely buy this book! Unfortunately the fabric is discontinued (it was produced in 2002-2003).

Here is my quilt -- it took just several hours to make, including machine quilting --  easily a one-day project. It's about 33 x 33 inches square, perfect for a lap blanket in the stroller.

The fabric is so charming -- I love using the Snowball quilt block to showcase "conversation" prints. And here is the back showing the quilting -- nothing fancy, just functional!

I'm working on a podcast for February -- this time it'll feature a paper project for sure, and maybe a fiber arts project. 

My Big Podcast Project for April is at my sister Patsy's for long-arm quilting. I'm so excited about the April podcast -- it'll feature an original quilt, a moving story, a history lesson, and a song or two, all rolled into one.

My thought for the day: If you're not feeling particularly creative, find someone who has a new baby -- talk about a creative muse! I feel so blessed to have these two little beauties in my life! Riley Rose and Piper Floriane, thanks so much for the inspiration!

'thann