Quilting for Twins

Last month I started a fun project- quilting for TWINS! (But not my own! ;)

My sweet cousin is pregnant with twins... A boy and a girl. As soon as I heard the news, I started day dreaming about a fun color palette for coordinating quilts to make for her and the babies.

I wanted something that would coordinate, but not be matchy-matchy. I started pulling fabrics from my stash and the fabric that kept jumping out to me was Wild and Free Folk Plaid by Maureen Cracknell. I felt like it would be the perfect fabric to tie both quilts together. 

So first I pulled fabric for the baby girl quilt. I started with the plaid, and then added some peachy fabrics as well as some mustard. Some of my favorites were the Wild and Free Arrows, Arizona Desert Blanket by April Rhodes, Winged Plumage by Bonnie Christine, & Domino Dot in Geranium by Violet Craft.

I really love the way the colors came together. I think this combo is so dreamy- plus since most of them are Art Gallery fabrics, they have the softest hand and it is just an incredibly snuggly quilt!

After I finished the baby girl quit, I pulled fabrics for the baby boy quilt. Again, I used the Wild and Free Folk Plaid as the fabric to tie both quilts together. Then I added some Cotton + Steel Basics from the blue and mint color ways, Essex Dyed Linen in Black, Hello Bear Buck Forrest by Bonnie Christine, and some black and white fabrics pulled from my stash. (I used the folk plaid for backing on this one and I am going to have to do it again! It was the perfect quilt back.) I tried to do a new and fresh color combo that I hadn't really seen before, and I think its perfect for a little boy. 

The quilts have made it to their destination and are anxiously awaiting for the babies to arrive and snuggle with them! Can't wait!

Thanks for stopping by my blog! Hope y'all have a happy week!
xoxo, Ashley

Fort Firefly Baby Quilt

Leaving our home in Ohio was hard on many levels... But one of the hardest parts was leaving my friends. Especially since two of my very best friends were pregnant with babies due just weeks after we pulled out of town! It was so heartbreaking to know that I wasn't going to be there to meet their babies or help them afterwards! 

So during the month before I left, I was frantically sewing some gifts for the babes amidst trying to get our house together and ready for the move. Crazy times, but it was so nice to have a project that I could work on and take a break from the craziness.

The first gift that I made was a quilt for my friend Rachel and her darling baby boy. I used some of my leftover scraps from the Fort Firefly Quilt I made for my daughter. I used most of the fabrics from the line, minus the prints with the little girls on them and added a few other prints I had lying around in my stash. I really love the colors of the quilt. It different than just the average baby boy quilt- which I love.

 I am so thankful for technology when it comes to living far away from family and friends! Thanks to Instagram, I was able to see pictures of Rachel's darling little boy hours after she had him. It was ALMOST like I was there... Ok... Not quite, but the next best thing! He's a cutie!

Hope you are all having a wonderful summer! I'm only days away from leaving Utah on a new adventure- trekking across the US again to our new home... This time to states I've never been to before! I can't wait! Wish me luck! 

xoxo, Ashley

Star Wars Messenger Bags

Since I don't have any boys (yet), I rarely sew with "boy" fabric. Last summer I wanted to make something that would be "cool" enough for my 2 darling nephews to use. Since I was making all of my nieces Oliver + S Messenger Bags, I thought I would make some for my nephews too.

 They are lovers of all things Star Wars... So I went in search of the "coolest" Star Wars fabric I could find. For my oldest nephew, I wanted to get something that wasn't too over the top... He just turned 12 and I wanted something that had the Star Wars vibe but was a little more grown up looking. I came across this fabric. I loved it!

 He is also learning to play the guitar so I knew that some Michael Miller Groovy Guitar fabric was in order for the lining. I trimmed it all in a light grey solid and used some Michael Miller Huevos Dot in Stone for the strap. I really love the way it turned out!

For my youngest nephew I went with a fabric that definitely screamed Star Wars. I found this fabric at Joann's. I loved that it was navy (my favorite color). Even though it is definitely a Star Wars looking fabric, I felt like it was a bit classier since it was only navy and white (instead of a bunch of bright colors like most other Star Wars fabrics are).

 I lined the bag with Riley Blake Medium Chevron in Navy. Then I trimmed in a solid navy and used the navy for the strap too.

I really like how this one turned out. It was a lot of fun working with some boy fabric for a change! :)

Happy Sewing!!

xoxo, Ashley

Going Coastal Quilt

As soon as I learned to quilt I knew that I wanted to make a quilt for each of my brothers and sisters. This beach quilt was the last of the quilts I finished for my siblings. 

(I made these quilts for my other siblings: Hello Luscious Quilt, Scrappy Spools Quilt, and Hot Wheels Pow-Wow Quilt)

My little brother lives in Hawaii so I figured it was only fitting that he have a beach quilt. When I saw this fabric I thought it would be perfect. I used a handful of prints from the Going Coastal Collection and tossed in some orange and red Marmalade stripes and a couple other prints I had lying around in my stash.

I find it really hard to make a quilt for an adult guy... I have made 2 attempts so far (this one and the hot wheels quilt I made for my other brother) and I am in the process of making my hubby a Buckeye quilt (his favorite college team). 

I feel like it is hard to come by masculine fabric that I think is cute at the same time- so my quilts tend to read more boy-ish but my brothers are pretty young at heart so it works for them. 

For this quilt I used 9 inch squares (not sure why the odd size) and it turned out great. It came together very quickly! My brother about 6 ft. tall so once I pieced the squares and measured, I realized that it needed to be longer so he could over up with it, so it ended up being a slightly odd shape of quilt once I added borders to the two sides. Long and skinny. I think it was roughly 55" x 84". 

I did straight line quilting with my walking foot and quilted 1/4 inch from each seam of the quilt. I was very much inspired by the quilting style of Rita @ Red Pepper Quilts. She does such a neat job and I love the simple straight lines she is famous for in her quilts.

My little brother loved the quilt. I was so glad! I am always nervous to give something I make to someone because of course I usually like the things that I make but that doesn't mean that everyone else does too- but my brother really did appreciate the birthday gift! He's the best! :)