No, this is not a joke but this is what is happening on my blog. I will share with you a story about a wonderful baby quilt. I will also point you in the direction of two fun things coming up: the Villa Rosa Blog Hop (I am featured on the 15th) and the parade of quilts from the Stay At Home Round Robin on the 18th! It has been a busy time finishing up goodies for that, but I did want to share a little about this fabulous boy quilt that I was able to make.
B Cubed (Baby Boy Blue) Quilt
First, a friend called let me know that a grand baby would come into her life. She had a quilt she wanted made and sent me pictures of one of the family quilts that she had. Yup, they were made with some slinky fabric and I was a little afraid.
But, before we continue with the quilt, let’s talk about Eleanor Beard and the quilt that my friend and her children and nieces and nephews all had. Eleanor Beard was from the Louisville, KY area and these quilts were made by her studio. You can read all about this cottage industry here and more here. There seems to be a remnant of the company still operating with her designs here. Her mother bought all the quilts she could when the local part of the business closed, and that is how there were so many family quilts like this!
Together, we went off and selected a piece of fabric. It was similar to jacket lining, nice and slick! Can I tell you how afraid I was. I made a small sample to be sure that I could work with it. I could. I then chatted with my friend and explained that the scallops could be done but this was so difficult to manage (the test was a horror), would a straight edge quilt work? She agreed, so the next step was to come up with a plan.
I designed 2 versions. Both are pretty similar. I liked using the heart border to make it reflect the scallop border that many of Eleanor Beard’s quilts had. She chose the one with the animals, so off to the frame I went.
My Handiquilter Simply Sixteen handled it well. It was not too bad, but I was so afraid with each stitch that something would go wrong. Yes, we did buy extra fabric in case that happened. Luckily, I did not need it.
The animal designs all come with Prostitcher. The block was called a Continues Curve Square and I like that it helped frame the animals and its intersections made a great design, too.
The border is a design from Prostitcher called Heart Border 3 & Heart 3 Corner. The corner makes the turn for you so I did not need to edit the design!
The front and back are the same….so it is entirely reversible. I did sew the back of the binding by hand; it was way to slippery to try to do a machine binding. I was taking no chances. I machine washed and dried the quilt and included a note on washing. This is done to insure that nothing alarming happens during the first wash. The baby arrived last week and I do hope one day to see a picture of him with the quilt. My friend did pay me generously for the work, which felt good.
B3 Quilt Statistics
B3 (Baby Boy Blue) 36″ x 48″
In the style of: Eleanor Beard
Pattern Design: Kathleen McCormick
Batting: Hobbs 80/20
Thread: Superior So Fine #473
Prostitcher Quilting Designs: Butterfly, Rubber Ducky, Fish, Lady Bug, Deb Geisler Cat, Turtle, Continues Curve Square, Heart Border 3, & Heart 3 Corner.
Fast & More Fun Blog Hop (3/14-21)
I am thrilled to be a participant and wait until you see this list of fabulous bloggers. I will be posting Friday, and I can’t wait to share my quilts. I did make two tops and hope to have at least one quilted by Friday.
Thursday, March 14
https://villarosaquilts.com/
Friday, March 15
1. Kathleen McCormick– https://kathleenmcmusing.com/
2. Cheree H — http://livelylatte.blogspot.com/
3. Roseanne Nelson — https://www.homesewnbyus.com
4. Wendy Tuma — https://www.piecefulthoughts.com/
5. C&T (Valerie) — https://www.ctpub.com/blog/
Saturday March 16
1. Bernie Kringel — https://needleandfoot.com/
2. Sandra Walker — https://www.mmmquilts.com/
3. Linda — https://www.texasquiltgal.com/
4. Debbie Huber – http://time4stitchn.blogspot.com/
5. SIY (Branyn/Jennifer) – https://blog.siysewityourself.com/
Sunday, March 17
1. Carolyn — https://quarterinchcapers.blogspot.com/
2. Emily (Norton House) — https://www.nortonhousequilting.com/blogs/news
3. Gail Shepperd — https://quiltinggail.com/
4. Susan Slaton — http://wazoonewsbits.blogspot.com/
Monday, March 18
1. Nann Hilyard — https://withstringsattached.blogspot.com/
2. Jaftex (Jennifer) — https://scottfortunoff.com/
3. Jan Altomare — https://www.cocoaquilts.com/
4. Tricia – http://quiltwithaview.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, March 19tj
1. Joy — https://shout4joy-shouting.blogspot.com/
2. Emily Leachman — http://thedarlingdogwood.blogspot.com/
3. Vicki S — www.knitbug2.blogspot.com
4. Rose Mikulski — https://somethingrosemade14.blogspot.com/
5. QOVF (Lexie) — https://www.qovf.org/
Wednesday, March 20th
1. Nancy — https://www.graceandpeacequilting.com/
2. Jocelyn — https://happycottagequilter.blogspot.com/
3. Tracie — https://joyfullytracie.com/
4. Daryl Perry — https://patchouli-moon-studio.blogspot.com/
5. Electric Quilt (Diane) — https://doyoueq.com/blog/
Thursday, March 21st
villarosaquilts.com
A great big THANK YOU HUG goes out to each of our Sponsors! Each blogger gets to pick 4 names: 3 to be entered into the Sponsor prizes and 1 for a set of Blog Hop patterns from Villa Rosa. There are some accommodations for International respondents so be sure to check each blog and answer the comment.
Hoffman California-International Fabrics
Moda Fabrics and Supplies
Timeless Treasures
Jaftex
Electric Quilt
Banyan Batiks
Benartex
Hancocks Paducah
Fox Chapel Publishing
C&T Publishers
P&B Textiles
Villa Rosa Designs
Mark your calendars for next Thursday’s Blog Hop kick off post — you won’t want to miss it. There are so so many prizes just waiting to be won. You just might be a winner. But you can’t win if you don’t join us on our Blog Hop adventure.
SAHRR 2024 Parade of Quilts
Monday, March 18th is the day to link up your finished top or quilt for the SAHRR. I am still working on mine, so you have time too! We can wait to see what you created, and if you didn’t participate, make sure you check out the parade as it fills up through the week. There are some great quilts and unexpected interpretations of the prompts, but all in good fun. We began with an orphan block or a special block in mid January and by mid March we have tops or quilts. That is a great achievement – kuddos to all!
Coming Up on my Blog
Villa Rosa Blog Hop 3/15/24
SAHRR Parade of Quilts 3/18/24
Tips and Tutorials 3/22/24
Diatom
Sea Glass Joy
Linking Up
Fabric Stash
Fabric in this month: 4 yards (for hop and this quilt)
Fabric in this year: 4 yards
Fabric out this month: 3 yards
Fabric out this year: 31.75 yards. NET Fabric: -27.75 yards
You get an award for both friendship and bravery this morning Kathleen. The quilt you designed and made with those fabics is sweet, and for me, intimidating when I think about the quilting.
Thanks for the list of blog participants. I’ll be sure to make regular visits to see what everyone has done.
I’m working on my SAHRR. Hope to have a finish by the parade day. Have a wonderful week
You did well with that quilt – I’m not sure I would’ve tackled it!
What a very interesting quilt you made. I enjoyed reading a little history and seeing some of the quilts. Thanks for the info about the upcoming Villa Rosa blog hop. I considered joining but just didn’t have the time. Looking forward to seeing what every one does with their designs.
Interesting to learn about the Eleanor Beard style quilts, Kathleen! Glad you could update the look with the use of your longarm!! I would’ve been shaking in my boots, too! But you pulled it off brilliantly!!!
Oh wow, that slick fabric would have given me pause as well. The quilt turned out really well, and I hope that the baby gets lots of use and love out of it (and you get a photo!). :)
Beautiful job with the baby quilt, Kathleen! The design is lovely. Love
the history of it! Thanks for the Blog Hop schedule.
Wow! You did great with that slinky fabric! That is a challenge that I would not have taken on! I am impressed! :)
puh… you did a fabulous job with this fabric! Very tricky. Really a challenge. Big applause!! The blog hop will be fun to check and comment. And yes, working on the back of my SAHRR to reach may be the parade.
Looking forward to the Blog Hop AND the Parade of Quilts, Kathleen! I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have touched that slinky quilt with a 10-foot pole. You did an excellent job of it!
Oh my goodness I’ve never seen a quilt like that! It’s really beautiful and done so well. I’m amazed it is washable! You are truly brave, Kathleen. :)
I really like these baby quilts they are very unique. I tried to comment on the 31 question and it is a panel that is needed for this quilt
You are braver than I, Kathleen! I don’t even want to work with minkee, let alone that slinky fabric!! It reminds me of the pillow case my mama used to sleep on with her hair all wrapped in toilet paper. I’m sure she must have slidden off of it during the night! LOL