Modern Baby Boy Quilt

I've got a few baby quilt in the works, and due to workload they've been in the works for quite some time...
This is one of them being laid out. It's based on a quilt pattern made by Oh Fransson. I started with these squares which I thought worked quite well. I looks nice, happy and I thought it all worked quite nicely together.

But as I was adding the missing squares I realized that the green stripy fabric from the Twirl line didn't work at all, there was too much white in it as you can see when it's all laid out. So I'm currently in the process of unpicking those and replacing it with something greener.

I'm also sketching on an applique, I think I might have something that will work. It's a little crazy but might go over, do you think adding a little red to this in applique form would be really weird? Maybe it's better to stick to blues and greens?

And yes, I really, really do need a design wall again!

Baby Boy Baby Shower Gifts

One of my friends is having a little baby boy and the baby shower is today.
To start with, I made a little quilt of course! I made this top at a quilt retreat a few years back and it's been lying around as an UFO ever since then. It really was perfect for this gift! It was meant as a wall hanging to begin with - as it's still today the most advanced thing I've ever sewn with those Y seams! But as I don't have much space in our little apartment - I figured I'd better put it to good use as a baby blocks quilt where it will be used and hopefully loved then to leave it waiting for more wall space to hang it. I cut it down as it was a bit to long and then added the border for a little width and framing.

I free motion quilted the feather borders and I really love how it came out, feathers are so much fun to quilt! I wanted badly to add more quilting, outlining of the feathers, a little embellishment in them and more quilting in the cubes but I didn't want it to feel stiff so I refrained, after a long discussion with myself.  =)

I also made a Sushi-Roll Changing Pad and Diaper & Wipes Pouch, tutorial can be found here. Really awesome little kit I think, perfect to keep packed and stacked near the door for when you're just going out for a little while and don't want to bring the whole changing bag maybe?  Or to keep as a pretty kit in the changing bag? Sandra, my friend have a lovely and quite romantic style in the summer so I hope she'll like the fabric I chose for the outside. However, as she is having a boy, I had to choose a more manly spot fabric for the inside of the bag and the upside of the pad =)

It felt really weird to go shopping for diapers and wet wipes to fill this with XD

All wrapped up and ready to go!

Cellphone Case For A Friend

One of my friends saw my cellphone case  the other day and really liked it, and asked where she could buy one. I thought she looked kind of disappointed when I said it was home made so it wasn't available to buy.  I of course secretly immediately decided to make one for her! Seeing how little time to sew I've had lately it was a perfect "sewing break to keep my sanity" project ^^

She's a really cool girl, so I didn't want to make her something too cute and girly like mine, so instead I opted for a modern feel but still with a few, cute details like the little buttons, the little loops detail and the swirly quilting. I really wish I had found some grey Velcro but none was to be found so I had to settle for white =)

I really hope she'll like it =)

Simply Mental Stars

Can you forget a quilt top you spent hours and hours on no less then 2 months ago? Well I managed XD The top I named "Simply Mental Stars" was neatly folded away for a photo opportunity later when I got home from the quilt retreat and I completely forgot about it until I saw a similar star on Pinterest yesterday.

Anyhow, introducing Simply Mental Stars:

Didn't have time to take it outdoors and this photo is as close to the actual colors as I could get.

It was really fun to make the stars, the crazy stars require minimal attention and you can make them as "mental" as you'd like =) 

It's made from half a Tonga Treats, Strip Treat - Hard Candy roll. I'm planning to use the rest for borders. It didn't turn out at all like I planned as I ran out of the black fabric so I'm really back and forth when I look at this top. Sometimes I like it, others not at all, it comes and goes. I was planning on adding a skyline applique to the bottom but for now I think I'll fold it back and let it "mature" for a while until I have time to decide what to do with it and then take it from there.

Periodic Table Quilt

I couldn't be happier to introduce you all to my latest secret project (the "rainbow" I was quilting in the post below) that I have been working on in different ways all spring! My gift to my fantastic sister when she took her Masters Degree at Uppsala Universitet after having finished up by doing 6 months research at Harvard University in Boston this spring - Anna's Periodic Table Quilt! I couldn't be prouder of my amazing sister who's been working so incredibly hard these last 5 years and I knew I had to give her something that reflected just how proud I was, and the idea for her own, 100% custom quilt from fabric to finish, was born.

She was heading the pharmaceutical students student union for one year and was incredibly invested in them her entire time at the university so I wanted the backing to reflect that. Her wonderful boyfriend helped me in secret to get a hold of an illustrator file of the logotype for the backing so she always would remember her time at university.

This quilt brought on many new first for me, my first custom designed fabric from Spoonflower was ordered for both the front and the backing and let me tell you, to get the front right in dimensions and color and everything was by far the hardest part in the making of this! I'm very much an illustrator beginner (darn what a tricky program to learn!) so it took a lot of time to get it the way I wanted.  I referenced a pre-made black and white periodic table file I'd bought for this specifically and used it for element names and atomic weights and so on. Just to realize when I got the fabric in my hands after weeks of anticipation, that the guy I had referenced had got like 1/3 of it wrong!! Saw it when I stitched up the first row of elements (luckily, I'd not finished the quilt) which was the Lanthanides, I saw that Lutetium had Hydrogen's atomic weight and then suddenly a ton of errors appeared before my eyes! I felt like an idiot for not checking it's accuracy before I ordered but when you buy a periodic table, you kind of assume it will be correct... So a second order was made to correct the 25 or so faulty elements I had. Which resulted in them arriving 3 weeks before the set delivery date, so you can imagine my panic at the end. I'll stop babbling now and show you some more pics =)

Did my first micro stippling (at least I think it s micro ^^) in the small squares.

Closeup of some Transition metals and the quilting. Did normal meander for the elements with a small frame around each separate element to make them stand out individually a bit more. And I did a boxy loop-de-loop on the white for contrast. This was also my very first time using a different colored bottom thread (off-white all over) and with the thin cotton batting I used, it was a true hassle to get the tension right all over the quilt!

I did the binding with a decorative stitch to make the transition from white to black a bit smoother and I have to say I'm very happy with that decision, it looks very nice I think even if it did for some seriously long time dedicated to binding.

And the tag, since I was ordering custom fabric anyway I snuck in a tag at the bottom of the second top order, which sadly shows a little as the letters where cut off at the bottom a bit...

It says: "Made with love by Maria Wallin 2012. I'm so proud of you my beloved sister"

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And some "the making of" photos, all laid out a first time for sorting.

This was how far I'd gotten when I realized I had errors... Here I've piled them up and checking them towards a number of periodic tables online for accuracy.

Finally! Top finished and I'm preparing or borders.

Quilting with the speed of light to have it finished in time! Not a single fold, plucker or bubble! I'm so proud of the quilting for this quilt! I know it's all simple patterns but to get the meander decently even all over, get the tension right with the white bottom thread and no pluckers and therefore no need for any stitch unpicking. All over an amazing feat for me =)

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Anna: I hope you know how much I love you and that no one could be prouder of you then I am, every day. You, my little sister who "didn't like to read" and thought I was so boring with my nose stuck in a book all the time growing up. Now you have had your nose in a book for so many years and it has made you even more clever than you where (I'll never win an argument again ^^), and given you so much experience in so many areas, not just studies and lab work and I'm sure that whatever you decide to do in life after this, you'll keep making me and those who love you just as proud.

You're nothing short of amazing little sister and I love you. 

2012 Free Motion Quilting Challenge - March

I'm alive! Work has been killing me again, we've celebrated our first game, PonyIsland's 8th birthday on the 13th of March and I couldn't be more excited! It was a ton of work and fun, we had contests and lots of updates and releases replaced the last pieces of the game that was actually 8 years old =)

We're also starting to settle in our new apartment and better late then never - I've unpacked my sewing room! Naturally I celebrated with some free motion quilting! =)

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Regarding the challenge, I skipped February for now, the month I was most excited about so far, those beautiful feathers are still haunting me!  I really hope I'll be able to come back to it soon and do it as I so badly want to learn how to do them.

This months tutorial was by the talented Ann Fahl, and it was a shout out to us to encourage more creative filler designs then the common stippling and meandering =)

She gave us a number of designs to try and I have to say I felt very comfortable with all of them from the beginning, and again I skipped the sketching part and went straight to the machine (naughty me!), and especially now after my long forced break from my beloved Horizon it felt like being back where I belong. I was so happy to be quilting again!

My first attempt at the designs she suggested:

Since I hadn't quilted in a while I at first forgot to use my "home made teflon slider" sheet and in this image you can really see what a huge difference it makes! The first little section in the rectangle was quilted before I realized why my technique was so poor all of a sudden! You can clearly see how much better and even my quilting became after I got my sheet in place and my little sandwich  didn't drag and snag =)

I really liked the swirls a lot and the extension design of them, the flowers where really fun too, can totally see myself using these in the future. 

I will practice it a more, I just really wanted to get my post up before  the month was over this time =)

EDIT: So I had to play some more with this months challenge and ended up breaking out my drunkards path templates for the very first time and whipped up what's going to become two pillow's with some of my Ruby, so I'd have something "real" to try it on. Drunkards path was sooo much easier to make then I'd feared, it's so much fun to sew curves! =D
This is my first one, still contemplating what to do for borders. I got a lot of inspiration from Judi over at Green Fairy Quilts for this with her intricate and wonderfully free quilting style:

Unfortunately the light was disappearing so the photos are not the best, will quilt some more and try to upload more soon. I was really good and didn't unpick a single stitch, despite my fingers itching when it went a little of track =)

If you haven't taken the pledge yet, it's not to late, you can join up now to become a better free motion quilter and have the chance to win fabulous prizes!!  

Snowflake table topper

Since I needed something a bit less summery then my Summer Squares Table Topper for the table, I decided to whip up a quick one from some of my Flurry scraps. Ended up playing a lot with my decorative stitches when quilting it since I now can use them perfectly again after my beloved Horizon was given some TLC by the service guy =)

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Please vote in the Quilting Gallery Christmas Contest

I've participated with my Flurry quilt in the weekly contest over at the Quilting Gallery, and it would  be great if you hopped over and voted: Vote for your favorite Christmas quilts.

There are a ton of stunning entries so go over there and take a look =)

Gifts for a friends birthday

 A dear friend of mine is getting a year older in a few days and she said when we where out last time that'd she'd love to have a cover for her cellphone. So I traced it on the back of some paper I had in my pocket and then saved it for this very occasion =)

She's a super sweet girl and loves pink just like me, so here's what I came up with. The cellphone cover has a matching little purse to keep make-up and stuff you don't want rolling around in your purse. I made the bottom flat so it wouldn't take up too much room. Fabric is mostly Sunkissed scraps (yes, still from the same jelly roll as I made my Sunkissed Squares quilt, table topper, table runner and pillow with, there's so much fabric in a jelly roll!) and a little Kona coal. Isn't the little music not adorable?

 Back of the little purse, added a few studs. Please keep your fingers crossed for me that she'll like it and that her phone will fit.

Flurry Finish!

My Flurry Presents Quilt is finally finished! It was my first attempt at anything but an all over quilt design, and while it's far from perfect, I'm really glad I tried. However I think I'm not really "there" yet as my skill is much to low for it to looks really good. Which is why I've decided that this year will be my FMQ year! I really want to get better at it so I've decided to participate in SewCalGal's Freemotion Quilting Challenge. I can't wait to get started! Why not join you too? The more the merrier! =)

I also thought I'd show you what excellent help I have always when sewing and working on my quilts, Diana is here making use of her skills as "professional" quilt tester, and yes it works nicely as a bed.

And she also tested that it works as a quilt when I was attaching the binding, she wanted me to let you know - it's very cosy! =) She's so silly, she thinks it's cold inside at night now so she's always burrowing under stuff, it's adorable! She also sleeps under the covers at night again now, that's what I love most about the winter season apart from getting to cuddle up under my favorite quilts, she sleeps on my arm all night. <3

Quilting all the way!

So to keep my sanity in this HD crash disaster I decided to start quilting my Flurry Quilt. Since I can't work for real anyway, apart from when I can borrow Andreas computer and that gives me quite a lot of time to quilt. So every downside have an upside right? After having seen this gorgeous version that Natalia over at Piece N Quilt quilted for one of her clients I got so inspired that I decided to try something that wasn't a fail safe all over design this time =)

So while I'm far away from her amazing result, I'm quite happy with my swirls despite them being anything but perfect (this is a major step for perfectionist me! Am I growing up? ^^) and I'm having a ton of fun planning how to quilt the presents and the border!

So I went off in search for inspiration over at my favourite quilters and after reading this tutorial for a Diamond Sashing over at Green Fairy Quilts I think I might dare to try something with straight lines in it but FMQ, cool right? I was stunned with happiness when I read it! I thought I'd never be able to FMQ straight lines, but the secret was so simple and right in front of me on my cutting table the whole time... Yes I'm a bit embarrassed that I hadn't thought of using a ruler for it it on my own - but now that I know: Wohoo! Here I come straight lines! =D

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If you're looking for the My Memories Suite give away, it can be found here, still 1 day left to enter! =)

Why you should go to bed and not sit down in front of the sewing machine when you've worked for nearly 24 hours...

So, let's just say that this morning when I looked at the photo I took of my finished work from last night, I thought it looked a little weird....

Let's say it looked much more "compact" then I thought it would look...

As it turns out I had forgotten something, namely some white background strips! So I had some serious seam ripping to do today. But tonight I finished and I now have a top looking a bit closer to what I intended =)

Sorry about the crappy photos but they where taken in the middle of the night and my "real" lens is at Sigma being exchanged/fixed as it gave up. I'm by no means a good photographer, but I realize how luxurious I have it with our normal lens (usually at a half automatic setting) when I try to take photos at night with the kit lens =)

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If you're looking for the My Memories Suite give away, it can be found here: