Handmade Holidays: Quilted Challah Cover

As soon as I saw the challah cover tutorial on Sew, Mama, Sew! back in August, I knew I wanted to make it for a friend for Chrismukkah. (I'm highly amused that there's an O.C. wiki, although I don't know why I'm surprised.)  Of course, good intentions of having it done in time for Chanukah rarely work out unless you actually start the project ahead of time.  So it got there on Christmas Eve, I think, cementing the whole Chrismukkah thing.

I used orange, because it's one of my friend's favorite colors, and paired it with one of my favorite shades of blue.  The paper piecing practice I'd just done really came in handy. The whole thing went surprisingly well, especially considering I'd never machine quilted and bound anything before.  I made my first three nieces and nephews each a baby quilt when I was in high school and college, but they were all sewn pillowcase-style and tied instead of quilted. 

I was excessively worried that I'd screw up the letters for "Shabbat" and somehow write something offensive instead -- kind of like those stories you hear about tattoos in Chinese that don't say what the person thought. (Full disclosure: I have a Kanji tattoo that means laugh.  I verified it from many, many sources before getting it done!)  So I checked the tutorial about a billion times, and also Googled it just to make sure it was correct. 

I used this no pins, no hand-sewing tutorial for the binding, which was right up my alley.  Two of my least favorite things eliminated!  I used 2.5" strips, but wish I'd risked it and gone with the 2.25" binding instead.  As you can see, I wasn't very close to the edge on the back.

I decided to just go with wavy lines for the quilting, since it was the least likely to make me crazy with my anal tendencies.  I also don't have a quilting or darning foot, so I couldn't try free-motion quilting.  This worked well with my walking foot, and I like how it turned out.  It's a little stiff even though I washed it after I was done, so I'm hoping it'll loosen up with use.

 

I *think* I may have the guts to try an actual quilt one of these days now. 

Fall Quilt Blocks

Here's the fall installment of my quilt block exchange (see summer's here).

September's recipient is going to use hers to make a quilt for her new baby girl.  She requested the Blockade block in bright, girly colors.  I made this:

October's Queen Bee asked us to take a chance and try something new.  I have been wanting to try paper piecing, but was nervous since I'm not a "real" quilter. This was a great opportunity to give it a shot.  I made the 9" Crazy Amish Quilt Block, relying quite a bit on this paper piecing tutorial.  It took me a while to get the hang of it; I kept sewing the fabric with the wrong side up at first.  I think I have it figured out now and really appreciate the precision of it.

November's block is a 12" String Quilt Block using scraps.  Mine turned out a bit crazy.  I think wider strips may have helped, but hopefully she likes it.  If not, I told her I'd make a new one!

I love this last block for using up scraps.  If I ever get up the nerve to make a full quilt, I may do one like this with a white stripe down the center of each block.

Summer Quilt Blocks

I've been participating in a quilt block exchange in one of my Facebook groups.  We started in June, and the "queen bee" for that month requested a log cabin or wonky log cabin block in bright colors.  I went with wonky.  I think I would make some of the strips a bit wonkier if I were to do it again, but it was big enough that she can wonkify (spell check doesn't approve of that made-up word!) it more if she wants when she squares it up.

July's recipient requested an Eccentric Star block in rainbow colors.  O. helped me pick out the stripe, and I added the yellow print to echo the star motif.  I completely lost track of July and didn't finish this block until today.  *hangs head in shame*

I went ahead and sewed the August block today too, a Wonky Pinwheel in orange and white.  This one was quick!

I've done very little quilting -- just baby quilts for some of my nieces and nephews when I was high school and college -- so this has been fun. We still have seven more, plus my month, and I'm looking forward to seeing what the other participants choose. Maybe it'll give me the motivation to actually make quilts for our bed and for the kids!