sugars and boogers

When I was 7 years old my baby cousin Lindsay was born. This is a photo of me holding her with my big sis, Amber. She was so sweet and I loved her. A few years later she developed a bit of sass, charging a dollar for kisses and referring to everyone as ‘Little Missy’. But she was still adorable in her flouncy 90’s dresses with her beautiful big eyes. Fast forward 20 something years: she’s married to a handsome tall drink of water named Tim and they are soon expecting their first baby!

As luck would have it I already had the perfect quilt top finished in my WIP (work in progress) pile. I found the cutest grey hearts fabric for the backing and I got to work quilting it.

I did a double row of quilting and really like the way it turned out.

Look at those hearts! (insert all the emoji heart eyes)

I was short on time so instead of making binding, like I normally do, I just used the backing as the binding. It’s sort of unconventional, but turned out pretty darn cute.

I can’t wait to meet baby girl. She’ll probably have a little bit of sass and a whole lot of sweetness just like her momma.

I have to admit that I haven’t done as much sewing as I wanted this past year, but we’ve been a little busy.

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We welcomed brother #3, who we lovingly refer to as ‘Coons Loons’, to the family in October. Big Brother started calling him that while I was pregnant so Coons it is.

He’s pretty darn cute so we decided to keep him.

And his big brothers adore him.
When Big Brother met him for the first time he said, “He’s so sweet. His feet are pruney.”

Here he is perfecting the ‘mean mug’.

I couldnt help but make a side by side of newborn pics of all three boys. Can you tell who’s who?

He doesn’t look much like his big Bros now though. He’s definitely got his own look.

And I finally got a good shot of the whole family on Mother’s Day.

And just for fun I thought I’d throw in this year’s Halloween costumes.

Aren’t they ridiculously cute?! Big Brother loved trick or treating while The Hoss basically played the iPhone in his stroller and tried to take his mane off. But we got these adorable pics so it was well worth it.

I did manage to sew a couple of quilts in the past 9 months. Hopefully pics will be up soon.

There’s this super fun, outgoing, sweet and cool girl I met about 8 years back when I first moved to Oklahoma. I had just started a new job and Sarah was our weekend receptionist; she was also a student in the youth group Josh and I volunteered at. Over time Sarah started working with me more and I began to just adore her, I mean, she’s literally the most fun. In exchange for being my friend I bestowed on her the great honor of bringing me KitKats while I was pregnant. I would also sing to her on demand (I’m a super good friend). 

So this girl I met all those years ago has grown into this incredibly smart, capable woman and now she has added ‘Mommy’ to her list of accomplishments and I am giddy. I really love it when my friends have babies, because I love babies…and you know why else? Yeah, you know why…BABY QUILTS!

Sarah knew the general idea of what she wanted for her sweet little guy. With the fabric she picked I cut out the squares and arranged them in different patterns so she could choose her favorite.  

I love how different each layout looks.    
   

After much deliberation😉 she chose a winner.

 
  
 Backed with Minky 😍

  
How great is that aviator fabric? Swoon.  
So glad I got to make this precious gift for such a beautiful friend.

Bonus leftover Minky burp rags. Jackpot.

I love a simple strip quilt. They are fun to make and always turn out so cute.  

 
 I started this little gal a couple of years back. That’s right, I said a couple of years. I got the top pieced and then folded it up, put it away and let it sit for waaay too long. I have a tendency to get a bit overwhelmed with anything bigger than a baby quilt, but about 3 months ago I decided to pick this one back up and get her quilted. So glad I did.   

I’ve recently started making my own binding and I will never go back to using store bought. It’s way easier than I had initially thought and gives me so many more options. How cute is this little floral detail?

 
I’m in awe of the uber talented quilters who have mastered the art of free motion quilting. And while I like to play around with it a bit here and there, I’m just a sucker for a straight line. Symmetry is my lover.

  If you can’t live without her, she’s up for grabs. Twin size, roughly 63’x82′. $225 and she is all yours. Let me know if you’re interested.

Do you guys know Matt and Emileigh Vasquez? If you don’t, you should. They are two incredibly compassionate people working toward eradicating human trafficking through prevention, action and aftercare. Check out the work they are doing at The Cause Tulsa. 

Matt and Emileigh are also expecting! 

  
Look at how cute us preggos are. Isn’t Emileigh glowing?

Josh and I have known Emileigh going on about 8 years now and we’re feeling a little old considering that Josh was one of her high school teachers! She’s always been such a sweet, creative and fun gal and I don’t think we could adore her more, so when she asked if I would make their newest addition a sweet little quilt, how could I refuse?

Working from a picture they found online and some fabric they picked out, here’s the final result.

  If you like the pattern, you can find a tutorial here.

I love the way it turned out. Hopefully sweet Baby V will love it too!

Well it’s about time.

No, really. I started working on this pretty little girl so long ago I can’t even remember starting.

I had all of these fabrics left over from a couple of baby quilts I made when my sister was pregnant with her first daughter…who is now 9. And At some point about 4 or 5 years later I decided to use up those scraps. I started cutting a piecing aaaaaaaaand 5 years later here she is in all her glory.

Why did it take so long? I thought you’d never ask.

This piece of floral delight is the culprit. See, any cotton headed ninny muggins knows you shouldn’t use stretchy fabric when quilting because it stretches and shifts and moves and bunches and does a lot of other things you don’t want fabric to do. So most people would have taken one look at this fabric and thought, “That would make a cute skirt, top, turban, (fill in the blank with practically anything but ‘quilt backing’).” But not me. NoooooOOOooo. I was all like, “Imma turn you into a quilt!” SMH. To make a long story short there was a lot of weeping and gnashing of teeth when I pinned the quilt layers together.

I literally have no idea what I’m doing.

But it’s finished now! And look how cute it turned out!

I couldn’t get a full shot of the front in the picture (I need to raise my clothes line a couple feet) but this is a twin size, 7ft 4 inches x 4ft 6 inches.

And, lucky you, it’s for sale! At some point I will get the website set up for purchasing (hopefully it won’t take as long as this quilt did) but until then: Email me @ aftonjanelle@yahoo.com or PM me on Facebook for more info.

Leave a comment if you are interested in purchasing this quilt! $175 + $10 S&H.

You guys, I just finished this sweet baby girl quilt just in time for the first snowfall of the year.

Isn’t it delish? Sort of bohemian gypsy meets country girl.

I’ve had this fabric in my stash for a couple of years and finally got around to using it. It took me a while to settle on a design because I just couldn’t bring myself to cut into that middle fabric with the dear and birds.

Some fabric just shouldn’t be cut up, you know!?

Once I got it all pieced I had to decide how to quilt it. I was originally thinking about a free-motion flower design, but as usual, I opted for something a little more modern and went with a simple lattice pattern.

For the backing I chose a solid brown bordered with a teal binding.

It is 49 x 39 inches, quilted with Warm and Natural Cotton batting. Simple and sweet!  $150

What is it about pretty quilts that makes my heart swoon? Without a doubt I could sew all day long if it meant I got to look at beautiful fabric constantly. There’s just something about piecing florals and geometrics together, getting that crisp edge pressed, seeing a new quilt take shape that invigorates me. I’m in love…I’m in love with quilting. And when you see my most recent quilt you’ll be in love too.

I’ll take any excuse I can get to sew so when my friend Jil contacted me about making a quilt for the arrival of her new baby girl I was thrilled. We immediately got to work picking fabrics. Thankfully, Pinterest and Hawthorne Threads made choosing a breeze. It didn’t hurt that Jil has incredible taste; the fabrics she picked were awesome and worked so well together with the herringbone design she wanted.

I started piecing and placing fabric for the design.

Pinned it, squared it up and quilted it.

And for as much seam ripping as I had to do (and let’s be honest, it was a lot. This mother was a tricky one and I’m still not that great at accuracy with my sewing) it turned out beautifully. Not perfect, but beautiful.

You’re in love aren’t you? I knew it.

And of course, I just had to throw in a baby doll quilt made from the leftovers.

And if you fell in love with the quilt, you should see sweet baby L. She’s a real beauty!

Fabrics used:
AGF Studio – Minimalista – Optical in Turquoise
Kathy Hall – Downton Abbey – Sybil’s Tapestry in Manor
Pat Bravo – Oval Elements – Oval Elements in Sweet Pea
Rashida Coleman Hale – Koi Canvas – Pennants Waving – Canvas in Wave
Camelot Cottons House Designer – Iconic – Mod Weave in Pink
P & B Textiles House Designer – Always Blooming – Etched Roses in Blue
Pat Bravo – Summerlove – Naivety in Berry
Pat Bravo – Summerlove – Daydreaming in Sunshine
Rae Hoekstra – Lotus Pond – Meadow Blossoms White
Bari J. Ackerman – Emmy Grace – Floral Floats Fresh
Art Gallery – Littlest – Tenderness Grey

Big Brother jumped in front of the camera for an impromptu photo shoot. He was hamming it up most of the time but I managed to get this pretty great shot. He’s a looker!