Little Quilts, Little Changes

My local quilt group had a request for more NICU-sized quilts two meetings ago, and I've been coming up with cute yet simple quilts. The last two batches have had an envelope edge (turned instead of binding.) Last week I picked up some fabrics earmarked for the little quilts, and I'm considering using my bias tape maker to make bindings. I've found the tool works fine with straight-of-grain fabric as well as bias fabric. The smaller quilts have pieced heart blocks, and the center quilt is a heart print. I'm hoping they will be available around Valentine's Day, but are cute any time of year.

NICU Quilts

 
The small changes have been helpful in the sewing room. I realized that my ironing board was too high for me, and with hand and neck pain any repeated work is not very comfortable. Lowering the table about 4" really helped. The other change was a new rotary cutting blade. It took me a while to find the packet of blades, but it was worth the hunt. I'd already replaced my old mat with a new one. And lastly I bought a sturdy stepstool for my studio, which allows me to make better use of the 8' x 8' design wall.

Today I pieced and pressed three bindings, two of which are for quilts not yet quilted. One binding went on the finished quilt below, which was made from a set of sample fabrics. A couple of extra fabrics and some trimmed down leftover 9-patches were added. I was able to photograph the quilt pinned higher on the design wall so there isn't a corner of the longarm in the way.

Floral Squares, 49.5” x 36” 

The Scrap Cats quilt was made with leftovers from a kit made several years ago. It's surprising how much fabric was leftover. The fabric line is XOXO The Cat by In The Beginning. My favorite fabric is the white "notepad" fabric with notes from the cat, such as "Put away that suitcase, you are not going anywhere. XOXO The Cat."

Scrap Cats, 75.5” x 63.5”