Hopscotch Top

Remember how I mentioned my occasional craving to sew for little girls? Well, it came back. :)
This time I decided to give the Hopscotch Top  a try. You can find it in the Peek-A-Boo pattern shop; lots of cute patterns!

I picked this pattern because it seemed so versatile. It can be made in three different lengths: top, tunic, and dress. I love that the bodice is lined (there are no exposed seams anywhere) and no bias tape is used. Hooray!

I'm a novice when it comes to sewing clothes. I've only made a handful of items, and some turned out better than others. This was definitely the best yet; everything went surprisingly smoothly - no problems! Great pattern! Clear instructions, good photos.

I opted to make the top using quilting weight cotton and chose a tiny red on white floral print from Riley Blake.

When it comes to sewing clothes, PDF patterns are definitely the way to go! To see what a bunch of talented people come up with, as well as keep up on new pattern releases and sales, you can join this Facebook group: PDF Pattern Sales and Promotions.

Sewing for Little Girls

Well, the craving returned. I needed to sew something for a little girl, and this time I decided to make a top for my niece due to start Kindergarten this fall.

Gather Love Baby Quilt: Tips

Well, my Gather Love quilt made it to it's new home just before baby girl arrived! So now I have no excuse to update the blog. :)

See the original Gather Love quilt here. So cute, isn't it? I love it! When I saw this, I knew I had to make one! Go here for the Gather Love Quilt tutorial.

Overall, I'm content with this project. It's not perfect, but it's still a sweet little quilt. Here are a few things I learned...

First, I thought ten 1/4 yard cuts seemed like a bit much for this size of quilt. I did a little math, and found that I could cut all the needed pieces out of seven 1/4 yards. No problem. So save a bit of fabric, if you like. (Cut carefully, and one 1/4 yard yields enough pieces for three blocks).  Though ten different cuts of fabric would give you more variety in the quilt.

Also, I adjusted the size of the sashing and borders to give the blocks a little more breathing room and make the quilt just a bit bigger. I like a baby quilt to be as big as the backing fabric will allow so it can be used a little longer as the baby grows. (I cut my background fabric into 2.5" strips, so the sashing and borders finished at 2" wide. I was still able to do this using 1 yard of background fabric.) A minor adjustment for my liking. My quilt finished at about 40" x 49.5".

As for block construction, I found that even when I cut precisely, gathered carefully, and pressed the heck out of these blocks (even using starch) I could not get a stable square.
So I basted each ruffle center to an unseen background piece that would give it stability. It took a bit more time and more fabric, but I could be sure that each finished block would be square. To do this, I used 20 4" squares of light colored scrap fabric. After I gathered the ruffled center, I basted around all four edges and was good to go.

Here's the quilt top, ready to baste.

And a few of my favorite blocks.

My straight line quilting was a source of disappointment. I tried to baste carefully (not stretching the fabric, pinning every few inches) but it still seemed like the fabric was shifting slightly. I didn't have any tucks or creases, but there were some bulges that tell me the fabric wasn't distributed evenly. Maybe my walking foot needs maintenance?  I quilted a ton of intersecting straight lines on my Love Mosaic quilt without any problems, so I don't know what the problem was.

This quilt is backed in Sweetest Bird in Blue by Riley Blake. The other prints are a mix of Riley Blake, Denyse Schmidt, and a bunch of Bonnie & Camille. Of course, sashed in Kona Bone.

I did not add in the optional trim in the binding, but it would have been really cute! I love that detail in the original quilt.
The ruffled centers and fabric choices make this quilt. It's a fun one; great tutorial!

Little Leapfrog Baby Quilt Tutorial

Remember the Leapfrog quilt?

This pattern was a fun little project! Quick to put together and pretty versatile. Here's what it would look like in other color choices. Some boyish gray....

Or something bright for a little girl...

Want to make one? The process is simple. Click here to visit the free patterns/tutorial page or download the Little Leapfrog Baby Quilt pattern below:

Little Leapfrog Baby Quilt Pattern

A little more Love

Here's a quick update on the Gather Love Quilt!

After some fidgeting with these finicky blocks (more on that later), they are all sewn together into a super cute quilt top! I'm really liking the combination of prints in this quilt.

Basting and straight line quilting...

And now for a hand finished binding.  Almost done!