After I finished the quilts for my boys, I treated myself to a very quick quilting project - just to remind myself that quilting IS fun, especially on projects that can be completed in under 24 hours!  I chose to try out a postage stamp pattern for a table runner. And I loved it!  A tutorial for the pattern can be found here.

Every step of the project went very quickly. It was so nice to baste a project on my dining room table and not have to crouch on the floor! Here the table runner is about to be quilted.  (Toes included for scale.)

The fabrics used are all from Sabine Reinhart's Magic Garden collection for Blend Fabrics. I  chose a fun stripe for the binding, and a rather subdued pink and white medallion pattern for the backing.

I chose to quilt diagonally through each square, and think it turned out nicely.

Since the pattern was so easy and quick, I sort-of  became obsessed with it and ran out and treated myself to a fat quarter bundle of Aneela Hooey's Cherry Christmas and some fabric yardage to back & bind another table runner (or two).  This is the first fat quarter bundle I've ever purchased, and am happy with all of the fabrics. I can't wait to start on this - but promised myself that I need to finish all of my Christmas bags first. 

Back to sewing!

Hallelujah! After 2 years and 8 months, I have finally finished "big boy" quilts for my twin boys. I had set a goal for myself to finish these quilts before their birthday - and I did it! With 5 days to spare!

Back in January of 2010 I decided that I wanted to make quilts for my twins to use on their "big boy beds" some day.  At that time they were 1 1/2 or so.  I put the design together (my original design) and ordered my fabrics.  Note: 2 months before this, I had started my Etsy business, and at the time I was 4 months pregnant with my third son.  Somewhere between January and June, I decided to put these quilts aside and completed two (2?!) quilts for my soon-to-born child.  Somehow life then took over and I didn't get back to quilting for another year...or so. 

This January I had a few free days and jumped at the opportunity to layer and pin-baste these quilts. That's when I really decided that I MUST have these finished by the twins' 4th birthdays.  By this time they had been sleeping in those "big boy" beds for at least 6 months.  Between now and then I attempted to be very disciplined and didn't allow myself to start any new quilt projects until these were done.  Fast forward to today! I did it! The quilts are DONE. And I can't wait to give them to the kids tomorrow (a few days early).

Specifics of the quilt:
The quilts are identical, other than the backing. They are roughly 64" x 84" and each consist of 48 blocks that are 10" x 10" (with a 2" border around the outside). 

For the quilt top & backing, I used Kaufman Kona Cottons in the following colors: Canary, Clover, Purple, Surf, Tangerine, Rich Red, and Snow.  I was inspired by Rita from Red Pepper Quilts, and decided to put a bold black and white stripe binding on the quilt (Michael Miller Clown Stripe).

I machine quilted these guys myself on my little Janome machine.  I outline-quilted each bright colored square, and then made a series of 3 lines of stitching along each block and around the border. I debated long and hard about what color to use for quilting the top: if I used white it would stick out on the red fabric, and if I used red it would stick out when I crossed the white stripes. In the end I decided to go with red - and I'm happy with the results.

Now on to new projects!