The end of last week I received a wonderful reminder of why I became a quilter and why I make quilts.

Many years ago I made my a baby quilt for my Danish Brother’s (longtime friend that I spent part of the summer in Denmark with him and his family in the late 90s, he now lives in Austria) first born son (14? years ago).

It was a fairly simple quilt as 14 years ago I still in my early days of quilting.

Little did I know this quilt would become sort of a family heirloom for them and is passed around family members as they have babies.

Last year I received an e-mail and photo from my Danish Brother with his sweet nearly 3 year old niece (his brother’s darling daughter) wrapped in the quilt when she was feeling under the weather to comfort her:

A very sweet face but must protect this little one’s privacy

And at the end of last week I received an e-mail with a photo of his new nephew (his brother-in-law’s son) using the quilt!

A very sweet looking baby but face obscured for his privacy, you’ll just have to trust me on his sweetness 🙂

It was one of those “my heart is going to explode” feelings, my eyes filled with tears, and I got to so overwhelmed and grateful (and surprised) that a simple baby quilt I made was bringing comfort to 14+ years of babies/children so far in one family!

Here is a quote from my Danish Brother from his e-mail with the photo of his niece wrapped in the quilt in 2022:

... you know what…is precious to me? The blankie that is comforting her! I am sure you recognised it immediately of course. I just wanted to put that smile on your face! Thank you for the fine gifts you have lovingly crafted for me. It warms my heart every time I look at them. Every one of them is my favorite!

Hey Universe, thanks for the reminder, I will keep making quilts.

You quilters out there reading this you understand!

tierneycreates, What's on the Design Wall

Another Baby Quilt to a Baby!

May 5, 2021May 5, 2021 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

There is something so satisfying as a quilter in seeing a quilt you made being used by a baby (a new person on earth!). Like in the post Baby Quilt for An Adventure Baby, I was fortunate enough to be provided with photos of a new person in a quilt I made.

This post is a follow up to my March 30th post What’s on the Design Wall (Another Baby Quilt), where I shared a baby quilt in progress.

Well the baby quilt got completed and given to my friend Marla during her visit a couple of weeks ago and she delivered the quilt to the new parents in Portland, Oregon. Marla was kind enough to take photos for me of the new baby, Azzy, in his new quilt!

First here is the completed quilt in my studioafter I did basic straight line quilting and pre-washed it for the new parents:

And now here is little Azzy in his new quilt (thanks Marla for the photo!):

I think I just want to make baby quilts as my new career and have a wall of photos of babies snuggled in the quilts I made (smile).

Postscript

At the end of April I was honored to be featured on Maker Monday on the Instagram page of @blkmakersmatter.

You can read more of my responses to the interview questions posted on the Instagram post at https://www.instagram.com/p/COIprqNlCDI/ or you can find all the screenshots on my Textile Adventures page.

What's on the Design Wall

What’s on the Design Wall (Another Baby Quilt)

March 30, 2021March 31, 2021 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I have not made baby quilts in many years and now I am making baby quilts back to back (see post Baby Quilt for An Adventure Baby!)

On my studio’s design wall is a colorful baby quilt in progress for a special baby who lives in Portland, Oregon, who has recently joined us on earth (new Earthling!)

As Spring is sort of here (at least it is teasing us in the Denver metro area with periodic snow vs. 60+ degrees F days) I decided not to make a flannel quilt with flannel backing quilt like I did with the previous baby quilt. Instead I searched through my ridiculous collection of jelly rolls and found this colorful jelly roll from Maywood Studios:

In case you are not a quilter, “jelly rolls” are collections of 40 precut 2.5 inch strips that run about 42 – 44 inches long, are color coordinated (usually from the same fabric line) and can be used to make a small to larger quilt (if you add additional fabrics).

For a while, in my earlier quilting days, I was obsessed with jelly rolls and amassed quite the collection. I also had a collection of quilting books with quilt patterns using jelly rolls.

I only have one of those books left from those days – Jelly Roll Quilts: The Perfect Guide to Making the Most of the Latest Strip Rolls by Pam and Nicky Lintott, and used this book for the pattern for the baby quilt.

Besides using a jelly roll to make a quilt which I have not done in years, I made “strata” (sewing strips together to then cut into sections) to create the pattern for the quilt – something I have not done since the early 2000s when I first began quilting.

I felt like I was in my early days of quilting as I pressed each section of strata and it felt kind of nostalgic and sweet!

I have the center of the quilt assembled now and I am going to put a lightweight denim colored fabric as the border and use the extra blocks as cornerstones.

I’ll have some better photos to share after I get it all assembled and quilted.

tierneycreates

Why I Quilt

March 22, 2021March 22, 2021 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Here’s a follow up to my post Baby Quilt for An Adventure Baby.

If I ever need to remember why I quilt, the photos in this post remind me.

My friends who were expecting their first baby had the baby and shared some photos of their newborn snuggled in the quilt I made him:

Yes, this is why I quilt! I’ve been quilting for over 20 years and these photos have convinced me to keep quilting for 20 – 40 more years!

Is there anything more awesome than seeing a brand new person sleeping in something you made?

Thanks to the new parents for sharing these photos!

Fabric Scraps Obsession, Studio

Little Bits of Oregon Warmth

December 21, 2016October 22, 2018 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I finished the baby quilt I was making for a friend having her first baby. She has received it, and appears to really like it, so now I can post photos!

I named the baby quilt – Little Bits of Oregon Warmth – it made from recycled flannel pieces from flannel quilts I have made or my quilting friends have made. I selected flannel scraps that evoked a feeling of my beloved adopted state of Oregon (my friend lives in Oregon).

It is very “green” – it is made from fabric that some quilters would have discarded. Instead these pieces have a new home and purpose – to keep a baby warm this Winter! (I’d like to think that this recycled quilt is part of my efforts to be environmentally friendly and try to preserve the world the baby will be growing up in…)

It is so fun to work with scraps from other quilts and remember what quilt they came from (or if they are another quilter’s scraps, wondering what quilt they went into!).

I pieced the quilt using the “Log jam” technique (free-form log cabin style piecing). If you are new to my blog, here is a link to some previous posts on Log Jam/Log Jamming.

Photos

The quilt on the design wall prior to machine quilting:

The quilt freshly machine quilted (yes the quilting would not win any awards, but it worked for a baby quilt and I did it myself…):

A close up on the quilt to see some of the flannel scraps – all of which are somehow related to our beautiful state of Oregon:

The quilt is fully machine washable and I pre-washed it before sending it to the expectant Mom so she would know it can be washed and dried as much as needed! I also made clear it was a UTILITY quilt – to be used – not hung on a wall!

Postscript

Speaking of “Oregon Warmth”, here is a gratuitous shot of my delicious cup of hot chocolate I got on Monday while running errands with my neighbor and her son (Winter errands must include a stop for a yummy hot beverage).