What Do You See? Quilt

I purchased this Brown Bear fabric at the Eric Carle Museum.  Then my Mom and I turned this panel into a quilt for my nephew; he enjoys listening to his Eric Carle board books, especially Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? so we knew he'd appreciate this quilt.

We added a green polka-dot border to the four sides of the panel.  Next we attached the three pieces (the front, batting, and a yellow paw-print fabric for the back) by stitching in-the-ditch on all the green inside lines.  It was like sewing the lines for one enormous tic-tac-toe board.  Finally we sewed the edges together. 

Favorite Projects of 2012

In the background I can hear Julie Andrews singing: "My Favorite Things" with my new verse:

Cross stitching projects and felt ornaments

Quilting with elephants, caterpillars, and color  

Note cards and sewing and felt nesting dolls 

These are twelve of my favorite things

Below are my twelve favorite projects of 2012.

Heart Felt Ornament 

Felt Monster 

Folk Art Heart Cross Stitch

Hummingbird Cross Stitch

Felt Matryoshka Doll

Nine Little Elephants Quilt

Elephant Note Card 

 All You Need is LOVE Quilt

Very Hungry Caterpillar Quilt in Blue

Very Hungry Caterpillar Quilt

Yellow Block-of-the-Month Quilt

Lavender Sachet

Very Hungry Caterpillar Quilt in Blue

The Eric Carle fabrics have inspired me to create another crib-size quilt.   This quilt also sparked my creativity.  Thanks, Mom, for finding it!

All the fabric (with the exception of the blue, yellow, and green pieces) is from the Eric Carle Very Hungry Caterpillar fabric line.  I began in the center with the caterpillar from the draft stopper panel.   Then I added a 2" border of the color dots, followed by the 3" squares: yellow, green, fruit, and junk food.  Next I stitched a blue border around this center piece and another blue border around the food on the sides; and I joined them all together.  Finally, I sewed a strip of 8" squares - color dots, green fabric, and green caterpillars with texts - to finish the top and bottom.  This completed the top.  Again I brought this baby quilt to Bayberry Quilts to be professionally quilted and bound. I used the same blue fabric for the binding and also the back. 

NOTE: In order to stretch all the Eric Carle fabric I had, I interspersed the fruit and junk food squares with the yellow and green fabric and along the sides with the blue border.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Quilt

The children's book The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle has metamorphosized into another crib-size quilt!  This baby quilt is a gift for my friend's new baby girl.  My friend is an art educator and Eric Carle is close to her heart, so I know they will treasure it for years to come.  

I purchased  four separate Very Hungry Caterpillar fabrics from The Eric Carle Museum: the fruit and junk food, very hungry caterpillar panel, very hungry caterpillar draft stopper for the sun, and color dots for the background.

The quilt is divided into three sections: top, middle, and bottom.  I cut pieces from the different fabrics and arranged them two per section.  Next I sewed the dot fabric around each piece and sewed the three sections together.   Most of the time (when I quilt) I center the blocks.  However, I saw another Very Hungry Caterpillar quilt that was off-centered, which reminded me that quilts do not have to be symmetrical.  In fact, the unbalanced blocks are pleasing to my eye.

Once I completed the quilt top, I brought the top and bottom pieces to The Bayberry Quilt and Gift Shoppe.  Within a few weeks, they quilted and bound it.   I am very pleased with the meandering orange lines throughout the quilt; it's as if the little insect really is inching its way over the leaf and through the fruit until it transforms into a beautiful butterfly.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Can You Be?

If you have been reading my posts, you may have noticed that The Very Hungry Caterpillar has been a common theme in my recent gift giving.  Well, this time I used a different Eric Carle book.  The Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? fabric made wonderful t-shirts for a little boy in my life.

These shirts were a NO SEWING MACHINE project, just like the onesies.  I cut out the animals from the Brown Bear fabric (which was washed and dried first) and adhered the fabric to the gray t-shirts with Heat n' Bond.  Then I hand-stitched the brown bear and green frog with DMC floss.  I also added a lily pad under the frog and little paw prints from non-Eric Carle fabric that I had in my collection. 

Whether you're making onesies or t-shirts, beautiful fabric and Heat n' Bond, can turn any plain article of clothing into a one-of-a-kind creation.  Happy creating!

First Very Hungry Caterpillar Quilt

I have been creating handmade gifts, like onesies and quilts, for the new babies in my life.  The above Very Hungry Caterpillar quilt is the first of many.  You'll be seeing more of my Eric Carle creations in the upcoming weeks and months.