Testing the water

I'm tip-toeing up to the water's edge to see if I still remember how to do this... this blog thing. It's been eons since I've posted, and so much has happened. After moving superbuzzy to California in early October, we fell into a whirlwind of activity - maneuvering through the bureaucracy to form a corporation and move business operations to California (note: doing business in Oregon involves much less red tape and $$$!), the onslaught of the holiday season (much quieter and mellow this year!), beginning all the things associated with the new year, and then a fantastic trip to Japan in January (more about that soon!). It has been so incredibly rewarding to set up the new superbuzzy space and then slowly integrate with the community here in Ventura. Walk-in customers are fantastic, and we have new and more people stop by every week - such fun! I'm feeling so connected to this little shop, and it makes every hour of work so rewarding and worthwhile.

Although these months have been completely dominated by work and work-related activities (I'm trying hard not to come in 7 days a week now...), I have ventured back into some sewing here and there. I recently finished a baby quilt for my little nephew William, born in October. The inspiration for the quilt was, quite honestly, the super-soft double gauze fabrics here at superbuzzy. I had never sewn with double gauze before, and I wondered whether or not it would be a devil to quilt - what with the 2 layers of gauze, batting, and backing. But, the light, airiness of the fabric was irresistible, so I forged ahead with the project. I have to say, this might just be my favorite quilt yet!

The overall color inspiration was blue and yellow, but I didn't want it to be too bold or too "match-y". The entire quilt is made with double gauze fabrics, except the main backing fabric and the binding. Here is the front:

and here is the back:

 

Photographing an entire quilt is so hard, and it was quite windy... tough to really get the feeling from those shots. But, here are some close-ups to show some of the fabrics and quilting:

 

I quilted a simple zig-zag pattern running from top to bottom, and I chose to bind it with bias binding to give it that extra strength and stability - great for a baby quilt. I washed it over the weekend, and it got that lovely crinkled look - plus, the fabrics got even softer than before! I've learned the hard way a thing or two about batting in past projects, and I held out for my favorite on this one: Quilter's Dream Cotton - Select. The result is a super-soft and "squishy" quilt - none of the stiffness I've experienced with other batts. I've sent the quilt off to little baby today, and it's great to have a finished project to report after so long!

Comments

[Amanda]

It's good to hear from you again, Kelly! The new quilt looks so soft and warm and wonderful! I'd wondered about those double-gauze fabrics, now I know how great they look.

[Kim]

Hey, it's Kelly! Good to hear from you!
I love the quilt -- I love neutrals + white. I wish I could see it up close & squish it!

[Julie]

Pretty quilt! Happy to see you blogging again!

[Jean]

Beautiful quilt. Did you prewash your fabric before? Thanks.

[Kelly]

Hi Julie! No, I did not pre-wash - I like a bit of puckering for my quilts...