subway tile baby shower quilt

A friend of ours from the preschool had a baby shower for her second kiddo, a girl, a couple of weeks back, and in celebration I made this quick little subway tile-style baby quilt.

The top is made of vintage textiles I've collected at thrift stores and estate sales (poppies + stripes), stuff from my stash (including a pair of Heather Ross prints and some cute owls), and a couple of my own prints from Spoonflower (the measuring tape and cupcake prints are both mine). The kicker is that I also used a crib sheet from the recipient's registry for some of the blocks as well as the quilt backing, which ties it in nicely to the nursery bedding.

 

The subway tile pattern is a pretty simple one to replicate. Just cut 48 rectangular blocks (mine are 4 inches x 10 inches) and stitch into rows of four, pressing seams flat when done.

Every other row, cut a 5-inch section off of one end, and attach it to another end. Then sew the rows together to make your quilt top twelve rows high. Press all seams down.

Instead of quilt batting, I used some organic cotton + organic bamboo sweatshirt fleece in between the layers. I had it on hand and it gives the quilt a nice weight and a sturdiness that will help it last a nice long time.

I stacked and pinned the layers just like I did for my sister's wedding quilt, only on a smaller (and quicker) scale. When quilting the layers together, I stitched along both sides of each horizontal seam and called it good, except for the corners. There, I stitched some simple designs: a fish, a bird, a leaf.

I used the quilt binding technique introduced to me by the Smile and Wave blog; it's taken all the mystery out of quilt binding for me, and lets me coordinate binding to my project, which I love. I'll link to it once her site's back up. Updated 6/7/13: Here's the link.

Basically, cut 3-inch strips, sew together at an angle to avoid bulky seams, then press flat. Fold almost in half along the length (favoring one side by about 1/4 inch), press, then fold edges to the center and press again. The wider side goes on the back of your quilt, so that when you run the quilt through your sewing machine the top and bottom are certain to both get caught in the stitches.

After that, the hand finishing is a cinch.

It was a big hit with the mama-to-be, and I was pretty happy with it, too! A couple of people asked if I sell my quilts; I don't at present, but I really like to give them as gifts.

Thanks for reading! If you make your own subway tile quilt, I'd love to see!

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My Repurposed Life

kitchen, bit-by-bit

Our kitchen project pre-dates this blog. Somewhere around here, I have photos of the "Before" kitchen, with dark wood cabinets, orange laminate countertops, copper hardware, and OMG, the most amazing silver foil wallpaper, with mustard yellow and orange daisies printed on it in stripes. It was really something. Where the sun had hit some portions of it through the window for decades, the flowers were faded. Where it hadn't, they were hurt-your-eyes vibrant. 

Anyway, photos somewhere, not here, not now, except that this old photo (from 2008, when we started re-doing the countertops at the same time I was closing down the bookstore) shows a snippet of the old burnt orange countertop.

We took out the orange laminate backsplash, covered everything with 1/4-inch cement backer board, and started laying down slate tiles. We also took out the beaten and chipped up 1960s sink. 

The tile looks better cleaned and polished. This photo is more recent, from a month or so ago when I was trying to finish up the slate backsplash installation (five years after starting the project). I had cleaned everything off the counters and decided it was a good time for resealing the stone.

The mister took the opportunity to install these little undercabinet lights from Ikea.

The kitchen is small, so the three pack was enough to light up the area. A really nice touch. It makes the whole place look brighter and more modern.

We don't renovate our kitchen; we evolve it. And I guess that all evolution takes time. But making progress feels good. I'm really looking forward to getting a little further along soon. 

Anyhow, take heart, you fellow slow renovators! I sometimes get this feeling like every other blogger in the universe is able to diy amazing renovations in a relatively short time. When I was a kid, though, this was more how things got done: a little change here, a little change there, a new walkway and paint.  We were in it for the long haul. Money and time constraints, other projects to pursue, weekend bike rides, and a passel of little kids running around; our house was in a seemingly constant state of flux. As is my current home. And while somedays it would be kinda awesome to just have something finished already, I kinda like our weekend adventures, and playing in the backyard, and working on side projects. So the backsplash will get finished eventually. And so will the plaster and paint in the bedroom. And the siding on the studio. You know. Someday. 

Thanks for reading.