Business Launch

After considerable thought, I've decided to turn my hobby into a business.  Sue Sews Whose Clothes is going live!  I will be selling custom baby quilts and clothing like the ones on this blog.

My goal is to create unique baby gifts.  Why spend tons of money on the same luxury baby blanket that everyone gifts,when you could give a blanket that's personalized to the recipient?  This personalization can be as simple as a label (stating the name, birthdate and birth stats of the baby, or whatever message you'd like to include) or a simple monogram to customizing every aspect of the quilt (design, color, theme, style, block pattern, etc.).  I'm happy to work with you to make a custom gift that will be cherished as a keepsake for years to come.

You can peruse this blog to see the types of projects I've done in the past for inspiration, or visit my Facebook page, where I will be listing different quilt styles as well as some fabrics I have in stock.  I will also occasionally be listing quilts and clothes for purchase that are already.  These can always be personalized with a label or monogram.

These projects are meant to be for inspiration, so don't let it limit your imagination!  Send me an email at suesewswhose@gmail.com or message me through my Facebook page and we can discuss the kind of design you would like.

The small print: all my items are handmade by me on my home sewing machine.  Depending on the type of piece, quilts can take anywhere from 4-8 weeks to be made and delivered.  Please plan in advance and tell me the date you need it by when ordering!  I give price ranges for different pieces because the end price will reflect the complexity of the design and quilting as well as the cost of materials.  After we discuss a design, I will send an invoice with the exact price of the piece, which must be paid in full before I begin work on the project.

Flo's Friends

For these colorful fabrics, I used the Flo's Friends quilt pattern designed by Lynne Goldsworthy of lilysquilts.blogspot.com.  I changed the sizing of my quilt as I wanted a baby quilt, so I cut the fabric accordingly.

This pattern reminds me of the tipsy tumbler I'd done before, but the cutting and piecing was a lot more work, so I think I would use the previous technique in the future.

These color ways and designs would be perfect for both girls and boys, so it's the perfect gift for those parents who have opted to not find out the sex of their baby.

With all the design and pattern on the front, I decided to go with a  simple solid for the back, Kona Leprechaun.

I used stitch-in-the-ditch for quilting to really emphasize the squares.

Big Projects

As you can tell, I stick to small projects when I sew.  Since I use my home machine for free motion quilting, it makes quilting my projects easier.  It was quite an undertaking for me to take on a much bigger project.  I decided to make my mother a lap quilt (so bigger than a baby blanket but not as big as a twin quilt) for her birthday.  This is a project I started for her birthday in 2015 only to finish for her birthday in 2016.

The main reason for the delay was not knowing how to handle doing the free motion on my small Singer.  I watched a Craftsy video, Quilting Big Projects on a Small Machine, which gave me some helpful hints; none of which I used for my project.  In fact, I did things explicitly recommended against in the video (such as doing larger patterns).  Part of the problem with following the video is I already had my quilt top assembled and didn't want to have to take it (or cut it) apart to finish it.

I ended up rolling the quilt carefully and just going for it.  Some time (and patience) later, I ended up with this.  I quilted the center floral strips with flowers of varying sizes.  I used a simple round flower, echoing the look of a peony or carnation or the large blooms in the patterns of the fabrics.  I left the border unquilted.

Then I used a decorative stitch on my machine to give some extra reinforcement to the stitching between the quilted strips and the non-quilted border.

Here you can see a bit more of the quilting, which looks like stipple from a distance.

I quilted the top with a variegated purple thread and used a plain purple thread for the bottom.  In the picture below, you can see a bit more of how I did the circular blooms.

Say Bello to My Little Friend

Here was my next try at a figural quilt.  I bought a Minions charm pack on sale, and wanted to use it in a fun way.  A Minion figure is relatively straightforward, so I thought it wouldn't be difficult to do with 5" squares.  I bought some denim fabric to add some texture to the pants, and used a yellow and black kona that I had in my stash for the arms, feet, etc.  After laying out the figure, I surrounded it with a white charm pack.

This quilt was a bit more complicated as I added a range of different elements to it.  The first was a few different appliqués.  I did the eyes and mouth by appliqué using Wonder Under to fuse the fabrics and the satin stitch on my machine.

The second element that I added to make the quilt fun was velcro straps.  Instead of just adding the strap look into the quilt top, I made it external, so little ones could have fun doing and undoing the straps.  Used velcro, instead of buttons or snaps, for safety's sake.

For the binding and back, I bought some extra of the Minion fabrics in some of the more neutral prints so the focus remains on the quilt top.

Beach Baby

I've previously mentioned that I've let my daughter pick fabric for clothing items I'm making her (largely to keep her distracted in the fabric store).  Well, she picked these two fabrics, and while they [kind of] match, I had no idea what to do with them.  They're obviously not something I would have chosen myself, but she loves them, so I went ahead and used an Oliver + S Hide and Seek Tunic pattern to try it out.  The pattern can be made as a dress or top.  I opted for a top to make it a bit more versatile.

I like the silhouette and I love the little bib on the front and back.  I did think this pattern was unnecessarily complicated, and I actually did a few things differently than the instructions to streamline it a bit.

I already had the perfect buttons on hand for this design, and I'm always excited to use buttons by my favorite shop - digitsdesigns on Etsy.

While I wouldn't have chosen the fabrics, I actually think they went together really well with this pattern, and, most importantly, my daughter loves it.  

Paris in the Springtime

This was my first attempt at a figural quilt versus using more traditional blocks.  This one was done for the second daughter of a dear friend who is a bit of a Francophile. I used Michael Miller's Petite Paris suite for the fabric cut into triangles.  I used three different types of white fabric, a bright white, more cream white, and white with white (barely noticeable) hearts on it.

Since Paris is the City of Love (and to echo the barely noticeable hearts in some of the white fabric), for the free motion quilting, I did a heart pattern.

On the back, I added a label for the recipient (in the lower left corner).  I used water proof ink and hand wrote a message on fabric.  I framed it in a corresponding print.

Another Disappearing Nine Patch

I made this disappearing nine patch for baby Miles.  I had previously made a quilt for his older sister, Poppy and wanted to give a nod to the new big sister in his quilt.

For good measure, I added a personalized label with some special details to make it more of a keepsake.   Hand written with waterproof ink and framed in a fabric from the quilt top.