1st Baby Bedding!

Today was my soon to be sister in law's baby shower! I am beyond thrilled that all in the same year, I will be gaining a pretty awesome sister in law AND my 1st nephew! My sister, a good family friend & I hosted the shower today & Rosie was beyond blessed with all the baby loot!

I told Rosie earlier in the fall that as her gift I would make her baby bedding (crib bumper, quilt & skirt.) She mentioned she liked the idea of Noah's Ark, so as I searched for fabric, all I found was pastels! not my style and not Rosie's either. So I decided I'd make my own spin on Noah's Ark with the bedding. Rosie helped me pick out the fabrics, but she wouldn't see it finished until today! I was pretty nervous considering I haven't made baby bedding before! i bought a pattern, but.....I'm not really great with patterns yet and I wasn't thrilled with the design- so I decided to just wing it! I was actually pretty pleased with how it turned out and I think Rosie was very thrilled!!

Rosie opening the card I made her- I scanned a cute picture of my brother (at about 12-18 months old) in a laundry basket - my mom was afraid to cut his curls, so he had a cute curly little mullet!

Toy organizer with velcro tabs to hang on the side of the crib

Opening up the baby bumper!

We used Michael Miller's zoology in brown, a blue chenille with a wave pattern, the green & brown polka dots are from Hobby Lobby & the outside is a brown wood grain by Moda, the binding is dark brown.

Toy organizer for the crib with a diaper carrier for her diaper bag.

Again the bumper, you can see the wood grain- also the tabs on the bumper are velcro to attach to the crib.

the quilt!
The Crib quilt- the backing was Michael Miller zoology



Up close of the quilt- dark brown for the binding, with a decorate stitch.

Can't wait to see it all put together in the crib!

Q is for Quilt

My 2 boys go to preschool & in my oldest son's class they have a different letter each week as they go thru the alphabet.
Each week they usually do some little craft project with the letter. Tuesday night as I was going thru his papers the letter of the week caught my eye! Aww! This one went up on my board in my sewing room for sure!!




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Solid Colored Binding tip

One of my favorite quilt/sewing investments I've purchased in the past 2 years is the Simplicity Bias tape maker. It really cuts down on my sewing time. Not to mention saves my fingers from multiple iron burns.

One issue I've come across when attaching the folded bias tape is when I am linking strips of the bias tape together. (before running it through the machine) I love to use a printed fabric because it's easy to tell which side is the right side & which is the wrong side. No one has taught me any little tricks or tips on figuring out how to always attach the right sides of solid colored bias tape to itself for binding, so I've found my own little trick .
First let me tell you if you need a good tutorial for making bias tape and attaching it to your quilt- check out Amanda Jean's tutorial over at Crazy Mom Quilts my problem is when I've used only solid fabric for the binding, sometimes it's easy to lose track of which side is right and wrong. Have you ever sewn your bias strips together just to find out you did it to the wrong side? oops, nothing short of frustrated!

So before I even start ironing & sewing my bias strips- i mark the same sides with a marking pencil. 1 mark on each end should do it. this way you know to always match up those sides.


Can you see how the white marks I've made sort of show me that my right sides are together of my solid fabric?

Next - follow Amanda Jean's tutorial part 1 for binding. (I attach mine different than hers in part 2- i run my binding thru the bias tape maker and then sew onto the quilt)


after running it thru the bias tape maker - no oopsies & frustration free binding every time I've tried this little trick. All was needed was a simple marking pencil :)

finished Ticker Tape Quilt

I should really keep tabs on how many ticker tape quilts i've made now...I'm starting to lose track!

Valerie's ticker tape quilt went to it's new house today. Valerie asked that her EatPrayLove quilt reflect Julia Robert's tunics in the movie. I finally caved and watched the movie! Officially giving up on the book.

I've been playing around with binding lately. Some of the ladies in my fabulous DMQG quilt group don't just machine stitch on the binding with a straight stitch, but a decorative one. So this was my first time I tried that. LOVE IT! man so much easier! I do love to hand sew on the binding, but only smaller quilts. I'm starting to not hate binding so much . (also helps with a little trick I figured out- but that's for another post tomorrow!)

Can't wait for spring like weather so I can start taking pictures outside again. Tired of this dreary weather. Pictures inside are just not as nice. :-/


Decorative stitching on the binding.

Projects Projects Projects!

Whew, so many things on my plate right now, or rather my craft table. I don't even want to post a picture of it, my table is so incredibly messy and piled high of fabric, rulers, projects, etc....

Here's my list of projects & priorities right now:

1. Valerie's tickertape "EatPrayLove Quilt" - almost done with it, finishing up the bottom panel & hopefully it'll be on it's way to her home this weekend.

2. My nephew's baby bedding! He'll be here end of March, but the baby shower is January 30th! crunch time! I now have all the fabric, just need to get started.....Did I mention I am also helping host the baby shower??

3. My niece's new bedding. Went to my sister's house on Sunday afternoon & we figured out what we are going to do for my niece's big girl bedding. Here's the package of fabric & scraps I came home with on Sunday. yikes is right! Waiting on fabric for her bedding to come in as well....

4. Michelle's anniversary photo quilt for her parents

So obviously quite a bit to keep me busy during naptimes and after the boys go to bed. My sweet kitty found a new nap spot yesterday, I'm not so keen on what he is napping ON, but I need to wash it anyway. I think he has the right idea- NAP!

Coffee Coozy giveaway winner

Thanks for participating in my 1st ever giveaway!

Using random.org number selector- Looks like #1 Pattie is the winner!

Hope you find my tutorial easy to use!

Coffee Coozy Tutorial & Template

Are you excited for my 1st tutorial of the year? ha, sorry you don't get many tutorials from me. I only make tutorials when I feel they are blog worthy :) This one is way too easy & fun not to share!

Speaking of sharing...I love making these so much, so I'll give one away to one lucky reader!! My first ever giveaway!!! Just leave a comment & I'll draw on Sunday night. (in honor of one of my BFF's birthday, because she's getting one too!) Giveaway entries must be submitted before Sunday @ midnight, central time.

Here's a list of things you'll need:

2 pieces of coordinating fabric (each measuring 4" X 12")

1 piece of batting (measuring 4" X 12")

velcro

thread

sewing machine

my coffee coozy template

Button or embellishment is optional

if you are going to add an embellishment then, fabric glue is needed

Directions:

1. Print out and cut out my coffee coozy template. Don't cut on the dotted line, but the solid line.

2. I layered my fabric & batting & pinned, then cut it out. Don't you LOVE scrap busters? You COULD even make a quilted one if you like! hmm....I just might make one like that soon! And if you're lucky enough to own an embroidery machine, you can add your name! OH the possibilities are endless! okay, back to the tutorial...

3. Next, I laid out my fabric & set out my velcro on the fabric. Just so you can see which side I added mine onto, I laid it out. Basically, you'll add your velcro to the same side of both fabric pieces. I added mine onto the right side. You can choose left if you like to be different. Sew it on good.

4. Layer 1 piece onto the batting, the 2nd piece of fabric, flip over then lay on top of the fabric/batting combo. (Right sides together) so in this sandwich you'll have batting on the bottom, fabric #1, then fabric #2 on top with their right sides facing each other.

So it'll look like this...make sure to pin before sewing.
5. Using a 1/4" seam - sew together.
6. I started at one side of the opening & finished at the other side. Make sure to backstitch at the beginning & ending stitch to secure. Don't forget to leave that opening open!

7. Before turning inside out, clip the corners straight across. this helps to get those sharp corners to turn inside out.


8. Turn inside out & press with your iron. Make sure to not iron over the velcro. Bad news for your iron!


9. Do a nice top stitch to finish it off. I used black thread for my top thread & red thread for my bobbin thread.



10. Now you could leave it as is here and have a cute reversible coffee wrap!

11. Or if you like something a little more glam, add a button or one of these gem embellishments! (you can buy a package of these in many different colors at Hobby Lobby for about $1.99) Also this is where the fabric glue comes in...

loving my new lens....

hmmm....can't decide! which side??

If you can't decide- you can add one to both sides! it won't lay as flat as I liked, so I only added 1. But this is a great option if you want to use your coffee coozy to match your mood or outfit! :) Us girls love options!
and voila! You have a super cute coffee coozy! I've been keeping mine in my purse and another in my truck. Now if ONLY Starbucks would bring back my Caramel Brulee Latte I'd be in heaven!

SO easy, right??? Happy Sewing!

New Years & Resolutions

Over the weekend I finally got some good use of a few of my christmas gifts! I have pulled my serger out of the box, but haven't even plugged it in or used it yet. I feel like I need to dedicate a whole afternoon to read the directions to figure it out. Hopefully that'll be soon. oh the things I can do with a serger!

I love gift cards. Visa gift cards give you endless possiblities. Gavin & I received a gift card set from his aunt & uncle. One was a visa gift card, the other a gift card to Gap. I took both. (benefit of being married, i guess? ha!) When the cousins were in town we spent almost an entire day shopping & I picked myself up a few books I've been eyeing for a while, using my visa gift card. They sure do look pretty on my shelf. maybe one day soon I'll get around to making something out of them!

New Years eve we had an easy going night. Gavin was sick & the boys had a long day, so they were all in bed early. Everyone was asleep way before midnight, except me...so I spent NYE watching movies & organizing fabric. My dad got me these fabric organizers that I have been eyeing, they're from Fabric Organizer this is just eye candy to any sewist, seamstress, quilter...and it also makes me think, I need/want more. and now I have more room to fill up with more fabric!

Do you have any challenges or new years resolutions for yourself with sewing or crafting?

I don't really do New Years resolutions, maybe try new things. So here's my challenge to myself for 2011:

1. Make a quilt for MYSELF! Since my 1st quilt, they've always been for someone else. I have the fabric to make a king size quilt for our bedroom, but that's a project for itself. That would also require to repaint our bedroom. But I would love to work on it this year!

2. Figure out my serger. and make myself a piece of clothing. that scares me!

3. To master stippling/meandering. I've done it before several times & end up hating it before I'm done.

4.Learn something new- that's the thing I love about sewing, there is always something else to learn. Just last night I learned to do something new! A french seam on a pillowcase! I only had some girly solids, so I made my niece a simple & cute pillow case in her favorite color. Now I am itching to go fabric shopping to buy more!

5. Photograph more! and not just the end product, but maybe some of the 'in process' steps to share.

6. Channel my inner inspiration for a cause. I'm apart of the DMQG (Dallas Modern Quilt Guild) and I can't tell you the talent these ladies in my group possess. I'm thrilled to have become friends with these gals & boy do they inspire me to do better & try harder. and attempt new things! If you are not apart of a quilt guild- you should! I'm constantly inspired by their knowledge of fabrics, techniques and technology! I really want to be able to put my inspiration and ability to good use & towards a cause or charity more often. Whether its a group quilt for charity or just submitting a block,I'd like to do something. I'd also like to donate a quilt to a charity this year too. If you have any ideas of these type of charities, please share your information!

Coffee Coozies!

So I saw one of these Coffee Coozies a while back & kept thinking I want to make one! I pulled out my stash of scraps the other day & decided to make 1. Well, it was so easy & quick, I made 5 more! One for me, one for my 2 BFF's, one for my sister & sister in law and Gavin's aunt. Ha, guess I went a little overboard! But hey, what a great scrap buster & a fun little gift!!

Of course the Zebra is for my sister!
I love this new print I saw at Hobby Lobby one day, love the colors- perfect for me :)

An easy tutorial will follow tomorrow! : )