50th Anniversary Quilt

One of my boys' preschool teachers asked for me to do a quilt for her parents' 50th wedding anniversary party for this weekend. She gave me some pictures of their living room where it'll probably stay and I just kind of went with it...kinda out of character for me with the subtle colors- I love contrast and color! But overall, I'm pretty happy with how it came out. I love the paisley print & colors it has. and the pop of leopard print is just fun!

The last 2 photo quilts I've done I used printable fabric, this time I used transferrable paper (not so crazy about it) but my next one I will definitely be trying Bubble Jet Set 2000, I've heard quite a bit of good reviews on it. SO we will see !

Finished quilt came out to about 65" X 65"

Photo day for the quilt was Thursday & it ended up insanely windy out, so I had to improvise. This buffet is my favorite furniture piece in my house, so I had to make due!



Quilt Label with washing instructions


The back was pieced left overs- mostly the paisley print.
Love the subtle blue striped binding!
Thanks for your order Michelle & Congrats to your parents on their 50th wedding anniversary!

Serger fun!

So this past Monday night my friend Jes & I took a serger class and learned all the parts of the machine, how it works and pretty much the basic functions. We also signed up for 2 other serger classes coming up within the next few weeks. My serger knowledge is pretty basic right now, but at least I'm learning my machine and have made a few things this week!

A friend from facebook asked if I could make her some wet bags since she uses cloth diapers for her daughter. I made her a large 20" X 27" bag, and a smaller one for her diaper bag, about 10" X 10".

The larger bag:

PVC free PUL lining inside:

Larger & smaller bag match...

Smaller bag with wrist handle:

I had in my stash of fabrics 2 3T t shirts that I knew would be too small for my niece since she is now 4. So I added some fabric and made her a cute shirt/dress that she could wear with leggings or shorts underneath. Yellow isn't quite my niece's color, so the other I made for my friend Jill's little girl. I have made a few of these before getting my serger, and just on my sewing machine, but with my serger it is 100X's easier and quicker!

for Rilee:


For Kaia:


My sister brought over 2 pairs of jeans for me to play around with for Rilee, here is the 1st pair that I finished. Hot PINK is her favorite color, so I thought this was fitting!


Kaia loved her yellow dress so much, Jill said she was sleeping in it at night and wanted to wear it during the day too. I suggested if she had any shirts that were too short for Kaia, pull them out and we'll go fabric shopping. So that's what we did on Saturday & during naptime, I whipped up 4 little dresses for her. They each took about 15-20 minutes. Super easy and so fun!







I'm really loving my serger! NOW back to sewing and quilting, I've got some deadlines coming up for the 2 I'm working on!

Where I create & it's progress..

Thought I would post a fun blog post of where I create. My friend Jes is currently building & creating her own craft room (with very little help from her husband- so big props to her for that!) seeing all her progress has helped me step back and look at my craft room & see where it needs to be finished. I've been in my craft room for about a year now and there are many little projects that need to be finished. Originally this room was used as a game room with a wet bar and built in cabinets with *beautiful* wood paneling. {read my sarcasm} We (meaning my husband) ripped out all the wood paneling, wet bar & cabinets. When we moved in, this room became his office & any craft projects I did happened in the dining room. Fast forward thru 2 babies being born & about when Maddox was a year old or so, we moved him in with Mason. The nursery (3rd bedroom) became Gavin's office & he so sweetly offered me his huge office!
SO even though I've been in here for a year, we still have to do:
-touch up painting to do on the walls and where the wall between the wet bar & built ins were
-take down the hardware from where Gavin had his elfa shelving
-put up crown molding
-also put up trim near the floor boards (we just disposed of all the wood paneling, didn't keep the trim)
That's just the BIG projects that need to be done.

My small project list involves:
-build my BIG craft table (we're thinking about 3 ft X 8 ft) & get rid of the nice portable table
-Cover some boxes with fabric for the big cubby system
-paint the wooden table by the windows white


Entry into my craft room (love the french doors, but they need to be painted too!) We're still debating whether we should take out these built in cabinets as well. They're very shallow & I don't see a use for them, so I just stick my craft dresser in front..

across the room is my desk area- also where the built in bar & cabinets used to be. The big white spot on the wall is where Gavin took out a wall that separated the 2. The cabinets & counter are from Ikea. Gavin built the overhead cabinet/cubbies, added the lights & also built the drawer under the countertop. The Mac was my present last year for my birthday. LOVE having the 27" in here. Makes for great movie watching while I sew!
My Mom's sewing machine. I'm currently using my Mom's old Kenmore sewing machine (I don't remember what year she got it, but I'm almost sure she bought it here in Texas- so it's probably 20-25 years old- still works great even though it's pretty basic. It doesn't even have an AUTO threader! Can you believe it?? We're so spoiled by modern technology & how far sewing machines have come. My machine is getting a repair & service. Usually my mom's machine doesn't get used very often (I just can't seem to part with it, but now I definitely won't as it's a great back up machine!) Normally it is put away in it's cabinet and stored on the wall behind it.
My work table. Usually my brother sewing machine sits here along with my Pressing board I made, my iron, my craft lamp & my bias tape maker. I'm not so thrilled with the mess of cords below. Any suggestions on how to keep those neat & clean? The door behind my work table is a 1/2 bath/pool bath. Sometimes I wish it was just a closet! That would be nice!
The wall on the other side of my work table holds the big cubby system I stole out of my kids playroom. I decided they didn't need so many toys to fill this baby up, so I bought them a smaller one & now I fill this up with my toys :) In the top cabinets houses my serger, paints, fabric paints, glues, basting sprays, etc. Bins below hold ribbon, blocks for baby gifts, and some bins for craft projects for Mason. I also need to cover those boxes on the bottom shelf with fabric!
This is my crazy corner....everyone has a messy area right? this is usually mine! I would love to have this table as my cutting station one day, but currently it holds my tool box, a bunch of empty frames, and the crib skirt from my niece's crib. We're currently repurposing all her crib bedding into big girl bedding. down below is a trash can that doesn't get used (guess I need to find a new home for that!) and the 2 tubs are baby pictures, photos & memorabilia from high school & college and also a few things that belonged to my Mom. I don't want them in the attic because the heat could ruin them, so I'm still trying to find a good place to store them. The chair on the wall? yes, it doesn't really have a purpose...could be a small shelf I suppose!
The wall of windows! I love the light these windows let in..but 3 windows seems excessive. Gosh I would love it if there were just 2, oh the wall space I could use! But...I deal with what I've got..Gavin's Grandmother gave me a quilt stand, so those are my next projects in line. The wooden table I acquired from a church garage sale down the street for $10 last year! The bin below is my scrap bin and the old drawer sitting on top is my cat's bed. :) He seems to have adopted it since there is so much sunlight that comes thru the windows. I think he appreciates the cute repurposed bed I made for him! I appreciate him not sleeping in my scrap bin!
My creating corner...which Maddox likes to come check out what I'm doing & loves to press buttons on my sewing machine...which I don't appreciate so much!
Last wall! These are the billy bookcases from ikea with glass doors. This is probably my most favorite piece of furniture in my room.

The topside of the right cabinet houses vintage fabrics from Gavin's grandmother up top & vintage notions in the box. Next shelf is more decorative stuff and christmas fabrics in the fabric bin. Next is my WIP shelves....I can count 3 WIP and 1 UFO. so sad...
down below is left over craft felt (really not sure why I'm holding onto that..) and the bottom shelf is all batting pieces, big and small.


The left side cabinet holds mason jars with all different buttons, 2 glass blocks I don't know why I have and my Sex & the City dvd set...below that is my sewing & quilt books, some vintage and some new. Then my stash of fabric, and below that is my unorganized fabrics...looking to buy more fabric organizers at the upcoming Quilt show in March!
SO that's my craft room. Not totally finished, but who's is?? Okay, maybe yours is. Not as finished as I'd like, but it's in the works. So is my organization! Either way, unfinished & not as organized as I like- but it's my happy place I retreat to and hide away in! BOY i would love to be snowed in here for a week!