Comfort and Joy

Another baby means another baby quilt!  Little baby Joy came just before Christmas, and I wanted her to have something with red and green.  I didn't want it to scream Christmas, so I used a little Bliss fabric that I had in my stash.  

I had a cheater panel and some 2 by 5 inch strips. I ended up quilting it with blue, red, green, and pink.  I quilted straight lines in the off white borders.  I really like the effect.  

My kids call the baby blankets I made for them their special blankets.  My daughter thinks every baby needs one, and just so Joy knows it was made especially for her, I added her name to the corner.

I used blue diamonds from connecting threads for the binding and green from Hancocks for the backing.  

Penny Patch Quilt

When I saw the quilt along for the 4 Penny Patch, I knew it would make a great gift quilt for my mom.  I had some Shelburne Falls by Denyse Schmidt that I had been hoarding and a few of her fabrics from Jo-Ann's that were perfect.  I really, really like the way this turned out! 

I quilted it in a diamond pattern.  If I were going to make this one again, I would definitely try a different pattern for that.  I think the dogwood flowers that the originial quilt uses might be fun to try. 

I have never labeled a quilt before, but I thought this would be a good one to start with!  The backing is a full sheet.  This is a pretty large throw quilt, 60x72.  I'm very happy with it, and I hope my mom likes it as well! 

Elephants on Parade

Baby quilts are my favorite.  They come together so quickly and are so satisfying!  This one is for a sweet little girl for someone I work with .  I hope sweet Sybil loves it!

 

 

 

Second Saturday Sewing bag

I just finished testing another bag pattern from Sara at Sew Sweetness.  She is calling this bag the Camp Stitchalot bag, but it will definitely be a Second Saturday Sewing bag for me.  This bag is huge (Lily kept saying it was a purse for a giant!) and has tons of pockets. 

One side has 3 large pockets and a flap with 3 magnetic snaps to keep it closed.  They allow the bag to be secured tightly even when it's stuffed full!  The pockets are big enough for a cutting mat and all of your rulers.

There's a pocket on the other side.  I need someone to notice how well my stripes line up.  There are 3 separate pieces sewn together and I think they line up pretty well.

The inside has 4 huge zipper pouches and a pocket on each side.  The vinyl was a little tough to work with, but I made it work. 

This bag will be great for carrying around sewing supplies.  It would also be good for art supplies.  It would also be cute in a kiddie fabric for a trip bag for kids.  Toys/snacks in the zipper pouches, coloring books, magazines, books, etc. in the pockets.  Sara does a great job with pictures and instructions, so go check out her pattern shop!  (Her Aeroplane bag is on my list of stuff to make!)

Baby Benton

I made this quilt back in October, I think, for a friend's baby.  Baby Benton is finally here and enjoying his quilt!

I still love this quilt and have all of the fabric to make a similar one for myself.  I really like the oversized star.  If you're interested, the tutorial can be found here.

A boy and a bug

I've been working on testing a pattern (which my husband deleted all the pictures of), but I found time to make this chevron baby quilt.  The baby shower was this past weekend, so now I can share it!

Don't you love it when you know exactly what you want to do for a gift?  The nursery for baby P is grey and turquoise.  The shower invitations had grey and turquoise chevrons on them.  I have loved this Backyard Baby fabric since I saw it and knew it would be perfect.  I had the grey in my stash (which I've been trying to use!) so I was ready to go.


I cut my own 6 inch squares so the zigzags would be a little larger than if I had a charm pack.  This ended up being about 45 x60, so it's a good size for tummy time!  It will also work on a toddler bed quite well. 

I love this fabric.  Click on the picture to see it better.  The green is jars of bugs.  The x's are the little helicopter things that fall from trees.  (My sister used to feed them to my brother and tell him they were peas.  Parental supervision?  Nah.) The trees with the swing hanging is my favorite print, but I really like them all.

The binding is some fabric I found at Hancock's at the last minute since I forgot about the binding when I ordered the fabric.  You can't see very well, but it's actually 2 shades of green that look like blades of grass.  It matched perfectly.

I used the tree print and some leftover pieces for the back.  I love that little dog under the swing. 

I can't wait for baby P to be here to enjoy it.  Baby quilts are my favorite. 

Baby Quilt for Little Lela

My friend Mandy recently had her 3rd baby, Lela.  I had made quilts for both of her other sweet babies, so Lela wasn't going to be left out! !I had some Summer House by Lily Ashbury charms that I thought would make the perfect bright blanket. 


I think it would be great for a little fun in the sun!   

I had a few HSTs left over, so I used them to make a diamond on the back.  I quilted around the diamonds on the front using green and blue thread. 

I have never done bias cut binding, but I knew that these stripes need it.  I didn't find a good tutorial, so it was a little harder than I thought it would be, but I LOVE the stripes!

I stitched her name on it, just so she'll know it's especially for her. 
My skills have improved ALOT in the last 4 years, so maybe Lela's won't come apart a little everytime it gets washed! 

Beat, Beat, Baby, Beat

My husband's best friend and his wife recently found out their going to be parents.  My husband was going for a visit, so a gift was in order!  Uncle M. used to play at DJing, so what better than a baby turn table?


I freezer paper stenciled this design on and used a small button for the slidey thing. 

Perfect for a little record spinning baby!

McEgg Baby Quilt

When Mandy sent an email with the fabric she had chosen for little Salvador Dali, I remembered I had some scrap packs with it in them.  I just love the little blue and green animals and got inspired when I was looking through the scraps for them.  I used several other blue and green "boy" scraps that I found.  I think the sketched cars and truck are my favorite.  My boy like the dinosaurs and carried the fabric around.  A pair of dinosaur pants is now on my list of to dos!

The back is a dot striped sheet from Target.  It wasn't the plan, but it matches perfectly! I also used it for the sashing on the front. 

I didn't get a great picture, but I quilted it with swirly circles, I guess I'd call them.  I also outlined the squares.
I hope little Snoop Dogg McEgg loves it.  (No?  Speedy Gonzales?  My favorite, Sammy Davis?  What do you have?)

The stockings were hung...

My Sunday night project was these stockings for my sister. I used the tutorial from Cluck Cluck Sew. I have never made stockings before and I really like how they turned out. These are not my particular taste in Christmas colors, but they match my sister's decorations perfectly! I'm definitely not going to have time to get them made for Christmas this year, I think I'm going to make new ones for my little family. I have a Nutcracker embroidery pattern from Wild Olive that would make cute stockings for the kids.

The only project I have left before Christmas is a whole quilt to finish piecing and then quilt and then bind! I have given myself permission to not finish if I get too busy. Hopefully my next post will be a finish, though!

Handmade Holiday Challenge Week 4

Week 4 already!  I got this week's project finished on Sunday, so I've been waiting all week to post it!  I've posted about car cozies before, so this is nothing new.  I finally have one that's going to stay at home.  My little boy is 19 months old and he loves cars!  Couple that with a great sale on Matchbox and Hot Wheels and how could I not make one for him?!? 

Since he's still little, I thought a straight road and a gas station would be enough.  I used fabric paint for the numbers.  I like that it's feely, adding another element for distraction!  I didn't do a great job with centering the letters, so I added the dots to fill the space a little, and I really like them.  They offer something tangible to count to go along with the numbers. 

I added a little loop to the gas pump to tuck the spout? into.  This turned out to be quite helpful for keeping it out of the way when I was sewing it!

Complete with a car that looks kinda like Grandma's.  I think he will love it!

Last year, I decided that I want to make something special for my kids each Christmas.  Last year I made them hooded towels which they still use.  I'm going to start on my daughter's gift this weekend, I hope.  She's 6, so it's a little harder to surprise her.  She's too curious!

How about you?  If you've kept up with me, you only have one more gift to make to be entered to with the $25 gift certificate from Connecting Threads! 



Handmade Holiday Challenge Week 3

Can you believe that Christmas in only a month way?!?  I can't.  Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, I'm starting to get in the Christmas spirit.  Once we get the Christmas tree up this weekend, I can't wait to see some wrapped gifts under it!  Starting with this baby quilt:

I love it!  It's about 48X60, which I think is a good baby size.  I like bigger blankets, especially for wiggly little boys like the one this quilt is for!

The back.  The green with the little animals all over is my favorite!  I wasn't sure how I was going to quilt it when I made the back or I would have lined it up better, but oh well.

I pebble quilted every other orange border.  I just straight lined around all of the blocks.  I really like the quilting.  I think pebbling more would have been too much (not to mention it would have taken 100 spools of thread!). 

So there it is, gift #3.  I'm entering it over at Celebrate Color too.  What did you make this week?  Remember, it's 5 handmade gifts to enter to win $25 from Connecting Threads!

Handmade Holiday Challenge -Week 2

I know I'm a day late with this, but does it make it better to know that I mailed about 450 Thanksgiving cards yesterday? They had to be metered and stuff with calendars yesterday, so I didn't have a chance to blog!
For my handmade gift this week, I made rice bags. I really like them. So does my husband. In fact, he claimed the top one as soon as I showed him.


For my first bags, I used this tutorial from Sew Mama Sew! It gives great instructions and I like how it comes together. I only have rice in the top bag, though, because I don't like the smell that I picked out. I think it's grapefruit and it makes me sick to my stomach after smelling it for too long! I think I'm going to get some peppermint and some lavendar. I may have also used a little bit too much.

This is a close up of the hexis on the second one. I just appliqued them on top.

My kids have this little gel thing that we use on "boo-boos." It almost always stops my daughter's tears, unless it's a real hurt. I thought that a small bag would be a nice replacement for it. This one is about 4.5 in square. My son thinks it's amazing when it's cold. He can't figure it out!

I used an envelope closure for the back. I think I like it better than the velcro for the small bags. I think these would be cute stocking stuffers.

My husband randomly picked a number for me and the winner of the Christmas Cheer Charms is #3, Jamie Lee. Jamie, I'll be sending you an email!

Did you get something made this week? I'd love to hear about it!

Handmade Holiday Goal

Remember these? Last year I wanted to make lots of handmade gifts and I kinda fizzled out at the end. I ended up making a quilt for my MIL, a purse for my sister (not pictured), and the hooded towels for my kids. This year I want to again make something for my kids. I have 2 baby quilts I'd like to finish. I would also like to make some tote bags to use as an alternative to wrapping paper. Those are my minimum goals. I'm working on a top secret project, but I'm not sure if it will be done. I would also like to make one more quilt, but I don't want to put to much pressure on myself. I want to be able to enjoy the holidays with my family!
Between now and Christmas Eve there are 7 Saturdays. If I can make 1 gift a week, that's almost double what I did last year. Even if I miss a week, I can still meet all of my goals. I'm thinking of going a giveaway and a link-up of Handmade gifts. Do you think 5 handmade gifts is a good goal? Would you participate? What if you could win a prize? Leave me a comment.