Baby #2’s Quilt

I’m loving this quilt.  It might be one of my favorites to date & the first time I’ve ever made a quilt with raw edges.  The inspiration for this one came from this quilt hanging in my Mom’s living room, and I wanted something that would match this, but not be the same.   I wasn’t so sure about the raw edges, but now after its washed I love the 3D effect it gives the circles, and it looks like its been loved for years.

The 1st round of quilting I did straight lines around each square, but I hated the way it made the circles poofy, plus I hated the minky back I put on..it was way too heavy.  For the second try I did stippling around each circle and then big free motion swirls in each circle.   For the back I used a flannel by Moda & the binding is Katie Jump Rope. 

Its bigger than I intended, but I figure it will work for a toddler bed as baby #2 gets older.  Finished its about 42" x 56".  I took pictures while I was making this so I can make a tutorial, so hopefully I’ll finish that up and get it posted in the next week.  Happy Monday and remember Sew Mama Sew giveaway day is Wednesday!

Copy Cat Scarf

I loved the idea of this scarf I saw at the GAP. And its super simple to make and will cost you $3 instead of $20, which is always a good thing. To make your own:

• Buy a yard of plaid lightweight fabric. Mine is from Joann’s (in the homespun section by ginghams, it was 4.99 & on sale).
• Square up the sides and cut the yard in half so you have two 16-18" pieces.
• Sew them together so you have one big length about 85" or so long, I left the length of mine and its perfect….but I’m also a giant so you might need to trim yours.
• Now sew around the whole thing about an inch or so from the edge. This keeps the fabric edges from fraying too much , although you could probably skip this step unless you wanted to wash it a lot and keep it forever.
• Lastly you fray the edges. I cut the edges of mine like you would a rag quilt, about every 1/4" or so and then washed it. The effect was just as cute as the GAP one and way easier.
  

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and survived the shopping madness. And by the way I finished unpicking my quilt, it didn't take me as long as I thought it would and I'm happy to say I LOVE it the second time around. :)

Grrrrrr……

Remember the new quilt top I mentioned the other day? Yeah well, I quilted it, I HATED it, and I’m unpicking it. The whole dang thing. I estimate it should take awhile, but at least I’ll have something to keep my hands busy for the next couple days. I'll tell you more about this quilt and hopefully get a tutorial started once I finish it...promise!

In between unpicking I managed to finish Darci’s quilting bee block.

Now I have to go prepare to stuff my face tomorrow. Have a great Thanksgiving everybody and see you at Target at 5am on Friday! Cause you know I’ll be there buying nothing I need and taking it back later. Tis’ the season!

A Little Guy Tie & Pattern Giveaway

{he’s really smiling at the candy next to my camera…. works every time.}

Yesterday I tried out this pattern. It was the easiest, most fun pattern I’ve done in a long time! And with NO hand sewing like other tie patterns. I’m so excited about these, especially now that I’m having another boy. The best part is the pattern comes with 5 different tie patterns, including a tie for Dad so I can make my husband and son matching ties for Christmas! Made with "man" fabric of course.

The ties I made were with the classic guy pattern. The first tie I made with really light interfacing as the pattern called for, but the second tie ( on my son in the picture) I used no interfacing and actually liked it better. With starch it was nice and crisp even without the interfacing. And with my fabric I didn’t cut on the bias, so I only used about 1/3 yard fabric for one tie. Which means each tie cost me like 3 bucks! And the second tie took me under 20 minutes to make. Which means my poor sons are going to have new ties every Sunday for the rest of their lives.

Megan was sweet enough to send me 2 extra patterns to giveaway. To enter just leave a comment on this post before noon on Monday the 23rd. You can also buy the pattern here in her etsy shop or order a ready made tie here. Good luck!

R is for

Really sick of sewing on buttons.

Ok maybe not, but there was a lot of button sewing involved.  I made this for a gift last week, and now I want to start making one for myself.  Except I think I’ll put mine in a chunky white (or black?) frame.   I got the idea here.   This one measures 10 x 10 and is made to hang, or stand up on its own. 

What I’m loving on Monday

This bobbin winder.  I bought it for my Mom for her birthday, but I had to try it out first.  Ya know, just to make sure it works. He He.  Its officially on my Christmas list.

Leftover pumpkin caramel swirl cheesecake.  Recipe found here…. but be warned, you’ll eat it all and you’re pants won’t fit the next day. I know from experience.

Afternoon naps.  What would I do without you?

Happy Monday Everyone!

Birds & Blooms

Man I’m bad at naming quilts. I had an urge to make a squares in squares quilt last week with some of my fun girl fabrics. It went together fast, but reminded me of how much I hate sewing sashings, even when its only a small quilt.

The backing is from Joann’s, the binding is more flea market fancy. It measures 34"x 44" and is in the shop.

Well look at that…

My little blog was mentioned in a magazine…

So a big thanks to whoever reads this blog over at Quiltmaker Magazine! And thanks to my friends Dodi & Megan for noticing it. Although now I’m a little concerned that someone might actually think I know what I’m doing. Be assured….I don’t. I just pretend I do and it works out for the most part. :)

I made a Christmas blankie for my little man to drag around using this tutorial again, except I put minky in the middle. The flannel is from Joann’s and is really soft once its washed.

Luckily it was cheap to make because the way its been dragged around he’s going to need a new one every year.

Pop & Peach

If I were having a girl I would keep totally keep this one.  I love the backing fabric, its been in my stash for awhile and I’m not even sure who makes it, but it goes with the front perfectly.  I love the squares on the front and the big dots on the back.  I did some grid quilting on this one, I always love the end result.  The binding is flea market fancy.

This one is in the shop.

Here we go again….

First off, Rene’ who was lucky number #74 and has a lovely blog, is my lucky scraps /blocks winner.  All I can say Rene’ is good luck.

Second, I found out I’m having a….

BOY!!  This will be our second little boy.  We knew it was a boy before the ultrasound tech even mentioned it  when we saw him form his little hand into a gun…..yep…totally boy.

Luckily I have a good stash of my favorite discontinued boy fabrics by American Jane.  I want to make a quilt that somewhat matches the quilt I made for Ben.   That way if they share a room they’ll match, and heaven forbid they don’t match {insert husband eye roll here}.

Blue and Green Scraps

I am cleaning out my scraps/unfinished projects and wondered if anybody wants these string blocks and a bag of blue and green strips to make more? These blocks are 16.5" and there’s 3 of them. The bag probably has enough strips to make a few more blocks if you wanted too, or if not you could sew these blocks together and make a runner or something. To make these blocks I used this tutorial except my paper size was 8.5" square.

Anyways leave a comment with your email if you really think you’d use them. If there’s more than one person I’ll pick someone randomly tomorrow night. But beware…I was really trying not to swear while tearing the paper off, so there’s little bits of paper here and there still on the back. So you have to promise that you won’t send me hate emails. :)

GIVEAWAY CLOSED....Thanks!

Pop Garden Peach

No more orange and black for me! I’m happy to be moving on to brighter fabrics and cutting into my untouched stash. Mostly this quilt is made from Heather Bailey fabrics and other fun ones from my stash, I’m not sure what all of them are called but they sure go well together. Its made from 5" squares and measures 36"x 45".

I cut extra 5" squares while I was at it & made a charm pack with all these fun fabrics. This charm pack is in my etsy shop.

Bee Blocks Catch Up

How did November creep up so soon?  Luckily I finished these before November so I don’t feel as guilty that they are late. 

The log cabin is for Beki, I love the black center.  I added quite a bit of my own fabric so I hope she likes it!

These tiny paper pieced log cabins are for Valerie.  Honestly I’m amazed they turned out on the first try.  Paper piecing + Me = Bad news.

  

And lastly some string blocks for Sandy. 

These are going to be some awesome quilts when they’re done!