Finished: Modern Meadow Quilt

 

I know I already said it…but I heart this quilt.  I wish you could see it in real life because pictures just don’t do it justice.

The backing is an aqua sheet from Target and it’s almost EXACTLY the same color as Kona Aqua.  The aqua in the quilt top is Kona Aqua and you really can’t tell any difference between that and the backing.  The weave is tighter on the sheet and its softer than Kona Aqua too…it makes a great backing.  (in my Target they sell the flat sheets in boxes against the wall, I think it was $7.99)

This quilt is going to be perched in my living room for a long time….or at least until I make a new favorite….hmmmm.

Camera Strap Redo

I made myself a ruffely camera strap….my husband hates it.  I told him I’d make him a manly cover if he actually used the camera…but he quickly informed me that NO covers are manly….manly men don’t use strap covers.   Good to know. :)  Anyways, I love this cover.

My first cover drove me nuts because it slid from side to side and I was constantly centering it.  This one has tapered ends and a small slit in the side that you slide the strap into.  There are oodles of tutorials for camera strap covers…but if I make another one I’ll snap some pictures for ya. 

Maybe if my hubby did use the camera I wouldn’t have to take so many bathroom mirror pictures of myself.  :)  The blue fabric is by Anna Marie Horner & the dot is from Amy Butler’s Lotus line.

ps. the Modern Chain Quilt is being featured over at a Quilt Story today…check it out here!

This summer I will…

go camping with my boys

ignore my google reader

cook fast, fresh meals

play with my kids more

get a haircut

read Catching Fire & Mocking Jay

connect with friends

visit with family

blog less (sorry!)

get a lesson on fishing

go to bed before midnight

drink less soda

not compare myself to others

find joy in creating what I want….and not what is trendy

take more pictures of my kids

find ways to serve others

go on walks

enjoy it.

What are you going to do this summer?

(Ben in Mexico ‘07…one of my favorite pictures ever)

PS.  Thanks for all the get well wishes…I’m feeling much better!

My best bud is giving away a gorgeous boutique headband here….it ends Friday sometime so hurry if you have a little girl!

when momma is sick

(photo courtesy of Ben)

I give my 3 year old my expensive camera to “play” with because I can’t get out of bed and he’s bored to death.   It was SO worth the extra two minutes of rest.  The hubs and I have strep throat.  I think we’re almost better but from the looks of my house….I’ll be occupied for a few days.  Be back soon! 

PS.  Whoever is trying to hack into my blog…………please stop……..or your going to have one very bored 3 year old shipped directly to your doorstep. 

Coffee Table Redo

I scored this coffee table at a garage sale before we moved for $2.00. I was extra nice and even paid asking price. :)

After sanding and paint it looks MUCH better! I bet they they wouldn’t sell it to me now for $2.oo.

The green color is KILZ spray paint (from Walmart or Home Depot) color Hosta Leaf. The white is extra paint I had from the buffet.

And just so you don’t go thinking my house is EVER really that tidy….this is what the table looked like after the boys came home 5 minutes later.

Now that’s more like it.

June Baby Girl Quilt

This girly little number takes after the January quilt….except its packed with pink.  Its full of fabrics from different lines, just the way I like it.   As with most my quilts I have a hard time thinking up a name, so its the June quilt.  This one went together quickly (thanks to long naptimes) and used up the last bits of some of these fabrics that were hiding in my stash.  The back is an Amy Butler print and the binding is from Sandi Henderson’s Farmers Market line.  It measures 30.5" x 40.5" and its in the shop. 

Its not my fault…

that it was on sale. 

I’ve already cut up a good share of this fabric and sewed it into quilt tops while the boys slept 3 whole hours yesterday at the same time (enter Hallelujah chorus here)!  

These were a sweet surprise in my mailbox from my friend Natalia of Piece N Quilt.  Check out her blog for some AMAZING free tutorials.  Seriously Natalia….amazing!

Last but not least by special request from my Mom (hi Mom!) a picture of my little hunks:

Shirt Refashion

This shirt was one of my winter staples (its maternity….don’t tell), but its definitely seen better days.  See that bleach spot smack dab in the middle?  Mega Bummer.

Lucky for me I found this tutorial….so now that bleach spot is hidden and it can be a summer staple too!  Love that.

Except when I wear it I kind of feel like I'm wearing a Sienfield-ish poofy white shirt...sorry for the creepy picture.  :)

Modern Meadow

This is hands down my favorite quilt yet. FAVORITE. I love this fabric. I knew I wanted to make a modern looking quilt with this Joel Dewberry line, but I couldn’t make up my mind on the design until I started cutting the fat quarters into strips and going for it....which is scary. I used 8 fat quarters total, not counting the white fabric. I used EVERY last piece of the fabric down to the last tiny strip!

I had the picture of this in my head, and I was nervous once I started cutting up all my fabric that it would be a total wreck….lucky for me it turned out or I would have been one grumpy momma! The finished blocks are all 9 inches square, and I think that its 60 in. by 77 in.

P.S. I just want to say Thank You for all your sweet comments and encouragement. I wish I could reply and chat with you ALL....but that would require neglecting my children and well...I like my kids (for now). :)

Whimsy Winner

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

895 

Timestamp: 2010-06-11 18:10:57 UTC

The winner is….CORY! I just emailed you Cory, send me your address and we’ll get this fabulous fat quarter pack sent your way!

PS. I’m really really really really jealous. :)

Are we there yet?

I am so done driving.  Really….like I never ever want to get in my car ever again.  Luckily everything went smoothly and the kids were awesome, but still….not that much fun to be in the car for 5 days!   Now if you’ll excuse me I should probably take a shower since its 1:30 in the afternoon.  After I  find the shower curtain and the shampoo and a towel and my blow dryer and any clean clothes in a mess of bins and boxes that I didn’t label.  Or maybe I’ll just stay in my jammies!

Outtakes

This is what happens when I try to take “blog” pictures.

That my friends…..is why I love his nap time.

(ps. my red shoes are Hush Puppies, I bought mine at a local store, but I found them here online also)

The Drawstring Jersey Skirt

 

This skirt is so comfy!  I should know since I’ve had it on for three days straight.  I wanted something like this skirt, but out of knit fabric since I already had it.  Here’s a quick how-to if you want to make your own:

You’ll need:        1 1/8 yard jersey knit from a 59" bolt (depending on your size….measure your hips from side to side and add ten inches to be safe. ) 

2 yards (or less) twill ribbon for tie

matching thread

Cut 4" off your fabric from selvage to selvage  (so if you bought 40" of fabric cut it down to 36" or one yard)  Set strip aside.  Cut the knit fabric in half a long the fold, giving you two rectangles about 36" by 28".   The 36" side will wrap around you.  Cut 4" off the bottom of your rectangles so they are now about 36" by 24".   Set the other 4" strip aside as well.    (I’m 5’11”, so you might want to adjust the length for your height after you cut the 4 inches off!)

Sew your two rectangles together along the short sides.  Take in the sides until the skirt fits well.  The first skirt I made I left the sides way too loose and I wasn’t happy with it, so make it somewhat snug.   Also the second time I made the skirt I tapered the seam on the sides so that the top of the skirt was about 2" smaller than the bottom just by eyeballing it….I liked the fit better that way.

Find the front top center of the skirt.  Mark with pins or a marker, two marks about 2" apart and 1 1/2" down.

Sew small zig zags around those marks, or use the button  hole stitch on your machine.  Snip in the center of your zig zag box.  This is where your tie will come out of.

Turn the top edge towards the inside and sew, leaving enough room for your tie and making sure you leave the holes open and towards the front.  Because knit fabric doesn’t fray, don’t worry about folding the top edge under twice.

Press.   To make the bottom ruffle, take your 4" long strips and sew them all together end to end.

To ruffle the strip, sew about 1" in along the edge with a long stitch length, and hold your spool of thread with your hand semi-tight as you sew to make the fabric gather.  Practice this a couple times to get the tension right. 

Pin your ruffled strip along the bottom of the skirt, on the right side.  I pinned my strip so that the sewn seam of the ruffle was about an inch from the bottom of the skirt.

When you get to the end, you can either sew them like you would a quilt binding (pin together the ends of the ruffle, sew right sides together and trim the excess) or you can do like I did and just overlap the two edges about 2 inches then cut off the rest.

Sew the ruffle onto the bottom of the skirt.  Sew along the ruffle seam.

Use a safety pin to feed the tie through the holes and around the skirt. 

And your done!  If you finish it and its still too loose (mine was) you can take in the sides.  Just pin where you want to take it in on both sides, then starting at the top on the inside sew downwards, tapering until you reach the side seam.  Does that make sense?  hope so. :)  You will still be able to tie it with the drawstring in the front, it just won’t tighten across the back. 

Guest post: Vanessa from V and Co.

I LOVE this skirt Vanessa made from a tablecloth. So much....that I copied her. No...like, I COPIED her. See? Luckily we don't live close to each other or we'd have to coordinate skirt wearing.

So I asked Vanessa if she would post her tutorial again for me on this blog...because I need to make me another skirt like this since the one in the picture is...ahem...a little tight. Take it away V-

Hello Cluck Cluck Sew readers! my name is Vanessa and i'm the gal behind the blog V and Co.
i'm super excited i'm so happy that Allison asked me to share with you my table cloth skirt tutorial. shall we get started?

what you will need:
a zipper and
zipper foot for your sewing machine
your favorite skirt (preferably an A-line skirt)
a table cloth (the one featured is a martha stewart table cloth found at K-Mart)


so many of you liked my other skirt i just made out of a table cloth that i was wanting to share how for all of you to make one for yourselves.
here you go:
make sure you wash your table cloth before you start this project. we don't want it shrinking on you after you've made it to fit you perfectly.


take your skirt and fold it in half like so.

fold your table cloth just enough for it to be the width of your half folded skirt.

place the skirt (the folded edge) right up against the folded edge of your fabric

either eye it or measure it but you will cut out your front panel of your skirt by outlining 1/2" bigger than your skirt you are using as your template. cut out your front panel.

next you are going to cut out one panel (of the two) for the back.

so that they are completely even, place right sides together the panel you just cut out for the back side of your skirt, and cut out your second panel for the back side of your skirt.

next you will take the two back side pieces and place them right sides together, and sew from the bottom up with a 1/2 inch seam allowance. leaving aprox 7" at the top undone (this is where your zipper will go.)

once your back skirt panel is sew (leaving the 7" opening on top) press with an iron your edges flat open and continuing all the way to the top.

measure 1"from the top and this is where your zipper top will be.
pin your zipper all along (the 6 inches that is left opened) make sure the zipper is facing away from you. and at the bottom of your opening (like 1/4" lower than your opening) place a pin sideways so you can see where you will need to cross over your zipper
also notice how i place my pins (the ones pointing up so that i can easily pull them out as i go sewing down my zipper, and the other side pointing down because i continue to sew once i cross over, in the other direction)

using a zipper foot, sew down one side (pull pins out as you go) make sure you are sort of close to the inside of your "teeth" of the zipper.

when you get to the needle that indicates where the end of your zipper is suppose to be (the blue needle i put sideways), sew over the zipper, back stitch a few times to make sure you make enough of a "barrier" so your zipper will stop.
next you want to sew up the other side still close to the zipper. when you get to the top make sure you back stitch. and cut off the extra zipper part on the bottom.

the hardest part of the skirt is now done.

you've just done a zipper.

pat yourself on the back.

i do.

every friggin time i do one of those babies.

to sew your front and back together, place right sides together pin the sides to match up. sew your sides up using a 1/2 inch seam allowance.once you've sewn the skirt sides, press your seams open on either side.

go the the top of your skirt and fold over your raw edge once, aprox a half inch


and then do it again like so. press down with iron.


sew all around the bottom.

then do the same for the top.
go to your hem area and do the same thing.

this one was made from the martha stewart christmas table cloth found on clearance at k-mart .

i'm going to make a few of these with store bought fabric as well, because they are just perfect for summer.

and fit perfectly as well.

happy skirt making!

thanks allison for letting me come over for a while. come and check out my tutorials and ideas on my blog!
we'll talk soon!