Shutterfly Christmas Cards

I don't know how to find time or even how to mail them.


But 50 Free Christmas cards I can't pass up!!!


Get it at Shutterfly here!

Advent Quilt

Something I've always wanted to make.  An Advent Calendar.  Although I'd like to incorporate the Christmas story in it and not just candy.   It would be something fun to do with the kids each year.

I would just love love love to make one of these

Found here

Felt Play House

Felt Play house

You can place this over your table!   I love it!  Its still in the making so I will have to watch how she continues to make it!

Here is the finished product!

Tutu

Here's a link on how to make a tutu type outfit.   So easy.  I'll definitely have to make one for Ruthie!

tutu

Quilting Firsts Continued...

This baby quilt was the second one I tried.   After the bird quilt this was so easy and really fast.  Especially since the only piecing that had to be done was the blocks.   And of course the quilting part took no time since it was just simple lines.    I think my favorite part about this quilt is the fabric.   Of course I love all the colors in the fabrics from my daughter's quilt but this white fabric really set it all off.   I can see how having a main color in a design can really help anchor everything down.  

I didn't spend a lot of time on squaring up everything which proved to be a bit of a headache.   But I did do better about having my batting and backing bigger than my quilt top.  I also used a spray adhesive to put the pieces together before quilting.   So that was a real treat that I didn't have to worry about pinning.

The quilt ended up being 32 3/4" X 48"

 The white fabric turned out so crinkley and cute.

 For fun I tried some of my decorative stitching.   I did it just on a few blocks though and you probably wouldn't even notice if someone didn't point it out to you.   I'm not sure I did this right though as the stitching would change spacing a good bit as I sewed my lines.  Gotta practice that later.   I think my favorite stitch is still a zigzag on quilts.   I accidentally did that on my daughters quilt in one place and it made a cute design.  

 

Then I added my first label.  Obviously it would have been cuter to hand sew this on after I was done quilting.  And my handwriting could use some work.  But you know me and short cuts. 

Quilting Firsts

Well, in the past three months I've finished my first two quilts and its been so much fun!  I got the idea for the bird quilt from this quilt I saw online at www.landofnod.com 

It was time for my daughter to move to a regular bed and I was looking for bedding.  I was also in a conondrum about what to do with all her precious clothes that she wore her first year.   I had heard of memory quilts and thought that sounded fun.  So when I saw these 3D dresses I thought how fun it would be to use her actual clothing to make the dresses.

Well, after thinking about the dresses a little I realized how difficult they might be to make, with their little collars and buttons.    So, since birds are kinda trendy right now, basic in shape, and aided some precious scripture, I thought I would go with that. 

Here are some of the highlights:

 I selected a group of fabrics from a quilting shop.

 

 Then got some plain, more affordable matching ones from Joanns.

 

 Set up shop...  This table has been the BEST!  And what's really cool is that since its a patio table it has holes in it.  My cover is that vinyl table cloth that you can use outdoors.  Well, that combination it perfect for sticking in those random pins.

 

 Laying out the blocks!   My first time using a rotary cutter and mat.  CHANGED MY LIFE!

 

 Making the birds.  I got the bird pattern online somewhere and just traced it on her clothes wherever I wanted to cut out a bird.  Then I did zigzag stitches around each bird for the most part and on some I added legs with the same stitch.  Not all the birds have eyes, legs or wings.  I liked the variance.

 

 Little baby clothes have lots of embellishments.   So the best part was thinking of ways to use all the lace and buttons from her various outfits.  I cut out some bugs and flowers to place around the birds and also used actual pockets from dresses and pants for wings.   The pockets I left to function like pockets so that I could hide notes and candies for her in the future.    Hopefully a little "mommy/daughter" tradition.

 

  

 

 

 The backing fabric is some of my favorite.  A farm-housey look from Joanns on sale for 2.99 a yard!

 

 

The finished product!   There are just over 20 birds placed randomly in the quilt.  I quilted with lines going up, down, or diagonally when there was no bird.  On squares that had birds I just did echo quilting.  All with a walking foot.   The quilt is about 70 X 100.  With 7, 10 inch squares across and 10, 10 inch squares down.

 

I learned a few things with this baby.   One, its a good idea to have your batting and backing bigger than your quilt top.   Once you start quilting those items start shrinking.   Also, I quilted this in sections.  I didn't put the quilt top completely together and worked with about 4X6 blocks at a time.   So I just pinned batting to the area I was working with and quilted it.  Then after all sections were quilted I put the whole thing together, added the backing and quilted up and down the seams of the squares.     I did this because I couldn't imagine trying maneuver a piece this big during the quilting process.   And it proved successful.    However, after doing it I realized it wouldn't have been that difficult and seeing the effect of all the quilting on the back would have been very pretty.   So I could go either way on the method.

I also, somehow ended up with loads of binding.  I don't know how I made that much but I did.  So next time I need to measure better.   I used this binding tutorial 

And speaking of binding I also didn't hand stitch the back down. So it wasn't near as pretty as it could be on the back.   I just couldn't swallow the time it would take to do that.