9.26.2013

Pinwheel Baby Quilt Complete


I finished the pinwheel quilt I was working on for a friend!


I love how it turned out. There's something about having so much white space that makes it so sweet.


The backing fabric works so great with the front. 


I took these pictures last night before I put the binding on. I finished the binding around 10:30 last night so I had to wait and take pictures of the final product this morning. 


The little pinwheels are so cute!


Here it is with the orange binding attached. It adds a little pop of color. This was such a fun quilt to work on. I definitely want to make another one in this pattern sometime in the future.


Daniel's Apron







I recently made Daniel an apron. He loves to cook and has been needing an apron of his own for quite some time. Every once in a while he will either reluctantly wear my floral apron or end up having food splattered on his shirt. It was time he had a apron of his own!


We went to Joann's and he picked out the material he wanted it to be made from. We purchased a thick khaki cotton and some 1" heavy twill. I followed this tutorial from The Purl Bee. The instructions were very easy to follow and the project didn't take long at all! 


I like the way it turned out but am most excited that Daniel enjoys it. He's the cutest cook I've ever seen!

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9.24.2013

Sewing Tools Travel Kit


This is a little travel sewing kit I made last year before Daniel and I went camping one weekend with some friends. I actually finished the binding while we were camping and didn't do any other sewing. Ha. I'm glad I have it though. I also took it with us when we took a road trip to Tennessee last year for our 1 year trip so it's come in handy.


I followed this tutorial from Lots of Pink Here. Amy's instructions are clear and simple to understand. She has so many great pictures showing each step. I need to get better at taking pictures of my projects during the sewing process. It's hard to stop what your doing to set your fabric up all pretty in the right spot and light to take a picture when you are just focused on getting it done! I used Martha Negely's Red Feathers Pattern from her Farmington Collection I purchased from City Craft. Here it is available at The Tin Thimble. I can't remember what the green houndstooth fabric is called that I used for the inside but here is something similar. 


I tie a little leather strap I have around the whole thing to keep it closed when traveling. Overall, a fun little handy project!

9.23.2013

New Denyse Schmidt Fabric


Confession, they aren't really new. I bought them back in March when my mom and I were at the Dallas Quilt Show but they are still all neatly folded and haven't been used. They deserve some pictures!


I bought them from Material Girl Fabrics. They had a ton of Denyse Schmidt and Kaffe Fassett fabric at their booth. I was immediately drawn in. From left to right the fabrics are Chicopee Voltage Dot - Black, Shelburne Falls Crest - Maple, and Shelburne Falls Vine & Leaf - Willow.


I have no idea what I am going to use them for yet. It's so much harder to cut into unused fabric when you didn't buy it with a specific project in mind. I unfolded the Crest fabric and almost made us a new ironing board cover out of it but decided not to. I don't know if it's starch, or just us, but our ironing boards get dirty looking after a while. It's too pretty for that!

9.20.2013

Pinwheel Quilt Work in Progress


I started working on my pinwheel quilt for my friend. She's taking it to a baby shower this next Thursday so I wanted to get a lot of it done as quickly as I could! 

I started by cutting 8 5" squares of each color and getting my white charm pack out. 


I then sandwiched and sewed them right sides together. After I that I cut them in half diagonally both ways and pressed them open. 


Such cute little half square triangles!


I then started sewing them together to make the pinwheel block. Chain piecing saves so much time and thread!


You can see the little pieces coming together!


Here they are waiting for the final step. I also included a pic of them chain pieced together on strips of sashing. I'm getting close to the top being pieced!


9.19.2013

Hand Sewn Half Square Triangles


This is a little project I've been working on during long drives. Daniel is so kind and always drives us everywhere. This leaves me with time to work on fun little projects! The fabric I used was from a fat quarter bundle I ordered from Fabricworm back in June of last year. It was one of their Fabricworm Custom Bundle called School Garden.


These are just left over scraps from a lap quilt I have pieced together (and have yet to quilt... I think it's been sitting up in my closet folded for almost a year...) It's so fun to have a little travel project to work on like this. I have no clue what it will turn into yet, but that's ok. Just enjoying the process!


9.18.2013

Scrappy Chevron and On Baby Quilt Finished


I completed my Chevron and On Quilt!


Like I had mentioned a few posts before, I decided to do a meandering free-motion quilt pattern. I love the crinkle texture that it gives. Once I wash it, it will be even crinklier. Can't wait!


For the backing and binding, I purchased some of Denise Schmidt's line for Jo-Ann. The backing is called Dot Dot Dot Red and the binding is called Blossom Reel Plaid Orange. They were both on sale too!



I hand stitched the back of the binding. It's really relaxing to do while sitting on the couch watching tv. It's nice to get away from the machine sometimes. Although, there have been a few instances when I was in a time crunch and used the machine to finish the binding. It doesn't look horrible but it doesn't look as clean as hand binding does.


Now that I finished the quilt for the precious baby boy, I can get started on the decorations for the shower next month! So glad to have this done ahead of time. No stress involved.


I can just imagine this wrapped around a sweet baby boy. Can't you?!



9.17.2013

New Fabric!


My new fabric came in for the quilt I am making! My friend asked me to make it for her friend that his having a baby boy. I included this picture of so you could see how well the Fat Quarter Shop packages up their fabric. It was perfectly layered revealing a little peak of each color. So great!


The fabric I ordered, from left to right, is Kona Cotton Mint, Bella Solids Stone, Bella Solids Aqua, Bella Solids Amelia Apricot, and Ticklish Tipsy Turquoise Laughing Stripes.


I also ordered a little charm pack of White Bella Solids to save me a little time on cutting.


I am going to make a sweet little pinwheel quilt out of these beautiful colors. I'll keep you updated on how it's coming along!


9.13.2013

Envelope Pouch


Daniel and I are following Dave Ramsey's envelope system. We've budgeted out our spending and keep our cash in envelopes. The envelopes are usually scattered on the dresser or wedged between a couple of books. Last weekend Daniel asked me to make a little pouch to keep them all together and organized. Of course I was happy to do it! Anything for my sweet husband.


I used some heavier khaki cotton I had on hand and some fun fabric for the inside. I purchased the khaki fabric at Joann's and the striped fabric at City Craft. I can't remember what it was called...


Daniel requested this classic diamond quilting. I had fun using bright blue thread that coordinated the with the snap. 


I didn't really use a pattern. I just cut my fabric out an inch or two bigger than the envelopes so there would be enough room for a few of them while still being snug. 


See? The perfect size!



I used my Babyville Boutique Snap Pliers I found a while ago at Joann's. I bought the pliers and snaps to use on my NICU Baby Hospital Gowns but they have been handy for so many other things as well.



After making this pouch I wanted to make fabric envelopes to use in place of the paper ones we are using but I think that might be overdoing it. :)


9.12.2013

Chevron and On Baby Quilt Pieced


I finished piecing together my Chevron and On quilt top! 


It ended up being a little bigger than most of the baby quilts I've made. I like the size of it. It will be plenty big to bundle up the sweet baby boy it's going to be given to.










Again, I love the fact that I was able to use my scraps for this one. I'm trying really hard to not have a ton of fabric bins everywhere so these kind of projects help!


I think for the backing I want to do some sort of gray pattern. Not for sure yet. 



I'm hoping to quilt this one this Saturday because I have a new baby quilt to start for a friend that wants to gift it at a baby shower on the 22nd of this month. Just waited for the fabric to come in. So excited to get started.


I'm thinking a bright color for the binding on this one. Maybe orange? Something fun at least. I will probably quilt it in a meandering free-motion design. It's just so fast, easy, and cute. Hard to beat it.