Weekend Wrap Up

Wow, I can't believe Monday is already gone.

This was a super busy weekend. I got a lot accomplished and feel great about it!

Mostly, it was cleaning, though. I cleaned out the clutter from my laundry room and washed it from top to bottom. It's actually not that bad to be in there now.  I also did the same for the two bathrooms. 

I also finished the laundry (however, that was Saturday, and I have probably about 2-3 loads to do now. The never ending story.....lalalalalala)

BUT - I did make a few things.





A cute little halloween inspired rosette pin.  It's for sale in my etsy shop.





And a fall wreath.  This was inspired by something somewhere on the internet. I feel badly that I do not have the link for it.  It was so pretty and stuck in my head.  While I was shopping I picked up the wreath on a whim and just had to make it.  So, sorry if it was your idea first.  But thank you!

This will be going to my friend, Bec.  She's been my friend since kindergarten!

I think I'm going to have to make one for me, though, because every time I pass it in my house I just love it.

And last but not least, I made a little wall hanging to put up in my laundry room.

Originally, I was going to make something colorful and quirky with something like "Wash, Wear, Repeat."

As I was going through my stash, though, I found these fabrics.

These are the fabrics that I chose for a little girl quilt when I was pregnant with my first child.

He was a boy.

Second baby was a boy.

Then I had two miscarriages.  One of them, I'm convinced is a little girl.  She was a fighter.  She held on through a lot.  My second son was in the NICU when he was born, and I commented that there were mostly little boys in there.  The nurses said, "That's because little girls are fighters.  They hang on and get out of here quickly."  So, I think she's a little girl waiting for me in heaven.

So I made this little wall hanging that says, "Thank You, Lord, for those I wash for and for those I do not."  It is a little dress and quilt hanging on the line.

It will be nice to see this in the laundry room, when I'm doing the never ending job.  It will remind me to be thankful for those I have to hold.

Including boy number 3.

Lots Going On!

 I have finally finished sewing the binding on to this little baby quilt/play mat.  I added an extra layer of batting to make it the perfect floor mat for those early months.

Here's the back:

This is the quilt that I've made for my little niece Ayla. (really she's my second-cousin, but she's more like a niece to me.)   I gave it to her for her second birthday, and now her mom is going to use it to decorate her "big girl" bedroom.  She asked for a few pillows to go with it.

Here is the front with an A for Ayla.  (You can see the tutorial here.)

All I have left to do is stitch the bottom closed.

And this is the back of the pillow.  It's actually a light pink, but I darkened the picture so you can see that I quilted her name into the pillow a few times amidst the stippling.

I've been wanting to make this sprocket pillow for a long time, using Cluck, Cluck, Sew's tutorial.  She gives great guidance as you make it and it goes together extremely fast, like an hour or so.
Mine is almost done.  I ran out of filling, so I'll have to finish it up another day.

I have also sent in my first two blocks for the do.Good Stitches charity bee.  I have never made a wonky log cabin, but now I can cross that off my list! Here is one of them.

I have a few other WIP's going on.  My Quilting for Kids quilt blocks are still coming in.  You can see the progress  here

I'll also be starting my FIRST commissioned quilt soon. (!) So exciting!

And I'll be making a few memory quilts for a family member who's father just passed away.  I'll share with you all as I go.

Thanks for stopping by!

Linking

Blocks Received

More of your b-e-a-utiful blocks have come in the mail.

I am so excited every time I go to the mail box now.  My husband can't believe the amount of mail we're receiving.  :)

I opened one and said, "Oh! She used Sherbert Pips!" And he looked at me like I was crazy.

He said, "What are you talking about?"

I explained to him it was a line of fabric.  And then I saw another block with some Sugar Pop.

And now he really thinks I've gone overboard!  LOL


I'm okay with that.

So here's what we've received so far!









So, what do you think? It's exciting!

Two thoughts:
1. I love these blocks and all of you.
2. I need a design wall.

Have a great weekend!

How to make an Outlined Letter

I recently made a quilt for my cousin's daughter.  It was her second birthday gift from our family.

 

Her mother, Nicole, really like it.  She's getting ready to switch everything over to her "big girl" room, since she now has another bun in the oven.  So she asked if I could make a few decorative pillows.  And she mentioned she would like one with the letter A on it.

Since I didn't want to use the same material that I made her name with, instead I used a lot of the materials from the circles.  

But to start, I printed out a nice, big letter A using PowerPoint.  I went through and chose the font I liked then chose to print the outline only, so as not to waste more ink. Don't forget to then draw a 1/4 inch seam allowance around your letter.

Next I sewed strips onto the backside of the paper using the paper piecing method.  If you have questions, feel free to ask.

I didn't take a picture of it, but after I sewed the fabric on, I turned it over and cut out the letter A, including the 1/4 inch seam allowance.  And this is what's left:

Now I wanted to outline the letter with a small black strip.  And I also did not want any raw edges showing for the letter, so here's what I did.

I cut a 1 inch strip of black fabric (above), then I ironed it in half, just like you would do for binding. (Shown below.)

Next, pin the black to the letter, raw edges out.

After you've sewn both sides, press them, and they should fold over nicely, leaving you with no raw edges on the outside.

Sew the black onto the top of the letter.  Make sure that you leave about 1/2" on either side, so that you can fold it back and create a nice finished edge on the end. (see below)

Then fold both over and pin in place.  Go ahead and press it, and that will help keep them where they're supposed to go.  Pins will keep them where they should be until you sew the letter down onto the other fabric.

The next part was trickier.  I sewed on the small pieces of black onto the legs of the A.  Then I had to fold them back, out of the way.  In the picture above, you can see that when I was sewing on the center black, I folded the end, so that there would be no raw edges.

Once all three sections are sewn on, you can press them and then pin them into submission.   The pressing helps out, but whatever is not in the exact place as it should be, will be taken care of when you sew it onto the other fabric.  So pin away and then you'll sew it down later.

For the last pieces on the bottom, go ahead and do the same as you did on the top, making sure to leave extra black hanging off the end so that you can then fold them under and pin.

And here's the finished A.  No, I did not do this for the small opening of the A.  I really wanted to and tried for a while, but decided to just applique a small triangle there instead.  It made life a lot easier.  

I am going to sew this down onto a pillow.  I will sew along in the ditch, where the pink and black meet.

I hope this helps you create a special little something for the ones you love. . . at least the ones who's name starts with an easy straight edged letter like A or T.

Quilting for Kids WIP

It's been exciting this week to receive so much mail!



And looks what's inside!
All the pretty blocks together.  Don't they look lovely?





Any and all reservations I had about all these different purples and pinks getting together and playing nicely are gone.  I think they look wonderful together and can't wait to keep adding more.

Thank you girls so much for joining Quilting for Kids and getting these blocks to me so quickly! And those that are still working on theirs, let this inspire you to keep on.  I know you probably have many other projects working, but just imagine your block with these.  It's a little piece of beauty!

I'm going to get sashing cut out for these quilts, but don't think I'll begin sewing until I receive all of the blocks.  That way I can make sure that all of the shades and colors are distributed nicely.

If you'd like the back story on these quilts and Quilting for Kids, read the story here.


In other news, I've sent off my Fall Bee block.




Also, I've been doing a little embroidery for Halloween.  I don't really decorate for it that much, but friends of mine do, so I thought I'd get some things done for them.





Thank you all for stopping by, and go on over to my follow tab and click it, I know you want to! :)