Tuesday, May 31, 2011
The vote--4th of July quilt
So, Russ rarely has an opinion on my craft projects. When I ask for his opinion he just says that he had none. Well, he does on this project and so I am going to ask my friends and family what they think. I have made the following Rag Flag Quilt. There are only 42 blue squares and so I could not make 50 stars if I wanted. I think that the flag looks fine with every other square having a star. It is a small quilt and I think that it would look too crowded with too many stars, however, Russ thinks that every square needs a star. So here it is with only half of the stars and you can imagine what it would look like with all stars I think. So, what do you think? All stars or half stars.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
done, done and done day
Almost every Sat. I get to just be home with my daughter. Russ works on Sat. at the post office which is officially his only guaranteed day of work, so he only misses it on the rarest of occasions. Well, Madalynn is pretty independent so I usually work a lot around the house and get some projects done. Because of my light work load this week and last, I don't have a lot to do. I stayed up late last night to clean the house so that I would not feel guilty about spending most of my day working crafts. Well, I finished some projects that have been in the works since last Christmas that during the semester I simply don't have time to get done.
Well, this is totally shameful. This is my Christmas present to my mom..last Christmas. I got the top done before Christmas, but just put the batting on today, quilted and finished putting on the binding. I quilted it with my darning foot, which I really need more practice with and I need Russ to make me an arm extension so that I can actually get the quilt up on the arm without any problems. I found the pattern for this quilt at Pine Needles at Gardner Village in Midvale, UT.
The pattern is called Charlotte and is put out by Me and My Sister Designs (one of my favorite couple designers. You should see their new hop scotch patterns. You can sign up to receive their emails when new things come by clicking on their blog.)
My mom and I were shopping in the shops one day and she saw this quilt. It was the first time I had ever been in a quilting store where my mom really liked a quilt. So, I went and to find the pattern. After a lot of searching they found it. It was a single sheet of paper. Well, I knew that I would need to get the same fabric line and so I kept my eye out for it to possibly go on sale. Well, it did. At the Quilting Cottage in American Fork, UT they had a sale on the whole line during their shop hop. I bought a fat quarter bundle like 40% off for the whole line. I don't know the exact line anymore, but it is the 1930's reproduction type fabric. I was ecstatic. I didn't tell my mom and got the whole top done..before I had to call her and tell her I was making it. She is very specific about what she likes, so I had to call and find out how she wanted it quilted and what fabric she wanted for the binding. So, I took it with me over Christmas Break to Vegas last Dec. and only got the binding ready and never finished sewing it. So, yesterday I realized that I was done with a lot of my projects and I saw it sitting on my "projects in the works" shelf. She is coming down tomorrow to go to the cemetery by our apartment so I thought that it would be a great time to get it done. So, here is the long process done.
Here is a look at the quilting from the back. I chose a light yellow thread that would show up a bit but not take away from the quilt. I used my darning foot to quilt this. It a little scary trying this quilting thing. However, it turned out ok. The hardest part for me is finding a speed to move to create a steady stitch. Madalynn needed my attention like every five minutes and so it was crazy hard to keep it the same. I tried at least. I also like to move fast in everything that I do..so it is really tricky to stay slow and steady to just keep moving through. Also, I have never been a good drawer and this is basically like drawing, but with a machine.
Here is a close up.
And another look.
Russ' Nana asked for some pictures of Madalynn almost a year ago and she is going to be in town this week for his other cousins high-school graduation....so we finally!!! printed out some pictures. She wanted a frames with multiple pictures, so this is what I bought. I pulled out my gypsy, cricut and vinyl this morning and designed a saying and got it on the frame. I am happy that is done and ready to go. I am grateful that Russ let me buy a gypsy. I really could not do what I like to with my cricut without it. The ability to design letters together is probably my favorite part. My second favorite part is that I can see all the images on the cartridges on my screen rather than having to look through the manuals. That third, the fact that I don't have to carry around my cartridges when I take my machine somewhere for a craft day. Ah...sigh. It is one my new tools that I just could not live without.
Speaking about tools that I can't live without...I am compiling a list of my craft room necessities. I am going to write a whole post on my necessities. I have recently discovered that I can't quilt without gloves with sticky bottoms. They are the best things in the world. It is such a small thing and only cost like $2 at Home Depot, but very necessary.
Hope that you enjoy.
Well, this is totally shameful. This is my Christmas present to my mom..last Christmas. I got the top done before Christmas, but just put the batting on today, quilted and finished putting on the binding. I quilted it with my darning foot, which I really need more practice with and I need Russ to make me an arm extension so that I can actually get the quilt up on the arm without any problems. I found the pattern for this quilt at Pine Needles at Gardner Village in Midvale, UT.
The pattern is called Charlotte and is put out by Me and My Sister Designs (one of my favorite couple designers. You should see their new hop scotch patterns. You can sign up to receive their emails when new things come by clicking on their blog.)
My mom and I were shopping in the shops one day and she saw this quilt. It was the first time I had ever been in a quilting store where my mom really liked a quilt. So, I went and to find the pattern. After a lot of searching they found it. It was a single sheet of paper. Well, I knew that I would need to get the same fabric line and so I kept my eye out for it to possibly go on sale. Well, it did. At the Quilting Cottage in American Fork, UT they had a sale on the whole line during their shop hop. I bought a fat quarter bundle like 40% off for the whole line. I don't know the exact line anymore, but it is the 1930's reproduction type fabric. I was ecstatic. I didn't tell my mom and got the whole top done..before I had to call her and tell her I was making it. She is very specific about what she likes, so I had to call and find out how she wanted it quilted and what fabric she wanted for the binding. So, I took it with me over Christmas Break to Vegas last Dec. and only got the binding ready and never finished sewing it. So, yesterday I realized that I was done with a lot of my projects and I saw it sitting on my "projects in the works" shelf. She is coming down tomorrow to go to the cemetery by our apartment so I thought that it would be a great time to get it done. So, here is the long process done.
Here is a look at the quilting from the back. I chose a light yellow thread that would show up a bit but not take away from the quilt. I used my darning foot to quilt this. It a little scary trying this quilting thing. However, it turned out ok. The hardest part for me is finding a speed to move to create a steady stitch. Madalynn needed my attention like every five minutes and so it was crazy hard to keep it the same. I tried at least. I also like to move fast in everything that I do..so it is really tricky to stay slow and steady to just keep moving through. Also, I have never been a good drawer and this is basically like drawing, but with a machine.
Here is a close up.
And another look.
Russ' Nana asked for some pictures of Madalynn almost a year ago and she is going to be in town this week for his other cousins high-school graduation....so we finally!!! printed out some pictures. She wanted a frames with multiple pictures, so this is what I bought. I pulled out my gypsy, cricut and vinyl this morning and designed a saying and got it on the frame. I am happy that is done and ready to go. I am grateful that Russ let me buy a gypsy. I really could not do what I like to with my cricut without it. The ability to design letters together is probably my favorite part. My second favorite part is that I can see all the images on the cartridges on my screen rather than having to look through the manuals. That third, the fact that I don't have to carry around my cartridges when I take my machine somewhere for a craft day. Ah...sigh. It is one my new tools that I just could not live without.
Speaking about tools that I can't live without...I am compiling a list of my craft room necessities. I am going to write a whole post on my necessities. I have recently discovered that I can't quilt without gloves with sticky bottoms. They are the best things in the world. It is such a small thing and only cost like $2 at Home Depot, but very necessary.Hope that you enjoy.
Memory Quilts
Wow, my last post was my hundredth post. I can't believe that I have written that much on this blog. I hope that my ramblings are not too much, but it is nice to keep track of what I am up to. Having noticed that I have posted that many times made me think about the memories that I have since starting this post. It is interesting.
As I have read different blogs online and talked with various people on etsy, twitter, quilter's club of america, facebook and similar sights I have learned that there are all sorts of memory quilts. There are the type where you use photos and old clothes. There are the types that you spend so much time on that they become a part of you over the years and it is somewhat bittersweet when you finish the quilt. For me, I think that a memory quilt can be anything with which I can associate any strong memories. The following quilt made me think about this when I went to bed last night and I was putting the blanket back on the bed so I could stay warm.
This tie quilt was probably the first thing that I made when Russ and I first got married. In fact I also made Russ a dark green and black one, but I simply don't know where that is. I think that it must be in a box out in our storage unit because I could not find it in the boxes here at our apartment. I remember going to the fabric store in Las Vegas with my in-laws and Russ. We had just been to a sporting goods store that was going out of business to see if they were selling the racks that the store used to hang things on. I remember sitting on the floor at my in-laws tieing it for a whole day on their newly tiled floor. It was one of the only three Christmas's that we actually have spent in Vegas. It has been hard to visit for holidays since Russ got on at the post office because his co-worker always takes the day before and after a holiday off and he is the sub that has to work for her. I remember my hand cramping because I was trying to finish them that day so I would not have to bring them home to work on them. I remember my brother-in-law asking me for the first and certainly not the last time why I would spend so much time working on a project like that. I told him that it makes me happy and it is fun and relaxing. That is why I do any craft.
(By the way for anyone that does not know how to make this kind of quilt you simply line up a front and a back. I made this out of fleece. Then you cut slits in the side fabric and you make a square knot. It is super easy and fun and only requires fabric and scissors.)
Now I use it on my bed as a second layer under the comforter to keep me warm. Russ could sleep with a sheet on almost all year long and no other layers, and yet it is nearly summer and I am still sleeping under multiple layers. Until we got new quilts and blankets in the living room, I would always get it out to stay warm while I read a book or watched a movie.
When we were first married, before I let Russ put a TV in our bedroom, he would fall asleep on the couch a lot watching TV and I would go and put his blanket on him in the middle of the night and turn off the TV. After that I let him put a TV in our bedroom, but he can watch for no longer than 45 minutes and the timer on the TV must be on so it turns off after we are asleep. He is so much better about it now that he rarely uses the TV in the bedroom and always gets to bed after watching a show.
It may seem crazy that such a quilt seems to important to me, but it is important. I have the worst memory ever. Unless I write something down, I don't remember a lot of memories. So, to have a memory about making it, and where it has been since is nice. Off course it shows me that my fascination with butterflies is not just a passing whimsy now since 4 years ago I was already fascinated with them.
Well, hope that you enjoyed my ramblings. Until next time.
As I have read different blogs online and talked with various people on etsy, twitter, quilter's club of america, facebook and similar sights I have learned that there are all sorts of memory quilts. There are the type where you use photos and old clothes. There are the types that you spend so much time on that they become a part of you over the years and it is somewhat bittersweet when you finish the quilt. For me, I think that a memory quilt can be anything with which I can associate any strong memories. The following quilt made me think about this when I went to bed last night and I was putting the blanket back on the bed so I could stay warm.
This tie quilt was probably the first thing that I made when Russ and I first got married. In fact I also made Russ a dark green and black one, but I simply don't know where that is. I think that it must be in a box out in our storage unit because I could not find it in the boxes here at our apartment. I remember going to the fabric store in Las Vegas with my in-laws and Russ. We had just been to a sporting goods store that was going out of business to see if they were selling the racks that the store used to hang things on. I remember sitting on the floor at my in-laws tieing it for a whole day on their newly tiled floor. It was one of the only three Christmas's that we actually have spent in Vegas. It has been hard to visit for holidays since Russ got on at the post office because his co-worker always takes the day before and after a holiday off and he is the sub that has to work for her. I remember my hand cramping because I was trying to finish them that day so I would not have to bring them home to work on them. I remember my brother-in-law asking me for the first and certainly not the last time why I would spend so much time working on a project like that. I told him that it makes me happy and it is fun and relaxing. That is why I do any craft.
(By the way for anyone that does not know how to make this kind of quilt you simply line up a front and a back. I made this out of fleece. Then you cut slits in the side fabric and you make a square knot. It is super easy and fun and only requires fabric and scissors.)Now I use it on my bed as a second layer under the comforter to keep me warm. Russ could sleep with a sheet on almost all year long and no other layers, and yet it is nearly summer and I am still sleeping under multiple layers. Until we got new quilts and blankets in the living room, I would always get it out to stay warm while I read a book or watched a movie.
When we were first married, before I let Russ put a TV in our bedroom, he would fall asleep on the couch a lot watching TV and I would go and put his blanket on him in the middle of the night and turn off the TV. After that I let him put a TV in our bedroom, but he can watch for no longer than 45 minutes and the timer on the TV must be on so it turns off after we are asleep. He is so much better about it now that he rarely uses the TV in the bedroom and always gets to bed after watching a show.
It may seem crazy that such a quilt seems to important to me, but it is important. I have the worst memory ever. Unless I write something down, I don't remember a lot of memories. So, to have a memory about making it, and where it has been since is nice. Off course it shows me that my fascination with butterflies is not just a passing whimsy now since 4 years ago I was already fascinated with them.
Well, hope that you enjoyed my ramblings. Until next time.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
The outcome of my frustration with my daughter
Every morning this week, Madalynn has been getting up earlier and earlier. When she woke up at 6 this morning I had had it. I mean, I understood that she has been teething and has been grumpy beyond all understanding this last week. However, no matter how early I went to bed I have only been getting less and less sleep, which means that at 6 in the morning when your daughter is screaming bloody murder in the other room and waking the neighbors upstairs up too, I am not very happy.
So, after I went and got her and gave her a bottle, she fell back asleep...but I couldn't. I realized that the sun was already lighting up her room really light. I made a valence to match her crib quilt and stuff, but I got two curtain rods at the time.
When I was making her crib quilt I bought this material. After putting everything together I decided that it just didn't fit the other prints in the quilt. I have really really been trying to come up with a use for it for a while.
Well, my anger got me thinking of what I could do to make curtains and around 8 I went and found the fabric, my backing fabric and my measuring tape. Ya, needless to say, 2 hours later I had these new pull curtains ready to put up over her window. I had to go to Lowe's and buy a double curtain bracket to put up both rods and window coverings. After Madalynn woke up from her nap I was able to use my little drill and attach everything. Yep, it is a great use of the fabric and I can't wait until tomorrow morning and it stays dark in her room. Yay!!
So, after I went and got her and gave her a bottle, she fell back asleep...but I couldn't. I realized that the sun was already lighting up her room really light. I made a valence to match her crib quilt and stuff, but I got two curtain rods at the time.
When I was making her crib quilt I bought this material. After putting everything together I decided that it just didn't fit the other prints in the quilt. I have really really been trying to come up with a use for it for a while.
Well, my anger got me thinking of what I could do to make curtains and around 8 I went and found the fabric, my backing fabric and my measuring tape. Ya, needless to say, 2 hours later I had these new pull curtains ready to put up over her window. I had to go to Lowe's and buy a double curtain bracket to put up both rods and window coverings. After Madalynn woke up from her nap I was able to use my little drill and attach everything. Yep, it is a great use of the fabric and I can't wait until tomorrow morning and it stays dark in her room. Yay!!
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Hairbows
So I have never been a person that really likes to take the time to do my hair. Anyone that knows me can tell you that I mostly wear my hair up in a pony tail. Well, I bought a few hair bows for my daughter when she was really little and decided that I would make some after she could put them in her hair and I saw what I really liked in her hair. Well, to start this post, I thought that I would show everyone a few pictures of her first hair-do day. It was really fun. (Even though she would not smile for any of the pictures). I am sad that she destroyed one of these flowers. They were foam flowers and soooooo cute.
Since then I have learned that two tiny pigtail are the easiest to put in her hair. So, I bought a package of hair clips at Sally's a year ago and in an attempt to make Madalynn some hair bows, I realized that most of my flowers were too large. I end of making myself tons of bows instead. Then I took an old picture from and put batting and come off-white corduroy that I had in a box and some pretty calm generic colored ribbon and made myself a memory board for my bathroom. I actually wear things in my hair a little more often now because it is all right there in plain sight when I am getting ready in the morning.
Last week, I got to the point where I was tired of not having any white, red or black bows to put in my daughters hair. So I went to Hobby Lobby here in American Fork and bought a ton of hair clips..soooo many that it hopefully will take a while to use them all. I spent a night cooking my ribbon into corker ribbon and getting ready to make her some new bows. (You just wind ribbon on a poll and make sure it stays tight, cook at 275 degrees for 25 minutes and you have cooked ribbon :) Ya, I made so many the next day that i had to take off the ribbons I previously had on her bow hanger and add two more. I am happy that I finally bought some black and white flowers that I can use to make some plain hair accessories for her. I can't wait to get out my stuff again next week and get working on some more. I am impressed that she has only destroyed a few hair bows pulling on them. I just have to be consistent at doing her hair and she will get used to it.
The orange corker bows you see were my first attempt at that type of ribbon and I love how it turned out.
Well, hope that you have enjoyed. Making things for my daughter is certainly one of my favorite things to do.
Since then I have learned that two tiny pigtail are the easiest to put in her hair. So, I bought a package of hair clips at Sally's a year ago and in an attempt to make Madalynn some hair bows, I realized that most of my flowers were too large. I end of making myself tons of bows instead. Then I took an old picture from and put batting and come off-white corduroy that I had in a box and some pretty calm generic colored ribbon and made myself a memory board for my bathroom. I actually wear things in my hair a little more often now because it is all right there in plain sight when I am getting ready in the morning.
Last week, I got to the point where I was tired of not having any white, red or black bows to put in my daughters hair. So I went to Hobby Lobby here in American Fork and bought a ton of hair clips..soooo many that it hopefully will take a while to use them all. I spent a night cooking my ribbon into corker ribbon and getting ready to make her some new bows. (You just wind ribbon on a poll and make sure it stays tight, cook at 275 degrees for 25 minutes and you have cooked ribbon :) Ya, I made so many the next day that i had to take off the ribbons I previously had on her bow hanger and add two more. I am happy that I finally bought some black and white flowers that I can use to make some plain hair accessories for her. I can't wait to get out my stuff again next week and get working on some more. I am impressed that she has only destroyed a few hair bows pulling on them. I just have to be consistent at doing her hair and she will get used to it.
The orange corker bows you see were my first attempt at that type of ribbon and I love how it turned out.
Well, hope that you have enjoyed. Making things for my daughter is certainly one of my favorite things to do.
Madalynn's room completely finished
So remember the pictures that I posted a while ago of Madalynn's room, well all the unfinished parts are finished, new projects added and while she is in her third bedroom in her 12 1/2 months of life, she has always adjusted well to our moves.
When Russ first put the shelf up he told me that part of the back had torn out and that one of the screws was not in a stud in the wall. He told me that I should not put any weight on it besides what I was planning on decorating with. Well, unfortunately when I was adding the large butterflies one night I put my hand on the shelf, in a moment of complete forgetfulness. The shelf fell of the wall. The hanging letters all fell to one side putting the weight off balanced. I managed to catch the left picture between my arm and the shelf, the glass flower vase between my head and my shoulder and all the rest in my left hand. I yelled so loud for Russ to come help me, that Madalynn who had walked in just then started screaming. Russ thought that she had been hurt and was checking her as I am telling him to grab the picture that is falling and I can't hold anymore. If it had fallen it would have fallen on the edge of her bed and probably broken all over. It was really funny. So, here it is..all finished!!! If you want a closer look just click on the picture.
I finished the letters and hung them up on the shelf Russ made for her. I painted them pink and then used embossing powder, acrylic stamps, a heat gun and brown chalk to decorate them. I first chalked around the edges. Then I added all of the white and brown patterns. I then took the same stamp and turned it around and around and added clear embossing to the rest. I really like how it looks like the wood had its own printed design all over. I love the feel of the design popping out. You can't see it really well in the picures, sorry.
When I had Madalynn, my brother and sister-in-law brought flowers to the hospital. They were in that vase. I have kept the vase in the hope I would find some use for it and sure enough, I thought it would look great with some flowers I found in my craft box. It was really fun to put together.
One night when I came home from work, Russ had been to the craft store without me and bought the pink azalea flowers. I quickly added them to the shelf and I was super thrilled.
I have always loved butterflies and for some reason this is the year of butterflies. Every store has butterfly decorations, butterfly baby clothes.... Well, I decided to add them to the shelf. I think the reason that I like butterflies so much is that they are such magical creatures. They are a part of nature but they flit in and out and they are just so beautiful with their varying varieties. It is kind of like rainbows. They are so beautiful and very rare. So, without doing any princess themes or stuff like that, I found a theme to add that is easy and fun to change around. I found a bright orange paper that I was going to use to decorate the front of her doll cabinet and I decided that I would take some of Russ' scrap wood and make a peg hanger with it. We have been so blessed with Madalynn to have all sorts of people give us clothes for her. She has an abundance of jackets and sweaters and they don't fit well in her drawer so i thought it would be nice to hang them up.
I also bought a fun butterfly hanger at Rod Works to add to the theme of the room.
Last but not least, I added one more pillow to her rocking chair. I bought this pillow at a yard sale last summer. It used to see a brown swede. I learned how to make my own cording and I sewed it into the pillow. The fabric is the same as the lamp shade and the toy box cushion to tie that fabric into the room. I love how it turned out.
Well, hope that you enjoyed the progress. I am excited that it is finished.
When Russ first put the shelf up he told me that part of the back had torn out and that one of the screws was not in a stud in the wall. He told me that I should not put any weight on it besides what I was planning on decorating with. Well, unfortunately when I was adding the large butterflies one night I put my hand on the shelf, in a moment of complete forgetfulness. The shelf fell of the wall. The hanging letters all fell to one side putting the weight off balanced. I managed to catch the left picture between my arm and the shelf, the glass flower vase between my head and my shoulder and all the rest in my left hand. I yelled so loud for Russ to come help me, that Madalynn who had walked in just then started screaming. Russ thought that she had been hurt and was checking her as I am telling him to grab the picture that is falling and I can't hold anymore. If it had fallen it would have fallen on the edge of her bed and probably broken all over. It was really funny. So, here it is..all finished!!! If you want a closer look just click on the picture.
I finished the letters and hung them up on the shelf Russ made for her. I painted them pink and then used embossing powder, acrylic stamps, a heat gun and brown chalk to decorate them. I first chalked around the edges. Then I added all of the white and brown patterns. I then took the same stamp and turned it around and around and added clear embossing to the rest. I really like how it looks like the wood had its own printed design all over. I love the feel of the design popping out. You can't see it really well in the picures, sorry.
When I had Madalynn, my brother and sister-in-law brought flowers to the hospital. They were in that vase. I have kept the vase in the hope I would find some use for it and sure enough, I thought it would look great with some flowers I found in my craft box. It was really fun to put together.
One night when I came home from work, Russ had been to the craft store without me and bought the pink azalea flowers. I quickly added them to the shelf and I was super thrilled.
I have always loved butterflies and for some reason this is the year of butterflies. Every store has butterfly decorations, butterfly baby clothes.... Well, I decided to add them to the shelf. I think the reason that I like butterflies so much is that they are such magical creatures. They are a part of nature but they flit in and out and they are just so beautiful with their varying varieties. It is kind of like rainbows. They are so beautiful and very rare. So, without doing any princess themes or stuff like that, I found a theme to add that is easy and fun to change around. I found a bright orange paper that I was going to use to decorate the front of her doll cabinet and I decided that I would take some of Russ' scrap wood and make a peg hanger with it. We have been so blessed with Madalynn to have all sorts of people give us clothes for her. She has an abundance of jackets and sweaters and they don't fit well in her drawer so i thought it would be nice to hang them up.
I also bought a fun butterfly hanger at Rod Works to add to the theme of the room.
Last but not least, I added one more pillow to her rocking chair. I bought this pillow at a yard sale last summer. It used to see a brown swede. I learned how to make my own cording and I sewed it into the pillow. The fabric is the same as the lamp shade and the toy box cushion to tie that fabric into the room. I love how it turned out.
Well, hope that you enjoyed the progress. I am excited that it is finished.
Fall and Christmas--officially finished
Yes, I finally finished my fall and christmas quilts. I am super excited. I had the tops done for over a year before I got them quilted and then it took several more months for me to take the time to sew on the binding. It is awesome. Well here they are. The only complaint that I have is that I forgot to put on my paper not to quilt on the applique on the Christmas quilt and she quilted on it. Yuck! But that was my fault for forgetting to write it down. From now on I am going to quilt my own things with my darning foot, so I won't have this problem anymore.
Here is the quilt. If you look back about 10 or so posts I have a wall hanging with ornaments that matches the quilt. I am excited to put them up together this year. I have only been wanting to get this quilt finished for almost 2 years now.
Madalynn's was helping me take pictures first thing this morning. She was really smiling when I push the button to take the picture, but my camera takes forever to take a shot so this is what I got. It is a really funny picture.
Afterwards she really wanted to help me put the quilt away.
Here is my fall quilt. I made it from a pattern called Chatterbox.
Madalynn thought that the quilt was a great play mat and I let her play on it for a while this morning.
Here is the back. It has the same border as the front. I just thought that that would be fun to have them kind of match...that and I didn't want to cut the inside fabric anymore.
Hope that you enjoyed!
Here is the quilt. If you look back about 10 or so posts I have a wall hanging with ornaments that matches the quilt. I am excited to put them up together this year. I have only been wanting to get this quilt finished for almost 2 years now.
Madalynn's was helping me take pictures first thing this morning. She was really smiling when I push the button to take the picture, but my camera takes forever to take a shot so this is what I got. It is a really funny picture.
Afterwards she really wanted to help me put the quilt away.
Here is my fall quilt. I made it from a pattern called Chatterbox.
Madalynn thought that the quilt was a great play mat and I let her play on it for a while this morning.
Here is the back. It has the same border as the front. I just thought that that would be fun to have them kind of match...that and I didn't want to cut the inside fabric anymore.
Hope that you enjoyed!
Crafting with my cricut and my heat gun
So I really love to sew but I do do a lot of crafts that don't involve my sewing machine. I really do love my cricut machine and Russ is so wonderful and let me buy a gypsy last spring and I have been doing all sorts of projects with it. My favorite part of my gypsy is that I can not take and make my own words by combining all the letters together in the designing program.
My most recent gypsy project was putting some vinyl lettering on a bunch of pictures around the house. In Madalynn's bedroom I have several different pictures and I wanted them to say why I put them up in her room. This picture is of a blooming Azalea. I thought that New Life would be appropriate. I really wanted three pictures on the shelf, one blooming, one in full bloom and one picture of a beautiful bush, but Russ told me two was sufficient. I thought that each would be a representation of the growth of a child from birth to maturity to her influence in the world and beauty that she can create.
This picture had a different caption but Russ asked me to take it off and simply put Azalea. I do like it, it just wasn't exactly what I was thinking.
I put up a picture of Christ holding a child and pointing at a butterfly. The title of the picture is "Precious in His Sight." As she grows I want her to know that she is always precious and so i put the lettering on the frame. I also put up two pictures of Azalea's. That is her middle name, so it was very appropriate. You can't see the lettering too well, but I think that the shelf turned out great and I finally got this wall hanging put up. I am still working on this wall hanging. I am looking for some cute off-white buttons to sew onto the middle of each square.
I have had the following picture frame since the first month we were married almost 4 years ago. Yes...it took this long to put the picture in the frame and get it finished, but I am glad that I did. I want lots of pictures up in our house of all stages of our lives and i think that collage pictures really help me do that.
Here is the frame of Madalynn's early pictures. It really is time to get the one done of her 6 month and year old pictures.
Russ has a bunch of scrap wood out on our back patio. I have always wanted a few of those vinyl saying up in my house. I found the following saying on a tile at some Boutique that I went to and knew that I wanted this saying put up with my wedding pictures. So, I designed the saying on my gyspy and had Russ cut the board. The whole time I was not sure what color I wanted to paint it and what color I wanted the vinyl letters. All my wedding picture frames are a red color with a little black antiquing on the edges of the rope design. I wanted the saying to kind of pop out and so I thought that a white lettering would really stand out. The only problem I had was that a black background would look great but be really dull. So, I got out some of my acrylic stamps to work with on this project. I decided to use some clear embossing powder to stamp an image onto the black background that would enhance the background but not take away from the saying. I love how it turned out. I hope that you can see the glossy image on the background in the picture.
After I had finished the saying, I looked at the following picture frame. We got this picture from someone for our wedding. So I took a stamp and turned it around and around creating variations on the image and poured on the embossing powder, used my heat gun to create the image, and yay!! I love how it turned out and adds just enough to the picture frame to make it not quite so plain but not too decorative.
Well, I hope that you enjoyed. It is really nice to feel like I have finished projects and have moved onto other things to make my home feel more homey.
My most recent gypsy project was putting some vinyl lettering on a bunch of pictures around the house. In Madalynn's bedroom I have several different pictures and I wanted them to say why I put them up in her room. This picture is of a blooming Azalea. I thought that New Life would be appropriate. I really wanted three pictures on the shelf, one blooming, one in full bloom and one picture of a beautiful bush, but Russ told me two was sufficient. I thought that each would be a representation of the growth of a child from birth to maturity to her influence in the world and beauty that she can create.
This picture had a different caption but Russ asked me to take it off and simply put Azalea. I do like it, it just wasn't exactly what I was thinking.
I put up a picture of Christ holding a child and pointing at a butterfly. The title of the picture is "Precious in His Sight." As she grows I want her to know that she is always precious and so i put the lettering on the frame. I also put up two pictures of Azalea's. That is her middle name, so it was very appropriate. You can't see the lettering too well, but I think that the shelf turned out great and I finally got this wall hanging put up. I am still working on this wall hanging. I am looking for some cute off-white buttons to sew onto the middle of each square.
I have had the following picture frame since the first month we were married almost 4 years ago. Yes...it took this long to put the picture in the frame and get it finished, but I am glad that I did. I want lots of pictures up in our house of all stages of our lives and i think that collage pictures really help me do that.
Here is the frame of Madalynn's early pictures. It really is time to get the one done of her 6 month and year old pictures.
Russ has a bunch of scrap wood out on our back patio. I have always wanted a few of those vinyl saying up in my house. I found the following saying on a tile at some Boutique that I went to and knew that I wanted this saying put up with my wedding pictures. So, I designed the saying on my gyspy and had Russ cut the board. The whole time I was not sure what color I wanted to paint it and what color I wanted the vinyl letters. All my wedding picture frames are a red color with a little black antiquing on the edges of the rope design. I wanted the saying to kind of pop out and so I thought that a white lettering would really stand out. The only problem I had was that a black background would look great but be really dull. So, I got out some of my acrylic stamps to work with on this project. I decided to use some clear embossing powder to stamp an image onto the black background that would enhance the background but not take away from the saying. I love how it turned out. I hope that you can see the glossy image on the background in the picture.
After I had finished the saying, I looked at the following picture frame. We got this picture from someone for our wedding. So I took a stamp and turned it around and around creating variations on the image and poured on the embossing powder, used my heat gun to create the image, and yay!! I love how it turned out and adds just enough to the picture frame to make it not quite so plain but not too decorative.
Well, I hope that you enjoyed. It is really nice to feel like I have finished projects and have moved onto other things to make my home feel more homey.
My summer quilt
I got this quilt kit from Shayla Bott. I love it!!! Unfortunately while I was finishing some other projects it sat in my to-do box at the bottom for over a year. It is kind of sad when that happens and you want to get to a project.
One day right after we moved into our current apartment, Madalynn was sleeping and I was cleaning out all the craft stuff that I actually have at the house. I saw it in the bottom of the box. I decided that I would take a look at the pattern again and see exactly what i needed to do and gauge the time that it would take to make it. Ya, two days later I had sewed the top, appliqued on the flowers and finished stitching them. Shayla has a blanket stitch on her machine and I am so grateful that she let me borrow it to stitch on the applique. Honestly, it would take much longer without steam a seam 2. They now sell it by the yard and not just in 8 1/2 by 11 sheets. This is so wonderful. I don't have so many tiny little pieces left over anymore.
I wanted to get started on the backing and quilt it by myself with my darning foot, but I have decided that I will get to that this fall when I take it down. Right now it is on my quilt ladder adorning my family room and adding brightness to my day every time that I look at it.
This quilt used the pattern In Bloom by the Crazy Old Ladies and I don't know all the fabric lines in the quilt because I got it as a kit but I know that some of them are from Neutral Territory by Terry Atkinson and Liz Lois for Red Rooster Fabrics.
This is a picture of the flower closer up. The picture turned when it came into my post and I don't know how to turn it here, but I am not going to take the time to do it again. Sorry. I think that the flowers turned out soooo good.
Hope that you enjoyed.
One day right after we moved into our current apartment, Madalynn was sleeping and I was cleaning out all the craft stuff that I actually have at the house. I saw it in the bottom of the box. I decided that I would take a look at the pattern again and see exactly what i needed to do and gauge the time that it would take to make it. Ya, two days later I had sewed the top, appliqued on the flowers and finished stitching them. Shayla has a blanket stitch on her machine and I am so grateful that she let me borrow it to stitch on the applique. Honestly, it would take much longer without steam a seam 2. They now sell it by the yard and not just in 8 1/2 by 11 sheets. This is so wonderful. I don't have so many tiny little pieces left over anymore.
I wanted to get started on the backing and quilt it by myself with my darning foot, but I have decided that I will get to that this fall when I take it down. Right now it is on my quilt ladder adorning my family room and adding brightness to my day every time that I look at it.
This quilt used the pattern In Bloom by the Crazy Old Ladies and I don't know all the fabric lines in the quilt because I got it as a kit but I know that some of them are from Neutral Territory by Terry Atkinson and Liz Lois for Red Rooster Fabrics.
This is a picture of the flower closer up. The picture turned when it came into my post and I don't know how to turn it here, but I am not going to take the time to do it again. Sorry. I think that the flowers turned out soooo good.
Hope that you enjoyed.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Curtains
I think that I have never put up curtains in our previous homes mostly because we lived in really nice places that had trim around all the windows. They would have looked great with window coverings but I didn't want to have to have Russ patch anything in our first two places, and while we lived in our friends place I didn't want them to have any holes too big in their place. However, this place already had parts of previous curtain rods still attached to the walls and well, as i explained in my last post, our bedroom just needed them.
The kitchen was my first priority. Seriously the view out of the window is not my favorite. Half of it is the fence that goes around our patio and the other half is of the only section that grass does not grow in our backyard. I first found a set of curtains that I had up over some windows in a place I lived in college. However, they were not wide enough for the window. I was thinking that I would finally pick out some colors for my kitchen and decorations, but then I decided that that will be something fun I can do when we someday own a home in the future. I went through and found some light colored, small print fabric I had and whipped up these curtains in a half and hour. I was impressed with the quickness of this project.
Then I made the ones for my room, which if you want any further explanation on those curtains read my previous post.
Then I finally finally got to the curtains for my daughters room! I love them!!!!! I took the same block that I had used on the crib quilt and the crib bumper and turned each one a quarter turn and added the top fabric and here it is! I know that the picture isn't great because I took the picture while the morning light was coming in her window, but you can get the idea. Her room is almost done. Wait in a couple posts I will show off the finished shelf that Russ is fixing right now. (It fell off the wall and I caught it, it was exciting) Eventually I want to buy a curtain rod with butterflies on the end. Her bedroom theme is Azalea flower (because that is her middle name) and butterflies. I found the cutest cast-iron rod with fun butterflies but it was way way out of my current price range so I am just continuing to look to find the perfect thing.
Hope you enjoyed.
The kitchen was my first priority. Seriously the view out of the window is not my favorite. Half of it is the fence that goes around our patio and the other half is of the only section that grass does not grow in our backyard. I first found a set of curtains that I had up over some windows in a place I lived in college. However, they were not wide enough for the window. I was thinking that I would finally pick out some colors for my kitchen and decorations, but then I decided that that will be something fun I can do when we someday own a home in the future. I went through and found some light colored, small print fabric I had and whipped up these curtains in a half and hour. I was impressed with the quickness of this project.
Then I made the ones for my room, which if you want any further explanation on those curtains read my previous post.
Then I finally finally got to the curtains for my daughters room! I love them!!!!! I took the same block that I had used on the crib quilt and the crib bumper and turned each one a quarter turn and added the top fabric and here it is! I know that the picture isn't great because I took the picture while the morning light was coming in her window, but you can get the idea. Her room is almost done. Wait in a couple posts I will show off the finished shelf that Russ is fixing right now. (It fell off the wall and I caught it, it was exciting) Eventually I want to buy a curtain rod with butterflies on the end. Her bedroom theme is Azalea flower (because that is her middle name) and butterflies. I found the cutest cast-iron rod with fun butterflies but it was way way out of my current price range so I am just continuing to look to find the perfect thing.
Hope you enjoyed.
My bedroom
After Russ and I bought bedroom furniture when we were first married, I got pretty excited to decorate our bedroom. Since we have moved a lot in the past few years, I never can really decorate each home in the same way, so all my other rooms change. However, while our furniture may be in different locations in the bedroom, it is always the same furniture. Russ favorite color is green and so we were going to do the room in a sage green and I decided to accent it with a dark green and some tans. The bedroom furniture is dark and has a redish hue to it, so I thought that those colors would not clash.
I made the following table runner first. It was my very first attempt at a really binding...and i hated it. I looked at it for two years with its bumps, whole between the squares where the seams didn't finish, the batting was the wrong size and didn't fit the whole thing and so it was lumpy in spots and I didn't even try to quilt it in anyway to keep the layers together. It was just too long to do without any kind of quilting. So, six months ago i started working on table runners for the top of our other dresser and the two end tables to keep the tops of the furniture nice and without scratches. That is when I decide it was time to take this table runner apart, fix all the squares (I had originally cut them without even a template), put new batting inside, run a stitch in the ditch around each square and a quilted pattern down the very middle squares of the runner and put on a new binding. ya, it was worth the time. I love it now!!!
I made three other runner that followed the exact same pattern so they would all match. here are some of the pictures. In our current house one of the end tables does not fit in the bedroom so one of the runners is just in my closet being stored. Hopefully laying it out on the floor helps you see what the shape of all the rest of the runners look like.
This is a closer view to see the stitching around each square and the center pattern on each table runner.
When we moved into our most recent place, we moved into a small and modest basement apartment. The biggest problem was the location of our bedroom window. The basement sits a little higher above ground so you can actually see outside which is nice. The downfall is that we live on a somewhat busy corner and that headlights come straight into the window all night long as people turn onto our street. On top of that, there is a street light right on our corner. After a week, I told Russ that I was going to make curtains to help block out the light. I knew that I would use the thin cotton fabric to make the curtain but I would need to find something to put on the back to keep the sunlight and headlights out of our room. I was not excited about needing to buy fabric because I have sooooo much all over that I am trying to use without ever buying new fabric. So I went and spent an afternoon out at our storage unit going through my fabric boxes and i found a bolt of dark green corduroy fabric that someone had given me. It was perfect!!! It keeps out all light both night and day and also blocks some of the heat radiating off the window in the afternoon. I could not have been more happy with the final product or how quickly I made it (just two short afternoons)
I think I posted this wall hanging ages ago, but it is my next take apart and fix project. It is nice and does work, but I am going to quilt it and put on a matching binding to match all the rest of the projects in our room.
Ah...I only have three more planned projects and I am finished with our room. I want to make a couple pillows with this fabric to off set the plain sage green ones we have and put a mini-quilt that just goes across the foot of the bed when it is made. I am still deciding whether I would like to actually piece it together like the wall hanging to tie the wall hanging design into the room or just do 5 inch squares like the table runner. Eventually Russ would like to have a wood chest at the foot of our bed I will make a cover for that too. I also want to cover the small white lamp shade with matching fabric. I am pretty excited about the progress our room is making. It does make me happy to create whatever I want with my room, rather than leaving it to a design that I would have to buy from some company. Hope that you enjoyed.
I made the following table runner first. It was my very first attempt at a really binding...and i hated it. I looked at it for two years with its bumps, whole between the squares where the seams didn't finish, the batting was the wrong size and didn't fit the whole thing and so it was lumpy in spots and I didn't even try to quilt it in anyway to keep the layers together. It was just too long to do without any kind of quilting. So, six months ago i started working on table runners for the top of our other dresser and the two end tables to keep the tops of the furniture nice and without scratches. That is when I decide it was time to take this table runner apart, fix all the squares (I had originally cut them without even a template), put new batting inside, run a stitch in the ditch around each square and a quilted pattern down the very middle squares of the runner and put on a new binding. ya, it was worth the time. I love it now!!!
I made three other runner that followed the exact same pattern so they would all match. here are some of the pictures. In our current house one of the end tables does not fit in the bedroom so one of the runners is just in my closet being stored. Hopefully laying it out on the floor helps you see what the shape of all the rest of the runners look like.
This is a closer view to see the stitching around each square and the center pattern on each table runner.
When we moved into our most recent place, we moved into a small and modest basement apartment. The biggest problem was the location of our bedroom window. The basement sits a little higher above ground so you can actually see outside which is nice. The downfall is that we live on a somewhat busy corner and that headlights come straight into the window all night long as people turn onto our street. On top of that, there is a street light right on our corner. After a week, I told Russ that I was going to make curtains to help block out the light. I knew that I would use the thin cotton fabric to make the curtain but I would need to find something to put on the back to keep the sunlight and headlights out of our room. I was not excited about needing to buy fabric because I have sooooo much all over that I am trying to use without ever buying new fabric. So I went and spent an afternoon out at our storage unit going through my fabric boxes and i found a bolt of dark green corduroy fabric that someone had given me. It was perfect!!! It keeps out all light both night and day and also blocks some of the heat radiating off the window in the afternoon. I could not have been more happy with the final product or how quickly I made it (just two short afternoons)
I think I posted this wall hanging ages ago, but it is my next take apart and fix project. It is nice and does work, but I am going to quilt it and put on a matching binding to match all the rest of the projects in our room.
Ah...I only have three more planned projects and I am finished with our room. I want to make a couple pillows with this fabric to off set the plain sage green ones we have and put a mini-quilt that just goes across the foot of the bed when it is made. I am still deciding whether I would like to actually piece it together like the wall hanging to tie the wall hanging design into the room or just do 5 inch squares like the table runner. Eventually Russ would like to have a wood chest at the foot of our bed I will make a cover for that too. I also want to cover the small white lamp shade with matching fabric. I am pretty excited about the progress our room is making. It does make me happy to create whatever I want with my room, rather than leaving it to a design that I would have to buy from some company. Hope that you enjoyed.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Marcus and Megan's denim quilt
Ok, I am totally ashamed of how long it has taken me to post these pictures. My brother Marcus and his wife Megan gave me tons of their old jeans and I thought that I would make a large quilt for them for Christmas. I asked them what they wanted it to look like and their only stipulations were: something scrappy and something that showed off the fun parts of their old jeans. Megan had some great jeans that she wore in high-school. You will see them in a bit. The VERY best part of the project--haha it totally wasn't but--I found cash in the pocket of one of the jeans. A single dollar bill, but I thought that it was funny.
So I started just cutting out strips and squares and such. I already had a bunch of 5in squares cut out for making another quilt that helped sooooo much in this project. When i was sewing the quilt together and I needed and inch of fabric to fudge a seam I just pulled out a square and added some fabric.
I really chose a good time to work on the project since we were living in a house that had a huge finished basement. I went and got my grandma's quilting frame and set it up. It was really tricky since the fabric was sooooo heavy. My mom gave me the push pins that were her grandma's and my husband bought me C-clamps. Megan bought the backing and the yarn and off I went.
Yep, I love love love it. Now that I am posting these pictures I am remembering how much I want a quilt like this for our living room. (You know for those days when the house is to cold, but you don't want to turn up the heat, or for cuddling with your hubby watching a movie :)
These are the pictures that Marcus took after they took it home. I was working so hard last Christmas that I didn't take picture of anything! My bad. I am not sure what size it end up, but it was large enough to cover someone on the couch :) For your enjoyment:
The whole quilt. I tied it just as scrappy as I pieced it.
The back is blue flannel.
Pockets from various jeans was a definite must.
This is a design from the pair of Megan's jeans where I found the dollar bill. I really can't get enough of the flower design so I had to put nearly a whole leg of pants into the quilt.
I think that it looks great. Yep, I need to get working on my own now.
So I started just cutting out strips and squares and such. I already had a bunch of 5in squares cut out for making another quilt that helped sooooo much in this project. When i was sewing the quilt together and I needed and inch of fabric to fudge a seam I just pulled out a square and added some fabric.
I really chose a good time to work on the project since we were living in a house that had a huge finished basement. I went and got my grandma's quilting frame and set it up. It was really tricky since the fabric was sooooo heavy. My mom gave me the push pins that were her grandma's and my husband bought me C-clamps. Megan bought the backing and the yarn and off I went.
Yep, I love love love it. Now that I am posting these pictures I am remembering how much I want a quilt like this for our living room. (You know for those days when the house is to cold, but you don't want to turn up the heat, or for cuddling with your hubby watching a movie :)
These are the pictures that Marcus took after they took it home. I was working so hard last Christmas that I didn't take picture of anything! My bad. I am not sure what size it end up, but it was large enough to cover someone on the couch :) For your enjoyment:
The whole quilt. I tied it just as scrappy as I pieced it.
The back is blue flannel.
Pockets from various jeans was a definite must.
This is a design from the pair of Megan's jeans where I found the dollar bill. I really can't get enough of the flower design so I had to put nearly a whole leg of pants into the quilt.
I think that it looks great. Yep, I need to get working on my own now.
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