A Stocking for Donovan

A Stocking for Donovan          

Well, I’ve had this on my to-do list since before he was born… and I managed to get it done the day before I put up my Christmas Decorations.  Ahh, deadlines.  I work so well with them. =)  I made three patchwork stockings five years ago.  I made three, partially because I already was wishing we had a baby, and partly because I had purchased a set of stocking holders from Pottery Barn that spell out JOY.  (Or YOJ when my husband has his way and mixes up the letters.)  I saved scraps from that sewing frenzy so that I could make more stockings as our family gets bigger that matched the originals.  So here’s how I did it!

I bought a little new fabric for the lining.  I managed the front and back with scraps.  I chose one of my favorite quilt square patterns, pinwheels in this case.  I used pinwheels on his baby quilt and made real pinwheels for his mobile, so now they just make me think Donovan. =)  So I made a pinwheel about 8 inches square, and then just added strips where I needed it to be bigger.  With the originals, I made patchworky blocks about 12 inches by about 18 inches, but this way there was less waste, and it still looks nice and patchy to match the originals. 

So after sewing  a top that was big enough to match my stockings, I cut out a backing, and then two more pieces to be a lining.  Sew the fronts together, leaving the top open.  Sew the linings together, leaving the top open and a hole on one side to turn the finished stocking.  Then you put the two pieces together, sew around the top, and then turn through the hole you left in the lining.  I never sewed this shut, although you certainly could, especially if you put lots of little things in the stocking.  I’ve never lost anything though.  =) 

The original three are pretty too, but I think Donovan’s is my favorite =)  Serenity’s stocking is a log cabin pattern, which was my original favorite.  I’d always wanted to do a log cabin =)  Eric’s is just lots of triangle blocks and nine patches.  Mine is a pretty pointy star.  I wished I’d added some of the ivory to it to make it pop more. 

I just love sampler-type quilting.  I’ll have to share my tree skirt soon =)   

How to make a t-shirt quilt:

How to make a t-shirt quilt:

I’ve gotten several random requests about these lately, so I thought I’d share what I did with my college t-shirts.  I’m an alumni of Alpha Phi Omega, a co-ed service fraternity, and so is my husband.  So not only did I have a million t-shirts from so many great events… my husband had the exact same shirts!  Since we didn’t really need so many shirts, I decided we needed t-shirt quilts. 

The process is very simple.  You just buy iron-on interfacing and iron it to the backside of each of your t-shirts.  I went ahead and cut them open first, because I planned to use both the front and the back.  My pattern was just to use 14 inch squares and set it off with sashing, so I cut that size from each shirt.  You can do it in any design you want though!

Ironing on the interfacing makes it much easier to work with the knit fabrics.  You won’t have to worry about them stretching or bunching strangely.    Cut them to the exact size of your blocks after using the interfacing.  I use a rotary cutter and plastic ruler for this.  I can’t cut a perfect square with scissors. =) 

I then cut two inch strips out of bright solids and sewed them around each square as a border.

The next step would usually be to add batting and a backing and quilt it… but I decided to cheat.  Instead, I just made it into a duvet.  This worked great because when I use it on my bed I just Velcro it right on top of my duvet.  And it’s still heavy enough to work as a blanket by itself if I have lots of company.  But quilting would work great too, especially machine quilting so you can toss it in the washer more easily. 

If I did it again I think instead of making two duvet covers I would make one front and back, because I love the feel of the t-shirt fabric.  I used flannel for my original backing, so it’s nice, but not as nice as well worn-in shirts. 

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Class Art Auction Handprint Quilt

My baby is in school!  Preschool, and just two days a week, but still.  She loves it, and I’m thrilled about that!  And I get to volunteer with her class, so more fun for me too!  Our school has an auction every year to raise money, and each class makes an art project to sell there.  I spent many happy hours on google over this project! =) 

We settled on doing a handprint quilt.  Stick with what I know =)  The kids are just three so we wanted to keep it simple, bright and fun!  Here’s how we did it:

I cut out 9.5 inch squares of muslin, because after testing with Serenity it seemed like I needed squares at least 9 inches to hold her handprints if we used both hands.  I had on hand red, blue, green and yellow fabric paint, and enough bright fabrics leftover from Serenity’s birthday to make four patch squares to alternate with the handprint blocks.  So that was our color scheme.

I made a sample paper with four choices for the kids: Dinosaur, Butterfly, Heart, and Fish.  Then they had four choices of color.  Having the paper made it really easy, the kids could just point to the one they liked!  It was important that each one had the hand or hands in a slightly different position so I could tell what the kid wanted to make without having to keep track of notes.  The other mother working on the project with me fortunately has nice handwriting, so she wrote the kids names on each square.

We had everything ready to go before we arrived at the class.  We taped the squares to a piece of cardboard with wax paper on top so the fabric wouldn’t stick to the cardboard if it soaked through.  That way the square had a nice firm surface for hand stamping and drying.  It was easy!  Just be sure to paint the hand with a good layer of paint, and then press the hand down.  Kind of rub your fingers across the palm and down each finger to make sure you get a good print.  The first print was a little too light but we got the hang of it quickly. 

After it dries I added tails, antenna, eyes, and smiley faces to the appropriate shapes with a fabric pen.  Oh, and I outlined the hearts to make it more obvious.  We have a pretty even mix of shapes and colors that the kids chose!  I’m glad they liked all the options!

Then I just pieced the squares together, alternating with four patch in some bright pretty solids.  I had some great Dr. Seuss fabric that made a perfect border, and I did a quick running stitch in Perl cotton down the diagonals of the four patch blocks!  Simple, fairly quick, and super cute!

Making a Photo Quilt:

One Christmas my family made a photo quilt for my Grandmother.  It was one of her most treasured possessions, and I’m so glad we did it!  Sewing-wise it can be a very simple project, so I thought I would give you a simple tutorial and some tips from when I made mine!

The pattern itself is very simple, because I wanted the photos to be the focus.  So I did a double border.  One is solid, the other is set with squares like sashing.  The photo squares themselves were five inches finished (5.5 cut), because then I could get two per piece of fabric that I printed on. 

My favorite squares are the ones where the photo takes up the whole square instead of having any kind of border.  If I did it again, I would have all the text on their own boxes, and the photos take up the entire square.  The boxes that have captions on the photos look a little strange with the bright white background and then the photos. 

To make it a family project, each of my siblings was responsible for collecting pictures or stories to go on the blocks.  I think for mine each family contributed two or three blocks.  They chose their favorite pics of their kids, or quotes, or stories, and I combined them into the quilt.  Using her favorite colors, of course.  She was so proud of that quilt, and loved showing off both the pictures of her family and the quilt itself that we made her. 

Braley's Quilt

Braley’s Quilt

My Mom and I made a quilt for my niece Braley!  It was wonderful fun, especially since when I was sewing on the binding, she scrubbed my kitchen =) 

The pattern was pretty simple, and extremely geometric which made it perfect for my brother.  All we had to do was sew together nine-patches, and then we cut them and rotated to get the smaller, more random looking design.  The back is flannel, which we prefer for its snuggliness.    

Baby Boy Quilt with Kites and Pinwheels!

 I can't believe I'm due in two weeks and I've just now finished a baby quilt for my baby boy!  Just barely in time, and I have several more things on my list to do for him!  But at least he has something his Mama and Grandma made. =)  I suffered from a lot of indecision and construction woes, but now it's done!
  I used the adorable Dr. Seuss fabrics they have available right now, and I love how colorful and fun it turned out!  Just a simple flying goose pinwheel, with a kite appliqued to the back

The overall nursery theme will still be storybook, just like Serenity's which I wrote about here and here, because I still want to use the ABC Storybook art I used, but I plan to make some special things for him, particularly with Curious George!!!  BUT, the room isn't done, so that may have to wait until he's born.  He'll be in a cradle in our room at first anyway. =) 

Monkey Blanket complete!!!

Well, I finally finally got the monkey blanket finished.  After making the center I had a terrible time deciding on a border.  I considered a crayon box, but with the big stripes the crayons going the same way didn't look very good.  Plus I was snowed in and couldn't get more fabric!  I ordered some adorable monkey fabric from fabric.com, but when it got here the pink was wrong, which was such a bummer.  So now I have two yards of pretty adorable pink monkey fabric if anyone needs something =)  Anyway, I finally settled on the pink solid.  Since the walls of her future room are dark purple, I wanted to add a little more pink to the total.  I stitched down the appliques and added some purple bows that Serenity chose to each monkey.  She tells me every day now, "I love my blankie!!!"  We'll see how it lasts.  I love the different textures of the satin, minkee, flannel, fleece and cotton, but I am definitely not doing one like this again without investing in a walking foot!  The border got horribly wrinkled and drives me crazy!  Serenity doesn't care and as I imagine it will never lay flat again once it goes into her room, I've decided to ignore it and just be happy that she loves it even though it's not perfect.

Monkeys!

Well, the weather is turning cold again, hopefully I'll take the opportunity to finish up a bunch of projects around here, although I've been having a little trouble with the motivation coming and going.  Today I finally managed to commit to my monkey appliques, so the little project I hinted at here, is finally coming along!  Here's the new blankie I'm making for Serenity's new pink and purple room...  (she asked for monkeys =) 

There is still quite a bit to do, stitching down the monkeys for security, a border, backing, and so on, but the monkeys were the part that I was hesitating the most about.  I wanted them to be cute, and I always have to take my time on applique.  (Even though I barely do applique, I always use fleece or felt so I don't have to turn anything under. Much simpler)  I used one of her favorite shirts from Carter's as the inspiration.

Baby Quilt: Sleeping Animals

This baby quilt pattern is one of my all-time favorites.  I had this quilt made by a friend of my Mom's that had two bears appliqued like they were sleeping under the quilt, one awake and one asleep.  I've made it for two of my own friends now, and just finished the second one yesterday.

My friend Doris (best friend from high school) asked for a Winnie the Pooh quilt for her baby girl that's due in January.  I spent a really long time trying to figure out a pattern and finally thought of doing this one!  So I used my normal applique method of finding color pages and free handing very very simple shapes.  I used fleece and steam a seam so I didn't have to turn under any seams.  I did stitch everything down on my machine just to be safe.

The super cute winnie-the-pooh print is made it take so long to find a pattern.  I needed one that would show off the various scenes on the print.  Usually I do more scrappy quilts. =)  I finally decided to turn them into eight point stars to frame the print.  Pink background, as requested by the mama-to-be =)   I hope she loves it!  And know she's too busy at this point to be checking out my blog, as it's just going in the mail now.  

Frog Prince Quilt

Here is a quilt that I made a while ago for my friends the Hoppers.  They planned on a frog theme for their son Nate's nursery, so I decided to make him a frog prince quilt!  I used a couple of applique techniques, including the freezer paper kind for the hearts and circles, and then using iron on steam a seam for the frogs and stitching around it on my machine.  I just sketched a very simple frog, gave him a crown, and added golden balls to complete the story. =)  The pattern is simple, I just used various sizes of squares and rectangles to give it a fun, flowing look. 

It's a great design for someone new to quilting or applique, because the piecing is all straight lines, and there's just a little bit of the applique.  I usually use coloring books or just sketch very simple things to applique, I don't get enough practice to consider myself good at it, I feel like I relearn it every time! 

Baby Quilt: Simple and Sweet Cherry Blossoms

I posted pictures recently of the shower we did for my friend Abbey when she was pregnant with her baby Maggie.  I didn't share yet the quilt that I made for her!  It had to be very sweet and girly, with pinks and purples. Abbey lived in D.C. for quite a while and just loves cherry blossom season.  Abbey's Mom painted a gorgeous cherry blossom tree on the wall of the nursery, and Abbey and I got to paint the blooms.  So I started looking for cherry blossom ideas.  I didn't end up buying a pattern, and instead used a simple free flower block made of squares and half square triangles that kind of interlocks.  I alternated pink and white blooms, and then when I tied the quilt I made little knots in the thread to look like stamen of the flowers.  I didn't get a great picture of the finished project, it was a crazy time, but here's the pattern I drew up in paint and a picture of Abbey opening it so you can see the colors =)  I think each square is about 1.5 inches finished.  I love that fairy fabric, it's got Cicely Mary Barker's Flower Faeries on it! =)

Baby Giraffe Quilt... with Ribbons!

I’ve been staring at a blank blog long enough. I just couldn’t decide where to begin! So I’m just going to post several articles just to get things rolling, one for each general category I plan to write about. So first, here is a baby quilt I made for my friend Jennie. She loves giraffes, can you tell?

Lately I am all about texture when it comes to baby blankets, so I mixed minkee fabric, flannel, cotton, and fleece. I also added little ribbon loops to give the baby some more textures to grab! I just love Taggies and it’s so easy to add them to an appliqué project. The quilt itself is just half square triangles. Pinwheel patterns are one of my favorites =) Then I used fusible webbing to attach the fleece giraffe, and I sewed a running stitch around it with embroidery floss.

I didn’t take step by step photos, but this is a really basic design, so here’s what I did.

1.) Sew the quilt top. I used 5.5 inch half square triangles, and I just google half square triangles to figure out what size squares to start with to end up with the right size. I have to do this every time, I can never remember! Then just arrange the half square triangles into a pinwheel pattern. Then you end up with about a 40 by 50 quilt.

2.) Baste the ribbon into loops. I tried to pick all colors and textures of ribbon for variety =)

3.) Iron the wonder under onto the back of the appliqué. And try to face it the right way. I didn’t. At least the first time.

4.) Iron the giraffe onto the quilt, after arranging the tags as you like. I made my tags into a little mane and tail.

5.) Do a running stitch to help secure the appliqué and because it’s cute!

6.) I just layered my backing, batting and quilt and tied it. Easy! Then I used my sewing machine to apply the binding.

Enjoy!

Oh, and as another example of the awesomeness of taggies, here is a pic of my baby with the taggies ball she gave Daddy for his first father's day. Ok, she was still in my tummy at the time, but that didn't stop Daddy from playing ball with the baby (bouncing it off Mama =)