Pure Boy Quilt

 I finished this quilt over the weekend. It will be for my cousin's baby boy, due in August. It was really easy to put together for two reasons. 1. It was made using a jelly roll, so not as much measuring and cutting. 2. It's a baby quilt... so much smaller! :) I actually love this design and hope to do some more similar quilts in this way. 

I used the Pure fabric collection by Sweetwater. I've had the jelly roll in my stash for a while. I love the blues and browns, and the cute little words. And argyle! 

*Side note: See those little hands? They belong to my son... my little helper! I figured he could handle holding up a small quilt. :)

So, I guess the blocks are essentially a rail fence design, although I didn't line them up all perfect in a zig zag or other design. I was a bit more random with them, because it's funner that way. ;) Yes, I said "funner". Anyways, to make 5 blocks, I took 4 jelly roll strips (approximately 2.5"x 42" each), sewed them together, pressed, then cut them into 8" squares. Easy peasy. Repeat 6 times to get 30 blocks. I had leftover strips to use for the binding, and little 2" squares to use for the pieced backing along with some matching baby blue. This could easily be done in a day, if you don't have anything else to do. For me it took maybe a week. Lol! Yeah, I was busy. 

I also made some more baby boy tie onesies. One of them is some more fabric from the Pure collection, another is an 80s video game look-alike (not to be mentioned... ahem, copyright), and of course, my favorite sock monkey fabric in a velcro bowtie. :)

Hope your week is great! 

Pure Boy Quilt

A Party and a Quilt

Sorry I've been away for a while... These last couple of weeks have been busy with lots of family birthday parties... including my son's 6th birthday! He decided on a Lego themed party. There are SO many ideas on Pinterest. Here are a couple of my favorite things that I made on my own.

I recycled some saved up Kiwi Crate boxes and made them into Lego brick party favor boxes. I had a couple of small shoe boxes that I recycled as well. By the way, my son and I love Kiwi Crate! He looks forward to all their fun projects every month! :)

I made a Lego brick bunting using primary colored cardstock, a circle punch, and 3-D foam stickers to make the studs. 

I also made a few large Lego bricks using some cardboard boxes and wrapping paper, as well as a Lego Minifigure photo prop. We also had many Lego activites, such as drawing minifigures, building the tallest tower, building and racing cars, making Lego bracelets, guess how many Lego candies, and a Lego pinata. Of course, we also had Lego cake. :) My son had a great time! 

Now back to quilting... ;) I finished this quilt today. A simple patchwork baby quilt using 2 charm packs of Posy by Aneela Hoey. I love the colors and the cute little pictures in this fabric collection! 

I did my usual meandering stipple all over for the machine quilting. 

I kept the back simple and used Kona Cotton in pink. I also used up the last 4 charm squares to make a little hexagon patchwork applique design, which I hand-sewed on the back of the quilt. 

I decided on a purple gingham for the binding. I love gingham! The quilt measures approximately 35" by 45". A good crib sized baby quilt! By the way, this one is up for sale in my shop as well. :)

Up next, Thanksgiving! My favorite!

What are you working on this week? 

A Party and a Quilt

Another Baby "I Spy" Quilt

So, I finished another quilt this week... just in time to enter it into the Blogger's Quilt Festival contest! If you haven't already, check out Amy's blog by clicking on the link above. Check out all the beautiful quilts! :)

As you know, I love making baby stuff... and I especially love making quilts, so I decided to make another baby quilt, with a favorite "I Spy" theme. 

They are so fun and simple to make, and a great way to use up scraps! 

Oh yeah, and kids love playing "I Spy". 

My son still uses his, and now my daughter is getting good at "spying". ;)

I did a mix of solid colors and different children's fabrics... some favorite characters too!

 I tried to keep it somewhat gender-neutral. 

I quilted with my usual meandering stipple, but didn't want to quilt over the "spy" fabric, so I just quilted the borders and sashing. I also added some "tags" by putting pieces of folded ribbon along the edges as I was sewing on the binding. I used a scrap piece of alphabet fabric for the binding.

I also kept the back simple again. I had this good size piece of flannel fabric with safari animals on it. It will be nice and snuggly for babies. I plan on listing this in my Etsy shop soon! :)

Hope you're having a great week!

 Happy Halloween!

Another Baby "I Spy" Quilt

More Baby Stuff...

So, I went to a friend's baby shower yesterday. 

She is also having a baby girl. :)

I made her a few things from me, and a few things for my sister-in-law to give her. 

I made this quilt for my sister-in-law to give. The baby's room will be in a star/moon theme, so I was happy to find this baby quilt panel in my stash. Some animal friends reading a bedtime story in the moonlight. I found some other fabrics in my stash to match as a border. 

I left the back simple again in a pale yellow flannel. Nice and soft. Did I tell you my son has been helping me take pics of my quilts? Hence, the cut off bottom of the quilt pic. He's almost 6... so not too bad. ;) Funny... I'll let him hold the $$$ camera, but not the quilts! LOL! I can just imagine him dragging it on the ground, or putting it over his head like a ghost. Those would make for some funny pics!

Here's a closer view of the panel. I think it's kinda sweet. The animals are so cute! 

I did an all-over meandering stipple, but added a few stars here and there. Can you see them? I found a perfect stripey (is that a word?) fabric for the binding. 

Here are some more things I made: 

Sorry for the bad lighting. :/

A fun little outfit. Onesie with heart patch, heart tights, and ruffle skirt. You can find a great free pattern for baby tights here, and you can get ruffle fabric here. It makes it super easy to sew up a pretty ruffle skirt, and many other clothes!

I love making pj's for any age. I think baby pj's are my fave, though. So tiny! You can make your own pattern for pajama pants using some old pj pants. Here is a great free pattern for baby pj pants. 

I like to applique a little snippet of the pant fabric to a onesie to make it more like an outfit. 

I know it looks like I'm using a lot of blue fabrics, even though these are for a girl, but I was trying to go with the theme. The fabric for these pants is called Moon Phases from Lizzie House's Constellations collection.  

I found a panel for a quiet book, with Snoopy and Woodstock, which also had lots of stars and moons throughout. Panels make it easy to make a homemade gift! :)

I made another onesie outfit. Just sewed a skirt around the waist of the onesie. Here is a great tutorial for a onesie dress. 

I used more of Lizzie House's Constellations fabric to make a snuggly baby blanket. 

Some more onesies that I sell in my Etsy shop as well. :) Tutu bum onesie...

...and necklace onesie, also with a little ruffle bum. :)

Burp cloths are easy to make with some cloth diapers and a strip of fabric. A little fancier than a plain burp cloth, and I know they will get a lot of use! 

 Did I tell you I love making baby stuff? Yeah. I do. :)

Hope you're having a great weekend! 

More Baby Stuff...

Circle Quilt for my Niece

I think circle quilts have got to be one of my favorites to make. 

They are pretty easy and quick to put together. Especially when you have the right tools. I love using my EZ Quilting Easy Circle Cut acrylic template with my rotary cutter. Since I have a hard time just drawing circles, the template makes it way easy for me to make a perfect little fabric circle. 

My other favorite part of circle quilts, is the raw edge applique. I love the way the circle edges fray after washing. There's something charming about a little bit of fray. ;)

This one is going to my new niece, who is expected to arrive right around Thanksgiving time... my favorite time of year. Her mom requested aquas and pinks, so instead of buying new fabric, I went through my stash and found all different kinds of pinks and aquas that still look good together. I think it kind of looks like an "I Spy" quilt too. 

Again, I went with a simple back, using some baby pink fabric, along with a hexagon of AMH velveteen. 

I also made a bunch of onesies for my niece (necklace onesie, and tutu-bum onesies), as well as some pjs and burp cloths. I love making baby stuff! :)

Also, if you notice, my shop is now open again. Selling some more onesies, a quilt, and some fabric from my stash. Check it out! :)

Circle Quilt for my Niece

Baby Safari Quilt Finished!

Sorry it's been so long... again! I've been busy with our new baby and I'm still in the healing process, but feeling much better. I returned to my sewing machine a couple of weeks ago, and finished a quilt I had started before my baby girl was born!

This is another quilt for my nephew-to-be who will likely be born later this month. My sister liked the Baby Safari fabric collection by Carina Gardner, since she's decorating the baby's room in an elephant/safari theme. I did a simple design using 2-1/2" strips and 4-1/2" squares. I chose the more boyish/gender neutral colors of the collection. I really love the colors! I did my usual meandering quilt design all over.  

I kept the back simple, using just the green tonal safari animals print. In my stash, I had some brown fabric with blue and green polka dots on it that I used for the binding. The quilt measures approximately 40" square... a nice size for tummy time! 

Since I was still a little sore, I had a little help with this quilt for the basting process. My wonderful mom came over and helped me crawl all over the floor and pin the quilt sandwich together. Because of her, I was able to finish this quilt just in time for my sister's baby shower. Thanks, Mom! :)

Up next... Halloween costumes! 

Baby Safari Quilt Finished!

New Baby!

Hello all! I've been away for awhile. Busy with this: 

Our baby girl, Anna Mei was born on August 30th at 1:24pm, weighing 7lbs, 1oz. I know I'm probably biased, but she is so beautiful! :) We are so in love! I feel like my family is finally complete, and I feel so blessed to have been given the sweetest boy and the sweetest girl! My husband has been so wonderful, helping to take care of all of us! My recovery will be a long and painful one, but totally worth it! I am so completely happy! No amount of pain can stop that! Big brother was unsure of his little sister at first. He said he was scared because her eyes were closed. LOL! But, he warmed up to her fast, and now he is in love like all the rest of us! He is so sweet with her and is a big helper too! I just LOVE my kids! :)

Needless to say, I won't be around very much over the next couple of weeks. We'll be busy getting to know our new baby girl, and having fun as a family of four. I plan on posting more when I get back to my sewing machine. As of now, I'm just waiting for these other "stitches" to heal enough for me to get back to some normal activities. 

Hope you all are having a great week! 

New Baby!

D-Day!

Hi, all! Sorry its been so long since I've posted anything. We've been very busy getting things organized, cleaned, etc., for baby girl's arrival. I will update with pics once I have a chance again. Today we are off to the hospital to have our baby girl via c-section, or as I like to call it, "baby-ectomy". ;) Hoping and praying everything goes well this time... would really love it if it goes better than last time. Either way, I'm planning on a long recovery and some quality time with my first daughter, and enjoying time as a family of FOUR! :) I'm really looking forward to seeing my son's reaction when he meets his baby sister for the first time. I have a feeling he will be a super sweet big brother, and I hope that the two of them have a fantastic relationship throughout the years. My husband has been a super big help to me throughout this pregnancy, but especially in the last few weeks, as he has been "nesting" much more than I've been able to. I know he will be a much bigger help after the surgery too, mostly because he has no choice in the matter. He rarely complains though, and I feel so blessed to have him in my life! If you have some time, a little prayer would be much appreciated, as I am very nervous about the big day. Thanks also for your patience, as I know it will probably be a while before I can post anything again. 

Have a great week, everyone! :)

D-Day!

Busy... and Works In Progress...

So... here's what I've been working on this week...

I have finished three quilt tops for my son. I figure, instead of going with a theme for his "Big Boy" room, we will just swap things around every once in a while. Here is the Eric Carle quilt top that I finished for him using The Very Series collection of fabrics. One thing I tried different in this quilt... do you see my triangles? ;) I have a whopping two half-square triangles in this quilt. I am getting braver... 

Patchwork robot quilt. I'm not super excited about this one. I think it's a little too busy, and maybe I should have used more solids mixed with the robot fabrics. My son loves it, so I guess that's all that matters, right?

I'm calling this one "Going In Circles". I used the super cute Ready, Set, Go! fabric collection by Ann Kelle, mixed with some orange, yellow and white fabrics that I had on hand. I've been wanting to try one of these circle quilts for a while, and I think this fabric is perfect for it! I think I'm most excited about finishing this one up. :)

I actually made curtains for my sister's nursery using this fabric (It's a Jungle Out There, by Hoffman fabrics), and since I had leftovers, I thought I'd use them to make this nursing pillow cover. Here is some good info on how to make curtains (super easy), and here is a good tutorial for a nursing pillow cover. 

I also made some PJs and a matching burp cloth for my nephew-to-be. Found this cute flannel fabric in the selvedge section at Joann's. Can you tell what my huge mistake was on the pants? 

Duh... I cut the fabric upside-down! Oops! :/

I also made some car seat coolers for my nieces at my mom's request. I have one niece who loves giraffes, and one niece who loves horses. So, I chose fabric that suited them. :) Now to load them with ice packs!

That's it, for now. I will be working on quilt backs this week, and I hope to start quilting on at least one quilt. My son requested the robot quilt to be finished first. Not sure how much I can get done before baby #2 arrives, but I'm gonna do the best I can! :)

Busy... and Works In Progress...