poppies

I must say that I cannot wait for this new fabric line from Laura Gunn to come out! It is beautiful! I have some projects already in mind for this collection!

quilt of love 2

Here it is, the quilt I made my daughter for Christmas because I just didn't have enough to do. I made it completely from scraps and what I had in my (extensive) stash. I used only scraps for the inside part of each block which is made by doing a log cabin type block but without any measuring. I also did all the piecing using my serger, which I find to be much easier to use than my sewing machine. After putting the center of each block together, I then cut 4" strips of fabric for the outside of the block, then used my 12.5 x 12.5" square to square off each block and make them uniform. I loved doing this quilt. It was satisfying to use my scraps and I loved putting the fabrics together. They were all fabrics I love from my favorite designers, and I didn't just use the ones I wanted to use up, I used my favorites and was careful to put a LOT of pink! It was also great because it was kind of a free form thing, meaning that I was just making it up as I went along, which I enjoy. Following directions can really bring me down sometimes:). The backing and binding is done in a hot pink with white polka dots pincord cotton. It is also used on quite a few of the blocks, so you may be able to see it there. When I made my son a quilt a few years ago, I told him that it was full of love from Mommy because I had put LOTS of love into it while I was making it and when he put it over him, he could feel my love. So, he has always callled it his 'quilt of love'. He was very excited that I was (finally) making a 'quilt of love' for his sister because he had been telling me for quite a while that she needed one. Thus the name, quilt of love 2. And that's what makes it all worth while. And it really is full of Mom's love.

Christmas crafts part 1

Ok, so I'm a little late with posting all the crafty things I made for Christmas. Maybe I'm just still trying to recover from all the crafty things I made at Christmas! So, I will start with 4 things in this post, and I will try to get the rest done in another post. This is the bulk of it though unless you count the quilt I made for my daughter!

**also, a disclaimer. I just got a mac, so this is my first post on the mac and I am still trying to learn how to use it. I'm sure it will be a long process with my history of technical expertise (as seen in previous posts:)). haha!

First up is this angel doll. It was made as a gift for a little girl who invited my daughter to a cookie decorating party mid- December. My daughter picked out all the fabrics. I made the doll from scratch and had intended to post the pattern and a tutorial on here. Ah, those good intentions. The doll was about 9-10 inches tall. I must confess (very sheepishly) that after I finished it, I loved it so much that I tried to convince my 4 yo daughter to keep it instead of giving it to her friend (I know, nice. great example of true Christmas spirit). But, my daughter wanted so much to give it to her friend because she knew her friend would love it so much, and she did. I guess sometimes we learn from our kids, but man is it hard to give up some of the things you put your love and time into... anyway, I thought I would make another doll and also a smaller one as an ornament, but never got around to it unfortunately. Next year, next year..... for that pattern &/or tutorial too, next year, next year....

Next up, the fleece Vikings scarf. My husband and son drove to Charlotte Dec. 20 for the Vikings/Panthers game. They are HUGE Vikings fans. So, I made this scarf for my son. Especially impressive to my son was the sewn on Vikings logo which I had printed off the computer on to fabric. It was probably the easiest project I did this season, but one of the most loved! Unfortunately the Vikings did not prevail at this game, but they had a great time and made great memories, which was the point.

Remember in my last post when I said I was going to start on that 3rd quilt soon? Well, here is that third quilt! I actually had to reevaluate what I wanted to accomplish and realize that I was not going to be able to get it all done. (I should add that we have a family tradition of making something for each other for Christmas each year. My kids are aware of this and expect it. Although it's sometimes hard to fit in, it is fun and meaningful and those are the gifts we are most excited to give and receive in our family). So, I asked my son what he would like for me to make for him this year and he said a stuffed animal, so in the end, I went with this. He absolutely LOVED it and sleeps with it every night! Meet Fumy, short for Funky Monster. I did not have a pattern for this, just made it up, inspiration from OllieGeeDesigns etsy shop. It's kind of like a pillow pal type stuffed animal.

And lastly, for this post, was the requested princess dress. So, I had been working SO hard to make this beautiful quilt for my daughter, and then a week or two before Christmas she tells me that she really wants me to make her a Princess dress for Christmas. In my head I was like yeah, ok (making you a QUILT, ok??!!). But then a couple of days later, she was with me at the local fabric store and she went straight over to the thread and promptly picked out a sparkly pink. She handed it to me and said " Here Mommy. You can use this to make my princess dress." So I bought the thread, and added another thing to my already too long to-do list.

I couldn't fathom another trip to Joann's, so I used some fabric & tulle that I had bought with intentions to make her Halloween costume. (there are those good intentions again...) I was a little short on fabric, but made it work the best I could. I used the most recent pattern that I made myself for a dress that I had made for her. You can see that she loved it and it has already gotten a LOT of use.

Next post, I hope to show you the quilt I made for my daughter, and the scarf that I made 8 of for friends and family! Hope you enjoyed, & hope this post turns out ok layout-wise. If not, sorry, and I will work on it. That's one of my goals for 2010, to better my blog! These are all i-phone pics so hope they come out ok. Another goal, to show better photography on my blog. It should be easier now with a mac. ~thanks for reading!

it's official....

I have completely lost my mind!:) I have been working so hard lately. Trying to turn this:

......into this:

It's really a good feeling to do something constructive with your scrap pile I must say. I decided while I was working on my first quilt this season the weekend before Thanksgiving that I should do another quilt for my daughter to give to her at Christmas since I have not yet made her a quilt. (this is the part where I lost my mind) So, long story short, my house is a complete mess, but I finished the binding on quilt #1 last night, and this quilt for my daughter is off to the longarm quilter. I'll start working on my 3rd tomorrow. not kidding. More on quilt #1 later. It is a surprise. How's that for some mystery?

picking favorites

I don't usually pick favorites between my babies, aka the clothes that I sew, but I have to say that this little dress is definitely my favorite thing I have made for my daughter so far *I think*! :) I made this the day before we were having our family pictures done and I loved how it turned out. I did not have a pattern. I just looked at a shirt my daughter already had and figured out how to make it into a dress. I think there will be more of these in her future. It was easy too! Maybe if I ever get around to writing some of my patterns out, I will include this one. Bonus: you get to see my sweet little guy too whose shirt was the basis of our color scheme for the family photos as it was one of the only "nice" shirts he had! Love how the pictures came out too. They were taken by Christy Johnson here NC. http://christyjohnson.com/

match making

Do you, Sandi Henderson's vintage cherries in fall, take Patty Young's tapestry in lime and Anna Maria Horner's polka line in brown to be your mates on this very cool shirt? To stay together always making these little girls' personalities shine with all the delightfulness that they are? ..... hahahaha! I have happily joined these fabrics together to make these custom shirts for my dear friend's 2 little girls. I think it was a match made that was always meant to be. LOVE how they turned out and they are so fall-like. Putting fabrics together is one of my very favorite things to do! Can you tell?! I think this combination will live happily ever after....

making lemons....

Well, I have been so busy sewing, and I love that! I have not been taking the time to blog it all, and I am going to try to do better with that. So, ever have something great planned out and things just don't go according to plan? Well, that never happens to me either, but I have heard that it really stinks! :) Nora Kate had her school pictures scheduled for this past Tuesday, the 10th. I had ordered the cutest royal blue floral peasant top (which I thought would really bring out her blue eyes) from a direct sales clothing company ON OCTOBER 1 and still had not received the order. Turns out there was some kind of random problem with the sales rep that I had worked with and bottom line was that I was not going to get my stuff before her school picture date. So, I had to improvise. Now, these were her first school pictures EVER so she had to wear something unique is what I was thinking. So, in other words, I had to make her something uber cute that would bring out all her darling characteristics:) So, on Sunday I made her some new ruffle pants, and on Monday I made the top and finished the headband that I had started to go with something else I made for her. I really like how it turned out and I am in love with the fabric choices on the top. I just love color. I don't know why I fight this. The only thing I would have done differently is to make the top smaller. It was a little bigger than I would have wanted, with it being her school picture outfit. See, I was being lazy. I had cut the cherry fabric out as a mistake when I was making something for an order a few weeks ago, so I thought, hey, this looks cute, I'll just use this for the top part. Love it! Then later I realized that although I had originally thought it was a size 4, it was in actuality a size 6. So, oh well. She'll actually be able to wear it for 2-3 more years! (again with the making lemons.....:)

So on Wednesday I made her a pair of ruffle pants to wear to preschool on Thursday and also made a new quilt block from scraps! And I got 2 adorable matching shirts mostly done for an order for my best friend growing up's little girls and believe me, the fabrics on these shirts were always destined to be together! Look for more on this in future posts!