Out to Sea Bed Quilt

I'm excited to have this quilt to share in the Blogger's Quilt Festival this fall!  I entered mine in the bed quilts group.

As soon as I saw Sarah Jane's Out to Sea fabric, I pinned a picture of the collection and knew that I wanted to make a big quilt for my daughter's bed out of it.  I loved the color way with the navy blue and hot pink because the pink worked perfectly with the princesses already on the wall and I'm trying to impart my love of navy blue to my daughter.

Before I could even get my hands on the fabric, I searched the internet for inspiration on how I would put the quilt together.  I decided on a patchwork quilt with some larger panel pieces added to it.  I love the world maps and I knew that I wanted them to be somewhat of a focus in the quilt.  (I love them so much that I have a few panels still waiting to be turned into pillows for this bed.)

So far this is the largest quilt I have made.  It comes out to about 88 x 88.  It fits perfectly on her full sized bed and if we ever upgrade to a larger bed for her I think it will still work well.

I had two ideas for the quilting.  One was diagonal lines through the blocks and the other was wavy quilting.  I actually quilted a diagonal line halfway through the quilt to see if I liked it and then a wavy line.  I think I would have liked the diagonal but it seemed like a lot more work and after finally having it all pieced, I didn't have the patience to mark my diagonal lines on such a big quilt.  So,
I quilted it with wavy lines from Bijou Lovely's tutorial.  It seemed appropriate considering the nautical theme.  It was tough going…my tension seemed to get off and I had to redo the first couple of waves.  And if there's anything that makes me procrastinate on sewing something, it's knowing that I have to pull out the seam ripper.  So the quilt sat for quite a while until I finally decided to get on with it!

The other hard part of this quilt was taking pictures!  Don't mind the carpet that I tried to roll out of the way in the picture below.  I was able to stand on the balcony in my house and take a picture looking down on it.  I tried to hang it from the balcony but I didn't have strong enough clips to hold it up.

The backing fabric is a dark grey sheet that I got from Target and the binding is a solid coral color that matched the coral blocks in the quilt.

This will probably always be one of my favorite fabric lines and I'm so glad I was able to turn it into my vision for a bed quilt and that my daughter is snug and cozy under it each night!  Now I just need to get rid of some brown curtains that don't match (not shown) and sew up those pillows.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jedi Robes

A couple of years ago, I bought some brown cotton/linen blend fabric that was on clearance.  It turned out that it wasn't as much of a deal as I thought it was since the labeled price wasn't the price for the whole remnant but per yard.  But I bought it anyway and it sat in a bin for a long time waiting to be used.

I had grand plans to make a Jedi robe with it.  I even bought a bathrobe pattern that I thought I would use.  For some reason I bought an adult size pattern thinking it would be easy to size it down.  I don't know why I thought this was a good idea since I don't know how to use a pattern very well in the first place.  So the fabric and the pattern sat around...they moved from Virginia to Tennessee with me.

For Christmas 2012, I decided I wasn't going to go crazy making any quilts as gifts but I wanted to make each of my kids something homemade.  I decided to make Casey the first thing I had ever put in my bookmark list of "Projects To Do" which was a baby doll bassinet/basket.  And I decided it was time to finally make that Jedi robe for Jack.  Poor guy has been training for 3 years to be a Jedi and didn't have a robe.

One of my favorite blogs, Diary of Quilter, made Jedi robes for her children and directed me to a tutorial to use.  I had looked at this tutorial before and I don't know why I didn't use it in the first place.  Maybe I just needed someone to tell me how quick and easy it was.

So, in an hour one December night, I finally created a Jedi robe for my little Jedi.  He was thrilled to receive it on Christmas morning and I think it has revived his Jedi spirit.  (Star Wars was on the back burner for few months.)

A few days after Christmas, we flew to visit family and the first thing he packed was his Jedi Robe and some inflatable light sabers so he could fight his Pop Pop.  We've been told Pop Pop went to Jedi training school with Master Yoda.  (I made sure he brought some regular clothes too.)  Since then, Jack has also slept in his robe and wears it for some amount of time almost every day.

In January, Jack asked if I had any extra brown fabric because Casey really needed a Jedi robe too.  I didn't have any but I told him I would get some and I would make her a Jedi robe for her birthday that could be from him.  The second robe was even easier than the first to sew.

Jedi Casey in her cowboy boots

And now I have two Jedi that roam the house fighting the dark side...or each other, as the situation demands.

Belle Dress

Before I made the Cinderella dress for Casey, I made this Belle dress.  This was supposed to be the backup in case the Cinderella dress didn't work out.  I decided to make it first because I thought it was a little less daunting than Cinderella and I could easily find the yellow knit fabric.

To make this, I used a combination of two tutorials.  At Crafterhours, I found this tutorial and got the idea to use the knit fabric for comfort, the peasant top and to give the dress its ruffles on the bottom with elastic.  I also found this tutorial at tidbits for a Belle dress and made the skirt part of the dress that way, using a front and back piece instead of several panels.

I had to remake the top once because I was also trying to use a couple different peasant top tutorials and the first one was a little too small.  I liked the way the elastic made my skirt look all ruffly but I don't think I was consistent enough in how much I stretched the elastic at different points.

I bought the chiffon to add to the top and bottom of the dress but only ended up adding it to the top.  I tried adding it to the bottom but my piece wasn't long enough to begin with and it really needed to wrap all the way around.  I always meant to add it on later, but I had to move on to making a Cinderella dress!

The torso is definitely a little long in this dress and overall the dress was a little long (but Casey's constantly growing).  Casey wore this out on our first night at Disney World.  We went to Downtown Disney, had dinner and walked around.    Even though the knit is comfy, it would have been way too warm to wear for a full day at Disney.  Also, since it was a little long, we were trying to keep it pulled up with a sweater at one point so she wouldn't trip over it.

Despite its problems, it's just a play dress, it's comfy, I learned a lot while making it and best of all, Casey loved it.  That's all that matters!

Cinderella Dress

I made Casey this Cinderella dress back in September.  She wanted to be Cinderella for Halloween and we had a Disney trip planned in October during Fall Break so I guess I killed two birds with one dress.

She once had a $20 Cinderella dress from Walmart but it had a short life.  The bottom of it quickly started unravelling.  I didn't really want to spend much more than that for a new dress and I needed it to be much better quality.  I checked a Disney Store outlet and the dresses were still way more than I wanted to spend and probably not much nicer.  So, I made it instead.

I used a great tutorial from Make It and Love It.  This is by far the most complicated item I have ever sewn.  Thankfully I started early and the tutorial was very detailed and helpful.  After finally finding the light blue stretchy fabric at an online store, the hardest part was sewing the silver fabric onto the front of the bodice.  It was not the same material as in the tutorial and it seemed like I was just making holes in it even though I used a ball point needle.  Once I put the trim over the top, it covered up the awful looking stitches underneath.  Another hard thing for me is trying to figure out the waistline.  This is probably a little long in the torso on Casey but not too bad.  But, I was most excited when the little sleeves puffed out the way they were supposed to!  

Waiting for the bus to the Magic Kingdom

Casey wore this to dinner with the princesses at Cinderella's castle in Disney World.  It was really a magical evening.  Casey looked beautiful and it was very exciting to go into the castle.  While we were eating, the princesses each came to our table and Casey had her picture taken with them and got their autographs.  She had a pretty wonderful evening!

Cinderella & Cinderella

Sailboat Pillow for Cole

Sometime before Christmas, I found this pattern for a Nautical Pillow and thought it would be a fun gift for my nephew.  I had some leftover fabric from his Going Coastal quilt and thought it would be great for this project.  Since I was trying not to stress myself out with more Christmas sewing projects and I found another gift for my newphew Cole, I didn't end up making this at Christmas.

In January, I started looking ahead at the busy month of February and planning for my daughter's birthday, which is just a week before Cole's.  I realized that I could make the pillow for Cole's birthday instead.  He just turned one so I figured he wouldn't be too upset that he didn't get a toy and it would go with his quilt so well.

The pattern was very easy to follow and it was the first time I have sewn piping onto anything.  Besides  a leftover piece of Going Coastal, the grey and white is from Lotta Jandotter's Echo line and the red fabric is Manzanita Branch from Joel Dewberry.  (I've always thought it looks like sea coral.)  For the back and sides I used a striped fabric that I think came from a Christmas collection.

I'm very happy with how this pillow came out and I even had a little help from my son who stuffed it for me.

Child's Apron - Birthday Gift

A few weeks ago, one of my daughter's best friends turned 5.  The first time she came to our house to play with Casey I was eating a grapefruit and she said, "Giada likes grapefruit."  After I processed that for a few seconds, I said, "Giada from the Food Network?"  It was indeed the same Giada.  This little girl loves the Food Network and loves to cook and pretend to cook.  For Christmas, her mom mostly got her fun cooking tools, utensils and gadgets.  As her birthday was coming up, I was keeping an eye out for fun kitchen things but I knew she already had quite a collection.  It finally dawned on me that I could make her an apron.

Casey helped me pick out the fabric and I finally found a use for one of my favorite fabrics.  I picked it up at Hobby Lobby a couple of years ago when we were on a little Hurricane Vacation.  The kids and I left our home near Virginia Beach, Virginia and headed inland to Richmond during Hurricane Irene in 2011.  It ended up being pretty stormy in Richmond too but I managed to get a little shopping done before the winds picked up.  It was my first visit to Hobby Lobby and I couldn't resist this fabric.  I currently live very close to a Hobby Lobby and I noticed that they are still selling it.

For the backing I used a Timeless Treasures fabric by Monica Lee, We re Going Places - Dot.  The pink apron strings and pocket are Kona Cotton and I think it is Cotton Candy pink.

I found this tutorial and followed it for the most part.  I think I adjusted my measurements a little bit.

About a week after the birthday girl received this, I got a picture from her mom of her wearing the apron.  She had been working hard (with her dad) to put together a nice dinner (by the fire and with candles!) for her mom and sister after they had been out all afternoon.

Lotta Lines - Blogger's Quilt Festival

Thanks for stopping by to check out my quilt.  I finished this quilt just in time for the Blogger's Quilt Festival Fall 2012 hosted by Amy at Amy's Creative Side.  

I received a stack of Lotta Jansdotter's Echo line for Christmas last year from my sister.  For a while I just looked at the pretty stack of fabric but then I decided I needed to do something with it!  I started this quilt in the spring and had to pause for a few months as we moved from eastern Virginia to western Tennessee.  

The pattern is a disappearing nine patch and this is my first time trying it.  It's a fairly large throw quilt at 57" by 72" and I think it is the biggest quilt I've made so far.  I've been adding it to my side of the bed the last couple nights and it covers me all up and keeps me warm.

I backed it in a grey and white sheet that I found at Target and the binding is Kona Coal.  I'm definitely on the grey bandwagon right now.  I did straight line quilting on either side of the blocks.    

This is also my first time taking pictures of a quilt at my new house.  There is a beautiful tree that hangs into our backyard and it looked like the perfect corner to take pictures on a beautiful fall day.

I'm proud of this quilt because I think it is my most precise quilt.  I tried to be so careful about everything!  I'm also excited because this is the first quilt I have finished that is for me!  I've given all the others away and I'm looking forward to hanging out with this one a lot.

The dog kept an eye on things while I snapped pictures!

Thanks for stopping by!

• Quilt Measurements - 57 x 72
• Special Techniques used, if any - D9P, straight line quilting
• Quilted by me
• Best category - Favorite Throw Quilt, Favorite Home Machine Quilted Quilt

Cole's Coastal Quilt

Time for my semi-annual post on my sewing/quilting blog!  I've sewed and created a little more than what the blog shows but I just don't seem to have time to get posts up on this blog and my family blog too.  However, when Amy's semi-annual Bloggers' Quilt Festival comes around, I get excited to get a post up and see all the other wonderful quilts.  The festival was one of my biggest inspirations for starting to quilt.  Although I haven't been making a lot of quilts, I still enjoy it when I have the time and there are always quilt ideas swirling through my head.

I made this quilt for the newest addition to our extended family.  When my sister-in-law had her first ultrasound, the tech said it was a boy.  Then she had a second ultrasound and they said it was a girl.  It was around this time that I asked her for some ideas on the color of the baby's room so I could work on a quilt.  She said the baby would be sharing a room with big brother.  Big brother's room is sports themed and mostly red and blue.  At first I was a little disappointed to be making a quilt for a little girl with red and blue.  But then I did a little fabric search and found some beautiful fabric bundles with red, blue and pink and I thought they were just perfect for the room - the right colors but definitely girly!

I started cutting my pieces and then ended up taking a break for a bit.  I was just about to get back to the project when we got a phone call that a third ultrasound (pretty close to her due date) showed that it was definitely a boy.  Back to square one.

I did some online fabric searching again and I couldn't seem to find any cute bundles in red and blue for a boy.  Strangely, it had been much easier for a girl.  I had already purchased some of Emily Herrick's Going Coastal fabric but I was unsure if my sister-in-law would want a coastal feel to the quilt.  I decided to go with it because the colors really were great for the room.  I picked up a few more of the fabrics, including the madras plaid that I knew I wanted to use for the backing and the stripe down the middle.  

When I went to put this together, I realized that only had enough different fabrics for 5 stripes instead of the 6 that I had planned.  Somewhere along the line I missed getting the green that I wanted.  I think Cole was already born at that point so I found some Joel Dewberry fabric in my stash that worked well.  To be honest I've always thought that the fabric was little bits of coral but when I read the selvage I realized it is a Manzanita branch.  It still looks like coral to me and in the context of this quilt I imagine that's what everyone else will think too.

The inspiration for this quilt is from Holly at Bijou Lovely Designs.  She posted her Color Block quilt and I knew that I definitely wanted to make one.  She mentioned that if there was enough interest she would come up with a pattern.  After I didn't see one for a while I decided I could figure it out myself.  Especially since Cole was already born and I needed to get this quilt finished and in the mail!  I think the size came out to be 45 x 54.  Shortly after I finished this, Holly published the pattern.   

When I realized that I didn't have quite enough of the plaid for the whole back I decided to do a kind of reverse of the front.  I love how it came out and even happier that I managed to get it lined up well when I was basting because there wasn't any excess fabric in that middle section.

For quilting I was again inspired by Holly and used her video tutorial for wavy line quilting.  It looks like waves and so it ties in perfectly with the beachy quilt. And it was so easy!  I've always done straight line quilting on my quilts and have yet to branch into free motion quilting yet but after doing the wavy quilting I think I might enjoy some FMQ.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my quilt and its story!

Blogger's Quilt Festival Fall 2011

Welcome to my Fall 2011 Blogger's Quilt Festival entry!  I'm excited to be participating in Amy's Blogger's Quilt Festival again.

This is the second quilt I've finished this year and my first blog entry of the year.  After making four quilts in less than a month last year for Christmas, I thought I'd take a break.  It turned out to be a little longer than I thought.  But I'm feeling creative again and this quilt is a little bit of a triumph for me.

I bought this fabric with my mom in mind.  She saw some other red and turquoise fabric that she liked so I thought I would get this bundle and create a quilt for her for Christmas.  Unfortunately I made a huge mistake in my calculations and didn't half even half as much as I thought.  I had my squares all cut out and threw them in a drawer.  I was so upset with myself.  

About a month ago, I was working on another project and for some reason I had this fabric sitting on the table.  All of a sudden I knew how to put them together to make a big enough baby quilt for a friend who had just had a little girl.  I'm so happy that I was able to figure out a way to use these beautiful fabrics and turn my mistake into a success (to me anyway).

The backing is a super soft flannel that I found at Hancock's and I'm so glad that it coordinated well.  I seemed to have a hard time finding anything that would go with these aqua colors.

The pictures are not great because I finished this quilt with minutes to spare before heading over to my friend's house with dinner and this as a gift.  I was getting ready to take it outside for a quick photo shoot when it started thundering and raining.  So, indoors it was.  With my kids trying to help.  In the last photo, my son took the picture while I held it up, but I love how my daughter was in the frame, taking a picture with her camera too! 

This quilt was the first quilt that I sewed the binding on with the machine on both sides.  I usually hand sew the binding and I really like that process, but did I mention I finished with minutes to spare?  

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my quilt.  Hopefully I'll have more to show soon with a few other quilts, but I won't be working so frantically close to Christmas this year!

Finally...Baby Gets a Quilt

My son, Jack, is a funny little boy.  Just before Christmas, while I was in the middle of furiously trying to finish up some of the quilts that I gifted, Jack was adamant that his baby needed a quilt.  He was very persuasive...Casey's babies had blankets and his baby didn't have one.  I had just seen a tutorial on how to turn a pillowcase into a blanket for a doll on MADE and thought it was a cute idea if I were ever in need of making a quick baby blanket.  It turns out that I was in need.

After Christmas, when Casey's babies got whole bedding sets (and bunk beds), the pressure was on even more.  I told him I would look for a pillowcase that we could turn into a blanket for his baby.  After a couple of trips into thrift stores in the last month, I couldn't find any that were suitable for Jack or his baby.  But today, I went to the local quilt shop for their fat quarter sale and they had some Cars fabric.  As soon as I saw it, I knew it was just right for Jack's baby's quilt - the right size, the right print and the right price.  For the back, I found a piece of red fabric with street signs.  

As soon as Jack saw the fabric after school, he was begging me to make the quilt.  30 minutes after Casey went down for her nap, baby had a quilt and Jack was a happy little boy.  I sewed the fat quarters right sides together on three sides, turned it right side out, slipped a piece of batting inside and top-stitched around the top.  I was thinking about doing my first free motion quilting on it, but Jack needed a little more instant gratification.  Some night while he's asleep, I might try that.   

While I was making it, Jack helped with the pins and also told me his thoughts on blankets - "The hole blankets [crocheted] are the hardest to make because when you're tying it around, it's hard to make the holes with the wool.  And the bumpy ones are hard to make too because it's hard to make the bumps."  For clarification, his bumpy blankets are just thermal receiving blankets. 

After he got baby's quilt, he ran upstairs to get his quilt and actually asked me to take a picture of them together under their quilts.  He keeps saying it's a very special day for him.  So here they are...nice and cozy.