Just One Birdie

At the same time I purchased the Owl pattern (see previous post) I also got this bird pattern from Gingercake. It's even easier than the owl, if that's possible! Again, I modified it a little. I used felt for the eyes instead of fabric, and finished the wing edges rather than zig-zag stitching them all. It looks better and will stand up to baby play longer!

An Owl or Two

Last week we noticed that Halcyone loves the owl on our Pandora skin. She'll look at him and giggle, talk, and smile. See, he's really cute, right?

I was reminded of this cute Gingercake pattern I'd purchased back in December. We think one of the main reason's she likes him so much is because of his huge eyes. This was a super fast project. So here's what I ended up with! I modified the pattern a bit so that the head would be a different color and the wings have some cute rick-rack.

I'm working on another one for a friend. When it's done I'll post it too!

Dish Towels

Again, these were Christmas presents that I finished a few weeks ago and couldn't share until now! I found these cute tea towels at Ben Franklin and decided to embellish them with some fun fabric from my stash and extra wide rick-rack. I measured the towel width, cut the fabric 1 inch longer in either direction, and ironed down 1/2 inch on each side. I stitched them down all the way around about 1/8 inch from each edge, stuffing the rick-rack in as I went. If you try this, make sure to wash both the towels and the fabric you'll be using ahead of time since they both shrink, but at different rates!

Dyed Burp Clothes

I finished a few of these a couple months before Halcyone was born, and a few I put together last week. We use these ALL the time!

I got white Gerber cloth diapers from Babies R Us and used the following steps:

1. Wash the diapers (I did a few onesies too!) on hot once, wash on cold once, dry in hot heat. This sets the size and gets the diapers all fluffy.

2. Get the dye ready. I used Dylon for Hand Use from JoAnn fabrics and was super happy with the result... much better than Rit. Empty the dye into a pan, adding the hot water as directed on the package. Be careful with the dye; it's pretty fine and can easy float around. Stir, making sure the dye is dissolved.

3. Fill your sink or a large pot with warm tap water, dissolving the salt as the dye package directs. Add the pan of dye water, stirring until it's all combined.

4. Add up to 4 items to the dye in the sink. 4 is kind of pushing the limit for a dark dye, but I think 3 works out well. The fewer items, the more concentrated the color will be. Make sure the items are all well submerged and that there are no air bubbles hiding underneath. Set the timer for 15 minutes and let soak.

5. Stir when the timer beeps. Reset the timer and stir again 3-4 more times, dyeing them for an hour or so. The longer you leave them in the brighter they'll be.

6. Drain the sink and rinse everything well in cold water. I'd say it takes about 10 minutes of rinsing. Rinse until the water runs clear. (Note, with the reds I was never able to get the water completely clear, just a very very slight pink coming out.)

7. Wash again! Wash in cold then hot and dry.

8. Next up, prepare scraps of fabric to sew down the thick center part of the diapers. I had to measure each one individually because the centers were all slightly different sizes. I found that fat quarters were just long enough to work. Measure the width of the inner seams and the length. Add 1 inch to both and cut the cutesie fabric. Iron each edge under 1/2".

9. Pin the fabric onto the diaper in a few places to keep it tacked down. Sew with a zig-zag stitch, just inside the fabric, not on the diaper at all (except obviously on the back!).

Ta-Da! There you go! Super easy and fun.

Because Haly Needed a Kitty

I've been on the lookout for a stuffed kitty for Haly for a while, but haven't seen one that looked cute enough. Then I saw this cute bunny pattern on one of the blogs I follow. (Sorry, I can't remember which blog!) It linked to another blog where someone had given the bunny kitty ears and a long tail. So cute! I decided to try it. First I made the bunny, then the kitty. I had to remake the kitty ears because the first set I made where too tall, making her look more like a mouse! This is a pretty easy pattern to follow, and really doesn't take much time at all! The pattern suggests using old t-shirt fabric, but I didn't have any so used flannel scraps instead. It worked pretty well with my walking foot to keep the fabric from stretching.

Embroidered Bag

I've had this idea in mind for a while for an upcoming gift, but wasn't sure what bag pattern to use. I ended up finding on in one of my mom's quiting magazines that I ended up resizing to get it a little bit bigger.

I started by embroidering the little girl 2 layers of soft white canvas. The embroidery pattern is from the Pretty Maids I set by the designer of the Allsorts blog, bought on her etsy shop.

After trimming it to the size I needed I cut the rest of the bag pieces from some scraps of red Heather Bailey fabric and from a fun canvas table cloth I was given by a friend for projecting. I added a little bit of blue rick-rack as I sewed it together. If you've ever made a bag before, this is one of the simplest projects! It went together in less than an hour. This bag is about 20" tall by 15" wide.

Bright Quilt

I put this quilt top together about 3 months ago, quilted it a few weeks later, and just finally finished up the binding this week! My mom has been machine sewing her binding on, so I thought I'd give it a try. It's super easy and comes out looking decent if you're patient!

Fall Owl Quilt

My Mom gave me some of her cute fall fabrics to make a quilt with last week. She had made one from a similar pattern, so I came home and figured out some dimensions for cutting and went to work. I have now learned how to cut fabric with a rotary cutter while sitting down! It's not as easy as one would think. I decided that I wanted 30 blocks that are 8" once the quilt is assembled. I spent one day cutting, one day sewing, and 2 days basting, quilting, and binding. I think this is one of the fasted quilts I've put together! Tom and I both love the little owls in the bright fall colors.

Another Girly Dress

I used 3 fat quarters and a little bit of white lining fabric to make another one of these cute Oliver + S sun dresses! This time it took less than 2 hours from start to finish! The only change I made was to not use the piping because I thought the colors were vivid enough.

Softie Blocks

Today I went to a baby shower for my neighbor. I was looking around on etsy a few weeks ago for some fun baby gifts, and ended up deciding to make my own. I found a couple people who were selling soft stuffed baby blocks in various patterns and realized I could make them quickly and easily!

Directions:

• Cut 6 - 3"x3" squares for each block.
• Using a 3/8" seam allowance (no smaller if using minky) sew 4 squares into a loop. Start and stop seams 3/8" from edges.
• Pin 5th square around the top and sew to all sides, being careful not to make tucks where all 3 seams come together.
• Repeat with 6th block, leaving a 2" opening for turning in the center of one side.
• Turn, pushing corners out to a point.
• Stuff with a fluffy filling of your choice.
• Sew closed with a discreet whip stitch.
• Optional: Cut 2-3" pieces of sturdy ribbon or binding, fold in half, and sew into seams to create loops. Add a squeaker or bell to the center of the stuffing, making sure to leave a big enough opening for turning to fit it through.

Turtle Trio

A few months ago I bought this cute little stuffed turtle pattern from Heather Bailey.

I thought that because they were so tiny, they'd probably be a little tricky and involve quite a bit of hand sewing (not my favorite thing!). However, they only needed a couple little whip stitch seams after turning the body and shells right side out! They were pretty basic cutting, sewing, and quick to make.

Here are my three little turtles!

Quilted Pillow Covers

When we got our new-used couches back in the spring, we knew we'd eventually need some throw pillows to jazz them up and to stuff behind one's back while watching a movie. I'd looked at pillows at a few different places and finally decided to just buy uncovered pillows and make something fun to cover them with. A few weeks ago when we were at Ikea I found two 19" square pillows that I thought would be dense enough. They've been hanging around on the couches since then, making me look like an odd decorator, but now they're finished!

I used a couple of ideas I found at Red Pepper Quilts because I decided it would be fun to use some of my fabric scraps. The first pillow cover used strips of fabric cut into 3" x 9" randomly sewn together. I used 1.5" strips of white in between the colors. The second pillow I used sets of 4 pieces of fabric from one color group cut into 1.5" x 4.5" strips. I finished the tops just like a quilt, with batting for stability, then sewed a double sided envelope-style back.

Brown Bear Quilt

This quilt went together so quickly! I bought half a yard of the animal blocks from the Brown Bear Eric Carle, 4 fat quarters, and 1/2 yard in a two different minky fabrics. I still have enough that I can make a second quilt exactly like this one. I used a pattern from the Summer 2009 edition of Quilts & More. I swapped some of the cotton fabric for minky (an interesting experience) and made 9 blocks instead of 20. This is the first time I've used minky. At first it was frustrating me because it kept stretching, but I added the walking foot and that helped keep everything lined up. At 40" square this will make a perfect baby gift!

The Washington Quilt

The fabric from this quilt came from the 2007 Western Washington Quilt Shop Hop. I started working on the blocks slowly back then, and have gradually added to the stack over the past 2 years. I used some of the patterns from previous shop hops, substituting the fabric from those other years with the Washington themed fabric from 2007. I pulled together enough fabric to fill in the sashing, boarders, backing, and binding from post shop hop sales. This quilt was fun because I had to learn how to do paper piecing, the blanket stitch, and English paper piecing.

Now it's living on the back of our large living room couch. Yes, the kitties tried it out while I was still sewing the binding on. They approve!

Above - English paper piecing

Below - paper piecing

Wall Art

I started working on these back in the fall, and pulled them out when I was reorganizing some of the things in my craft closet last week. I used a light table to make my own embroidery patterns, traced them onto some bright scraps of fabric from random fat quarters I had, and used 5 bright colors of embroidery floss to stitch them out. That's the state in which I picked them back up. I found that I had 3 small sized canvas frames and centered and stapled them. I liked the way they looked, but thought they could still use a little more flair. I remembered seeing a pattern in a local quilt store for a flower by Heather Bailey. I'm not sure if it's the same one, but I found some rough instructions on her blog for some cute pop-up flowers. In the sticky, 80+ degree heat we've had the past week, I made 2 flowers and a little bird while watch streaming Netflix directly in front of our fan. I made rough flower and bird sketches and cut them out to use as patterns. To finish the wall hangings off, I pinned the flowers and birds through the canvas, enabling me to rearrange them if I want in the future.

Flower Assembly:

1. Cut 2 flowers from different colors of wool (felt would also work).
2. Bottom layer - Stitch around the edges of one flower with embroidery floss.
3. Top layer - Stitch around the edges, but pull a little tighter so the flower petals stand up and out.
4. Make a small sized yo-yo to layer on the top.
5. Cut various sizes and thicknesses of yarn to create loops or sprigs to layer between the top flower layer and yo-yo.
6. Stitch through all the layers to connect them. You can add buttons, beads, brads, or leave them with just the yo-yo on the top.

Laundry Bag

Last week Rebecca and I got together to work on cutting our fabric. I got most of the monkey fabric cut out for a crib set, but had to take a brain break and finish later because I forgot to make sure the pattern on the fabric was running the correct direction. I caught myself in time to recover, and ended up refreshing my math skills in the process. I'm using patterns for a crib skirt, fitted sheet, crib bumper, and laundry bag from the book Amy Butler's Little Stitches for Little Ones.

I completed the Cheeky Monkey Laundry Bag the other night. I just love all this sock monkey fabric! It was pretty basic and quick to make. It just took a while to iron on all the fusible interfacing, but that's what a television in front of the ironing board streaming BBC productions of Agatha Christie is for, right?! The monkey's head is designed to stick with Velcro to make it easier to wash without reshaping his cute face.

2009 Quilt Shop Hop

The Western Washington Quilt Shop Hop was once again last Wednesday through Sunday. My mom and I visited 13 shops on Wednesday, and another 7 on Thursday. We visited shops in Lynden, Bellingham, Anacortes, Everett, Bellevue, Renton, Des Moines, and some in between.

The shop hop included about 60 stores in the state that created 8.5" blocks from a collection of fabric designed just for this event. Each shop uses 3

pieces of fabric, one of them a coordinate of their choosing that is not part of the collection. We both liked this year's fabric, but weren't crazy about the main flower and butterfly print. One of the first shops we visited (Fourth Corner Quilts in Bellingham) had used the collection and added several bright prints of their choosing, which we loved! We bought a few half yards there to split and make our quilt with.

My favorite shops were:

• Forth Corner Quilts, Bellingham
• The Quilting Loft, Ballard
• Quiltworks Northwest, Bellevue
• Keepsake Cottage Fabrics, Bothell

One of my goals on the shop hop was to find enough sock monkey fabric to make a crib set with. I knew this would be difficult because that line of fabrics came out about 4-5 years ago. I ended up finding enough, picking up different pieces at about 6 different shops. Some of them were even on sale!

I also found the following exciting fabrics!

Paddington Bear & Eric Carle's Brown Bear - The Paddington fabric was half off and perfect for some other Paddington fabrics I've been accumulating slowly for a kids quilt. The Brown Bear fabric will work well for a baby quilt gift.

Anna Maria Horner Flowers - I've had my eye out for this fabric for a while as well. It's from an older line of Anna Maria's fabric, but it will be perfect for the couch throw pillows I'm planning to make!

And lastly, I found some cute patterns!

(Can you believe this is my 50th post?!)

Birthday Birdie Sling

I was given a super cute Amy Butler purse pattern and a gift certificate for fabric for my birthday that I finally had the time to make! It turned out to be pretty easy. I pulled it out on a Sunday afternoon and finished it up the following morning. As always, the cutting (my least favorite part) took the longest.

I made a couple changes to the directions. I used a third fabric for the straps, rather than using the same color as the band around the top of the purse. Also, I added a magnetic snap to the band as a way of closing the top of the bag.

So far this purse has been the best I've made yet. It's deep and has large pockets. My favorite part is that it has one wide strap, rather than 2 narrow ones, which usually make my shoulder and neck hurt. The side is great because there's enough room to toss in a sweater and my knitting.

Mother's Day Gift #1

I made this apron for Tom's mom for Mother's Day, along with a set of Alton Brown's Good Eats DVDs. It's similar to the one I made a couple months ago for myself, but in cute slightly retro fabrics. I had such a hard time giving it away!

Jewelry Braid

I finished this project a few weeks ago, but we just got in hung this weekend. I got the idea for this jewelry hanger from the purse straps I made for my last purse. 

Here's how I did it:

1. Cut 18 strips of fabric 2" by 45" long. (I used some scraps that weren't quite long enough, so just cut them so you have enough for the total length.)
2. Sew them together in sections of 3 so that you have 6 total strips, all about 135" long. 
3. Stack them all together, and tie a knot in one end, with about 2" of strip hanging out of the knot. 
4. Attach a large safety pin to the knot, and anchor that to something sturdy in an area with a LOT of space. I used our old couches, but a mattress also works. 
5. Braid these strips. You'll have 2 strips together for a total of 3 to braid with. 
6. Knot them all at the end and trim those ends up to about 2" hanging out to match the other end. 
7. Sew as many buttons along the facing side of the braid as you'd like. I did them about every 3" or 4" with a variety of shapes, colors, and sizes. 
8. Hang where you'd like. This was the trick party for me, because it needed to be anchored to the mirror. Tom put a couple small nails into the back edge where you can't see for me to hang the braid from.