Latest Project

I know it's been a while since I posted, and there's stuff to say, but right now I just want to post a couple pictures of my latest project.  It's going to be a blanket to cover our fireplace and make it a gentler bump for David when he's exploring.

I started with these materials:

 Here's the top:

 Here's a close up of the quilting in progress.  The middle seam hasn't been done yet - it will be the same pattern, but with green thread.

I finally finished the quilting today.  I need to cut the binding and sew it on.  Not sure when I'll get it done, but I'm excited it's almost there.

I'll try to post another time how I made the design - I think it's pretty easy. 

Finished Quilt!

I just realized that I never posted pictures of my (long finished) quilt.  So here goes.

 Above is a picture where you can see the backing fall leaves material and you can also see a bit of the stitch in the ditch type quilting I did.

This one shows off the cool stitching I used to tack down the binding.  You can't see it in the picture on the front, but you can on the back.

After I finished the fall quilt, I tried some free motion quilting with a blanket just made of two pieces of flannel.  You can see it below.

 The close up shows another cool stitching the binding down choice, along with my first attempts at free motion.  It was much more fun than it was pretty, but I'm up for another try!

 Just another detailed look.

I've put my good sewing machine away while I help the girls make curtains for their rooms.  This is turning out to require a lot more patience than I have.  I'll get some pictures of those projects next time we work on them.

Day 4

I got a few minutes to quilt today and mangaed to put together the first two rows.  Overall, it's really good.  I've got two issues, though. 

1.)  the blocks on my top row weren't exactly even.  The reds were a little bigger than the pieced blocks.  The second row was fine, so I'm guessing the pieced blocks on the top row are a little small.  I double seamed a few places on the top row, making the seam a little bigger than 1/4" in order to make them line up.  I'm going to think about this when I put in the next rows.

2.) I find myself wishing my red blocks were more solid red and less print.  I think it will be better when I get the whole thing together.  This is what happens when I change my pattern after buying my material.  The red print would make and AWESOME border for this quilt.  A little less awesome as a block.  I think the red wavy/near solid red material I'm going to use as a border would have made better blocks, but I didn't have enough of it, and wasn't willing to trek back to Lawrence to buy more.  So, we shall see.

While I was sewing today I stopped to take a couple pictures of one of my favorite features of my new sewing machine.  If you look at the silver foot on the machine, you can see a black edge on the right side.  This edge limits how far you can push the material past the edge of the foot, making a perfect 1/4" seam.  I used to use a post it note stuck to my machine.  This makes consistent seams so easy!

This picture shows my other favorite feature.  The top button pictured is the cut thread button.  That's right, my machine cuts the threads at the touch of a button.  It still gives me a little thrill every time I push it!  Many, many, many thanks to my mom for finding this machine and buying it for me for my birthday, Christmas, and occasions for years to come!  Mom, I think of you every time I use it, and I can't wait till we can sew together!

Old News - Sewing Projects

I meant to put up these pictures a while ago and show off a night of sewing I did back in March. I'm very proud. D has outgrown some jammies we bought him, and I decided to cut the feet off. I did the blue striped pair first. Nothing fancy, kind of an unintentional lettuce edge around the bottoms of the legs. When I got to the green dino pair, I actually paused and switched to a matching thread color (I guess I got my 2nd wind, since this all happened after the kids were in bed!) I cut off the feet, and mourned the loss of the cute little paw prints on the bottom. But as I sewed up the leg holes, I had an idea, and ended up adding the paw prints to the body of the jammies. I guess this would have been more impressive with before and after pictures, but I wasn't planning on doing more cutting the feet off! :) I am pretty proud of how cute they turned out, though T says D looks like a peasant boy in them. He's right, but they are still cute. :)

After I was done with the pjs I was inspired. I pulled out a pair of jeans that G said she wouldn't wear because she explained, "I only wear fancy jeans, Mom" Sheesh. Still, I had a bag of ribbon handed down from my mom, so I pulled it out and went to town and came up with this:

I am so happy with the results! They are very cute, and it was very, very easy. This picture is of the front of the jeans, with the decorative pockets. There was one small detail I neglected, though... as it turns out, G hadn't worn the jeans in quite a while, and in that time she grew a few inches. Ooops! So she's got a totally cute pair of capris to wear, just in time for spring. That works for me!

We made it!

Well, we're back from Wisconsin, and we made it just fine. Actually, it was much better than fine! The kids were extremely well behaved in the van and at my mom's. They had their typical high energy, but that was no surprise. I think we all had a great time! We went sledding almost every day we were there. We spent time with my sister and her kids as well as my grandparents. On our final day my parents had a birthday party for my grandma, with lots of extended family attending. I was worried it would be overwhelming, but it wasn't. It was actually very fun to see my kids playing with my cousins' kids, just like I'd played with my cousins. And now school is back in session and our wonderful routine! Hooray!

I did some crafting over break. I still need to take pictures of the mittens and scarf I made. I got some flannel from my sister. It used to be a changing table cover, so it is well washed and very soft. I cut it into some pajama pants for Z, who often feels left out because the girls seem to get more homemade crafts than him. I used a pair of pj pants that fit him to cut the new ones, and had them sewed up between the time I put G to bed and the time I put Z to bed. So he got to wear his new pants, but I didn't get a picture. He declared them "so soft I almost can't feel them!" and made my day. I'll get some pictures taken soon.

Right now I need to get going. Our school district has one day a month where they let the kids out of school a couple hours early so the teachers have grading/inservice time. It doesn't sound like a big deal, but it's a major routine-buster! :) Luckily, we have our neighbor boy visiting after school today, and that will bring us to an even number of kids!

Still stitching!

I have almost all of my Christmas shopping and preparations done, and I'm enjoying a lot of down time. I'm spending it stitching, de-cluttering, and playing with my kids. It has been really fun. :) I want to share some of my stitching with you.

This is a skirt I put together with scraps of fabric from my Christmas dresses. When I got it done it didn't turn out as cute as I thought it would. In fact, I think it looks like Christmas threw up on a skirt. :) But G still likes it, so I guess it's ok. I traced the pattern from a skirt H has , and that, at least came out well. So I have options for the future, when I probably won't mix as many different patterns together!

My friend Napart exchanged some craft supplies with me and sent me the most fabulous yarn. The pictures here really don't do it justice. It's all different kinds of purples and blues, all different textures and types of yarn tied together in a chain. The bag on the right is crocheted with just the yarn alone. The one on the left is one strand of the cool yarn and one strand of worsted weight purple that matched. It made a sturdy tote, though (again) not as cute as I envisioned it! I sent both to Wisconsin in the hopes that someone in my family would love or use them!

I made this bag/purse for my grandma out of yarn that she picked out. They aren't colors I would have picked, but it actually turned out better than I expected.

Now below you'll see my latest obsession. It's called amigurumi. Which is Japanese for something like cute little crocheted animal. (No, that's not a literal translation, it's a functional one!) Anyway, below are some of the animals I've made.

This one went to a friend going through a rough time. I actually thought of her with each stitch and said prayers. I just wanted her to know I was thinking of her!

These two are even smaller than the blue bird. The purple one is G's and the pink is H's. They are so small they can be made in under an hour start to finish, and so cute that the girls actually let me work on them so I could get them done. :) Z really wants something, too. I'm working on a frog for him.


The bigger penguin is actually the first one I made, using a pattern. Then, once I understood the basics, I made up the rest of the birds. Finally I came back to make a baby penguin. I haven't decided who will get these. I really think the mom penguin needs another baby or two. We'll see. :)

Now I'm working on a very soft scarf for G. The first set I made she decided was too itchy. Ugh! So I donated it to charity in the hopes that a less sensitive, but still colorful child would love it. So now I'm doing a soft scarf she can use on our cold walks to drop Z & H off at school.

Then J told me that the other guys at the carwash he works at are all wearing "pretty fruity" scarves at work to keep warm, so he thinks he would be ok with it if I made him one. (In the past he told me not to, because he'd never wear one.) So a fruity scarf is on my to do list. :) And they have a Christmas tree at the kids school they want to cover with hats, mittens, and scarves, so I think I'm going to crochet up some fuzzy hats to send in.

Finally, an idea I'm working on to make a memory. T's parents are coming to visit next weekend so they'll be in town for his birthday. We will exchange Christmas gifts with them while they are here. They'll get in very late on Saturday night. Because the kids are in school, Sunday is really the only good time we'll have for a gift exchange. Unless.... T's mom and I decided that we think it might be fun to wake the kids up in the middle of the night when his parents arrive and do the gifts then. Something they would always remember. "Remember the time Grandpa and Grandma woke us up in the middle of the night to open presents????" So we'll see. T is often the more grounded parent in situations like this, so we'll see if I can talk him into it! I'll let you know!

"I could make that!"

I was looking around on ebay the other day and saw a cute dress for sale and thought, "I could make that!" So I did! :)

The girls are wearing Tshirts with skirts sewn onto them. G has a shirt that was too short from last year, and H has a $4 T from Target. I bought material at Walmart for $2/yard (1 1/3 yard each) and I was set! It took me about an hour for each, but I'm sure it would be quicker if I sewed more often . (At least I didn't have to look at the directions to remember how to thread the sewing machine this time!) It's hard to see in the picture, but G's skirt is covered in candy corn, so each skirt matches the top. Anyway, I am very pleased with the results, and so are the girls.