Trick-or-Treat Bag

No need to go into gory details… but don’t let anyone tell you that a baby will adjust to your lifestyle! Let’s just leave it at – it’s been almost 2 years since my last post.

In the last few months I’ve finally gotten back into the swing of all things fabric and crafty, so I have lots to share with you! With Halloween just around the corner I wanted to make sure my little man won’t have to collect candy in an old pillowcase or a plastic pumpkin. When I was a kid, my mom made me a kick-ass trick-or-treat bag with dangling witch legs, so I obviously must do the same for my own child.

Over the summer, I found this amazing dragon/bat fabric by Cloud9. As I was watching them cut my yard, it hit me that this was the perfect fabric for a Halloween creation.

I tried to mimic the dragon in the print by adding eyes, teeth, and spikes. The eyes and teeth are felt, the eyebrows are made from a furry trim I got at JoAnn’s, and the spikes are Kona Chartreuse to match the dragons. The inside is lined with solid black, so that the candy “disappears” when you toss it in. The handles are up-cycled from a free conference tote my father-in-law was going to trash.

Even though he has no clue what it’s for, I guess my boy likes it (that expression is ecstatic for my serious child). I’m hoping we can make it around our entire cul-de-sac on Halloween, which translates to 11 pieces of candy.

snuggly blankets for my little one

After making quite a few flannel baby blankets for friends over the past year, I decided that my future arrival needed some too. I just used what was in my stash – sweet and simple dots and stripes in pale blue and yellow. We live in SoCal so I know that he’ll need some lightweight blankets, and I’d love to try a voile and cotton combo next. His crib bedding fabric arrives tomorrow!!!

the awesomest ride on the block

Apparently, since I now have the ability to do so, nothing is good enough without my customizing it. Our little guy’s stroller is the limited edition Bugaboo Chameleon Ocean, yet I immediately wanted to make it unique. And what’s better than discovering that the Echino fabric you have in your stash matches perfectly, and is fit for a boy?!? There’s a million ways to approach this sewing project, but I decided to just cover the existing canopy so I wouldn’t have to line it or make the interior slip pockets for the plastic structure pieces.

Here are the basic steps for how to make the canopy cover.

Step one:  trace the two canopy panels onto the fabric of your choice leaving ample (minimum of 1 inch) allowance for errors and cut them out.

Step two:  pin the two pieces wrong sides together, set on top of taut canopy, then re-pin the major seam till perfect.

Step three:  sew the major seam , iron the seam open, and set right side out on top of canopy.

Step four:  turn under the extra fabric along the raw edges, pull taut, and pin to the canopy edging.

Step five:  sew all the way around the exterior, making sure to only sew through the edging.

It sounds like a quick sew, but of course it took me quite awhile. I love the final look even though it’s not perfect. I can’t wait to take him out for a stroll!

a stocking for baby

Even though he’s not here yet, I really wanted to have his stocking ready for this Christmas. Maybe because it’s easier for me to commit to a stocking idea than his “official” quilt design.

I gathered some simple holiday colored fabrics and made a big panel of 1.5″ patchwork. The cuff is corduroy bunched up for a slouchy look that I love. Now he’ll have the same mommy-made stocking every Christmas for his whole life

Santa brought him an adorable book, “Little Hoot”, about an owlet who just wants to go to bed at a decent hour. He already has “Little Pea”, and just needs “Little Oink” to complete the set.

the best excuse if you become a slacker-blogger…

I’m pregnant!

Well, really it’s the best excuse for everything

Yep, we’re expecting a boy in mid-March. We couldn’t be more excited, and I have to admit, anticipating his arrival has really brought back my drive to make and create. I’m finally motivated to sew all sorts of things for the little guy.

i’m baaa-aaaack!

Don’t ask me what happened to my sewing mojo, but it’s been MIA for months. I suppose I sort of have an excuse (a surprise to be revealed tomorrow), but honestly, just looking at my sewing machine was too overwhelming for my pea brain.

Here’s a list of some of the fun things I started working on this week and will be sharing with you as I make progress:
1. Stocking for someone special
2. A girlie quilt for ME!
3. Baby boy playmat/quilt
… there’s a lot more on the master list, but let’s not get carried away!

Happy Holidays.

making a dent in my stash

Here’s a preview of the quilt top I finished this morning using a a bunch of fabrics that I’m no longer obsessed with – I’m warning you, it’s ultra girly…

who am i kidding?

So I pulled out all of my fabric from its many hiding places today and found quite a selection. I’m guessing there’s about 100+ yards in the pile on our guest bed. WHAT?!? How is that even possible? I just started sewing last June. Yet I continue to convince myself that I NEED more beautiful textiles to admire. Here’s my most recent purchase, which I cannot even imagine allowing myself to cut into…

Anna Maria Horner’s Square Dance on Dobby Dot in Berry and Sweet purchased at fabricpalooza (Karen is fantastic!)

I also realized that I’ve amassed enough scraps to start a super scrappy quilt, which I’m very excited about. I’ll also be trying to use up some of the fabrics I’m not completely in love with anymore. A project that does just that is in progress on my sewing table as we speak. Hopefully it’ll be a quick finish and I can show you all soon. But not before I click over to buy more new fabric… trust me this stuff I really really do need

blogger quilt festival – part deux

The first baby shower was in December, there was another in February, and then the little guy was born last week. So obviously I needed to get this done ASAP since I missed all my other deadlines. His name is Finn, how adorable and Gleeky is that

I finished the top super fast, but I was really stuck on the back. I made the blocks, then  just couldn’t figure out how to arrange them or what color to sash them in. I’m learning how important inspiration is and that if I love what I’m creating then it’s easy for me to find time to work on the project.

All print fabrics are Denise Schmidt Hope Valley. My favorites are the blues, greens, and greys, so those became the focus on the back. The “white” is Kona Natural, and the binding is Kona Coal with a smidge of Cactus Calico Piney Woods snuck in. It’s quilted with random straight lines like my pinwheel quilt. The finished size is 36″ x 49″.

I really love how colorful it is without being gaudy or too bright. Can’t wait for a picture of the little guy lounging on his new quilt. I was completely inspired by these beauties by two of my favorite quilters: patchwork squares and scrap border.

Go check out all the other amazing quilts!

finally a finish!

WOW… my unintentional sewing/blogging hiatus has gone on far too long! No excuses, just an overwhelming amount of stuff in my life, and priorities had to be made. This quilt started with my desire to make a patchwork boy quilt. After I picked out the fabrics, I started to think about what happens in patchwork patterns when the same fabric is randomly chosen for adjacent blocks. From that I decided to precut a few of the fabrics in double, triple, and quadruple blocks.

The fabrics I know in the top are Kona Navy, Grass Green, and Natural, with Park Slope Birds in Turquoise by Erin McMorris. The light blue is either Kona Aqua or Ice Frappe. I quilted a few random vertical and horizontal lines along the seams, but I hadn’t basted it well so there are a couple of puckers in the top. I’m really disappointed in my quilting and am worried that it is too little to withstand washings. I may hand tie it in a few places so that I feel like it will hold up and have a full quilty life.

The back was a created improv style based on some already cut pieces that hadn’t been used in the quilt top, and a few other solids. The main color is Kona White, with a little Kona Coal, and the light green is either Kona Spring or Tarragon. After washing it measures 37.5″ x 51″.

I like it, but don’t love it. Hopefully a little boy will love it an extra lot to replace my lack of affection