Baby Boy Quilt

A friend of mine was about to have a little baby boy (her first!) and I had the VERY last-minute idea to do a collaborative quilt for her. I used a pattern from a friend (which I think originally comes from rachelwoodenspoon -- look at the bottom of the tutorial page to find the exact dimensions we used), which we used for a different baby quilt (I did two blocks -- the one in the bottom center (!!!) and the first one on the next row).

Happily, that baby boy was born THE VERY DAY I finished quilting, so I was able to take some artsy photos. I'm learning! :)

 

 

I also washed and dried the quilt, which made it SUUUUPER soft and crinkly, and today I got to give it to him in person!

 

What a sweet little guy he is - and now he has a sweet little quilt to go along with him!

Onesie Lace

I have two baby showers -- for three babies -- this week, and thought I'd try something new and crafty.  It might just be my FAVORITE new go-to gift for baby showers!

 

I had the idea to do a little lace ribbon on the top of a onesie, but I wasn't quite sure how to finish off the ends so they wouldn't fray. Since I don't know how to make my own lace, I didn't really think of that until I saw this link on Pinterest -- and then the wheels started turning! Even though it says "tutorial" it was really just pictures of this cute little ribbon flower. Well, since I can generally figure things out, I decided to give it a try -- and after a little trial & error, about an hour later I had the perfect pattern for this cute little lacy ribbon that I could sew right onto a onesie.

 

Since I didn't come up with this idea myself, and since it said "tutorial" right on the page, I thought I'd help everyone out (and help myself remember too!) by posting my instructions for this cute little onesie lace.

 

ONESIE LACE

 

Use 10-wt. crochet thread and a size 7 (1.5 mm) hook

SING= single crochet (wrap 0 times before pulling a loop through)

DBL= double crochet (wrap 1 time before pulling a loop through)

TREB= treble crochet (wrap 2 times before pulling a loop through)

 

Foundation row: 0-3 mo. ch. 44 (3-6 mo. ch 48); turn.

Row 1: TREB in 7^th ch from hook. *TREB 3 away from last TREB, ch 3, TREB in same hole* around.

Row 2: *TREB 2X in ch3 from prev row, ch 3, TREB 2X in same opening* to beginning.
            (first treb = ch3)

Row 3: *DBL-TREB 4X-DBL in ch3 from prev row, SING in small opening* to beginning,
(first DBL = ch2; end on DBL-TREB 4X-DBL)

Finish off and weave in ends. Sew onto onesie, hiding ends under flaps, using 50-wt. Aurifil thread (I matched my thread to the onesie color -- just plain white).

 

 

 

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! I just love this time of year -- for me, it's a chance to reevaluate and restart and recharge.

I hope everyone had a great holiday. We celebrate Christmas in a big way, and I couldn't post any of my projects until now, because at our house we take Christmas secrets VERY seriously. I even lied to my mom once about being pregnant so it would be a bigger surprise -- but she totally called me on it. Moms can just SENSE these things.

We have five kids in my family, so we just rotate through the list and this year I had my littlest sister's name. She has a husband and two little kiddos, and I ended up just buying a couple of toys for the kids and printing off her husband's blog. I thought they were good presents, but my little sister's was my FAVORITE!

She and I have been really into cross stitch lately. She even did the Quilty Stitches Sampler -- twice! Once for her, and once for our Mom for her birthday. So, when I was brainstorming presents, it was pretty easy to decide on making a little cross stitch kit.

First, I decided I wanted to give her four seasonal patterns. We've talked before about Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery patterns, so I knew I wanted to get them mostly from there. The problem was deciding -- there are so many cute patterns!! I really wanted one pattern from each season, and it was so hard to choose between Halloween and Thanksgiving -- that turkey is so cute! I finally decided to nix Halloween, but I may get that cute little Frankenstein couple for myself. :) I bought the digital patterns, but the designers are super clear about NOT sharing patterns, so if I decide to do the "spring" pattern, I'll be sure to purchase it myself. (I already got Thanksgiving -- that turkey!!)

But the little summer pattern I wanted to buy wasn't being sold at the time, and I didn't really find anything else I loved, so I decided to try my hand at designing cross stitch patterns. I've done a couple already, so I knew Excel could work for it -- and when I didn't do any half-squares it really worked out well. I designed one for Christmas (based on a certain Red-Nosed Reindeer, did you notice? :) and one for summer. The summer one really reminded me of the Quilt Stitches Sampler, so I'm sure she'll love that one! I designed both patterns to be around the same size as the others, so I cut four little 8" squares (two white and two lightly variegated) for her to work on.

After that, I went to my local yarn shop, Heindselmann's, because I knew they would have all the DMC colors I was looking for. It turns out they didn't have one -- a specialty thread that has monofilament inside it -- so I just got a kind of monofilament to go along with a close-enough color.

Then I made Thimble Blossoms Sundae Scallop Bag for her to keep everything in. I made one for me earlier in the year, but it was a little too small, so I upsized this one -- I think the finished dimensions were about 10" x 15", with the box seam at the bottom 1" from each corner. It was the perfect size for everything!

My last project was the needle book. I used the tutorial from NanaCompany to make myself a needlebook at the beginning of last year, so I knew it was just about the perfect size to go along with this project. It ended up so cute! You can barely see it, but I used a piece of denim (cut from actual jeans!) for the "binding edge". It's so cute and stylish and perfectly her!


For Joel's family, we had his sister's name -- and I already knew EXACTLY what I wanted to do for her. When we had her name last, maybe 6 or 7 years ago, I couldn't think of a thing to get her, so I told Joel I wanted to make a quilt for her. I decided on a pattern and how much fabric I'd need, and then I set to work to make her a lap quilt. Well, in the end I didn't finish it for that Christmas, but the colors were perfect for her, so I set it aside knowing full well that I'd get around to it the next time we had her name. So, I finished up this quilt -- and I've come a LOOOONG way since 2007! My seams were so funny! But I ended up putting it all together without too much hassle, and I free motioned some double swirls in the center, some figure eights in the first border, and some flowers on wavy lines in the second border. I think I'd change up the thread color of the double swirls, but all in all it turned out really nice!

{front}

 

{back}

 

{double swirl quilting}

 

{wonky corner flower}

Another present I made was for a white elephant swap. Now, I don't mean to be vulgar in any way, but when I saw this idea on Pinterest I knew it had to make it to our annual Christmas party! Little did I know, but the man who LOOOOOVED his "Ask me about my explosive diarrhea" shirt last year was totally squeamish about this little present! So, please let me know if you think this is hilarious or gross -- I'm totally voting for funny!



{for him: "apple", Gator gummy candy, black Twizzlers bites, beef jerky

for her: maxi pad slippers, raccoon scarf, Rob-sessed DVD (Robert Pattinson documentary}

Our principal (thank you second grade teacher Mrs. Sales, for teaching me that our Principal is our PAL!!) is a really great lady. Last year I made a plate of cookies for Teacher Appreciation Week and told her to take the leftovers home and to keep the plate -- it was a gift and REALLY not my style, so I didn't mind if it didn't come back. Well, the other day she had this plate and told me how much she loved it. Not long after that, I commented on a candle warmer she had in her office, and just said how cute it was. And she GAVE IT TO ME. I wasn't asking for it, I was just trying to make conversation really, but how nice is that! She said it was because she loved her plate so much and that she uses it all the time, because it was given to her and she doesn't care if it comes back. Well! I promise, her gift to me was worth WAY more to me than that silly plate, so I looked in my cupboard, and I have three more of those same plates, and I realized I could give her another one and a hot pad in thanks. But not just any hot pad -- I'd seen this sweet little paper-pieced patter for FREE online, and it's so cute! So, I got some fabrics together and made her one, and this is how it looked -- pretty cute, if I don't say so myself. :)

{hot pad}

{plate & hot pad present}

And the last project I did for Christmas was a Thimble Blossoms Swoon. I've done this pattern for baby quilts, twin-sized quilts, and now for a Christmas table topper -- and I'm still not tired of it! It seems to take a kind of long time to make one block, but for a twin-sized quilt, you only make SIX blocks! And for a 24" table topper, I only made one. It's so Christmas-y and nice, too, don't you think?  I hand-quilted this, mostly last year, and then all I had to do was bind it and add just a touch more hand-quilting around the border.

{front}

 

{back}

And now I'll leave you, because I've got some Resolutions to plan!

Christmas Box Quilt - Tutorial

Happy Valentine's Day!  Of course, since it's Valentine's, I'm posting about a Christmas quilt... but you could definitely do this in reds and pinks and make it more valentine-y if you'd like! :)

Remember those adoption quilts I made?  Well, since I couldn't find the pattern anywhere, I just came up with it on my own -- and thought I'd share it with you! I decided to call it the Christmas Box quilt, since I gave this quilt to my bro & sis-in-law for Christmas this year.  It was so fast and fun, and I think it looks like little packages of Christmas-y goodness, all lined up! 

The quilting took as long as the piecing, because I decided to try out a new design.  I don't think I did half bad, do you?

Now -- are you ready to try?  First, decide how many blocks you want to make.  You can see that I made this quilt 4 rows of 3, so I made 12 blocks.  This made a great lap-sized quilt, and it was so fun I'm planning to make one for my own family this Christmas!

 

For each block, you will need:

 

one 6 1/2" square (red)
two 3 1/2" x 6 1/2" rectangles in three contrasting fabrics (green)

Cut out as many blocks as you'd like to make.  I made half my centers red and half green, so please plan accordingly if you're going for the same look.  For my blocks, sashing, and borders, I just used scraps of fabric I already had, so I can't give you any measurements on yardage, but I'm sure you can figure that out -- or, the quilt shop ladies can. :)

First, lay out your block so there one pair is on either side of the block, and the other two pairs are at the top & bottom.  Make sure you place the two top & bottom pairs on opposite sides (for example, my green dot is in the upper right and lower left corners).

Next, sew each row together. Press well.

Then, sew the rows together.  Press the whole block.  See? Easy as pie! Now, just repeat that for as many blocks as you'd like for your quilt.

*note: Of course, I forgot to take pictures of the rest of this, so you'll have to refer to the first picture in this post for the rest of the instructions.  Sorry!*

After piecing all the blocks, you will need sashing strips that are 3 1/2" x 12 1/2" (my white fabric), and cornerstones (the little squares of color) that are 3 1/2" square.  Make enough sashing strips that you have one in between each block, but not on the edges.  (For my quilt I had 17 sashing strips and 6 cornerstones.)

Sew together in rows as follows:
Row one (with blocks): block, sashing strip, block... etc. *
Row two (just sashing): sashing strip, cornerstone, sashing strip... etc.
Repeat as many times as necessary for you to get the rows desired.  (This is for the main part of the quilt, with blocks on all sides -- you will put the borders on later.)  Press rows in one direction (e.g., all seams pointing to the left for row one, all seams pointing to the right for row two).
*When you're putting the rows together, keep in mind that you will rotate the squares so the middle contrasting fabric is in a different place each time -- for example, it will be on the sides first, then at top & bottom next, then back to the sides, etc.)*

Now, sew the rows together.  The seams for each block and sashing strip should line up -- see how great that is? :)

For the edges (aka borders, in quilt-speak), you need two strips that are 3 1/2" x the length of the quilt (i.e., side measurements), and two strips that are 3 1/2" x the width of the quilt (i.e., top & bottom measurements).  I like to just figure out how much that is using plain old math -- for example, for the length measurement, I take both side measurements and the center length measurement, add those three measurements together, and divide by three.  This is the measurement you'll use for your borders.  Who said math never came in handy after High School? :) #mathnerdsunite

Once you have the borders on, it's time to quilt! You can quilt it by hand on a frame, or baste it and quilt it by hand in front of the TV (this is a GREAT project for Downton Abbey -- you'll feel so "period"!), or machine quilt it, or send it out to be quilted.  There are so many options for quilting!  That's why most patterns (including mine) say "quilt as desired". :)

After that, you cute 2 1/2" strips and bind the quilt.  There are tons of binding tutorials out there -- just google it if you need more info!  I used 2 1/2" strips in varying lengths to make a scrappy binding, and I thought it was a really fun choice for this super scrappy quilt.

Last step -- snuggle with this quilt in front of your Christmas tree with a steaming cup of hot chocolate (or your drink of preference) and feel so pleased with yourself for doing it!  Even if you've made a bunch of quilts, this one will still give you a great sense of accomplishment, and it's so Christmas-y and fun, you might just have to make one for everyday, too!

Please let me know if you make one of these -- you can comment here, or tag me on instagram as smileynannn (yes, those are three "n"s -- ridiculous, but I wanted to be myself everywhere! :)  I'd love to see anything you've made!