A Gathering Apron

I am part of an amazing group of ladies who meets once a month and back in March, we drew names for an apron swap.  As soon as I drew the name of who I was going to sew an apron for,  I knew exactly what I was going to make for her.   I remembered that I had stumbled upon a tutorial for a gathering apron at The Cottage at Frog Creek during some late-night blog browsing and it was just perfect for my friend!  She is an organic farmer and also has over 100 chickens that she raises that lay the most beautiful eggs that I have ever seen.

The apron came together very quickly and I was given the opportunity to practice my button hole making skills....there are 4 botton holes along the bottom of the skirt.   

I chose a darker fabric that would hide stains and usage, because I wanted her use this apron, not keep it hanging up in her kitchen. 

To gather the skirt up, you simply thread the ribbon through the botton holes along the hem of the skirt, pull up the fabric and then tie the ribbon.  This holds the skirt in place and creates a large pocket to collect produce from your garden or fresh eggs.....well, anything that you want to collect really. ;-)

The only change that I made was that I used red, dot fabric for the lining.  The tutorial uses muslin.  The only reason why I made this change is because I bought the wrong width of muslin and I didn't have time to run to the fabric store to buy more.  Luckily, I had a large enough piece of fabric that matched in my stash!  I'm actually really glad that this happened, because I love having the lining red. :-)

Here is the matching tag that I made to go on the gift bag~

This was the first thing that I have sewn for quiet awhile!  Having a new baby has really cut into my sewing time.  It's a lot easier for me to work on my art journal right now, because I can leave everything out in my studio and work on it throughout the day.  I can't do that with a sewing project, because I sew at our dinner table.  It sure did feel good to be sewing again though!  I didn't realize how much I'd been missing it.  :-)

I'm finishing up a journal page about the Joplin tornado today and I will share it soon.....

Happy Friday everyone and I hope you have time to be creative today!

God Bless!

di

Sewing for baby.....flannel blankets

I had a lot of fun sewing for my little guy, Elliot.  I was a regular in JoAnn's fabric buying fun, boy-themed flannels!  I took advantage of every sale and coupon.  I have to say that the receiving blankets that you buy in the stores are horrible!  I do have several of them from when my other children were babies, but I used them more as burp cloths than to wrap my baby up in.  They are just too small and most of the time the flannel is not soft.  So, I did a lot of googling and I found some neat free tutorials on how to make my own flannel, receiving blankets for Elliot.  

Here are the blankets that I made:

These are raw edge receiving blankets and I found this tutorial at Sew Much Ado.  I LOVE these blankets!  They are a nice, big size and they are two layers of flannel, so they are super snuggly and warm.  Plus, look at what happens after you wash them several times.....

Isn't that fun?  

These came together real easy!  I honestly didn't even measure my fabrics.  I layered the two fabrics together and trimmed the raw edges straight so they were the same size.  The tutorial has you cut the fabrics to 40"x40".  My blankets are rectangles since I didn't cut the fabric.  I wish that I had made more than two of these, because I use them every day.

I think Elliot likes them, too......

Here are the other blankets that I made:

These are made from a single layer of flannel and have a flannel binding on them.  I found the tutorial for these at Bolt Neighborhood.  I didn't measure these either.  I just folded the fabric and evened up the raw edges with my long, plastic sewing ruler and rotary cutter.  I absolutely love these blankets, too.  The are nice and big, cuddly and cute!  These took a little longer to sew, because of the binding, but are still easy and fairly quick to finish.

Elliot is doing some serious thinking here....probably about how much he loves being cuddled up in these blankets!

I haven't been able to sew since he's been born, but I'm hoping to find some time to soon.  I'd really like to start sewing up some summer clothes for my 3-year old daughter.  Not to mention create all of the other fun things that are on my "to make" list!

I hope that you are all having a wonderful day!

Take care and God Bless!

di

WIP's for Sew and Tell Friday :-)

Good afternoon everyone!  Well, it has been one crazy week here at my house.  My poor husband has been working non-stop since Saturday night.  I'm talking, up at 4 a.m. and working late into the night, once until 1:30 a.m. the next day!   I'll just say that he's been working so much, I almost think it would have been better if he had gone out of town for business.  At least that way it would have been easier on me.  I know that sounds strange, but it's hard when he has to work so much like that, but I know he's still here in town and not far away from me.  It seems worse when he's close by, but I still can't see him.  At least when he's out of town, I KNOW that I can't see him. lol  I'm not sure if that makes any sense, but I don't feel like anything makes much sense this week.  I'm tired and worn out from my week-long, no breaks from my no-napping, non-stop talking three year old, sweetie, GG.  I'm just incredibly grateful that tonight is my FarmGirl meeting, so I get some time away tonight with the girls!  FarmGirls are groups of ladies who enjoy the magazine Mary Jane's Farm and I'm lucky enough to have an awesome group of ladies who get together once a month.  Sometimes we make things, sometimes we cook, sometimes we just sit, chat and laugh a lot.  It's wonderful!

I spent this week finishing up a baby quilt.  I can't share it just yet, but hopefully I will be able to soon!  Now it's just waiting for it's recipient to be born!  I am also waiting because I want to put his name, birthdate and such on the label.  I'm really excited how this quilt turned out, too!  I was excited at first, then started doubting my color choices, then started liking it again, then more doubt started sinking in, but now that it's all together and finished, I'm just thrilled to pieces with it! :-)

With that project finished, I was able to start working on my Ritzy Cracker Quilt by Mary Lane Brown from the Tulip Patch through the Moda Bake Shop.   I'm using Moda Fruitcake charm packs by Basic Grey.

I've been working on this one bit by bit each day.  One night I cut the charms....

The next night I sewed the first part of the block together and yesterday I sewed the patterned triangles on to each block.

Today I've been working on sewing all of the white triangles onto each block.  I'll be working on this tomorrow, too, since I'll be gone all this evening.  This is the most involved block that I've worked on to date.  And, my first time using triangles!  So, I've been going slow and making sure that I have them centered and such.

Here is what one of the finished blocks looks like.  I just have 41 more to do! lol  Then the fun part.  I get to decide how I want to lay them all out.  This is the first time that I get to make a decision like this!  There are several different layouts for this block to make the quilt top, so I guess I'll just play around with them and see what I like the best.  I've never had choices like this before and I'm used to being told how to lay each block out, so this is another first for me!

Oh, and look what I got in the mail yesterday!!!!!  Isn't it beautiful????  Oh, I just can't wait to open this up and see all of the amazing fabrics!

Another first......my first time purchasing fabric on-line.  I bought this jelly roll through The Fat Quarter Shop and had a great experience with them.  I ordered it late on Sunday night and it arrived in the mail Thursday afternoon.  Great service!  I am going to turn this into a quilt for the living room.  Hopefully I will get it done before Christmas! lol  I am just swooning over this jelly roll and couldn't live with out it.  It fits our color scheme perfectly, with the bright reds and greens to the blue, which matches the walls in our living room.  I can't wait to start working on this!  Now the hard part though, deciding which pattern to use!

I guess I have a semi-finish to share this week......I finished up this embroidery one night when I just couldn't sit at the sewing machine anymore.  My belly is getting too big and my ribs start killing me if I sit too long.  So, I picked this up and finished it up one night.  I love it to pieces and I am going to put it on a mug rug.  It's a free pattern from Wild Olive.

So, that's it for my rambling today!  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and have some time to get crafty!  Can you believe that it's almost Thanksgiving?????

I'm linking up with Amylouwho's Sew & Tell Friday's......be sure to click on the image below and visit all of the other wonderful and amazingly talented ladies out there who are sharing this week!

God Bless,
di

Sew and Tell Friday.....

I had to go on a bit of a sewing hiatus this month, because my dear husband took over my sewing machine.  He volunteered to make my daughter this coat for Halloween.   I must admit, it was the hardest thing I've done in a long time!  It wasn't the having my husband sew it instead of me, because he is actually a good sewer and has sewn several of my son's costumes from scratch......as in he designed and constructed it without a pattern.  Something that I could NEVER do! lol  The hard part was sitting in my living room and listening to him at the dinner table trying to sew that coat.   Let's just say that the coat was made of vinyl, my machine didn't like it and didn't want to sew it nicely, the thread and tension was all messed up no matter what setting it was on, and he was very frustrated.  (I would have been, too, and have since promised myself to not touch vinyl unless it was a life or death sewing situation. lol)  So, just imagine sitting in a different room, listening to your poor sewing machine rev, hearing needles break, and having lots of not too nice words being said to it. lol  I tried to read, but it didn't work.  I tried to watch TV and that didn't work either.  But, he finally finished it, my daughter loved it and she looked great on Halloween!  

Whew.

Now I have my dear sewing machine back.  I've been treating it gently and giving it positive words of encouragement.....it's helped me sew 3 quilts in the past 2 months!  It's a trooper and needs a little TLC now. lol   

So,  I started out with an easy project that I've been wanting to make from a tutorial at Sew, Mama, Sew!  A case for my new cell phone.  The case is designed for a camera, iPod, etc., but it actually works just fine for my phone.  I guess I could have taken the sides in a bit, because there is quite a bit of wiggle room for my phone, but that's okay.  It was a fun and easy project and a great way for me to get back to sewing.  This project only took me an hour or less to make, and would have come together real fast if I didn't have my little helper by my side getting into all of my supplies. ;-)

I dove into my scraps for this project and used some Amy Butler fabric that was left over from a baby sling I made for my daughter.  I also used 2 vintage buttons stacked on top of each other and adde a bow to the elastic loop, because I didn't like that so much of my loop showed when I had the case shut.  Silly, I know, but I had to make the loop a little big because the button was so wide.  And, I do like bows anyway! ;-)

After I made the case, I started and finished a car seat blanket cover that I shared the other day and you can see it here.   Now I need to figure out what project I'm going to start sewing for Peanut next!  I have a very long list to choose from! 

I'm also excited to say that I finally started machine-quilting this quilt today.  I need to finish it soon and have had it pinned and ready to go for a couple of weeks.  Now it's time to get to work and get this one quilted and finished!   This is a special gift and I don't want to show any more of it until it's safely in the hands of it's recipient.  ;-)  

While I was in no-sew limbo and not working on the quilt I just showed you, I started cutting two Fruit Cake charm packs up to make this quilt from the Moda Bake Shop.  I'd really like to get it done by the beginning of December, so that we can enjoy it all month long.

And I just had to start this......I just couldn't resist.  I absolutely ADORE Pumpkin Spice Lattes and it was just a requirement for me to stitch this up!  I think I'm going to put it on a mug rug.....something else that I've really been wanting to make for quite awhile.  I just love all of the amazing mug rugs that I'm seeing at so many blogs!

So, once again, I have several things going on at the same time....lol  I'm not really sure if I can function with only one project going.  I need the fun and opportunity to switch from thing to thing, if I want to.  Guess that's just my side-tracked, right-brained nature. lol

I'm linking this up to Sew and Tell Friday's at Amylouwho's!  Be sure to visit her site and then go see all of the talented ladies who are sharing their amazing creations!

Take care and God Bless!

di

Sewing for Mr. Peanut

Good morning!  We had a rough morning here with my little one, so I'm up and in a quiet house at 9 a.m. which is very rare!  She woke up at 4 a.m. with a bad dream and my husband ended staying up with her in the living room all morning.  She's asleep beside me on the couch still, so I have some time to share with you some of the projects I've finished these past few weeks for our little man who's arriving in February.  

I have been on a massive sewing book kick.....I'm pretty sure that I'm Border's favorite customer.....and this first project come from the book, "Simple Sewing for Baby" by Lotta Jansdotter.   This book has some neat projects in it and there are several more items that I am planning to sew soon.  I made the baby snuggler and the author has actually shared this pattern for free on Craftzine blog here.  This was a pretty easy to sew together and if I hadn't had my 3-year old helper with me, I could have finished it in a day.

Just some cute fabric I found at Hancock for the outside

And some snuggly flannel for the inside.  I am planning on making several more of these!  Especially since we're having a winter baby and it's frigid here in the Heartland during the winter.

The next thing that I made were these burp cloths.  I just couldn't resist.  It was the chenille that lured me into this project and just the pure snuggliness of these cloths.  The tutorial on how to make these can be found here at the Craftaholics Anonymous blog.  GG was playing well while I was making these, so I got four of them done in an evening.  My only recommendation is to use your walking foot, if you have one, to sew these together.  It's pretty much like sewing a quilt sandwich together (2 layers of fabric and one layer of batting) so my fabrics wanted to shift and move around a lot when I was using my regular presser foot.  As soon as I switched to my walking foot, the problem was pretty much solved.  Once again, saved by my walking foot!  I tell ya, it's the best sewing purchase I have ever made and worth every penny!

I used some super cute flannel that I found at our local quilt store for the front and light yellow chenille for the back.  I bought the chenille at Hancocks, because it's very pricy ($12.99 a yard!) and I'm a sewer on a strict budget.  It was kinda stiff when I bought it and not cuddly at all, but as soon as I washed it, wow, it's soft and I can't wait to make some more of these!

The last project I want to share with you is this car seat blanket/cover.  I was so excited when I found this tutorial at the Make it Do blog.  This is our 5th child and we have gone through many severely cold and blustery winter days toting around a little one in their car seat with a blanket draped over the top.   A lot of times the wind would blow it off and it was hard to hold the blanket in your hand as it was laying on top of the handle while you carried it.  Well, this great blanket attaches to the handle on your car seat with Velcro!  So, no more blanket flying off or hand full of fabric.  Plus, it's just super cute! lol

I lined mine with red fleece.  The tutorial calls for cotton fabric or flannel, but I know that two thin layers of cotton fabric is not going to keep out the horrible winter winds we get here.  So, I went with fleece.  I am planning on making another one of these in lighter weight fabrics for the spring and summer months. GG loved playing with the car seat and putting her babies in it, as you can see. lol

Besides adding the top-stitching around the outside edges, like the tutorial states, I decide to top-stitch on both side where the two different fabrics meet.  I think this makes it look a lot more finished, plus it helps keep the cotton and flannel layers from shifting.  I am just swooning over this vintage cowboy fabric, too!  It's another find at a quilt store.  The horse shoe fabric was a perfect surprise find at Hobby Lobby.

Well, that's all that I've sewn, for now. lol  I have a very long list of things that I'm hoping to complete before Mr. Peanut arrives.  I need to get busy, too!  These last three months always fly by, it seems.  Thanks for stopping by and I hope that you have been able to do something creative, too!

I'm linking up to all of these wonderful blogs link parties!  Be sure to visit them and all of of wonderful people who are sharing their projects this week!

Take care and God Bless!

di

a little softie bunny.....

So, I stumbled upon this super, cute (and FREE!) pattern for a softie bunny and I knew I wasn't going to be happy until I sewed one up for myself. I raided my fabric scraps and found some flannel check fabric and some cute blue floral fabric and in no time I had a sweet little bunny! If you decide to make this for a baby, I would use thread and sew the eyes, like I did the nose and not use buttons or anything that could be pulled off and swallowed.

I had to give her some sort of accessory, so I decided to make a fabric yo-yo and embellished ith with a button and some "leaves" that I made from ribbon. Now we just need to think of a good name for her........any suggestions? :-)

Dolled Up Hand Towel

Tonight I get to be the hostess for our monthly FarmGirls meeting and I can't wait! Last month, we were all given a plain hand towel and we were asked to decorate and wrap it. Tonight we are going to swap them! I was pretty stumped on how to decorate mine, until I found this super-cute idea with directions at Crafty Chica.

Here is what I came up with:

I had a hard time with my towel being black! Until I decided that nothing goes with black better than hot pink. I AM a child of the '80's! lol So, after the hard part was over, picking the colors, the rest of it came together really fast. I used a couple of my circle punches to punch out templates for the circles. I just held the circles together and sewed them in place with embroidery floss. I didn't pin or measure anything. lol After all of the circles were on, I then sewed on the buttons. I love the retro look of the ball fringe and to pull it all together, I added the pink dot ribbon along the edge of the towel.
And a close up of the circles.....I just had to add buttons......because....I just had to add buttons! lol I try to not be an over-embellisher, but sometimes it's hard! I think the buttons add a nice touch and really top off the circles.
This was a lot of fun to make and I might be making some more for my own kitchen!

Take care everyone.....I hope you're all doing well and having some time to be crafty!

Some ornaments to share......

Here are a couple of ornaments that I was able to make last week. We were totally snowed in for three days, so it was nice to have some fun projects to work on!
This little house ornament is inspired by this ornament that I found at the Orange Flower blog. My printer wasn't talking to our computer server when I decided to do this ornament, so I had to totally wing it with the pattern. I forgot that the original had windows and guessed on what size to make everything else. I still think that it turned out pretty, darn cute! The house is made from a scrap piece of white flannel and red scrap fabric that was left over from the tree skirt that I sewed last year. I embroidered on the year and I'll tell you about those flowers in a minute!
For this ornament, I used the pattern that I found at the author Jan Brett's website. I absolutely love her books! This heart ornament is made from white paper and red patterned paper. I added some rhinestones to each crossing of the paper, because I was trying to think of a way to jazz it up a bit!
Now, for the flowers, I used the tutorial that I found at Cheeky Magpie to make them. I really had a fun time making these and I can't wait to make some more! I used my Prima flowers and I just had to add some Diamond Dust to them....lol I think it kinda looks like snow on them and since we got over 12 inches of snow while I was working on these ornaments, it seemed fitting to add snow to my flowers. lol

I'm not sure if I will have time to make any more ornaments, but I hope that I can. I have started working on some 100% cotton, crocheted wash cloths for my kitchen and a couple of gifts. It's fun to be doing something different and still creative with my hands! And, we are getting more snow today and ice today. My kids missed three days of school last week! This is their last week of school before Christmas Break and I'm sure that they are hoping and praying that we have another snow storm roll through. Starting Christmas Break a few days early would really make them happy!

I do have lots more that I want to share with you all. Some favorite recipes and some great crafty links that I have found that you don't want to miss! I hope you are all doing well and keeping warm!

Wedding Pillow - Practical Scrappers Challenge

The challenge for this week at Practical Scrappers is sewing. I was going to make something new but with it being Thanksgiving weekend, my time got a little lost doing other things! Then I remembered that I had this pillow that I made years and years ago and I thought that it worked just perfectly for this weeks challenge! The idea is from an old Family Circle or Women's Day magazine. I cut out a big heart shape from a paper sack and used that as a pattern to cut two pieces of fabric. Then, I started sewing on all sorts of goodies to the top piece. Ribbon, lace, buttons, ribbon flowers, etc. I then made a frame from some flat lace to hold the photo. I sewed the front and back together and there ya go! A fun memory pillow! The picture is of me and my husband right after we got married and one of my all-time favorite photos of us. I've had this pillow on my bed for a LONG time! lol We will be celebrating our 18th wedding anniversary this June!

I hope you're all having a wonderful Thanksgiving!