TeePee

I have wanted to make a teepee for years.  I finally got really excited about it in December (I think I was hoping to put off other responsibilities by getting sucked into a project.)  But I only bought some fabric in December and didn't really get going until January.  LOVED this project.  I saw several great ideas on pinterest and settled on stripes, even though I knew that would be more expensive and lots more work. 

Browsing through fabric was half the fun.  I found some beautiful prints at JoAnns and several great geometric designs at Hobby Lobby. 

I made a paper template and kept laying down fabric in different combinations until I found one I liked.  I decided to sew a 5 sided teepee because I like the look of a more rounded structure. 

And done!

I don't have a serger so sewing all the seams and then going over the raw edges in a zigzag took some extra time but it wasn't too bad actually. 

I knew I had to embellish with real feathers and LOVE the ones I found at Hobby Lobby.  I decided to use PVC instead of real wooden dowel because it was so much cheaper ($10 instead of $60 total) and I painted the PVC gold and used a little washi tape for decoration. 

I used bias tape for the door.  Happy to report that Lucy loves it and in fact she slept in there for the first 3 weeks!  It's a fun addition to our playroom and will hopefully last for a long time. 

Wonky Star Quilt

I did manage to get a little sewing done this year.  This is the only quilt I made.  Sent it to my dear BFF from college! This one was actually a lot of fun to make and I spent forever picking out the fabric- trying to stick with orange, green and blue.  The backing was a dark blue on green polka dot.  And just because they make me so happy, some of my favorite collage pics of the girls hanging out at the House of Pain!

Paper Piecing

So an awesome lady in my church has been teaching several of us to sew.  Last spring she showed us paper piecing.  I always wondered how people got interesting designs in their quilts and pillow.  Now I know the secret.  It's time consuming but actually really fun.  I went through my stash and put some fun fabric together:

So here's the start of my square.  I've actually finished the square and now I just have to decide what to do with it because I'm not making 12 more... :)

A little sewing

I haven't had much time for sewing lately but here are a few things I've been working on. I've wanted to learn how to make Ohio Star and Wonky Star quilts. Youtube tutorials are the best for that! Here's one I made for a friend's baby. I forgot to take a pic of the finished quilt but you get the idea:

Here's one of the stars on the quilt I'm finishing up right now. These quilts have been great b/c I'm using up my stash- didn't buy anything new for it. Sewing is so theraputic but I HAVE to be in the mood. And that last one is just some echino fabric that I could bear to cut. Hoping it turns out okay. :)

I just wanna sew!

Just stumbled across this and I so want to make it for Lucy. I have several other projects in the works, now I just need some time...



I did finally finish Lucy's bed quilt. (I gave the one that used to be on her bed to my mom.) It's mostly made from "Little Folks" with a few other random prints thrown in. I'm such a one trick pony but I just never get tired of this fabric.


I made her the skirt above after seeing this one. I didn't follow the directions exactly because I'm too lazy but I still think it turned out cute and it took me about an hour to make. I used leftover fabric from her chicken Halloween costume. Speaking of... is it really that time again? I have nothing left to give to this holiday. I don't want to spend any money and I'm not feeling creative at all. Hmmm. I've sort of dreamed of seeing Lucy in a blue gingham dress with braids and ruby slippers and thought about bribing the boys to dress up as Lion, Tinman and Scarecrow... but that's a lot of effort for one Kodak moment. Goodbye

Fabric and stuff

ahhh... did I tell you I love fabric? I dream about fabric. Seriously. One of my VERY favorite things is sleeping kids while I browse fabric on etsy and eat a good snack. A few weeks ago I noticed a seller was having an aweseom sale and I stocked up on some beautiful prints. Several are by Etsuko Echino- I LOVE this fabric. The only problem- I'm having trouble cutting into it. :O

I've wanted to make a bunting for family room/playroom for awhile now and finally finished it. Now I have to hang hooks so it might be another month or so...

I think these little flags are a great idea for birthdays or year round decor. Really simple and fun to make.

And this is my first quilt of 2011! Da-da! I made it using a jellyroll I found on clearance. I've been wanting to try something like for awhile. Piecing this type of quilt is so hard for me- I'm just not patient enough but I still like it. I had planned to quilt it with horizontal or diagonal lines but realized that would accentuate all the errors so I chose a circular pattern. I'll get a finished pic once I get the binding done.

Birds in flight

So I'm sort of obsessed with birds these days. I found this tutorial and wanted to give it a go. Unfortunately I cannot find a decent branch in my yard (that isn't rotting or full of fire ants- seriously!) so I used a round embroidery hoop to hang my birdies from.

Very simple and fun project! And here are a few preview pics of the kid's rooms. I have had SO much fun decorating them.

Chair remake

I was looking for sturdy Lucy sized furniture and found this at IKEA:

n I really like the style but decided the fabric could use a little help. Then I remembered some Amy Butler midest modern fabric that I had on hand. About 30 minutes later I had this:

The good news: It matches Lucy's new room perfectly. I love "almost" instant gratification.

I love Little Folks

I kept reading blog posts about Anna Maria Horner's Little Folks Voile. Everyone talked about how buttery soft it was and how versatile. So I finally bought a bundle of it off etsy... and I am totally in love! It is maybe my favorite fabric ever. I have made a few skirts and a baby blanket so far. It is just as soft as everyone said and makes beautiful clothing. I would love to make some dresses or blouses but I'm not sure I could cut into in a way that created tiny scrapes I might have to throw away. Seriously! Everything I've made so far has been a straight cut with absolutely no waste.... I would have been such a good pioneer. :O

Anyway, here's the blanket. I want to make more. Check out this link if you want to see some of the work that inspired me. I almost always buy my fabric on etsy. I like supporting stay at home moms and love the bundles you can find here. FYI, this fabric is 54 inches wide, which explains why it seems a bit more expensive. This blanket was so simple to make and it is absolutely my favorite.

Skirts

Here are a few of the skirts Lucy wears around town. They are very simple to make and have made dressing her fun. I've had a few girlfriends over to learn how to make these skirts and we're meeting again this week. We sort of feel like nerds lugging sewing machines around but it is SO fun to get girltime and come home with something cute and homemade.

String Block Pillow

Found a great tutortial here for making string blocks using the paper pieced method. I used pages from an old phonebook and it worked like a charm. String blocks are perfect for those fabric pieces you just can't part with. (I have a LOT of trouble in this area- throwing away fabric causes me pain!) Anyway, this was a quick, satisfying project. Not sure when I might consider attempting a whole string block quilt but this one makes me want to. :)

Gifts and more gifts

I love getting handmade gifts. Even if they're not perfect or just what I would have picked. I cherish blankets made by my MIL and GMIL, booties from my SIL, placemats from an aunt... So espeically these days when I am in full on sewing mode, I've been making lots of gifts.

My mom is my all time favorite person to make things for because I know she'll seriously love anything I make just because she loves me. But I've had a few occasions to make some other fun stuff lately and will post for your viewing pleasure. There are lots of mistakes in these projects but all were made with lots of love.

Baby Blanket for new baby Ava (using Erin McMorris' Wildwood fabric)

Baby blankie for my old buddy from Michigan, haven't sent it yet... I need to look at it for a few more days. :)

Potholders for a wedding gift

My mom's Mother's Day Table Runner

Mum's cathedral pillow with fabric picked out by the boys!

Mother's Day Sneak Peaks

Since getting married I've heard lots of mother-in-law horror stories. I guess I just got lucky because my mom, mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law are all awesome! No offensive unsolicited advice, no snippy comments about my lack of cooking or housekeeping skills... pretty much all three of these great women just love and support me and my family.

A couple of months ago I thought it would be fun to make each of them something small. As always, the projects took longer than expected and I don't think any will arrive by Mother's Day! Arghh! Hopefully it will just prolong the celebration...? Anyway, here's a sneak peek- I love making things for people I love. Thanks to all 3 of you!

Pillow Project and this is why I'm crazy

I've been wanting to make new pillow covers for the ones on our couch downstairs but couldn't decide how best to match my crazy quilt. I finally settled on Amy Butler's Optic Blossom (mostly because I had a yard of it on hand). I played around with a bit of embroidery and applique- neither is my specialty but it was sort of fun to work on for a few nights. Still finishing up the second one...

Oh and this is why I'm crazy. I think I'm counting 8 started projects on that table (and that doesn't include 6 canvases on the floor...:O

Because I needed another cathedral quilt project...

I sewed these little handbags for my neices a few months ago. They each used 6 cathedral quilt squares and came to gether pretty quickly. If I do it again I will just use binding tape on the sides so I don't have to finish off all of those half squares on the sides- that was a little time consuming! If you want to do some cathedral squares but not a whole quilt, this is a great project!

My first dress

I found this bunny print a few months ago and have been hoping to use it for a fun project. I have been wanting to learn how to make a dress so I decided to give it a go. I got some inspiration from this dress at Shabby Apple and had some help from the tutorial here.

There are many problems with this dress, but I learned a lot and hope to make more. Even with all my huge mistakes, it only took about and hour and a half. (I worked on it while the kids were sleeping and Curtis was watching fight night with some of his friends) The next day was Sunday and I wanted Lucy to try it on to see if it would even fit over her head! It did and she stayed in it all day! I love sewing... it's therapy that gives back. :O