Baby Drew's Quilt

I put the last stitch on this quilt the morning I left my sister's house after a week-long visit to see my new nephew, Drew, at the end of September.

 

I had it all done and quilted when I left for her house, I just had to trim it, make the binding, and bind it while I was there.

 

The fabric is an older line by Moda called Meadow Friends, backed and bound with two different Denyse Schmidt fabrics.  

I was happy to be able to use some of the yellow Denyse Schmidt fabric in the quilt top, too, because it was fabric left over from my other new nephew's quilt that I made earlier in the year (which I have yet to post about!)  I was happy to be able to have a little of the same fabric in both boys quilts.  Kindof ties them together in my mind.

Once it was done, we put the quilt straight to work during a photo shoot of Drew.  I personally think it did a wonderful job showing off my adorable nephew!

Happy Halloween!

**For last year's post on previous costumes I have made, go (HERE)**

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This year, only one of my boys wanted me to make his costume.  Which is nice in that I don't get totally burned out on costumes by the time Halloween rolls around and it is actually time to wear them!  

My son decided to go classic this year and be a ghost.  I paid .99 for a basic Simplicity kids costume pattern for the robe and hood, but as usual, didn't bother to follow the instructions for assembly at all. Haha! 

I made it out of bleached muslin and some Halloween "fabric" cheesecloth that I got dirt cheap during a big sale at Joann's.  So, all in all, it was a fast, cheap and easy job...and I LOVE it!  I think it turned out great.  

My son loved it too, and literally looked like a spooky white spectre floating through the parking lot of our church's Trunk-or-Treat.  He rocked that ghost costume!  Which, of course, makes every effort of making homemade Halloween costumes worth every stitch.

Happy Halloween!!

All Moved and a Diaper Bag

I realize it has been over two months since posting, but with the move (which happened September 1), my husband deploying two weeks later, and two weeks of traveling and visiting family a week after that, I really feel like I have just gotten here and finally have things in place enough to sit down and post something!

I have actually done quite a bit of sewing since I have been here (one of the "perks" of my husband being gone - lots of alone time in the evening to fill with sewing, I guess!) and I will be posting about them soon, but I will start with a little baby doll diaper bag I made for my nieces birthday (pretty much following  THIS tutorial, except I added side pockets to hold doll bottles, etc.)

The crazy thing is, when she opened the gift she said, "It's a diaper bag!"  Neither her mom nor I could believe that she knew exactly what kind of bag it was without being told. Kind of awesome.  

Apparently, it was just what she needed. 

(Warning: crappy, uncropped phone pics ahead - that's what you get when you have only unpacked half your house and don't know where anything - like your camera - is!)

Sew Many Books - A Summer Sewing Series

I'm excited to be a part of the summer sewing series, SEW MANY BOOKS, over at Nap Time Creations today!  Head on over to read my tutorial on how to turn an illustration from your child's favorite book into a wearable piece of clothing!

Extra bonus: you get to see a bunch of photos of my adorable twins! (Who, me biased??  Nah....)

And while you are there, don't forget to sign up for some fun giveaways. 

A Ghastly 241 Tote

I've been wanting to make myself a new bag for awhile.  I've been hauling around the same old diaper bag for almost 5 years now, even though at this point it is pretty empty with my youngest being almost three.  I just don't have the need to haul around a bunch of baby crap stuff anymore!

The problem is I have just been very indecisive about both the pattern and fabrics I wanted to use for a new bag.  I know it shouldn't be a big deal...it's not the first and not that last bag I will make, but I just couldn't seem to get inspired about it.  So I put it off, and put it off, and well, you know how it goes.

However, as I would do my random bag pattern searches, hoping to get a little inspiration, I kept coming back to the 241 Tote...you know, the one that is all over the internet made in every fabric possible?  Yeah, that one.  Let's be honest, it's just a darn cute bag!  So anyway, that was kindof in my mind when I walked into my LQS and saw the new line of "The Ghastlies" on the shelf.  

That was it.  I knew exactly what I wanted to do with that fabric.  And thus, my 241 Tote was born!


The Front:

The Back:

Honestly, I can't decide which side I like better!

And here is the interior.  The lining is another print from the "Ghastly" line called "ghastly clovers", I believe.  The other  fabrics are a matching Sketch (charcoal, maybe?) and a random  pink polka dot fat quarter they had in the store.  Truthfully, when I found that pink polka dot in the EXACT shade and tone as the cheeks of the characters, I knew it was meant to be.

And I just love this "ghastly" little couple that peeks out at me from the pocket every time I look inside:

I followed the pattern exactly EXCEPT that I lined the body of the bag with fusible fleece instead of the cotton woven interfacing (I still interfaced the handle and pockets with the cotton woven interfacing), and, as seen above, I made the pocket a little differently so that I could have the polka dot band showing on top.

I just love it!

Linking Up:

Fabric Tuesday @ Quilt Story

Cute Ruffle Butts and a Fun Summer Sewing Series!

This is a little project I finished a few weeks ago and am now just finding time to share:

 It is essentially the same as the Diaper & Bib sets I made for my nieces for Christmas last year, but with one adorable change...a ruffle butt!



I had thought about adding the ruffle to the Christmas sets just a little too late, so I knew when I made this one, I wanted to try it.  I think it turned out totally darling!

This set was made for my twins' good friend's little sister (say that five times fast!) for her birthday last month.  She just turned two, and I felt like this could be a gift that she could really grow into and use for years to come.

The only thing I didn't end up loving about this set was the little baby quilt, which was made entirely from flannel from my scrap box.  I used it to practice some FMQ on...and I definitely quilted it far too densely.  It ended up feeling like a place mat, rather than a baby doll quilt!  (I do, however, love the cute bird flannel backing!)

***

Something else I wanted to mention:

I'm participating in Nap-Time Creations Sew Many Books sewing series. This is a fun series of posts all about children's clothing inspired by children's books.  How fun is that??

Come back on August 12th to see my addition to this fun series.

Here's who else is joining in the fun this month:

Nap-TimeCreations - Buzzmills - All This For Them - Wild Wandering - Cocoa Pie Creations 

Sunny Stitching - Bless by Tone - Coles Corner and Creations - Nap Time Crafters

Threading my Way - Welcome to the Mouse House - Sewing like Mad - Sews N Bows

Simple Simon and Co- iCandy Handmade

Be sure to stop by Nap-Time Creations on these days for some great giveaways

August 6th- $50 to fabric.com & free Personalized kids book from iseeme.com

August 13th- Pattern Pack from Peek-a-Boo Patterns 

August 20th- Pattern Pack from Coles Corner and Creations & A Remnant Surprise Book

if you are interested in sponsoring a giveaway or participating in NEXT years Sew Many Books series e-mail Emily at nap-timecreations{at}hotmail{dot}com

WiP Wednesday -Some Boy Quilts

So I have been trying to sort, pack and purge the past week or so, but I have still sneaked in a bit of sewing!

I posted my most current completed quilt blocks a few days ago (here), but I forgot one so I'm giving her a little recognition today :) 

 This is block #8 in the Virtual Quilting Bee Sampler Quilt.

The other WiP's I have been working on is this quilt for my new nephew, who was born 2 weeks ago...5 weeks early!  But I was planning to give the quilt when I went to visit for his Blessing the end of September anyway, so no rush on this one:

I have the rows pieced...kindof. Turns out, I ended up sewing 5 of the 11 rows wrong, so I've got a little unpicking in my future before I get this one finished.



This brown and blue star quilt was a random project that I wasn't expecting to start, but I finished the top last night.

This one does have a story behind it.  Some of the fabric in this was salvaged from one of the two matching bedding sets my twins had when they were babies.  When my third son was born, I obviously didn't need two sets anymore, so I decided to make a matching quilt with the fabric from one of the sets for my third son, since neither of my twins wanted to give up the blankets that actually came with the set.

I cut what I had into charm squares, bought some backing fabric, put it in a bag....and totally forgot about it.
Well, now my son is nearly three and won't be in a crib after we move, so what to do with the bedding and the partial matching quilt squares to go with it?  Why, give it to one of my two nephews that have been born within the past 3 months, of course!

To make this super easy for me, I am not quilting it.  This will be a tied, comforter-type quilt instead.  I dug around in my scraps and found enough fabric to make it work without having to get anything else for it (except the high loft batting and yarn).

For an impromptu quilt that has been put together from what I had on hand, it's turning out pretty cute, I think.  In fact, it is cuter than the blanket that actually came with the set!

That is it for this week.  I am packing up my fabric for the move as I type this.  I have two words: Fabric.  Hoarder.