Me: 1 Quilt: 0

I've been wrestling with a quilt top for like, a month now and I finally finished it today. It is my first, so I chose a SUPER SIMPLE coin quilt. Alas, the quilt put up a fight when I started putting on the sashing and I had to put it down for a week or two to gather my wits and ask a few pointers from friends. After unpicking NEARLY ALL OF IT, I started afresh and came out conquerer.
I'd post a picture of the top but right now my camera is en route to Laredo, TX, where it will see the camera doctor and hopefully be returned with a working flash. Until then, I'm just pleased as punch that I tamed the coin quilt monster.

Speaking of quilting... Lila Tueller (fab fabric designer and pattern-er!) is having a giveaway on her blog for a jelly roll and layer cake. I used a charm pack for my above mentioned coin quilt, and I can honestly say it was so much easier using pre-cuts than doing it all myself. Therefore, I am excited for this giveaway! How about y'all ignore that I mentioned this so I have a better chance of winning...

Until later. Laundry beckons.

Framed Silhouette

I have had two frames sitting around since Mike and I got married that I haven't used. Seriously, 4 years and 5 moves later, they are still in their original plastic wrapping.

Jill from Homemade by Jill did put her boy Oscar's silhouette on a pillow with fabric paint and freezer stencil. I thought it was so cute. I decided that I needed to have my kids' silhouettes up now that I have two kids and two frames to put them in :) Plus, this is a perfect project for using up a fat quarter that has been lying around staring at you for months on end. But I wouldn't know about that part.

The only hard part was getting silhouette pictures of my girls. The oldest wanted to "help" way too much (and had to take potty breaks every two seconds... hence the missing clothes), and then when my camera would make any noise, my baby girl would look at the camera instead of away. There was a lot of this:

and this:
and even some of this before I finally got a decent profile photo.

I had the girls sit in FRONT of the window, so their faces would be darkened in a natural silhouette. It turned out way better with my oldest. I just put my paper up to the computer screen and used it as a light box to trace their profiles. That way I saved printer ink!

I was able to put both silhouettes on one fat quarter cut in half for each girl. So what does that make it? A skinny eighth? Anyway, I simply followed Jill's instructions up to the point where she starts making a pillow and then did the following:

I took the backing off of the picture frame and just used that to wrap my fabric around. I got out my trusty fabric glue stick that I stole from my mom (sorry mom!), layed the silhouette right side down, and centered the frame backing over the silhouette the best I could.

Then I started glueing the fabric down, long sides first. I should have trimmed the fabric before I started glueing, but I was too excited and forgot.

But never fear! I did trim as soon as I remembered! Then I glued down the short sides just in the middle section. The corners had to be loved a little bit before they would look perfect so I didn't want them glued yet.

The trick is to take the corner of the fabric and fold it down so it makes a 45 degree angle, like so. It will look like a sideways triangle at this point. Glue it down!

Then take the top and fold the entire thing over and it will cover that 45 degree angle. The fabric will angle in slightly, but that is what you are going for. If it were even with the edge, it could show from the other side- that isn't what you want.

When you have all the corners done, it will look like so:

Looks messy from the back, huh! Well, no worries, the front looks fantastic:

This is where I put the silhouette in the frame. Since my pictures are on stands and not hanging on the wall, I put the paper that originally came with the frame over the back to cover the messy look. Perfect.

And, in the end, it is a perfect framed baby silhouette, ready to be put next to her sister's silhouette in their bedroom!

One down!

I got to work right away and made that peasant dress. It was really fast! The pattern Dana gave was... not helpful except for the basic shape. I pretty much had to do it myself which was what I was trying to avoid in the first place. I think I made it too wide so it floats all around my munchkin but hey, it is still adorable. I also forgot to consider seam allowance for the bottom contrast band so it is kind of shorter than I imagined it would be. It looks just as fun with knit capris, however! And she really likes it too!
So what do you do when your flash is broken and it is dark outside? Why, you stick your kid on the kitchen counter where the light is brightest and get her to pose while you frantically take pictures before she plummets to the floor. Right?

Honey-do list.

This is my Honey-do list. As in, Honey, I'm going to Do these things, so don't bother asking me where your socks are because I will be in the ZONE.

This dress, except without using the men's shirt and without the waistband and with a contrast band around the bottom. So... not much like it at all! Hey... I didn't want to figure out how to do a sleeved peasant top all by myself. That's why we have tutorials out there, right???

This silhouette, but ix-nay the pillow portion... I'm gonna frame that beauty instead. Two beauties, to be exact... one of each girl I gave birth to.

One of these, because I'm not entirely sure if the baby girl has a dr's appointment tomorrow. I lose those "next appointment" cards the minute I get home. I might have to call about that... and plus, my husband is always so annoyed that we don't have a calendar!

This runner for my table. For every holiday of the year. Including National Bagel Day. Ok, ok, maybe not EVERY holiday, but surely the major ones.

Speaking of holidays, my sister and I want to make advent calendars, and I have my eye on the simple design of this one. I am struggling with my first quilt, however, so I don't know if I have the guts.

I also have a chair to reupholster (though first I need to find that perfect fabric...), a chair to recover (just the seat), a headboard to upholster, and grommets to put on drapery panels. And a bedroom to clean that somehow lost the floor under a ton of junk. Does that ever happen to anyone else?

I think it is a good thing I did laundry today. Maybe the husband won't need help with his socks for a while.

A bazillion hours later...

Do you have an etsy shop? I, as you know, just opened one with my sister. You may or may not know that it takes FOREVER to post something. I've got three kids (two originals and one on loan every Tues and Thurs) vying for my attention today, so every time they are happily playing or sleeping I jump on and try to get one more thing posted. And now, ladies and perhaps a few gents...

New stuff. In the shop. And whenever you look at ANYONE'S shop, appreciate those hours that go into it ;) I know I have newfound respect!

Bloody Fingers

No, this isn't a Halloween post, despite the gory title. I only titled it so because my fingers are KILLING ME. I've been working on some applique'd onesies (0-3 month) for the shop and sheesh, I think it is about time I invest in a thimble or something to protect my fingers. I have had to pause a few times to let bleeding subside so I don't get the onesies all bloodied. That would be bad.

I'm sure some of you are thinking, "Well, Melanie, why don't you just use your machine??" So, to you folks, I'll just say I really like the blanket stitch on baby onesies, and my machine doesn't have that fancy stitch. So I ultra-custom make it by hand-embroidering. Tres magnifique.

These are the onesie designs I've been working on that I have finished embroidering. I still need to put interfacing on to protect the stitching and make them last longer. As soon as they are done I'll put them in the shop. I used Carter's onesies this time too... and wow, they are really nice. I have used Circo and Gerber in my shop already, but these... these are most excellent. I have one more left to make a custom one for my cousin. Ladybugs! I'm excited for that one, I'll post it when I finish.






This is the one that I'm currently wrestling with. I was free-handing the leaf and stem, and wouldn't you know it, I ran out of embroidery floss TWO STITCHES from the end. Can you see it? TWO. Then, the daunting task of going around all those petals... I had to put my work down for today :).

Halloween Plans

I am excited for this Halloween. Usually people start thinking of Halloween when leaves start changing colors, temperatures get cooler, and kids are bustled off to another school year. Well, in this house, no one went to school, the leaves are... well, they don't change color around here, and temperatures are still in triple digits. So, I have been thinking about Halloween for a few months now.

I picked up a pattern to make a Tinkerbell costume for my oldest. I have shown her the package front with all the fairy options and she has opted for the blue fairy each time, so blue she will be. Every time I go to the fabric store (JoAnn) I look to see if anything I need is on sale, and if it isn't, I use my 40% off coupon. There is a lot of fabric required to make a Disney Fairy costume!


The first costume I made for her was a pain in the neck. It said "Sewing for Dummies" on the front so I thought it would be easier. No, it was sewing to make people feel like a dummy. Although she looked so adorable as a little bear, it turned out HUGE and she was swallowed up in it. Here is a picture from two years ago (wow my husband looks young and skinny) when we brought her to a dance at BYU where we were going to school at the time. A tip for anyone up there: Don't go to school dances when you have a kid. Everyone is single there. :) I just had to have people see her!



Anyway, my dilemma now is my 3-month-old who will be 5 months at Halloween. I'm thinking a little Peter Pan would be cute to go with the blue Tinkerbell, but Peter Pan is a boy. Maybe I can do another fairy, and I'll just sew pretty petals around a onesie so it mirrors her older sister's costume. Any ideas? It is so hot here in AZ that costumes are hard to do. But then again, In Utah we always wore big coats over our costumes so it didn't matter what you wore!

I'm on the lookout for something cute! I'll let you know what I come up with. If you have an idea, let me know!

Love it.

I stopped by my BFF's house yesterday so she could show me her finished crib bedding. Isn't it lovely? And the best thing- it was made from FREE or SUPER CLEARANCE fabric. If you think this is lovely, you should see her drapery panels she made for the room. But she hasn't posted them yet :).

The best part about the crib? The drawer beneath houses a SA-WEET fat quarter stash. I almost grabbed it and ran. With the baby and toddler in tow, of course. But man, you should have seen her stack of lovely yardage in the closet! DROOL.

Speaking of her posting things... she and her mom just started a blog to chronicle their creative endeavors. It is called Maniacal Material Girls, and if the title alone doesn't give you a glimpse into their lives, I don't know what does. Stop on by and gush over her stuff!

How-To: Tufted Cuddle Cubes

My sister-in-law had a baby a month ago and I am finally getting around to making a gift. I have an excuse though... I mean, I just had a baby myself! Although, she's way big now and sleeping through the night and holding her head up like a champ and laughing and all that. Guess I don't have much of an excuse then, eh? But then, when you've got this bundle of cuteness, you don't get much done.


(ignore that tacky pillowcase. For some reason, my 2-year-old will only sleep on pillows with THAT pillowcase. Sorry, I have no explanations other than that she is my daughter.)

Anyway... my daughter got some Baby Einstein cubes like these when she was little, and loved to stack them and throw them around. BUT, I am trying to get rid of all my fabric, remember (just so I can go blow a bunch of money on more!)? Let's just make them instead! I struggled for a name for these, so don't make fun of it. It's all I can do at midnight.

Now, before I begin, let me tell you that the flash on my camera is dead (after 3 months!) and I have been working on these when the kids are in bed at night. Sorry about the pictures, and lack thereof. I couldn't make it work taking pictures in a closet without a flash. :)

First, I cut 6 4-inch squares out of different fabrics with different textures and patterns. I decided to do three cubes in three different colors.


Second, I set out the fabric squares in the shape of a cross. I took lots of architecture classes in college so I keep thinking about cathedrals when I see this. Anyway, set the fabric out like so:

Third, I started sewing using a 1/4" seam allowance. I did the long middle first, and then sewed on the wings. If you do this, make sure you start and stop sewing 1/4" away from each end so that it will come together nicely in the cube shape. After the cross shape was finished, THEN I started sewing the pieces together to make the cube. I connected the top of the cross shape to the wings, then continued on until it was a cube. You'll be thanking yourself for that 1/4" now.


For the last seam, only sew 3/4" or so from each end so you have a place to turn and stuff. I used some poly-fill stuff that was taking up real estate in my closet. The Baby Einstein ones have a foam core, which you could do too! I will have extra foam after I finish making my headboard (another project...) so maybe I will try these again... anyway, I also clipped the corners (careful!) so they would turn better.


Next, turn, stuff and close. I hand sewed this one, but the silky fabric I was using started to unravel, so I had to run it throught the machine. Not as pretty, but now it won't come undone.


Finally, I tufted the cube so it didn't look like a ball with corners (?) . To tuft, you get a needle and thread, tie a knot in the thread, and poke the needle into the middle of one of the sides (side 1). Push the needle all the way through to the other side (side 2),...


Where you pull the thread until Side 1 starts to dimple a bit. Then, turn that needle back around and go back SUPER close to where the needle came out of Side 2. Wow that was confusing. Anyway, do that one more time so it ends up like so: In side 1, out side 2. In side 2, out side 1. In side 1, out side 2. Then tie it off. Whew, that was rough!

Do that to all the sides, and it will be more... square-ish.


I did the three cubes all differently. The pink one just had fun textures, the blue one had random ribbons on some sides, and the green one had a cat toy in it. What? A CAT toy? Yeah, one of those balls with the little jingle bell inside. So anyway, it rattles. I think it is awesome.

And there you go! A fun, new baby toy that uses up cute fabric, is super soft, and that doesn't weigh a lot so shipping to Utah won't be bad!

Hope you like them, Alexi!

He Sews!

While working on my drapery panels last week in my mom's workroom, my husband and my 2-year-old were in the room with me looking for something to do. So, my sweet husband, Mike, pulls our munchkin in his lap and says he is going to help her make a "pocket." He put his hands over hers and helped her feed the fabric through the industrial sewing machine, and then filled the finished product with tokens of goodness (a.k.a. fancy trim beads) found in the nearby trash can.

I'm not sure which is more endearing... the toddler with the treasures, or the husband who sews "pockets?"

Up and Running

So, like I said MONTHS ago, my sister and I have been making stuff to put in an Etsy shop. Today, my friends, I put a link to it on my blog and am ready and waiting for something... anything... to happen.
I love Etsy. You can find anything there. I know people who browse Etsy like I browse blogs. That is devotion, let me tell you. Well, on to make more lovely things!

Fabric giveaway

Okay, so I know I'm not supposed to go get more fabric. But what if it came to me, all wrapped up pretty, without costing a penny? Yeah baby!

Needle Little Inspiration is having a giveaway, in order to celebrate her Open House, sponsored by DaffodilHill. She has 6 half-yards to give to some lucky person. What a super group of Christmas fabric! Hey people, Christmas is right around that corner...

Hop on over and try your luck!

Operation: Slim that Stash - Mousepad refashion

Before:

After:

Thanks to the quick tutorial from Funky and Delightful for the tip. Now for a new computer desk... I wish.