Top 11 of 2011

For those of you who have recently joined me here on Crafty Cupboard, let’s have a little recap of 2011, shall we?  I’ll just use Google Analytics to share the top 11 posts (posts with the most page views) from this past year:

11. Lace Shirt Refashion

10.  Ruffle Bum Pants

9. Screen-printed Shower Curtain

8.  Nordstrom Dress Knock-Off

7.  Hospital Gown

6.  Make Professional Drapes

5. Pacifier Clips

4.  Monster Baby Toy

3.  Circle Coasters

2.  Alphabet Bean Bags

1.  Business Card Holders

I had a fun time sharing my projects with you in 2011!  It was mostly a maternity year for me, I spent a lot of time sleeping :)  Thanks for being such great friends and supporters of this little hobby of mine!  I’m excited for a spectacular 2012!

Art Competition Fundraiser

A reader e-mailed me to tell me about a great fundraising competition.  One of her friends is raising money to adopt two Russian girls who have Down Syndrome.  That is awesome!

If you are interested, the contest is accepting submissions for original art, poetry, and quilting that incorporate the theme “Where Love Resides.” 

For more information about this great cause, go to the Where Love Resides blog.  I know there are lots of talented people out there!  The submission fees go towards raising funds to adopt these girls.

Thanks everyone!

Christmas Dresses

One of the things keeping me busy before Christmas was making these dresses.  Three matching red lacy dresses for Christmas day, and the small amount of time they got to wear them in church.

I added black sashes and then a ruffled flower.  All three dresses cost around $40, which is great for three Christmas dresses.  That’s about $14 a dress!

The dresses were made a little big so they can wear them (hopefully) next year too.  All but the baby, of course, since hers actually fit really well- she’s huge for only 4 weeks old!

And of course, they were just so excited to wear them.  You can tell, right?  No, they really were happy about them and told everyone I made them who commented.  They were so cute all together.

I’m just bummed we didn’t get a good, happy, smiley photo to prove it :)

Bike Quilt

As you know, my mom is a cyclist and loves to talk “bike” with anyone who has an ear.  Lucky for her, my dad is just as excited about it as she is, he just doesn’t actually ride as much as she does.  He mostly likes picking out bikes and bike gear :)

Anyway, because of this… enthusiasm, I started collecting some bike prints- Michael Miller, Erin McMorris, etc.  Then, I got an acrylic template to help make the circles, and got to work.  It took a long time, I’m not going to lie.  I was also pregnant, anemic, and a mother.  Good excuses.

I believe I have 20 different prints on this quilt- 21 if you include the binding.  For a while there it was looking pretty masculine, so I started adding florals to make it a little more feminine for my mom’s sake. 

Then I quilted 1/4 lines along the horizontal and vertical seam lines, and then in a diagonal grid through the circles so it slightly resembles spokes from the front.  You can’t see the stitching really well from the front, but here’s that back view where you can really see it well.

My husband was soooo excited to help me take photos of it.  Thanks Mike!  :)

And here are the new owners of the bike quilt!  They liked it!  Hopefully it can keep them a bit warm while watching shows together on the couch.  That’s all its size can accommodate!   I am always glad when hard work goes to deserving people, and my parents really deserve it.  They are great (and yes, my dad is wearing a belt on top of his shirt.  He’s a funny person… if you knew him you’d understand!) and I will miss them tons if we ever move far away from them.

I hope everyone who celebrated Christmas had a great day!  I’m so glad it is over… life was so stressful last week.  Time to calm down, finally!

Winner and Winter

First, thanks to everyone who entered the Toss Up Pattern giveaway!  I had quite a few good laughs over the strange gifts you all had received/given.  Seriously, if you have a few moments sometime, go read through the comments.

The winner was #62, Alisa, who said

“The weirdest thing was an orange colored glass chicken shaped dish someone gave us for our wedding. It has a top and a bottom part and looked like it was straight out of the 70s.”

I’m just wondering what you would put in a glass chicken dish. 

Alisa, Kirsten will send you your pattern!  Have fun with it!

In other news, I finally got some progress made on Christmas.  I’ve been working on a quilt for my parents for… months now, and I finally have it basted together.  The irony is that I need a walking foot to quilt it, and my walking foot is wrapped beneath the Christmas tree.  Do I open that present early, use it, and re-wrap it?  I might do that…

I also have three little dresses to make by Christmas.  I’m nearly done with the first, but I need to go get black fabric for a sash around the middle.  I had the older girls’ dresses cut out before I had the baby last month, and now I find myself needing to cut into the red fabric again :)  It is a good thing I way over-estimated and have extra fabric.  I probably have enough to make something matching for me too!  Since I have soooo much time these days. (ha ha!)

Next, I want to mention that my Monster Baby Toy has made it to the finals in the Handmade with Love competition over at Pink Chalk Studio.  You can vote for your favorite tutorials here.  I’d love it if you voted for me!

And finally… I found a pure white hair on my head this weekend.  I was nearly blinded by it, so I pulled it out and am keeping it in my jewelry box.  How come some people keep that first haircut snipping, but don’t keep their first gray/white hair?  I finally feel like an adult!

Silhouette Dust Cover

I was procrastinating doing laundry yesterday and decided that I needed a fast project to do to make me feel better :)  Pinterest is a good place to go for that… and I came upon Char’s Silhouette Dust Cover tutorial.  When she posted it, I pretty much ignored it because I didn’t have a Silhouette at the time—sorry Char!  This time I actually used it!

The only thing I did differently was add a side pocket to one of the side pieces.  I am always putting my knife pieces in random places, so I wanted to keep it all together.  I just used Char’s pattern piece and cut it in half to make the pocket pattern piece.  I used a scrap piece of coordinating fabric to make a cute little bound edge, and keep it closed with a small piece of velcro.

I’m rather liking my more organized situation.  No more lost pieces.  I hope.

It went really fast, and I am happy with the outcome.  It matches my Sewing Machine Placemat. 

My laundry still isn’t done though.

You can see my other crafty to-do projects on my Pinterest boards, here.

Oh- I’m keeping the Toss-Up Giveaway open for one more day.  Go ahead, there is still time to enter!

12 Days of Christmas

I know everyone does advent calendars, but when I saw this 12-cubby thingy at Goodwill, I snatched it up with the intention of doing something for my girls for Christmas.  25 days to wait is a long time! 

The issue I ran into right away was what type of box or container would fit in the little cubbies.  My silhouette machine wouldn’t cut a box big enough for what I was envisioning.  Luckily, these take-out boxes from Hobby Lobby fit perfectly! 

Unfortunately for my kiddos, they aren’t getting an entire take-out box full of candy.  Just a few pieces.

I used a paper punch to cut out the circles, and then my Silhouette to cut the numbers.  I should have just used stickers- I got glue all over myself putting the numbers on :)

After dinner we’ll open the first box and read a few scripture verses about Christ.  The candy in the box doesn’t reflect any scriptures, but hopefully they’ll listen long enough to get a little better understanding of this special Holiday season.

Sponsor Giveaway: Toss Up Quilt Pattern

Do you have a quilter on your Christmas list?  It is all right to include yourselves on that list, you know ;).  Our sponsor Material Girl Kirsten is giving away her Toss Up quilt pattern today for a lucky reader just in time to get it under the Christmas Tree!
Here’s what Kirsten says about the PDF pattern:
“This pattern includes detailed diagrams for both fabric cutting and block construction. It is very beginner-friendly, and the quilt top itself has minimal corners to match and is very forgiving in both piecing and fabric placement.”
I’ve made a quilt using this pattern and it remains one of my favorites!  I was glad to hear she wanted to share the pattern love with you too.
To Enter This Giveaway:
Tell me the strangest gift you ever received/gave.  Leave a comment!  I love finding out a little more about you :)
For Additional Entries:
1.  Follow the Crafty Cupboard and leave a comment letting me know.  If you already follow this here blog, tell me!
2.  Visit Material Girl Kirsten and come back here to tell me your favorite quilt she has in her shop.
This giveaway is open to anyone, anywhere, and will end 12/15/11 at midnight.  The winner will receive the PDF Toss Up pattern via e-mail. 
If a winner is picked and there is no contact information connected to the comment, I’ll just pick another person.  Leave your e-mail in your comment if you are unsure if you have available contact info!

All Through the Night Winner and a Kindle giveaway!

The winner of last week’s All Through the Night CD was Laura, and the CD is on its way!  Thanks to everyone who entered. 

Opus2Music is having another giveaway on their Facebook page right now- and they are giving away a Kindle!!  Click on over HERE and enter. 

Sherbet-y Christmas Quilt

Yesterday the munchkin expressed a desire to make a quilt for the little turkey with her grandma.  My mother-in-law is in town taking care of me and the kiddos for a little bit, and we’ll use grandma in every way possible while she’s here!

So, we let my 4-year-old browse my fabric (although there were several options I had to say no to!) and she settled on a print from Sheri Berry Holiday, from ages ago, that I had in my stash.  I pulled out the rest of the collection that I had, and cut them into squares.  Then, she and grandma sat on the floor and arranged those squares nicely, and I sewed them together.  This morning, the munchkin and I sat at my machine and she helped me free-motion some flowers into the quilt before she got too bored, and we just finished it up. 

She is excited to wrap it and put it under the tree for the new baby.  Considering it will be the only gift for her under the tree… I mean, what do you get a one-month-old for Christmas??

Now, since we did this quilt in record time, it isn’t perfect.  Luckily a few throws in the wash will help disguise all its blemishes :).  I was amazed how fast quilting can be done, however, when you make a small quilt with a very simple design!  I need more like that…

All Through the Night: Lullaby CD Giveaway!

If you’ve been here for a while, you know how much I love music.  In fact, this weekend I had another choir performance where I took my post-partum self, the munchkin, and the little turkey to the Mesa Arts Center and we all performed together- the little turkey made a very convincing baby Jesus in the live Nativity.  Music is powerful and inspiring when done the right way, and I love being a part of it.
One of the most important factors in music appreciation is starting young.  Some moms play music for their babies while still in utero.  I have a CD playing for my girls while they fall asleep, and so was more than happy to receive the All Through the Night lullaby CD to review. 

As the parent of a brand-spankin’ new baby, I have loved having such peaceful music playing for her while she is awake and asleep.  In fact, when the CD is playing, our whole household is calmer, not just baby!  With familiar songs like Edelweiss, Over the Rainbow, and Brahms’ Lullaby, we are all softly singing along and enjoying the beautiful arrangements.
All Through the Night features beloved, time-honored songs woven into peaceful, whispering lullabies on flute and harp. In our busy lifestyle filled with technologic distractions, schedule demands and increasing noise, All Through the Night was created to lessen these distractions and to lift your spirit, all the while lulling your little one into a peaceful slumber.
The Opus 2 Harp and Flute Duo is comprised of Julie Gaisford Keyes of Bountiful, Utah and Steven Lucera Alder of Mesa, Arizona.  All of the original arrangements are by Emmy-award-winning composer Kurt Bestor, and the CD cover photography and digital artwork is by Mark Mabry.  All Through the Night is now available at Deseret Book, Seagull Book, iTunes, and Amazon.com.
Do you want a CD too?  We’re giving one away!!!
HOW TO ENTER THIS GIVEAWAY:
Mandatory entry:
“Like” Opus2music on Facebook.  Click on "Select a Song" to be taken to their webpage and listen to
their sound clips.  If you like what you hear, click "like" on the web page, too.  Leave a comment here telling me you did so.  That's it!!
Optional Entries:
1. SHARE the Opus2music page on Facebook to let your friends know your kids have good taste in classical repertoire ;) Leave a SEPARATE comment letting me know you did!
2.Tell me what musical influence you had/have in your home right now!  Play any instruments?  Sing?  Get groovy with drumming your fingers on the table?  Leave a SEPARATE comment letting me know! 
Good luck!

Simple Gifts Christmas Runner Tutorial

I love Kate Spain’s Christmas line, Flurry.  So, when I got my hands on only one charm pack, I knew I wanted to make it stretch into as much as possible, and this small table runner was born!  Out of one charm pack and a few solids, I got 5 runners made for me and gifts for others.  Here I’ll show you what you need to do to make one runner.

You need:

One Charm Pack (or 8 5” squares)

3 Coordinating Solids (I changed from Green to White for this tutorial, sorry…)

Cutting and Sewing supplies

Begin by choosing 8 different 5” squares from your charm pack or fabric stash

Cut your squares into two pieces- For a uniform gift look, you can cut up to four layers at a time; I wanted a more random “wrapping” look so I cut two at a time.  I cut 2 at 2 1/2"”, 2 at 2”, and 2 at 1 1/2”.  Keep matching patterns together in little sets for the next steps.

With one of your solids, cut your first ribbon pieces.  Cut 1 1/2” strips, and then sub-cut to get 8 5” pieces.

Sew the ribbon piece in between your charm sets.  Iron towards your solid, unlike I did here.  Your block is now 5” x 5 1/2”.

Turn your block so your 5” side is parallel to the bottom of your cutting mat.  You are going to cut this block in to two pieces again.  Again, I varied my cut sizes.

With your solid, sub-cut 8 pieces that are 5 1/2” long.  Sew these pieces between your freshly cut block to create a “gift” look.  Iron toward your solid- it makes it look like the ribbon pieces are really overlapping and wrapping around your charm piece.

Your block is now 5 1/2” x 5 1/2”

When all your charm blocks are done, it is time to break out your second solid.  Cut 2 1/2” strips, and sub-cut the strips to be 5 1/2” long.

Sew your solid between sets of two gift blocks.

Cut your 2 1/2” strips into 12 1/2” pieces, and sew these between your gift rows.  I took a break while making this and ended up sewing a group of blocks on sideways :)  It is for me, so, who cares!

Add 2 1/2” strips to the top, bottom, and sides of your runner.  I stopped measuring here, and just sewed the strips on and cut them down square after each was sewn on.

Make a quilt sandwich and baste well.

Quilt as desired, and bind.  I quilted little holly berries onto my runner… but the ones I gave as gifts I just did a simple stipple pattern, and it went really fast!

When you are done, you have a cute little runner.  Mine fits great on my coffee table and safely out of reach on our dinner table.  I think if you doubled the rows of gifts and made this a square, it would be a really adorable wall hanging too!

And since I made this runner before Halloween even hit… my only photo decoration is a red thingy with smarties in it.  Cuz I’m too lazy to clear off my table and take new pictures… or maybe I just had a baby and I’m just prioritizing differently :)

I did decide the runner needed a little pop, and I hand-stitched on a little velvet ribbon to a few of the gift blocks.  I love how it looks.  My husband said a little jingle bell would be cute too, but I wanted things to be able to lay flat on it, so I opted out.  Try it and see how it works for you!

I love the Folk song “Simple Gifts,” and I thought it was an appropriate name for this runner.  Sometimes it is the simple gifts and things in life that bring us the most joy, and they are the things we always remember.  I hope your Christmas season is simply wonderful in every way!