BE

There was a time recently where the pressure of blogging was kind of getting to me.  It felt like Junior High, where comparisons run rampant and you get left out of the popular crowd and there are mean girls.  I hated Junior High.  But I love blogging, so I had to nip that feeling in the bud if I wanted to still enjoy what I do here!

So I thought about who I am instead of what I do.  And it is good to remember.  I am a wife, mother, daughter, friend, believer, and teacher.  I wanted to think of everything else I can be too.

BE creative.

BE friendly.

BE helpful.

BE loving.

BE forgiving.

BE yourself.

BE awesome!

And that is the best reminder we can give ourselves- that we aren’t defined by other people’s standards or by mean girls.  

And a little bit of bunting never hurts, right??

I kind of laughed at the imperfect nature of this little quilt.  I’m a lot of things, but perfect isn’t on the list yet ;)

Though I had a good time reflecting while sewing this up, it is actually for a friend of mine who has always been super supportive of me and my blog, always has a kind word to say and a hand to lend.  She is a very talented crafter, so I had to be ok with giving her something that had flaws :) Even so, I think she of all people will understand!

Girly Blues Baby Quilt

I finished the baby quilt this weekend.  I still can’t catch my corners right when machine binding, so that was a bit frustrating.  Still, this quilt is ADORABLE in every way.  Don’t you think? 

I found the perfect backing for this one in the form of a sheet.  It was a fitted sheet, so I cut the corners and pulled out the elastic so I could have it nice and flat to cut and work with.

I had a solid deep pink fabric picked out for binding, but when the quilt was all quilted up and waiting for binding, the pink wasn’t right in the end.  I had some of this green circle print on hand and I am so glad I used it instead. 

The blocks are reminiscent of disappearing 9-patches, but they aren’t the actual thing.  It was really easy and with chain piecing the whole way through, I was done making the top in 2 hours.  Cutting not included- that always takes me a long time. I have been collecting these cute girly prints for a while, and I didn’t realize how many blues I had picked out until I started pulling fabric for this quilt!  Blue is my favorite color, so I always have the most of that.

I have issues taking pictures.  Some days I understand my camera, and other days… so we struggled with these.  It was taking a while, so Mike (my awesome quilt-holding husband) got bored and started goofing around.  Here he is showing me how he will be an old toothless man in a wheelchair with a quilt on his lap. He wouldn’t let me share the photo of him kissing his bicep. :)

But then he started flirting with me so I’ll forgive him.

I am soooo in love with this little quilt.  My sister-in-law is preggers, but hasn’t found out the gender of the baby.  If it pops out a girl, she will get this one.  If it pops out a boy, I have another stack of fabric on the cutting table ready, and it will be really cute as well- just for boys! 

We had a little too much fun taking pictures while my parents contained our children in the house.  Hee hee!  (By the way… there’s my new hair.  I think I lost 8 inches of hair and 3 pounds with that haircut!!)

Quilt stats: 48” square, lots of different fabrics from various fabric lines and designers (I know there’s Sandi Henderson, Heather Bailey, Michael Miller, Anne Kelle… and others.)

I’m tired.

These last few days have worked me over.  We’ve got a serious case of the terrible Two’s around here, and I’ve been stressed out to the max over other things as well.

For one, getting this project finished and working for Curbly: (Check! Done.)

And for another, recording a Christmas CD with my choir yesterday (It is still just as tear-jerking in February!) where there was a huge inner struggle because I would have to be gone for 8 hours without a non-bottle-taking baby.  I was in tears a lot over it.  Lucky for me, my awesome husband drove me and all our girls to Phoenix and hung out for a while, and I’d sprint to the car on breaks and nurse.  The whole thing was beautifully orchestrated- the recording and the feedings. Check that stress of my list- done and done.

And then, we’re applying to graduate schools.  Mike will probably give me the silent treatment for 20 minutes for mentioning it because some of his favorite people to work with read this here blog.  While I’m not the one taking the GMAT and filling out applications, writing essays and updating my resume, I’m still stressing out about it.  It is mostly selfishness on my part, because I really really don’t want to have to leave where we are right now.  My Thursday nights are my favorite part of the week, where I go practice with my choir.  I love music.  I love being part of something big.  But I know my family is of bigger importance.  So I cry some more.

Selfish.  But rightly so.  :) I can now check applications off my stress list, at least. 

Our small car is unusable, sitting in the Home Depot parking lot by our house.  We can’t find our title anywhere to sell it even to the junk yard. We did just get papers from the bank to get a new title. And our van kept getting flats until we finally just replaced the dang tire.  Don’t you love cars?  Still on the list.

Anyway, I’m just tired. 

I just want to sit and sew.  I have a quilt to bind, another quilt top to quilt, and a whole mess of other projects on my to-do-for-sanity list.  I have a lot of lists.

I hope to have this one finished to show you on Monday, for it is DEEEEElightful. 

Well, just typing these things out was a bit like detox, so I feel better already. 

Now, I better go.  I have Diem to Carpe.

Reversible Baby Wrap- Draw your own pattern

Some of you wanted to make a larger size wrap dress for the kids in your life.  I’ll quickly show you how, a la Jess at Craftiness is not Optional, who makes all custom sizing possible for the sewing moms/aunts/grandmas out there.  Thanks, Jess!

First, you need a shirt in the same size as your intended project.  Turn it inside out, and tuck in the sleeves.

Trace around the shirt, making sure to include your seam allowance.  For the reversible dress, the front neckline isn’t that important- yet!

Trace the shirt completely around both sides and the top.  You’ll be lengthening your shirt to your desired dress length, so don’t trace the bottom edge (unless of course, you want a wrap shirt!).

Next, draw a sloping line from one shoulder to the underarm of the other.  You can do a curved slope, or a straighter slope.  My dress is straight. Don’t overlap the seam allowance, or the bow will be right under the armpit- blah.

Your front pattern piece is done!  To make your back piece, just trace the shirt again and follow the neckline accurately.  Lengthen your pieces to the right dress length, and get sewing!

iPad case

No, I’m not awesome enough to own an iPad.  In fact, I don’t own an ‘i’ anything.  But I have a good friend who is always whipping hers out to share pictures of her trip to Italy to play with an equally awesome symphony, show me hilarious YouTube videos, and write warm-up ideas down during our choir rehearsal.  She has a nifty magnetic cover thingy, but I am always looking for an excuse to sew something.  I can’t participate in any piano concerto, but I can sew!

I followed the tutorial at Fresh Lemon Quilts, and it was magnificently easy.  These types of projects are great for zipper newbies. I think it took longer to cut the pieces than to actually sew everything together.  I used fusible interfacing so it is a bit poofier, and I used her measurements instead of the iPad2 measurements because of the extra bulk.

I know my friend likes blue and orange, and I had nothing in my stash to accommodate that.  Well, I had the orange zipper… but darn, I had to go fabric shopping at ETC :)

I did have this appropriate lining fabric in my fabric cupboard.  What would hold an iPad better than a bushel of Apples?

Winner! And, life.

The winner of the All Those Patterns giveaway is:

Pam!

Congrats! 

We’ve had a weird week this week- all of us have taken turns being sick.  Wednesday the baby had a super high fever, yesterday we were all sniffling, and I was up half the night with a 2-year-old with diarrhea.  Hence the blog absence of late.  I did get an idea for a quilt earlier and have been sewing like crazy in the wee hours of the night, though.

And, lest you think everything project I do turns out perfectly the first time…

Whoops.

A Mushy Love Post

(Engagement Photo, 2005. That’s a fake ring [we were just dating here and a friend needed to take photos for a class. We liked it so we used it], and yes- once upon a time I had pretty curly hair.)

Valentine’s Day.  I really didn’t care for it growing up.  In fact, it still isn’t that big of a deal because Mike and I are always doing things for each other to show we love each other.  But this year, I thought I would go an extra step and actually do something on February 14th.  So I wrote 52 reasons why I love him on a deck of cards, found via Pinterest.

So, last night at 1:00am I am writing down all the reasons why I love Mike so much.  I sailed through those 52 cards easy, and I still have more.  And then today I was looking at the pictures of us when we were dating, newly wed, and going through exciting times together.  He was so skinny!!!

He’s the greatest husband, and I’m so glad I found him. I met him in the laundry room of the Riviera Apartments just off of campus at BYU. We were stuck in there waiting for our clothes and we talked for a good hour, laughing all the way (ha ha ha!). I walked away from there knowing I had just met the man I would marry.

I started hanging out at his apartment, and he never asked me on a date. So I asked, and I took him to the zoo for our first date. He threw rocks at some chipmunks while we were there, and I’m pretty sure one of my roommates put him on her death list.  And yes, he still acts like a 7-year-old sometimes, but it comes in handy when I need him to distract our girls.

He told me once during my persistent hanging out that I shouldn’t come over to see him anymore, and it pretty much broke my heart.  I think he broke his own too, because two days later he was begging me to come over again.  4 days after that, we were official!  We started dating in February of 2005, and were married in August of the same year.  He says he was playing hard to get, but I think he was afraid he’d end up a married man :)

He’s a great dad to our little girls and is soooo patient with me.  When I’m tired or hungry (or worse, both!), I’m a bear!  He is always willing to go the extra mile for me.  I appreciate him so much.  He actually likes me being crafty, even though it makes a huge mess all the time.  Did you know he is the brain behind a lot of my projects?  He’ll say, “Mel, why don’t you make X project and blog about it?”  Yeah.  I know.  I’m lucky to have him.

I hope you have a great Valentines Day with your family, friends, and loved ones!

All Those Patterns Giveaway

Here’s a fun new website to help you find just the right pattern! All Those Patterns is a website with several PDF Pattern designers and more adding their designs every week!  Think of it as a PDF Pattern mall... all of the top PDF Pattern Designers in one location!  Whether you are a sewing enthusiast or a brand new crafter you can browse through patterns for quilting, decor, clothing, crochet, knitting, and sewing to find something that will make your heart flutter!

I mean, look how darling!!! I wish I knew how to crochet.

I’m also loving these dinosaurs, they would be great for baby shower gifts!

The blog features new and favorite patterns all the time, so be sure to check it often!  There is also a Facebook page for instant updates and highlights.

If you’d like to win a $20 gift card to All Those Fabrics, leave a comment below and let me know what medium is your favorite- quilting? sewing clothes? Crocheting? Knitting? Underwater basket weaving? I’m interested to see the many talents that visit this here bloggy blog!

This giveaway is open to everyone until Thursday, Feb 16th at 11:59pm Arizona Standard Time :)

“Owl” Always Love You Canvas Art

I was at Kohl’s last week getting a pair of jeans, and I happened to walk past some of their Valentine decorations.  They had the most adorable tea towels and hand towels and aprons that had a cute little owl on it with some “Owl be yours” saying on it.  And I knew I Had to use it, somehow.

Cleaning up the craft room last week also yielded a 8x8 canvas.  I put it to work, and in a NO-SEW project!  I drew out an owl (way harder than it looks, I’m NO artist! I think this guy was my 5th attempt) and then traced the owl pieces onto some Wonder-Under. I roughly cut out the individual pieces from the Wonder-Under and ironed them to my fabric choices.  Then, I detail-cut the pieces out, removed the paper backing, and layered them on to my canvas where I wanted them.  With a hot, no-steam iron, I gently ironed the owl to the canvas.

My only complaint with the red dots is you can see through the lighter fabrics to the darker pattern behind.

I added a felt heart to the “Owl Always Love You” part for some more fun.  And I know- my “L” is really sad looking.

This probably would have gone over better if my paint had been completely dry… but since I have no patience it was still cool to the touch, not 110% dry.  I now have paint on my iron.  Better yet, I should have just ironed it to a big piece of fabric that I wrapped around the canvas.  But I didn’t have a piece big enough that I wanted to spare for a Valentine decoration :)

So now this guy sits atop my mirror in our front room, keeping a loving eye on us :).  I think he is SO ADORABLE though.  And the best part… this project was completely from things I had in my sewing/craft room.  Yay!

Sew a Reversible Wrap Dress for Baby

This year, I am doing a series of posts to help beginner sewers learn a few tricks of the trade, and arm them with simple sewing projects too.  Go and Sew!

I had too much fun this weekend.  Saturday night rolled around and I realized all of the little tiny baby dresses were covered in spit-up from previous weeks.  Instead of doing the much-needed laundry, I made a dress instead.

What?  You actually wash your kids’ clothes?  Oh.

I made one of these Saturday night-in purple, I should take photos- and figured out what needed to be changed so that I could make another one to share with you.  Want to make one too?  This is a great one for beginner sewing mommies/aunts/grandmas/sisters who want to expand their sewing skills.

This fits my 2-month old baby, and has room to grow.

To Begin, you need:

Pattern (8 pages, sorry! Just tape ‘em together along the dashed lines)

Two 1/2 yard cuts of coordinating fabric

1 yard of ribbon, cut into 9” pieces

1 yd Ric-rac trim (optional)

Sewing supplies (machine, pins, iron, matching thread)

*****Seam Allowances are 5/8”*******

Your Sewing Machine makes seam allowances easy, as long as you know what you are looking for.  Use a tape measure or ruler to find out which markings on your machine are which seam allowance guides, measuring from the center needle position, out.  Use painter’s tape, a rubber band, or a magnetic seam allowance guide to help you stay on the right spot as you learn the ropes!  5/8”, 1/2”, and 1/4” are common seam allowances.

LET’S BEGIN!

Iron your 1/2 yard pieces and lay them on a flat surface on top of each other, with Right Sides facing up.  Fold one side over so Right Sides are facing, and so you can fit your FRONT pattern piece on it comfortably.  Your BACK pattern piece will fit on the rest of the fabric nicely.  Pin the pieces (or use pattern weights) and cut them out of the fabric.

When you cut everything out, you will have two BACK pieces, and Four FRONT pieces: two RIGHTS and two LEFTS.

Take one fabric set (BACK, Front RIGHT, Front LEFT) and pin them Right Sides Together (RST) at the shoulders. Sew the shoulder seam and iron seams open. I like to trim the seam allowance a bit when I’m done too.

Repeat with the second fabric set.

Place your sewn pieces RST, matching shoulder seams.

Take a 9” piece of ribbon.  Insert the ribbon between the FRONT pieces, on the shoulder-less side.  The ribbon should be 5/8” from the top edge of the fabric.

Pin along the arm holes, front, and neckline.  Sew only along these sides.

********************

How to sew pretty corners:

Before you get to the corner, mark with a pin 5/8” (or whatever seam allowance you are using) away from the end.

When you get to the pin, remove the pin and make sure your needle is DOWN in the fabric.  Lift the presser foot.

Pivot your fabric 90 degrees,

Put the presser foot down, and continue sewing. You should be at 5/8” seam allowance still!

Nice and pretty.

If you will be turning it inside out, trim your corner point off.  Sometimes I trim more off the sides too.

*******************

Trim close to your seam allowance along all the curved parts of your dress.

Turn the dress right-side out by pulling the front pieces through the shoulders.  It might get tight for a moment, but it will be fine in the end :).  Once it is out, iron it flat.  Now… if you can follow my lovely Paint job photo… you’ll want to pin a ribbon on the LEFT BACK of each fabric side (Fabric A and Fabric B, we’ll say), using the ribbon already on the front piece as a guide to where it needs to be placed (about 1” from the seam). 

Next, match up the sides of the dress, RST, with the fabrics matching up as well. It helps if you first pin the seams together and pin out from there.  Sew together.

Trim close to the seam allowance where the seams meet so the dress won’t be bulky.

Turn everything Right Sides out again, and iron it all pretty and flat.  You should have one ribbon poking out on each fabric side.

Take your ric-rac and baste it (I use a regular stitch) to the dress on Fabric A ONLY.  Make sure your raw ric-rac edges are tucked away so they won’t poke out when the dress is all sewn together; I just fold it under.

Turn it wrong sides out again, and match up the bottoms of the dress.  Pin them together, leaving a 4” space for turning somewhere on the back pieces.  I use pins to tell me where to stop and re-start my sewing.  Sew together.

Turn it right-side out through the opening at the bottom. Iron the bottom and opening so you create a nice, clean hem. Then, top-stitch close to the edge (1/8”) around the entire dress, closing the bottom opening as you sew.  Top-stitch around the arm holes as well.

Give everything another good ironing, and you are done!  To assemble the dress, first tie the inside ribbon to a the front piece.  When it is on the little baby, I double-knot it.

Then, tie the outside ribbon to the other front piece.  Double-knot again.

Side A- CUTE!!

Side B- DOUBLE CUTE!!

Peek-A-Boo, chunky legs!

So, there you have it.  Two dresses in one.  And adorable to boot! ( I was chasing sunlight in these pics…)

I love making clothes for my girls.  I love it when people comment on their skirts or whatever, and they proudly say “My mommy made it for me!” and I usually get a big hug from them as they say it.  I do what I love, I love what I do, and I love who I do it for.

If you make one (and really, you should!), upload it to the Flickr group!  Encourage each other.  You CAN do it!