Baby Quilt

bSo to go with the bedroom theme for the nursery for my daughter JaNaes baby I designed and made a quilt for the baby.  I was inspired by the chevron design theme JaNae wanted as well as some block ideas I saw on pinterest.  Needless to say the quilt looks good from a distance but don't look close at the blocks.  I am still learning alot about quilting and have alot left to learn and I would definitely have done some things different and I will blog about how to do these blocks and this quilt later but I wanted to at least post the quilt.  The lady I use to machine quilt my quilts did a great job even though there were alot of imperfections by my piecing of the quilt.  In fact I think she made it look better.  Thanks to Janae Tanner my machine quilter.  She has done about 10 quilts for me and each one she put alot of thought into what design will make it look good. 

Car Seat Cover

So this is my latest car seat cover I made for my daughter JaNae.  I used chevron prints and polkadots because this is the fabric she picked out for the nursery.  I decided to make the cover reversible, so the rings the attach to the handle are not sewn to the cover.  Instead I created long button holes about 2 inches apart and parllel to each other.  2 on each side of the handle.  The velcro rings are put through the big button holes then velcroed to the handle.  This gives you a little more variety.

Quilting

My biggest hobby lately has been quilting.  I bought a program called EZQUILT 7.  It is used to design quilts.  It allows you to design the quilt then take fabric jpg. files and import them into the quilt so that you can design the quilt and see what it will look like with the fabrics you have purchased.  It allows  you to see if the colors look good or if there is a balance to the colors. 

The quilt design program can print the pattern pieces when you are done designing and tell you how much fabric will be needed.  One of the quilts I recently did I purchased the pattern but did not purchase fabrics like the quilt pattern design because I liked the pattern but not the color scheme.  I cut out the quilt pieces with the fabrics I bought and had all the pieces layed out as they would go into the quilt.  I felt like some of the color design did not look just right.  I took the pattern and drew it in the quilt program.  I then took the fabric I had chosen and downloaded the jpg. Files into the quilt design.  It really helped me to make the changes I needed so that I could get it to look more cohesive and balanced.  I then recut a few of the pieces out of different fabric to achieve the design.  It turned out great and is currently at the quilters.  This program could save time and money. You won’t purchase patterns or prints that maybe won’t work into the quilt design.  I have found that I really like lots of color and big prints but big prints do not always lend themselves to some quilt designs because the large print pattern will not even show up when cut into small pieces.

Quilt Pattern I bought

fabric I chose and put into the pattern it totally changes the look

Pinterest has a lot of cute quilt ideas and I have been able to implement some of the ideas on pinterest into the quilt designs and then apply the fabrics I have purchased.  These are a few of my quilt designs.

this one is the design I came up with for JaNaes baby that is on the way 

This was an alternate design 

 I have this fabric and I thought that this would make a cute baby quilt someday for someone

This is another design I came up with and fabric I have already to go

This one I have already started cutting the pieces but have not totally decided on the border

Between pinterest  and the quilt design program I waste a lot of time.  When I design a quilt I do about 10 different versions and then print them off so I can see them side by side and then pick the one I like the best to actually make.  I have two quilts in progress that I have designed and about 4 more desgined and ready to implement. 

Purchasing fabric has also become an obsession.  If I can’t find it in the store the internet has plenty of companies that have what you need. 

Cute Onesies

Skirts for onesies

I saw this cute idea on Pinterest and had to try it out and give it as baby gifts.  I found the cute fabrics and ribbon from Walmart and the tulle I got from JoAnn fabrics.    I was also fortunate enough to buy some of the onsies for gifts at Walmart for 1$.  I love a bargain.  Some of the onsies I got at Carters on sale.  I never pay full price for anything.  I think it’s a sin. 

The hardest thing was trying to figure out what size the baby’s waist is.  I used my 9 month old granddaughter Abbey to figure out sizes and took a little off for younger sizes and added to make larger sizes.  I have always thought it was just as quick to make 2 or 3 of something as it was to make 1 so I made 6 little skirts 3 different sizes of  2 different fabrics. 

For a size 0-3 months I cut a piece of grosgrain ribbon 18” long.  Cut a piece of fabric the full width of the fabric and 4 ½ inches high.  Cut 2-3 pieces of tulle 5 ½ inches tall and the width of the tulle.  I did two pieces but I think it could have been a little more full.  Sew a tiny hem on the decorative fabric.  Gather the other edge.  I have a ruffle foot that I use on my machine to ruffle or you can gather with basting stitches by pulling the threads.  The ruffling foot will not gather certain fabrics such as tulle so you will have to run basting stitches and pull the threads and gather it yourself.  The tulle can never be too over gathered.  I think that it is what gives the punch to the little skirts.  I sewed the gathered fabric edge onto the gathered tulle edge with my serger.   I then sewed the grosgrain ribbon onto the serged edge of the fabric.  I finished the edges of the skirt by serging and then folding over the serged edge and top stitching.  I sewed Velcro the hook piece on one end of the grosgrain ribbon and on the other end of the grograin ribbon I sewed two pieces of the loop Velcro spaced about 1 inch apart so that this allows the skirt to be adjustable.  I created a bow out of the grosgrain ribbon and sewed it onto the front of the skirt to the side.  I also created another bow and sewed it to a stretchy head band.  So easy and cute.  If you get a plain onesie you can make a cute little flower out of the fabric and put it onto the lapel of the onesie.  A small yo yo with tulle behind it and a button in the center makes a cute flower for the lapel. 

Here are the measurements I used.

0-3 months-Decorative fabric 4 ½ inches high and the width of the fabric.  Tulle 2-3 pieces the width of the fabric and 5 ½ inches high. 1 ½ inch Grosgrain ribbon cut 18 inches long.

6-9 months-Decorative fabric 5 ½ inches high and the width of the fabric.  Tulle 2-3 pieces the width of the fabric and 6 ½ inches high.  1 ½ inches grosgrain ribbon cut 20 inches long.

12 months-Decorative fabric 6 ½ inches high and the width of the fabric.  Tulle 2-3 pieces the width of the fabric and 7 ½ inches high.  1 ½ inches grosgrain ribbon cut 22 inches long.

INFANT SEAT COVERS

I make a lot of things but never seem to find the time to blog about how to make them.  Recently there has been a baby boom at work.  Several of my coworkers or their spouses are pregnant including my daughter JaNae.  I love to sew and create, so this baby boom has spawned some original creations and some cute copies of things I have seen on pinterest.  I love love love Pinterest.  It makes me wish I was a young mom again but at least my grandkids get to reap the benefits. 

It seems that the new moms have a competition going on as to who can have the cutest cover for their infant seat.  I have come up with some original designs and enjoy making them as baby gifts.  The first one I made was for my granddaughter Brecklyn.  Then I made one for my granddaughter Elyse.  My daughter Christin is a good little designer and she had picked out the fabrics she wanted to use in Elyses room and I used the fabrics to create the infant seat cover.  It was a black and white damask with pink and black polka dot fabric on the back.  Christin wanted pink dingle ball fringe on the edge.  It turned out so cute and she said she got lots of complements on it. 
I never make the same one twice. The creating and finding different fabrics is

part of the fun.  The size I work with is approximately 33inches by 42 inches.  I decide how I want to finish the edge and this determines if I leave the corners square or round them off.  I buy two pieces of fabric.  If the direction of the fabric does not need to run the long direction then 1 yard each of two different colors of fabric will work.  If you are working with fabric that is directional as the damask fabric I used for my granddaughters cover then the yardage needs to be increased to 1 1/4 yards.  For the edge fabric for binding you will need ½ yard of fabric or 41/2 yards if trim like large ric rac or dingle ball trim.  The straps are made by cutting two pieces of fabric 5” by 8”. 

The 5” by 8” piece is folded in half right sides together so it is now 21/2” by 8 “.  Sew along one end and down the long edge.  Turn right side out and press the open raw edge to the inside.  Stitch the end closed.  I like to use Velcro to secure the ends together around the handle of the seat. I use large buttons or flowers to embellish the straps.  The straps are sewn onto the finished cover.  I find the location by finding the exact middle of the finished cover and place the middle edge of the fabric 21/2 – 3 inches from the middle.  The straps will be about 5-6” apart. 

The car seat covers can be embellished in a variety of ways.  I like to appliqué quilts so it is fun to use appliqué as a way to decorate the covers.  If you have a sewing machine that does embroidery this would look cute also. 

I love the argyle design.  So I thought this would be cute on a cover for a baby boy.  I decided to make the design using diamonds of two different sizes.  I stitched over the larger diamond with a big x out of a contrasting thread using a decorative stitch so that it would show up better.  I used grosgrain ribbon on the edges to create a border.  I stitched the grosgrain ribbon down with the same decorative stitch in a contrasting color. 

I have some more designs in my head and fabric already picked out.  So there are even more designs to come.

Quiet Book

I have several grandkids and one of my daugters asked if I had any ideas on making a quiet book.  My daugter remembered the quiet book we had when she was little and wondered if I still had the patterns.  Sure enough as I looked through my patterns I found the original book of patterns I used for their quiet book.  Whenever I am given an idea I start to brain storm and I came up with several ideas for a quiet book.  Some of the ideas came from the original pattern book and other ideas and patterns came from other sources.  Some of the ideas were even original ideas of my own.  Some of the sources I used were free downloads off the internet, cricut cartridges," the quiet book tutor" by Norma Barnes, and some books about the scripture stories by Karen Finch (she has several).  After looking through all these sources I came up with ideas to create the pages. 

These are just a few of the items needed to start the quiet book.  I will go through page by page the items used and how it was put together.  I am not a fan of felt because it just looks cheap and I love fabric and all the bright colors and patterns.  I came up with the idea to use pellon because it was a little stiff yet durable and I knew I could also write on  it.  I have a pretty good printer so I also thought I could cut the pellon into the page size I wanted and then run it through the printer to print the words and designs that were either scanned from the books or drawn from the designs cut on the cricut.  I created a word document in microsoft word and then created the page size I wanted.  I made the pages 11x12 because that is the size that would cut evenly on the pellon because it was about 45 inches wide. I also wanted the pages bigger than notebook size because I felt that it was important to have pieces big enough for little hands and some of the pages had lots of pieces.  The pellon I used was 809 Decor Bond and to do the book the way it was designed it took 5 yards of pellon.

I thought it would be fun to create a title page and I printed the wording on then ironed a blank second page on the back.  The two glue sides are ironed together.  I then cut out an area below the title and created a square hole.  I then cut a piece of pellon two inches wider and taller than the whole.  I placed it behind the hole and stiched 1/2 inch from the hole edge all the way around.  I took a picture of my granddaughter and laminated it between contact paper and cut it out.  The picture should be bigger than the hole but not quite as big as the stitched area.  Just fold the picture a little and it will fit and unfold into the pocket.  I did this so that as the family adds more children another picture of the kids could be replaced so as to include all of them.

Since this was a quiet book for church.  I wanted to try and make the pages based on scripture stories.  Noahs ark is always a fovorite so I started out with that.  I got the ark pattern from a book called "Primary Partners" by Mary Ross and Jennette Guymon-King.  The animals I got from cricut cartridge everyday paper dolls.  I cut them out the size I felt was appropriate and traced them with a fine point permanent marker and colored them in with permanent marker.  I colored the animals onto the pellon and then ironed another piece onto the back of the animals and then cut them out.  I traced the animal shape onto the side page.  The page with the animals has this heading printed on it.  NOAH WAS A RIGHTEOUS PROPHET.  GOD ASKED NOAH TO BUILD AN ARK.  NOAH WAS OBEDIENT AND HE BUILT THE ARK.  GOD TOLD NOAH THERE WOULD BE A FLOOD AND THAT HE WAS TO LOAD ANIMALS ONTO THE ARK.  TWO ANIMALS OF EVERY KIND.  CAN YOU NAME THE ANIMALS AND THEN HELP NOAH LOAD THE ARK.  I cut the door of the ark around the top and down the side so the animals could load onto the ark.  I also made a slice at the top of the ark

to the side of noah so I could stick the animals up and they could poke there heads out.  When each page is colored and done then a sheet of pellon is ironed onto the page.  The glue sides get ironed together.

The next page was about Joseph of egypt and his coat of many colors.  I love this story and I think it is also one of my kids favorites as well.  When my kids were all home on one of our vacations we went to yellowstone.  In West Yellowstone we saw Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat. We had not purchased the tickets in advance so we did not end up sitting together as a family.  The stage was in sort of a semi circular fashion so I was sitting across from most of my kids and could see there faces as they watched the play.  It was priceless.  They all thoroughly enjoyed it and it was such a fun play about a great bible story.  The image for Joseph came from the book "Old Testament Fun and Games" by Karen Finch. The top of the page reads JOSEPH OF EGYPT WAS RIGHTEOUS.  HIS FATHER LOVED HIM VERY MUCH.  HE GAVE HIM A COAT TO WEAR TO SHOW HIS LOVE TO HIM.  THIS COAT HAD MANY COLORS.  CAN YOU MAKE JOSEPH HIS COAT OF MANY COLORS.  Joseph and his coat are colored with markers.  I then cut out fabric that matches the coat colors and shapes.  There is pellon ironed onto the back of the fabric to stiffen it and keep it from fraying.  I then iron on the a sheet of pellon onto the back.  I used sticky back velcro to stick the fabric pieces down to the picture.  The hook side of the velcro goes on the page and the other piece of velcro goes on the puzzle pieces.

The next page is the Nativity.  For christmas one year I wanted to find a nativity I could use for our family Christmas program.  We have several grand kids so I was looking for something I could use for them.  I came across a website that had free printables so I copied the nativity figures onto my lap top and created the nativity story for each of them.  As we read the story they placed the people into there spot on or around the stable.  I thought I would use the pictures again for the quiet book.  The image of the stable came from the book "Primary Partners"  and the nativity figures came from the web sight http://www.makingfriends.com/ I printed the images onto the pellon.  I wasn't sure the colored printer ink was waterproof so I actually colored over the top of the printer ink with permanent markers.  I then used the velcro and placed it around the stable to accomadate the various figures.  The matching velcro went onto the backs of the figures.  Before any velcro goes on all the coloring needs to be done then iron on the blank page on the back. 

This page is about Captain Moroni.  The heading reads CAPTAIN MORONI WAS RIGHTEOUS.  GOD TOLD HIM TO PUT ON THE WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD.  CAN YOU DRESS MORONI IN HIS ARMOR.  The next page is of a missionary.  The heading reads WE CAN BE A MISSIONARY.  AS A MISSIONARY WE ALSO NEED TO PUT ON ARMOR. CAN YOU DRESS THE MISSIONARY IN HIS ARMOR.  I copied the armor onto pellon and colored them in. I ironed a a piece of pellon on the back of the clothes then cut them out.  When the pages were colored I ironed on the pellon then I sewed a little pocket onto the lower left corner of each page so the the clothes could be stored in the pocket.  The velcro goes on last.  These pages came from the book "File Folder Fun" vol. 4 by Karen Finch.

 This page was of the creation. I got the picture of the earth out of the book "Old Testament Fun and Games" by Karen Finch.  The stars the moon and the sun patterns were cut out using a cricut cartrigde and yellow fabric that was mounted onto pellon.  Cut the shapes out then velcro goes on. This page says JESUS CREATED EVERYTHING.  HE CREATED THE SUN THE MOON AND THE STARS.  HE THEN CREATED THE EARTH.

The page with the sandals and feet came from the book"Primary Partners" vol 1.  I used the feet from there but got the idea to create sandals.  The sandals were made from fabric that looks like leather and I got it from walmart.  I cut out the bottom to fit the feet then made the sides by cutting 4 pieces 4 inches long and 2 inches wide.  The piece is folded in half and with a punch I punched 3 holes in the side and then with the crop a dile I put in grommets to use for the shoe lace holes.  I topstitched the sandal bottom over the edge of the side pieces about 1/4 inch.  The pellon needs to be ironed onto the back before topstitching the sandals down.  I used a blanket stitch to stitch it down but a zig zag stitch will work also.  This page says WE WANT TO FOLLOW IN JESUS FOOTSTEPS.  HE IS THE BEST EXAMPLE TO FOLLOW AND HE SERVED EVERYONE.  TIE HIS SANDALS FOR HIM.

With this page I used the same fabric as the sandals.  I drew the design on the tent.  I cut out a section in the middle and sewed a matching 7 inch zipper.  This helps learning to zip.  Inside the tent are some Indians. When you open the tent the indians can come out and be played with.  The tent idea came from The Quiet Book Tutor by Norma Barnes.  The indians inside came from an old pattern from a paint pattern I have from years ago.  This page says BEFORE WE WERE BORN THERE WERE OTHER PEOPLE HERE ON THIS EARTH.  ON THE AMERICAN CONTINENT THERE WERE INDIANS.  THE INDIANS LIVED IN TENTS.  OPEN THE TENT AND SEE WHO INDIANS ARE.

The next page says JESUS GAVE US ALL THE PRETTY COLORS.  MATCH THE HEARTS WITH THE CORRECT COLOR.  I cut hearts out of fabric of 7 different colors.  The fabric was backed with pellon.  The hearts were traced onto the page and the hearts on the page were colored with markers that matched the fabric.  This is to teach colors and matching.  Iron on the pellon on the back of page and then put velcro on hearts and page.

The fish page came from the book "Primary Partners".  You could also find fish from a cricut cartridge.  I wanted a page like this because When my son was a little boy he always loved to pretend to fish.  He would get any stick tie a string to it and then take a bent nail and tie it to the string.  This was his fishing pole and he loved it.  For this I sewed metal paper clips to the fishes mouth.  I took a string and put it onto a dowel with a very strong magnet on the end of the string.  The waves were drawn on then colored.  The page was ironed onto the pellon then I cut the waves so the fish would go down inside. The page says JESUS GAVE US ALL KINDS OF ANIMALS AND FISHES.  TRY TO CATCH A FISH. 

The opposing page was of a tree with apples.  I got the patterns for this from cricut cartridges. I used fabric lined with pellon to make the tree and fruit from.  The apples had velcro on the back then velcro places on the tree to put the apples.  The page reads HE GAVE US TREES WITH FRUIT.  PICK THE FRUIT FROM THE TREE. 

This page was to teach the shapes I cut the shapes out of different fabrics and the are ironed onto the pellon to stiffen it.  The shapes are traced onto the page.  The page says WE HAVE ALL SORTS OF SHAPES.  NAME THE SHAPES AND PUT THEM WHERE THEY BELONG.  The velcro is put on the shapes and page.  The flower page is made by the vase and fabric with wonder under on the back and ironed onto the page a different color button is sewn onto each stem.  The flowers are cut out of fabric that is  backed with pellon.  The fabric should match the buttons.  A button hole is sewn into each flower.  The page says HE CREATED EVERY LIVING THING.  HE GAVE US PLANTS LIKE FLOWERS.  BUTTON THE FLOWERS ONTO THE BUTTON THAT IS THE SAME COLOR. 

The house pattern came from a cricut cartridge.  I cut it out and used it as a pattern to trace and then colored it. The heading reads JESUS GAVE US EVERYTHING.  WE HAVE HOMES TO LIVE IN CARS TO DRIVE AND TOYS TO PLAY WITH.  WE SHOULD TAKE CARE OF EVERYTHING WE HAVE.  PARK THE CAR IN THE GARAGE.  I ironed the back with pellon then cut the garage doors so they would open.  I bought a cheap die cast car from the dollar store to put in the garage and the child can take it out and play with it. 

The number page says CAN YOU COUNT? PLACE THE BLOCK WITH THE RIGHT NUMBER AND COUNT AS YOU GO.  I traced the blocks and traced the numbers in the blocks.  I cut out numbers out of black fabric with wonder under on it then ironed the numbers out onto the the squares.  The squares were backed with pellon.  velcro is placed on the page to the side of the number in the square and then on the corresponding number in onto the back. 

The last page I simply ironed two pages together and cut a pocket into it so a magnetic drawing board could be inserted into the pocket for storage and taken out to draw on.  This page says WE HAVE SO MANY THINGS TO BE THANKFUL FOR.  CAN YOU DRAW A PICTURE OF ALL THE THINGS YOU ARE THANKFUL FOR.  The last page is a puzzle of the Salt Lake Temple.  My grandkids love puzzles so I figured I could not go wrong.  I printed and colored two temples.  The puzzle pieces had the pellon ironed onto the back and it was colored and then the pieces were cut.  The cut pieces were used to trace the shape onto the temple so they could match it .  The page says WE LOVE OUR FAMILY.  WE WANT TO BE WITH OUR FAMILY FOREVER.  HE SHOWED US HOW TO LIVE SO WE CAN BE WITH OUR FAMILY FOREVER.,  HE GAVE US TEMPLES TO SEAL OUR FAMILY TOGETHER FOREVER. HELP BY BUILDING THE TEMPLE.  The back page is backed with a pellon sheet.  Top above the temple is cut to create a pocket.  an extra page is stitched to the back to the edge then where the pocket was cut I stitched down from the side of the open slice 3inches then across then back up to the other side of the slice this will create a pocket for the puzzle pieces.

When all of this is done then the front page gets stitched with a zig zag stitch to the one next to it.  The pockets created would then hold the pieces basically open in the center of the pages.  Each page is stitched to the one that follows it. 

I hope this is helpful and inspires you to come up with an exciting quiet book for your family.  Already my grand kids are having fun with all of the pages full of puzzles and fun. 

Ruffled Shower Curtain Tutorial

I came across this cute idea for a ruffled shower curtain from Moda Bake Shop. I thought it was really cute, so I tried it out, only with a few modifications.

Materials you will need:
* 1 inexpensive, plain shower curtain (72" length x 70" width)
* 9 yards of fabric (one yard ea. of 9 different patterns if you wish)
* 2 yd jumbo ric rac

The first thing I did is lay out my shower curtain and using a ruler I drew horizontal lines every 2 inches beginning just below the grommet holes where you hang the curtain.  You should have about 35 rows.

In an effort to save money, I just bought nine yards of fabric rather than using jelly rolls like the Moda site recommended.  I also liked that by doing this my rows were a uniform pattern across the whole row. I cut 2 1/2 inch strips with my rotary cutter with a pinking blade. This wasn't as much work as I thought it was going to be, so I'm very glad I did it because I saved at least $50 right there. I cut 12 strips of each fabric except for one which I cut 9 (because I had 35 rows). Because of only needing 9 strips of one fabric, I could've gotten by with only 3/4 or 2/3 of a yard of one pattern. Then I pretty much followed all the instructions on the Moda Bake Shop site.

I laid out all my strips to decide the order I wanted to sew them onto my curtain.

To make one row for the shower curtain, you will need 3 strips of fabric sewn together to create one long row.

When it came time to sewing my ruffles, I used my ruffler foot to sew the rows into ruffles.  You can use any method of ruffling the fabric that you choose, I just found this to be easiest and it gave me nice uniform ruffles.

I started at the bottom of the shower curtain and sewed the strips on one by one, using 1/4" seam allowance.

No close up shots, but to finish off the raw edge at the top of the shower curtain, I simply sewed on some jumbo ric rac of a coordinating color and TA-DA!

Ah, I am in love. . .I am very pleased with the way it turned out.




Here is what I liked about the project:
*You don't have to be an excellent seamstress.  If you don't sew perfectly straight you'll never know because the ruffles conceal it!
*You can personalize it as much as you'd like.
*I love the ruffles and I love the way it looks in my bathroom!


Tips:
* I thought it would be slick to use my ruffler foot to create the ruffle and attach it to the fabric at the same time.  I thought it would save time, however, it cost me time in the end to fix all the places where the thread missed the fabric.  I should have sewn my ruffle strips, then attached them in two separate steps. 
* If you're going to put this much time and money into the project, use a fabric shower curtain to sew onto.  I've heard that you can sew onto vinyl curtains, however I worry about them becoming brittle with time, so I'd recommend spending a few extra bucks on a fabric curtain.