When Sewing Takes Over

I have been busy making things like there is no tomorrow! I just realized I haven't posted anything in over a week, so today, here is a crafty, sewing showcase.

Let's start with the baby quilt that is a companion to the "Amelia" quilt I made. 

Just like the other one, but different colors.

I also decided to try working on my own fabric by putting my drawings on mug rugs and I started with one of the Jelly Friends, Tamber Melon and my resident Meowfox Mr. Snugglekins.

Hi guys! 

Then I coordinated background fabric and attached them to the centers. 

Finally I applied backing and binding. 

All done!  

Posing as a mini rug! 

I cannot stress enough how happy it makes me to create things and I am so happy to have a new way to create by being able sew things and quilt.  I wish I'd been doing it forever, but I'm happy I started at all. I encourage you to start doing whatever it is you would like to do, today!!! I have learned to knit, crochet, paper craft, and sew...in the last 5 years! I keep telling anyone who will listen that I am so happy I started seeing because there's this whole world of fabric and patterns that I have access to now! I am really enjoying sewing and I look forward to improving as I keep working! Tomorrow I will be posting a video about making inked backgrounds for your layouts, happy crafting!

Quilt Fabric Storage Idea with the Big Shot

Hi everyone! I just started using my Sizzix Big Shot to cut fabric and I had an epiphany. I'm a modern quilter and I love jelly roll quilts. I was cutting some fabric last night and decided to "kit" my jelly rolls. 

Cutting 2.5" strips

Strips galore! 

Then I put them into groups I would probably use together. 

I tied the rolls with scrap strips from cutting.

Then I can just stack them up and save space! This would make an awesome gift for a fellow quilter as well. Hope this helps organize your stash, happy crafting!

My First Jelly Roll Jam Quilt

I wanted to start another baby quilt and ended up finding this awesome pattern for jelly roll quilts! I love the idea of jelly rolls, coordinated bundles of fabric that are pre-cut into strips! It's wonderful. So I started with a really fun roll with some vibrant colors and patterns. 

I used the roll on the left. 

Then I started the pattern by piecing my strips. 

Only 15 more to go. 

Then I cut my blocks using an acrylic 6" x 12" ruler.

This part was really fun. 

Next I arranged my blocks according to the pattern and started making them into bigger blocks.

I assembled my top. 

Only batting, backing, and binding now (The 3 B's) 

Now the backing had to be picked out after this was assembled so I could get an idea of how the colors looked together, I decided to go with blue flannel again, but this time with orange binding.

Binding half done. 

Here is the finished Jelly Roll Jam Quilt. 

I need to press this, but it's finished! 

I thoroughly enjoyed making this quilt and it came together over the course of 3 days. I even had time to start a new project. 

Flannel Animals :) 

That's all for today, I hope you shop for a nice jelly roll and make one of these awesome quilts, happy crafting! 

My First Finished Quilt!

I am beyond excited!!! I finished my quilt, in less than a week. I was originally gave myself 6 weeks to finish two baby quilts, but to my delight, this one came together so quickly that I was able to surprise the recipient this morning. I have to thank an amazing person who helped me through this, she looked at my progress everyday and gave me tips to make things easier. Without her help, I would still be trying to figure out what to do with all of these squares.  This pattern is called The Hundred Hugs Quilt, and you can find it here.

Here is how the process went down. 

Charm squares. 

Beginning rows. 

Center is done. 

Border added. 

More squares. 

Finished top with the backing color. 

Batting and backing attached and quilted together! 

Binding half done. 

Completed quilt. 

Then as a way to say thanks for the quilting help, I made this card.

I also made a card to go along with the quilt!  

Embossed mustaches with a tag. 

Then wrapped it up. 

My husband delivered it today and I'm happy to report that the mom-to-be loved it! I hope this inspires you to share some handmade kindness of your own, happy crafting!  

Demystifying Quilting

So I just got word that some folks I know are expecting babies later this year and I have always wanted to make a quilt, and here's my chance, baby quilts! I'm excited about this because now I too can be one of those savvy crafters that buys the correct thread and modestly says "A quilt" when the cashier asks what I'm making. Hahaha! Seriuosly though I have wanted to make a quilt forever but it just always seemed like such an overwhelming task, like I could not make a quilt unless it was worthy of being entered into the county fair.  I'm saying that because I feel like quilters are almost a secret society, where you have to be grandfathered (grandmothered?) in, or at least have learned the skill when you were little. I am the first person in my family to attempt quilting and the only one that knows how to use a sewing machine, it's like being first generation, but with crafts.  The difficulty in jumping in solo is that all of the tribal knowledge and nuggets of wisdom are hidden from you. Who are you going to ask about the best way to cut strips? Unless you can find a sewing circle, you're going to use my good friends YouTube and Google! Because these exist, you are in luck and you can meander through just about any crafting task with these two resources, that's how I learned to knit, by watching YouTube! In fact all of my crafts started with YouTube, knitting, crochet, paper crafting, and coloring.  So as I start my first baby quilt, I will take you on the journey with me and share my experience and anything I might learn along the way! Here are the first 110 charm squares...I need 220.

Charms squares all day. 

Luckily these babies are due in the fall, so I have time to try, make mistakes and then try again. Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting! Oh, I am still working on the Veritas Cowl and expect to have it done I another week or so.