Piper's Quilt & Stuff

My sister had a baby in February.  I wasn't sure what to give/make/get for her.  It's taken me this long to finally figure it out.  I made her a quilt.  Surprise huh?  LOL  Anyway, I got a tumbler (trapezoid) die that works in my sizzix so I didn't have to sit there and cut out endless trapezoids.  They're a bit smaller than the template I made.  The template made a 5" finished tumbler.  The die makes a 4" finished tumbler.  The corners match up SO MUCH better when you use something that's uniformly cut!  I was able to cut all the tumblers for this quilt in under 30 min!  Yes, that right, one episode of Dora! 

Anyway, I wanted to do pink for her since Piper is her first girl.  I found the great fabrics at my favorite store- Joann's.  I love the combination of pink and brown and white too.  I hesitated with the white but I think it works.

 The front of Piper's quilt

 

 The back of Piper's quilt

 Piper's taggie

 reverse of Piper's taggie

Piper's burp cloth made from scraps from her quilt..  The back is white flannel.

I love making baby quilts and stuff.  They go so fast and always turn out adorable.  :)

Ally's Pillow Case Birthday Dress

I wanted to make a special dress for Ally to wear for her 1st birthday party this Saturday.  I've heard pillowcase dresses are easy.  She needed a butt cover as well and I found a very easy cover pattern.  You can't try to be perfect on the cover.  It just won't work for the legs because they're round and round stuff doesn't sew or iron around neatly.  The dress started out with just the fish fabric but I figured that if I was sewing I might as well make it reversible.  You know, kids have spills and such, so that if it got dirty I could flip it around and have a clean dress.  :)  I found a pattern that I liked and used it to draft my own for Ally's size.  I used bias tape for the hem because I HATE hemming things and I really suck at it.  The fabric is from my stash (I'm on a no spending craft budget these days) and I found the ribbon in my stash too.  Who knew I had 7/8" yellow ribbon?  Random.  All it in all, I think it urned out pretty cute if I do say so myself!  

Take a look below and see what Ally's going to wear for her special birthday party!  

 

 One side is fish.  LOVE this fabric!

The other side is a fun tie dye.  I've been looking for a reason to use this.  I think it's PERFECT!

Ally's Quiet Book

This quiet book has been bouncing around in the back of my head for quiet some time.  Ally's still a bit young to play with it but I figured I had time this summer, so why not make it.  Right?  After I made her bedroom stuff, I finally had time to work on it but knew I didn't want to do it out of felt.  100% wool felt is pretty pricey and I can't get it anywhere locally, only online.  So, I turned to vinyl.  I found some GREAT bright colors of the fun stuff at Joann's.  Most of this book is from things in my stash.  The only stuff I had to buy to make this book was the vinyl and the grommets for the binding.  I even had the rings!  Everything is machine sewn too.  I've linked tutorials and ideas that I used.  If I didn't give proper credit and you know who it belongs to, PLEASE let me know so I can fix it!  Thanks!  :)

The cover of Ally's quiet book.  I used white vinyl that I cut on my cricut for her name.

The barn came from here, I used some GREAT wood grain fabric I had in my stash that a friend sent me last year.

The braiding page came from here, I used some poly rope type stuff I had in my stash.

This idea is from here, I got the beads at Joann's and cut the vinyl with SCAL and my Cricut.
(anyone know how to turn an image?)

The pocket idea is from here, I used a pocket off a pair of old jeans and appliqued a turtle from the background fabric to the front.  I like to put a little stuffed bunny in the pocket for Ally to find.

The zipper page is loosely based on a page found here, I picked these up for 50 cents each on clearance at Joann's years ago.  More stuff from my stash!  :)

These 2 pages are my own design (yes, I know, I'm BRILLIANT, right?  LOL.)  There are lots of ideas out there for these. 

Of course, I had to have a tic tac toe page and a button the flower page!  The tic tac toe pieces can also be used for matching practice.  There are 2 of each and they store neatly in the cool orange envelope.

The flower page has 9 flowers and the extras store in the "grass" pocket.

The dryer page idea came from here, I used vinyl and velcro instead of felt.  

The weaving page idea came from here, I used ribbon instead of felt.

The back cover is just like the front but no writing.

I used this tutorial for the binding.  The pages started out on an 11x12 piece of osnaburg.  The backgrounds are all cut 9 1/2 x 12.  I folded over 1/2" on the edge that wasn't going to get stitched and used fusible webbing to iron it down well all around the edges and in the middle.  I sewed everything thru the background and osnaburg.  I stitched the front and back of pages together with a 1/2" seam allowance.  Then I top stitched it all together too.  The binding part is done measuring 1/4" from the bound edge and stitching, go another 1/4" in and do another line, go in 5/8" and do another line, and a final line another 1/4" from there.  I used my crop a dile to punch the holes and set 1/4" grommets.  Easy peasy!  Then found some binder rings in my craft cave to hold it all together.

How To Make A Taggie

So, you've seen those super cute baby things called "taggies" and you want to make your own? They're SUPER easy to do and you can whip one up in about an hour.

Supplies
1. 2 pieces of fabric cut to your desired size. I like to do squares. Depending on the size of fabrics I have, I like to do mine 15-18" square. Wash and dry your fabrics first. I like to use flannel paired with fleece. 2 layers of fleece is pretty thick for some machines to stitch thru. Use whatever fabrics you want to. Be creative!
2. Ribbons. I tend to like them to be matchy all the way around but I've seen them made with all different ribbons. Try to use different textures and patterns. Ric-rak is fun too.
3. Thread
4. Sewing machine
5. Scissors or rotary cutter & cutting mat
6. Ruler
7. Pins

Ok- ready to get started?
1. Cut your fabric to your desired size. Here, my squares are 18"

2. Cut your ribbons to 6". Fold in half and press with a warm iron. If the iron's too hot the ribbon may melt.

3. Take one piece if fabric and place it face up. Pin the ribbons, folded end toward the center of the fabric, around the outside. I do mine starting 2" from the corners and then about 2" apart. I also do them 2" in from the edge. Be sure to pin them all down. Put sturdy ribbons at the corners for hanging on things.

4. Place your other fabric face DOWN over the piece you just pinned all the ribbons to. Match the edges as best you can and pin the heck out of it. I start by pinning the center and a few inches out from the center then I pin between all the ribbons and at the corners.

5. Stitch all the way around using a 1/2" seam allowance. Be sure to leave space for turning. I usually take one of the ribbons out and leave about 5" open.

6. Clip the corners to get a nice corner when you turn it.

7. Turn it right side out after reaching in and removing all the pins. Trust me, remove the pins before trying to turn it. Poke the corners out. I like to use a chopstick for this.

8. Iron it smooth and be sure to iron the fabric inwards at the opening you left for turning.

9. Pin the ribbon you left out into the opening. Pin around the taggie to keep the front and back neat for top stitching.

10. Stitch around the taggie. I like to do 2 lines. I just use the sewing machine foot for the measure here. One line is the outer edge of the foot and the other is the inner line. I think they're 3/8" and 1/8" (maybe ?)

11. You're done! :) Sit back and smile at the money you saved and the cuteness you created! If you make a taggie using this tutorial, drop me a note and let me know how it turned out.

The Long Awaited Belly Pictures

8 weeks

Not much of a belly so to speak.
Hope I can look like this again one day! :)

12 weeks

Just a little bit of a belly.
Note that you can see the door knob.

16 weeks
The door knob is disappearing.

20 weeks
No more door knob. LOL
HALF WAY THERE!

24 weeks

Still in my regular jeans with the help of a hair band.

So far I've gained about 17 lbs.
I'm very pleased.
The kiddo is rolling around a bit more than she was but not like I thought she would be.
I know that's coming soon enough tho.

Baby's Floor Quilt

I made this quilt for us to throw on the floor and play on or to drag outside and put on the ground. The back is denim, the front is soft and cuddly flannel. I still have to "rag" it but I need to figure out what to do with the edges before I do that. The denim is from old pairs of jeans that Greg and I gave to my nana to use and I got back when she moved to Chico. So, how geeky is it that our kid who has our genes gets a quilt made from our jeans?

This is what 16 pairs of jeans looks like when cut into 169 6.5" squares

169 flannel pieces cut from 14 different fabrics

The flannel and denim paired up. It's quite scary looking

All sewn together, this is the front side

All sewn together, this is the back side

Now to figure out how I want to finish the edges- do I bind it or just rag it?
If I bind it, what should I do it with? Denim? Flannel scraps? Cotton fabric?

19 week sonogram pictures

Kiddo in profile. :)

It's a GIRL, yep, got the girlie parts and everything!

And the "money shot"

Kiddo with her hand wrapped around her knees.

Two tiny feets

Another shot of her little feet, looks like she might have MY "monkey toes"

I think I'm in love with this little one already! :)