World Map Quilt

This one is for my sister.  Shhhhh..... she's having a baby in December.  I'm so over the moon excited for her!  Anyway, they're world travelers so this quilt is right up their alley.

I had this fabric in my stash.  No clue when I bought it.  I know I got it at Joann's as a remnant.  A full panel as a remnant.  Yes, thank you!  I bought it, figuring I'd do something for my classroom with it later down the line.  Never happened.  It got buried in my piles and mounds of fabrics.  A few weeks ago, I stumbled on it when I was cleaning and organizing my disaster.  When I saw it, I knew IMMEDIATELY that it was meant for them.  My sister is from the Bay Area of California.  Her husband is from England.  I put a heart at each location on the map.  I toyed with tying it in all the places they have been (and can still do that later) but didn't like that idea since it's for a tiny baby.  I knew I had to do something with the printed lines of latitude that were on it.  DING!  Use those to quilt on!  Then I figured out lines of longitude and did 0, 60, and 120 east and west.  Done!  I did stitch in the ditch on the border and bound it in black to make it look like a frame.  I think it turned out pretty darn cute!  Hope they love it and it gets lots of use to snuggle and play on the floor with!

Mom's Quilt

This is a special quilt for my mom.  She's awesome and is in need of some extra cuddly love.  Since I don't live super close by and can't see her as often as I wish to, I wanted to make her something that she could feel me in.  Weird, yes.  Do I care?  No.

I was on Pinterest and saw this great quilt from Red Pepper Quilts.  I knew I wanted to make a checkerboard style quilt the moment I saw that one.  I know my mom likes lots of colors so it made sense to make this one for her.

The multiple colored fabrics all came from my stash.  Yes, I have THAT much fabric!  And, it's ALL in those tones.  Nice and bright and fun colors.  I originally had a white with small colorful dragonflies that I was going to use as the alternate squares but then I realized that I had about 1.5 yds and I needed almost 5!  Wasn't going to work no matter how creative I got with my cutting.  So... off to Joann's I went in search of a white/neutral.  The first white I picked out had much smaller dots.  There wasn't enough on the bolt and there weren't any more bolts of it.  Since the cut counter line was crazy long, I ran back and grabbed this one.  It was my second favorite anyway.  I think it worked out better than either of the others would have.  Since I love making huge projects that I can't get a solid piece of backing fabric for, I knew I would have to piece it.  That said, I got 3 pieces of flannel and pieced the back.  I used black to do the binding and tied it with black pearl cotton thread.  I think the black binding makes it look like a frame.

To cut the squares, I bought a new die.  Yep, had to have it.  I got the 3.5" unfinished square die from Sizzix.  It made cutting all those squares (560 to be exact) so much easier and faster!  I'd say it took me about 2.5 hours total to get them all cut.  I had to cut from a chunk, iron, run thru the die cutter.  It went together pretty quick.  I spent probably 20 hours total on it.  Not too shabby.

Before I started this project, my darling almost 3 year old daughter decided to play with "the machine" and messed my stitches up something horrible.  I had to get it serviced.  :(  Turns out it had an issue that has nothing to do with her.  I'm not telling her that tho!  My dad came to the rescue with a machine that belonged to my Nana.  He took mine to a friend of his for service and loaned me my Nana's Babylok machine.  I really do NOT like that machine!  But, I persevered and made the ENTIRE quilt with it.  When I took the quilt to give to mom, I got my machine back.  My precious machine.  :)

So.... here's Mom's Rainbow Quilt

 Mom opening it

 The Front

 The Back

Spawn's Monster Quilt

A friend of mine (and her huband) is having a baby.  They know the gender but aren't sharing.  The theme of the baby's room is monsters so.... I made this cute little quilt to be loved on.  I'll tell ya, not knowing gender it's hard to make anything.  I think this one can go either way.  It's not overly blue and it's not ungirly.  I can't wait to find out if it's a boy or a girl.  My guess is on girl.  :)

I used my favorite Sizzix tumbler die for the front pieces.  It just cuts them so nicely, 10 layers at a time, and the corners match up awesome.  So much better than hand cutting!  Now to get it sent off before the little Spawn arrives!  I hope she or he (but I'm still going with she) LOVES it!  :)

 The Front

The Back

Jewelry Frame

Let me start by saying that I have no photos of how I did this, only the finished product.  It's really easy to make tho!

I had a DISASTER of a mess with my necklaces, anklets, earrings, bracelets.  It was BAD.  We're talking in a box all just dumped in.  I could never find my earrings that I wanted and when I did find the ones I wanted, I could only find one of them.  I HAD to solve this issue.  First I bought a little "lady" thingie with a skirt with holes in it that my earrings could go in.  That wasn't a good idea because my lever backs could only go around the bottom of her skirt and I have lots of lever backs.  I gave up on that with my frequently worn ones.  My necklaces, anklets, and bracelets had good storage (in the office/craft space) on my desk but it was at the other end of the house so not practical in the morning when getting ready for work.  I needed something new.  I scoured the web and found LOTS of frames with screen or fabric or whatever behind it.  I found things that hung on the wall over towel rods.  Those all were interesting to me but not exactly what I wanted and there was no way that all I have would fit on those!

So.... I had an idea to use a frame with chain and hooks.  I searched high and low for a frame I wanted to use.  They were all too expensive.  We're talking $20 or more.  I didn't want to spend that.  I'm cheap!  I knew we had base board moulding in the garage left over from one of the many houses we've built so I asked hubby to cut me some.  He measured the bathroom wall (where it was planned to go) and cut some boards for me.  We used plain old elmers school glue to glue it up.  I added squares of muslin saturated in the same glue over the corner joints at the back just to give it more stability.  I wanted to use wood joiners but the moulding is MDF and it was too hard to push or hammer the joiners into.  Glue it was.  I filled in the joints with wood putty and sanded it smooth.  After several coats of hammered finish rustoleum (it's what I had on hand), it was ready to be marked and drilled.

I marked 1" marks across the bottom of the front for my cup hooks and 2.5" marks on the inside (1/4" from the front/back so it was centered) and had hubby drill holes for me to add the eyelets and cup hooks.  15 hooks, 10 eyelets, and 80" of chain and it was done!  I LOVE it and wasted no time hanging it up and adding all my sparklies.  :)

Materials (this is for MY specific frame, your needs may vary):
10 1/2" eyelets (1 baggie)
15 1/2" cuphooks (3 baggies)
80" chain (I used all but 4" of it!)
Frame that's been painted or whatever you want to do to it.

How to:
Mark where you want the cup hooks to go on the front.  I spaced mine 1" apart centered on the bottom.  I used my centering ruler to get the first one in the center and then worked out from there.

Mark where you want the eyelets to go on the inside.  My frame is 1/2" deep so I put the dots 2.5" apart (starting from the bottom) 1/4" deep.  Do this on both sides.

Get your husband to drill the holes so you can screw all the parts in.  Screw the hooks in the holes on the front and the eyelets in the holes on the inside.

Open the first link on the chain using chain nose pliers.  Don't just pull the chain open, it won't close nice and pretty if you do that.  Attach the first link to one of the eyelets you screwed in.  Stretch the chain across to the other side so it's tight but not too tight.  I did one more link from totally taught.  It was easier to close the link on the other side.  Open the link where the eyelet is on the opposite side, remove the excess chain and attach the link to the eyelet.  Continue for the rest of the pairs of eyelets.

We hung mine with just nails into the wall in the corners.  I didn't mess with anything fancy since it's not that heavy.

DONE!  Now go make it pretty.  :)

Too much work?  I can make you one.  Pricing is done on a per project basis since frames are different sizes and prices and all that.  Oh, and I'm out of moulding!

These are all the tools required once the frame is put together and drilled.

All put together.  Now to hang it and fill it up with pretties.

All prettied up.

Daffodil Hill

Yesterday, it was a gorgeous almost spring day.  We needed to get out and do something.  The news had a segment on things to do in the area and Daffodil Hill came up.  It's close by, free, and we needed to go to Jackson anyway.  So, we headed out.  The place was REALLY busy.  The parking lot is dirt but it's very stroller friendly.  They have some critters that we saw- 2 donkeys, a horse, doves, pheasant, a bunny, chickens, a rooster, and 2 peacocks!  It was a nice escape and the weather was awesome!  It took us about 90 minutes to do the whole thing.  There's a trail you can walk along, picnic areas, and a vendor booth thingie that you can get postcards, peacock feathers, and other daffodil related stuff.

Daffodil Hill Entrance

Grandma's House

Tutorial Exchange ZIPPERS!

I won a $15 gift card to K & C Supplies on etsy to make a project and write up a tutorial using their products.  These are the items I picked- zippers and lobster clasps.  SOOOO EXCITED to make this one!  I love pouches.  Recently I learned how to make zipper pouches.  I like to line them so they're neat and tidy on the inside as well as the outside.  They're totally machine washable.  Names are always good to put on them too.  I also like to add a little clasp that can attach to bags, strollers, backpacks, whatever.  It's handy.  I'm making 7 for Christmas gifts.  Without further ado, here's my lined zipper bag with clasp and appliquéd name.....

Materials List

For the names-
*cricut machine with SCAL2 and my computer
*chalkboard bold font on the computer
*cutting mats
*white paper
*marker
*steam a seam lite
*scraps of fabric
*pen to trace letters
*centering ruler- I like my 18" from Omnigrid
*iron & ironing board

For the pouches (finished size is about 9"x6") -
*fabric for outside- I cut mine 10"x7"
*same size fabric for the lining
*fabric for the little strap- 3"x7"
*iron on interfacing- I like Pellon 808
*iron & ironing board
*zipper- 9" (10" overall)
*swivel clasp
*washout tape or pins
*stitch witchery
*sewing supplies

The tutorial

How to cut out and apply the name

 First I designed the names on my computer using SCAL2.  I cut the names on my Cricut machine and scribbled on the front of them so that I would know which side to put down to trace.

I traced all the letters face down onto the back of the steam a seam.  Make sure you're tracing on the side that peels off, not the side with the adhesive and that you're tracing with the letters face DOWN so that when you iron them down, they're face up!

Iron the  steam a seam down (note, I ironed the fish fabric on the wrong side and had to redo it!)

Cut all the letters out.  I like to use cutterbee scissors to get into all the little corners and intricate areas.  Peel off the backing paper and lay them out how you want them to be.  For me, I put the letters 2" up from the bottom of the outer fabric.  They'll stick down and you can reposition them until you iron them down.  Then they're stuck so make sure you like where they are before ironing!

These are all the pouches I'm making for my nieces and nephews and my daughter for Christmas.  Figured I'd make good use of all the supplies!  :)

Stitch around the letters.  I use my sewing foot as the guide for distance.  Go slow.  I tend to do the "up/down" button for most of the letters.  Yes, it's time consuming but the finished product is worth it.  When you go all the way around the letter and get back to the starting point, cut the threads and pull the front threads to the back.  Tie a double knot so keep the threads from pulling.

Pouch Instructions

Cut 2 pieces of the outer fabric (denim in my case, scavenged from old jeans) and 2 pieces of the inner fabric (muslin scraps for all but Ally's pouch).

Iron the interfacing to the lining fabric.  This gives it some stability and keeps it from feeling flimsy.
I cut mine to the same size as the fabric I'm ironing it to, you can cut it a bit smaller but not too much smaller or it won't get sewn with the fabric.

These are all the pouches laid out with their coordinating zippers and lining fabrics all paired up.  They're ready to be sewn.

 Make the little clasp holder.  Take your strap material and fold it in half "hotdog" way.  Iron it down.  Open and fold in one side to the center.  Iron.  Iron the other side to the center also.  Fold it in on itself and iron well.  Stitch the strap closed.  You can do a zig zag (which I like) or just a straight stitch down both sides.  Add the clasp and fold the strap in half.

I'm going to use Piper's pouch for the rest of the tutorial.  Lay your front fabric out in front of you.

Place the clasp/strap 2" down and 1"-1.5" in from the edge.  I like it about 1" but that makes pinning it down a bit difficult.

Place the quilters tape along the side of one edge of the zipper.  I like my pouches to have the zipper pull at the same end as the beginning of the name.  Pull the backing off and press down along the top edge of the outer fabric.

Apply another strip of tape to the zipper again, peel the backing, press the lining fabric down with right side down.  This makes a "sandwich" with right sides together and the zipper in the middle.  Pull the zipper open part way so you can get this under your sewing machine foot.  There's no need to pin since the tape will hold it down.  This tape is GREAT!  It doesn't gum up the machine and no pins and it washes out!  As you get toward the zipper pull, put the needle down into the fabric, lift the foot and pull the zipper all the way closed.  This will allow you to sew the rest of the way and not run into the pull.

Iron both sides AWAY from the zipper.

Attach the other side in the same manner.  Make sure that the fabrics are both facing right sides together.

Top stitch to reinforce the seam and keep it from rolling.  It's easier if you start with the zipper open and do the same as before with putting the needle down, lifting the foot, and pulling the zipper.

Unzip the pouch about half way.  You can go more if you want to.  Just make sure it's open!  If you forget this step, you will have to unpick seams and unzip and then restitch.  No thanks!

Pin all the way around making sure to leave an opening of 3-4 inches so you can turn it right side out.  I put 2 pins side by side so I know where to stop.  When you fold the zipper, make sure the teeth of the zipper point toward the lining and not the outer fabric.  This SHOULD give you a nice finish on the zipper.

Sew around, using a 1/2" or so seam allowance.  Be careful when going over the zipper.  If you use a longer zipper, you don't have to worry about hitting the metal stop at the end.  I bent my needle on this one because I hit the stop.

 Clip the corners and turn the bag right side out.  You'll have to reach in and unzip the rest of the way to get it turned all the way.  Push out the corners using something pointy.  I have a chopstick I use just for this task.

Fold in and iron the opening you left for turning.  I usually iron some stitch witchery in the hole so that it's for sure closed.  Stitch close to the edge, closing the hole.

Shove the lining into the outside and sit back to admire your new pouch.  :)

Lined and EVERYTHING!

A big HUGE thank you to K & C Supplies!  These zippers are great and the clasps are perfect! :)

I used this tutorial to get my zipper nice and tidy and not folded in on itself.