Colors Quiet Book- {Sewing & Craft Project using scraps from your stash}

Confession: I made this back in January. It has only taken my 8 months to share it with you.  I had the letters for about 2 years before I finally  used them. Yes it is taking me a long time to get things up on the blog to share with you these days- - but I'm still here. :)

Today at church, my 2 year old, went through this book a few times, and named all his colors! I have never had a two year old know all their colors when they could just barely talk. The color songs, have really helped, along with this little book, and - I confess- an awesome DVD called Preschool Prep. Colors.

This is a really fun little book, and I put mine together a little differently from some I've seen, so I'll share that with you.
First, here are all the pages:

HOW I MADE MY COLOR QUIET BOOK:

I bought the letters from Everyday Celebrations Etsy shop. You could make your own if you have a cutting machine. I attached them with Wonder Under- any iron on adhesive will work.  Then I used scraps from my stash. I just cut scraps- no hemming - just zig zag the pieces onto the pages.
The pages- are fabric cut from a sheet- but you could use muslin. I put some lightweight batting in between the fabric. The pages are two cut together- so that they form a large rectangle. I zig-zagged around the edges, attaching the pages together with the batting in between. BEFORE doing that, I sewed all the color scraps to the page.  The cover: I added scraps to the back, and front, and then made some binding (very unperfectly) from some scraps. I did this before sewing the pages together. To make the book, I laid all the pages on top of each other (two pages were attached together already by the way I cut the pages) and stitched down the center, turning it into a book. If you have ever made those pre-printed fabric books, it is very similar to that. The book tucks easily into a diaper bag or purse. My boys have loved it, and I think it has really helped the younger ones learn their colors.  The finished size is about 5 by 7 inches.

What fun things have you made lately for your kids?

Thanks for reading!

Star Wars Bunting and R2D2 Quilt and Ornaments

This awesome girl...made this incredible Star Wars Bunting/Banner on her blog. Check it out here! It is amazing!

She also made this super cute R2D2 quilt. Clever clever... now I might have to make up my own version. My boys would LOVE it.

 Afterall, they are a little obsessed with Star Wars. We decorated our memory tree, and they only were concerned about finding these ornaments I made last year....Made them up..and now need to make 4 sets- one for each of them. I hope the force is with me. You can see this post here.

Happy Holidays!

Small Fall Table Quilt

Back in the archives of this blog, is a quilt top as seen below. Finally, several years later, I finished it!

 I used up a bunch of scraps to make this little quilt. I decided it works great as a table quilt. It measures about 40 by 40 inches finished.

I love creating things with pretty fabric...even if it takes me years to finally get it all finished! - Yes, this one took a while to get finished.
Now...to finish the Halloween stuff I never  finished...or the Christmas stuff I never finished from several years ago....oh well.....At least I always have something to do!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Published in Simple Quilts & Sewing Magazine

 

My Car Cozy is in a magazine!

Last Spring I was contacted by Simple Quilts and Sewing Magazine about publishing my Car Cozy, and turning it into a pattern.

 Being that I have a very small blog,  I was ecstatic that a magazine had contacted me about one of my original ideas.  Over the past 3 years, I have seen blogger after blogger either make one using my tutorial, or take the idea, and make up their own version.   If you have been reading or following me, you remember back in June 2009, I showed you a rough version of this idea. Before that, I googled and searched the internet high and low to see if something like this even existed out there. I did not find anything, so for the first time, I made a tutorial and finally blogged it- flaws and all- in September 2009. It may be the "one hit wonder"- of this blog--but, here we are 3 years later, and it is published in a magazine. Kind of crazy... and a little exciting for me.

 Probably one of the craziest things, was seeing my little photo in the magazine and my name.
You can read all the designer bios online too.

I was asked to sew a Car Cozy, and mail it to them for photos.   This particular one uses a print from Alexander Henry, called "Rush Hour"- from 2010. I don't think it is in print, but you might be able to find it on etsy. {And I have some if you want to order a kit...}

 

 While it would be great to create more patterns, and have them published, this may be a once in a lifetime experience for me.  I would love to do more, and have many ideas running around in my crazy head, but time is short when you are a mom with young children. So we'll see...

 

You can purchase this magazine for about 9.95, at Target, Walmart, Safeway, JoAnn's, or almost anywhere magazines are sold. It is a great publication, with a ton of beautiful quilts and simple sewing projects. It includes patterns and detailed instructions. It is a great value, and full of inspiration. I have bought it in the past, and really like it. In fact, in this issue there were even a few bloggers from blogs I read.

 

Thanks for reading! Thank you for allowing me to share ideas with you, and for your kind comments. I know there are bloggers with books, and magazines, millions of readers, and their own brand name....so I appreciate you coming here to read and share with  little me. :)

Riley Blake All Star 2 Boy's Quilt...done!

Finally! I have another finished quilt! This one only took me a year... I had it all sewn together a year ago, but never got around to finishing it- stitching and binding. Babies take a lot of time you know- and this one took a lot of mine..so his quilt had to wait. {Yep I chose my babies and my kids and my family over maintaining a blog... or finishing a quilt..}

 For this quilt I used the Road Trip Tutorial from Cluck Cluck Sew.  I used an all over swirly machine quilting stitch. It had been a while since I had made a quilt- so it isn't perfect. What I love about these quilts, is that the more you wash it, the softer it gets, and the less your mistakes matter.

 Originally I planned to decorate the nursery using these fabrics. But that nursery decorating thing has not really happened. Plus...I have a new idea now...and who knows- by the time I get it done- the boys might not need a nursery anymore. ha ha.

I added a few different fabrics- scraps that I had that matched- but most of the fabrics are from Riley Blake All Star 2 by My Mind's Eye.  I don't know if you can get this fabric anymore- since I started this quilt last year- but you might find it in some shops on etsy. The quilt is about 60 by 45 inches.
And here it is hung up in the room-- for now.

Thanks for reading! {I had a goal to finish 5 quilts this summer...ones that are already started...so we'll see if I get time to finish any more....}For more quilt inspiration check out my quilt love  board.

Sew a Towel Dry from Simple Quilts and Sewing Magazine

 Have you picked up the latest issue of Simple Quilts and Sewing? If you haven't, run to your Walmart, or Barnes-n-Noble and get one quick! I found it full of great little sewing projects and ideas! Sometimes I need a fresh idea to use up scraps, and this was full of them! I made two of their projects one night. Here is the first one:

 This is called a "Towel Dry" and I love it! I don't know about you, but I have a lot of homemade aprons and table runners- that I love. But when it comes to doing the dishes, it is usually a mess, a pile, and a lot of non-absorbent towels on the counter. Enter the towel dry.

 I love this little invention. The pattern and instructions were in Simple Quilts and Sewing. There is also a pattern for matching kitchen towels. What I really love about this- is that I can leave it on the counter- it doesn't look messy- and it totally absorbs the water mess from the hand-washed dishes.

If you want some great inspiration for spring and summer sewing, pick up a copy of Simple Quilts and Sewing! I loved this issue- lots of great simple sewing projects!

Thanks for Reading!

Kids Travel Neck Pillow

While on vacation a few weeks ago, I decided my kids needed travel neck pillows for the ride home. I had one and it was quite comfortable. I found a pattern on pinterest, but I was too lazy to use it, so I made up my own.

 The big difference between mine and the ones I made for my kids, is that I made the back part narrower than mine because they were using these in their car seats. I traced the shape of mine on to some newspaper, and cut it out- adding about 1/4 inch-1/2 inch all the way around for a seam allowance. And like I said, I cut the back part narrower- probably by at least a 1/2-1 inch. I also did not stuff them as much as mine was stuffed. The nice thing about this pillow is that it does not need to be perfect to be functional!

And what do you  know -- it worked! They used them and I sure hope it made their ride more comfortable.

(Fabric is from a new line from Riley Blake called Peak Hour. It is really cute!

Thanks for reading!

My {DIY} Car Play Mat + cute car mat links

I think I may have finally convinced my husband that I NEED a Silhouette.   Here is my big fat sewing project for my boys- which might be a more appropriate title for this post.  Drum roll please...

This was seriously a huge undertaking and a labor of love. I had to recruit my husband and my mother-in-law to help me cut out the letters a few days before Christmas. And then I was up until 3:30 A.M. on Christmas Eve working on it. Since I originally started this TWO years ago, I decided it was time to just get it done! I would estimate I spent around 30-40 hours on it, possibly more.
You can see when and where I started on this thing HERE and a shower curtain version I made years ago here.

I orginally intended for this to be much larger, but it ended up being about 60 inches by 50 inches. I made 4 panels, and pieced them together with my road, which is 5 inches wide, finished. I used felt for the panels and flannel for the roads. If I were to do it again, I would use the same fabric for roads and panels but I would probably NOT use felt. Felt is not really washable, so I think I would use a canvas or denim fabric,  something washable. Flannel tends to stretch slightly so that is why I would use the same fabric for both the panels and the flannel. Since I already had a lot of it done on felt and flannel, I decided just to keep it the same. It was a learning experience!

I cut out all of the buildings, mostly designing them myself using basic shapes and also looked at some photos when I wanted something more than just a square or rectangle. (Many thanks to the wonderful people who share their great photos- which gave me lots of inspiration.)  I also used Wonder Under on just about everything to iron it to the main fabrics, and then I stitched around the buildings after that. To cut out the letters, I printed them off from the computer, then traced them onto Freezer Paper, and then ironed that onto the felt. From here, I cut them out, and then cut them out of Wonder Under. Yep, that is how  I do it when I don't own a fancy cutting machine. The freezer paper peels right off the felt when you are done cutting and you don't have any marks on your fabric/felt.

 I backed this with the same car fabric  that I used over the gas station. I also added a piece of white flannel between the mat and the backing, which acts like a thin batting. I stitched in the ditch around all the roads, after safety pinning the thing together, trying to avoid any wrinkles or bumps in the fabric. Next time, I would use spray adhesive, as in the kind for basting quilts...but I was tired so we just pinned it.   I then made some binding and quickly machine stitched it on--so it is far from perfect. When you are up on Christmas Eve sewing in the middle of the night, you just want to finish!

Since my boys spend a large amount of time on the floor pretending with their cars, I knew they would love it. And I think I was right. I love seeing my children so happy about something I created for them. I love seeing them happy, period.

Here are some fun links to some super cute car mats out in blog land. Some of these ladies used glue guns to make theirs. Since I am the queen of glue gun burns, I opted to sew mine. But these are all super cute-so take a peek at some amazing cute car  play mats.

Girl and a Glue Gun
Homemade by Jill
Living the Sweet Life
Just Sew Sassy
Oopsey Daisy

Happy Holidays everyone! I'm spending mine taking car of sick children....but at least they can play with their cars inside while they recover! Thanks for reading.

Handmade Star Wars Ornaments {DIY}

 I love Christmas Traditions. We have "the one" where you give your child an ornament, that  reminds you of some events of the past year. This is the year my boys really took an interest in Star Wars. We had Star Wars costumes for Halloween this year. We are also having a little bit of a Star Wars Christmas (sshhh don't tell) this year. I looked and looked for some cute ornaments, and could not find any I really liked. SO, after a long late night last night, I made up these. I had to do 4, since I have 4 boys...and these took long enough, so I think I'll stop at 4 for now...although with Star Wars...I'm sure they will want more.

If you are interested in my "sketches" or patterns, please let me know- I'm happy to share....mostly I just looked at pictures on my computer and cut up shapes. ha ha. But I did draw out the basic parts.

Hope you are having fun getting ready for Christmas. I have about 4 or 5 more projects to do!

It's going to be an "EPIC" Christmas...if I get it all done!

Happy Holidays!

DIY Gigantic Candy Corn Decor

 Maybe you have seen this before, but I had not. So I had to make one. My friend had a ghost made this way, that lights up. So I thought candy corns would be kind of fun. I bought some cheap fleece fabric from Walmart....and cut and sewed it into a candy corn shape.

 HERE is the fun part. The inside of these is a tomato cage turned upside down, with clear lights strung on it. We already had 2 tomato cages, and the lights. Slip your candy corn (or ghost or which hat or whatever you want to make) over it and ta-dah!-You have a homemade yard decoration.

 This could easily be changed out at Christmas for something-- some cute trees or something fun.

Happy Halloween!

Thanks for reading!

Riley Blake Penny Lane Baby Quilt {for a cause}

 This Saturday, there is a 5K and auction to help this family. I knew Wendy's mother very well, and had met Wendy several times. She had children the same ages as mine. This really hit close to home for me, so  I wanted to help. There wasn't much I could do to help-since I live in another state and am due to have a baby anyday now, so I made a quilt and sent it off for the auction.

 I loved the Penny Lane line by Riley Blake.  Let's face it, I love Riley Blake fabrics! I might not ever have a daughter, and since Wendy also lost her daughter at the same time, I decided to make a baby girl quilt- and call it "the Maylee Quilt" (the name of her baby girl that also passed away.)
I bought a few quarter yards of the Penny Lane line, and used scraps I already had. I used this tutorial. I loved this tute, and it was really easy. I have another quilt using it, in the works for my 4th boy-also using Riley Blake Fabrics.

Riley Blake is actually having a quilting contest right now to win an awesome cruiser...

Don't know if I feel confident in my "quiltling abilities" to enter...but  I want that beach cruiser even if I don't live anywhere near the beach. It looks awesome!

Better get busy finishing my 101 sewing, organizing, and cleaning projects...only a few more days until our little bundle arrives! Praying and Hoping it will all go well...

thanks for reading!

oxoxo