The Hungry Catepillar

I have been working on this quilt for the last little while, that is when I get a chance. We've been busy here rearranging furniture in bedrooms to make room for the new little one that will be here in about 6 weeks, but that's another post so on to this one.

This is for my friend's little girl. She just became a big sister to a little brother and she really loves the quilt I gave him. So for her birthday (she just turned 2) I found this panel of the Hungry Caterpillar and added the squares on the edge because that was her favorite part of her brothers blanket.

The top went together really fast, the part that took longer then I thought it would was the quilting. I did circles instead of the stipling that I usually do.
Here it is before I put on the binding (above). Below is after the binding was done.
I love how the circles give it a pebble like look, I may use this pattern again on another quilt.
You can see the pebble look a little better here. This little girl is going to love this quilt, one of her favorite books is "The Hungry Caterpillar," her mom tells me she reads it to her almost everyday. Happy Birthday little one!

For a trip

As I mentioned in the last post my sister got married recently. We had to travel to Utah for her wedding (a 24 hour drive for us here in Texas). I thought it would be a good idea to make up a few smaller things to bring with us.

This is a coloring station for my 5 yr old. He really like the crayola color wonder sets, but the markers seem to get all over the house so I made this to hold everything together.

This is the front, I used about 2 1/2 fat quarters to make the whole thing and some scraps of thick sturdy interfacing. I love the yellow button on the front.
Here is the inside. The markers are in the pocket on the left and then the coloring book on the right. I thought about putting something above the marker pocket but opted not too.
Here you can see the orange buttons that hold the flap down so the markers don't fall out as it is being carried around.
The pocket that holds the coloring book in place.
And a view of the markers in there place.

My sister asked me to make four bow ties for her wedding. They are for the four little nephews that would be there. This is one of them in progress, I didn't actually finish them until I was in Utah.
The last time we went to visit family we had to put every ones clothes in suitcases. Which would be fine if we didn't have to bring one for each person, and try and fit it all in the car. This time I made the kids small/medium sized duffel bags with a drawstring top. They fit better in the car, because they can be put in any space.
The first one is my 2 yr old's bag. I let each of my kids pick out the fabric they wanted for there bag. He is in to fish lately so this is the fabric he picked. My 5 yr old picked the Thomas the train fabric below. The bottoms of the bags are a jean circle so there is a more weighty fabric to lend more support.
These were easy and fun to make and I'm sure they will be used on many trips to come.

The wait is over!

Oh, I am so glad that I can finally post about this! I found out that my sister was getting married on March 21st and then and there decided to make her a quilt for her wedding. I asked her favorite colors (which are corral and light blue) and then got to work to find fabric. I already had plenty of blues but hardly any corrals. So I sent an email over to Jona at Fabritopia asking her advice on what fabrics to get that were mainly corrals. She was so quick to get back to me, and she is great to work with. I ordered fabric the next day and it was here within 2 days. I will be getting more from her in the future.

Finished top view-in the wind

I decided to make a coin stack quilt top because I had a limited amount of time. My sister was getting married June 6th; that's 12 weeks folks! I knew I needed all of them. I cut out the rectangles for the front and then used the scraps for a pieced stripe across the back. I used almost everything I ordered. By the way the majority of the corral fabrics are from Jennifer Paganelli's fabrics, she is so nice and has a great blog too.

Here is the finished pieced corral stripe for the back.

This is the top all sewn together and the corral strip for the back next to it.

Here is the quilt all quilted. It took me about 3 weeks doing about an hour to an hour and a half of quilting on it each day. I had to take it easy because I injured my right wrist painting my sons room just before this. It all got done on time though so its all good!

Waiting for the binding.

Here is the top finished and spread out better so you can see the whole thing. The blues are from my stash and some of them even came from my grandma, so that's a fun bit of history to add to this quilt.

It was so windy that day I took the pictures. My two brothers and my hubby are holding up the quilt and my sister is holding on to the bottom of it.

(in case you're wondering my sweety is on the right)

Here is the back. I love, love, love it. I think in total there is about 7 yards of fabric just for the back. I love how it turned out.

I was a little scared to quilt this baby on my machine but it when great. There were only a few puckers on the back but they are small and you can't even see them unless you are really looking for them. Now I don't think I will be so afraid to make a big one for my bed.

Busy

I've been busy. Sewing my heart out but I don't have pictures of anything done. I've been working on a surprise for someone and it is killing me that I can't post pictures or talk about it, but the person this is meant for reads my blog sometimes. So I will tell you about a few other things I've been doing.

I have been making little bow ties for my sister's wedding. There are 4 little boys (mine among them) that will be wearing them. They are coming along nicely.

I took the time the other day to recover this pillow. I got it from Target, then there was an accident which involved it needing to be washed and the fabric unraveled it self in the washer on the gentle cycle (cheap pillow). So I encased it in some cotton muslin and then made the cover with an invisible zipper so I could easily wash it when needed.

I think that's about it for now, oh I also hemmed a prom dress this weekend, so that will add to my savings for a super cool machine that I want but can't afford yet. Aahhh, some day....

What projects have you all been working on lately?

Small and Large

It has been raining a lot here lately. Thanks to the rain I have not felt like getting out much, but who would? This last weekend we had 10" of rain in 12 hours. So I've been holding up in my sewing room working on a very large project that I can't say much about because it is a surprise for someone and some smaller projects in between.

These are some flannel burp cloths I made for my friend Jena who is having a little boy anytime now. They are 2 layers with ribbon on one side. I love these. After I had my 2nd baby I made a bunch of these and they work great. They are about 12 by 16 inches so they cover your whole shoulder and then some, which is a blessing if you have a baby that spits up a lot!
They were so cute I just had to keep one of them to add to the ones I have and will be using in a few short months; so I kept the one with the yellow ribbon on it.
This is the only picture you will get from me on the big project that I doing right now, at least until after the person this is meant for has it. I have to say that I just love all those fabrics together. Jennifer Paganelli's fabrics were perfect for this project. She has a great blog too!
This is a painting smock that I make for one of my boys. Sorry no shots from the front, but the back is more interesting anyways. I put a placket on both side of the center back mainly because I wanted it to be a little more roomy so he won't grow out of it so fast. I love how the stripes on the placket are perpendicular to the rest of the smock. and then I added some Yellow buttons for a little pop.

For a future project I am recovering one of my through pillows that didn't make it well in the wash. The fabric just started to come apart! I guess that's what I get for getting cheap pillows, but now I'm reusing it as a pillow form; so how's that for a recycling project. I'm excited for it and I will post about it soon.

Park City Girl: Quilt Festival - Spring 2009

Park City Girl: Quilt Festival - Spring 2009

Here is the link to the quilt festival in case you missed it in the last post. Amy has done such a great job putting it together. It's going to be a place to make new friends and get great ideas as well.

Online Quilt show!

I saw that there is an online quilt show happening over at park city girl so here is my newest favorite. I made it for my second son for Christmas last year. He is two and loves trucks, cars and trains. I didn't want to do an actual pattern so each block is one of a kind and they are all log cabinish. I even added some ribbon to some of them. 

Here are the first two blocks I did. I started adding the ribbon after these.
Here it is finished and washed. B loves it and gets upset if it is not there when it is time for bed. Below is the front.
And the back. I pieced the binding which is a first for me. I normally use all the same color but I didn't want to get more fabric. I really love how it turned out. You know you did well when your son says, "I luv my tuck blankie" to you on a regular basis.