Simple Holiday Decorating

This year I decided to do things a little differently.  Generally I drag out the same old decorations...THAT I LOVE...and put them in about the same places every year.

Since I wasn't ready to bust out my decorations, I purchased 2 poinsettia plants from Home Depot.  I then placed several red candles on the mantle for a simple Holiday look.

Next I purchased 2 white slip covers at overstock.com to begin the big  transformation.  They each cost $39 and I even had a coupon!  I figure I can use them again in the summer for a fresh and/or Patriotic theme, so money well spent.

Then I took off the tapestry pillow covers on my throw pillows and made new covers.  This was much easier than I thought.  I used a tutorial (see HERE) for a quilt block to make 2 of the package design.  I eyeballed a Christmas Tree block (triangle with a stump on the end) and made 2 of these using old clothing of Max's as the tree. 
Now the pillows remind me of when Max was little and wore those cute little shirts!

Since Max's birthday is December 8th, we generally wait to do our decorating until after his party.  Eventually, we'll put up our tree and bring out all of the old favorites. For now, this is a holiday look, without a lot of fuss and work.

Hope you enjoyed this post!

Cheers~
Marti in San Diego

Cooper's I-Spy Quilt~Blogger's Quilt Festival

Cooper's I-Spy Quilt!

 This is the second I-Spy quilt I have made using Carolyn from Obsessively Stitching's tutorial on an I-SPY Disappearing 9 patch quilt.  I used the quilt as you go method and I have to say it was exceptionally easy!

Cooper is my sweet nephew who turned 2 this summer.  I had been meaning to make this quilt for him for quite some time, so his birthday simply hastened the process. Actually I was in a bit too much of a hurry, and forgot to attach the boarder on one side...oops.  You really can't tell unless you look for it.

9 Patch cut into 4 patches

I started by making the 9 patch with the setting square in the center and I-Spy squares on the corners.  I then cut the 9 patch into 4 equal pieces and attached the squares into rows.  Next the rows were attached to the flannel backing and quilt center in the quilt as you go method.

My sweet Hello Kitty Sewing machine in the background!

 I finished by doing a self binding, folding the flannel backing over.  It is a bit thicker than I like, but still did the trick!

Looks great on Max's bed!

Max making his first pillow!

Max wanted to get in on the action, but most of my sewing was already done.  We sewed a quick pillow and I gave him "credit" for helping with Cooper's Quilt!

All folded up and ready for the birthday boy!

This is the second in my series of Cousin Quilts.  When I was a young girl, my grandmother, Dorsey, made me a denim shirt and embroidered flowers, birds and strawberries on it...exquisite work. My grandmother was an amazing woman and so talented in so many different areas.  She was an expert seamstress as well as very talented at hand embroidery.  She could garden and cook....really she could do anything she put her mind to.

When I still lived at home with my parents, I remember cleaning out my closet and coming across the 'fancyshirt' Dorsey had lovingly made for me.  Because I was young, I was going to to give it away.  My mother, another wise woman, took it and put it away in her closet.  Many, many years later, I came across it on a visit to my parent's house.  I asked my mom if she would mind if I took it back.  You see, I had just started sewing and when I saw the blouse I formulated a plan.  I saw a keepsake that I could share with the rest of Dorsey's grandchildren.

My grandmother had seven grandchildren and five of us have children.  Although my grandmother, Dorsey,  lived long enough to meet only one of her great-grandchildren, I want all of them to have a part of her, as well as pass down her love of sewing through me and my work.  Cooper's Quilt has the white embroidered birds from the fancyshirt...and a part of Dorsey.

Happy Birthday, Cooper!!

Quilt Festival

Blogger’s Quilt Festival Stats

Finished quilt measures : 44" x 60"

Special techniques used : quilt as you go, disappearing 9 patch, I-Spy

Quilted by:  Me...on a 3/4 size Hello Kitty Sewing machine!

Best Category : Baby Quilt, Scrap Quilt, Throw Quilt

Globe Quilt~A Generational Experience

I've only been sewing about a year, so I'm really not that good yet.  This quilt, however was a lot of fun to make and not too difficult for me.  It also has a story.

When I was a young girl, my grandmother, Dorsey, made me a denim shirt and embroidered flowers, birds and strawberries on it...exquisite work. My grandmother was an amazing woman and so talented in so many different areas.  She was an expert seamstress as well as very talented at hand embroidery.  She could garden and cook....really she could do anything she put her mind to.

When I still lived at home with my parents, I remember cleaning out my closet and coming across the 'fancyshirt' Dorsey had lovingly made for me.  Because I was young, I was going to to give it away.  My mother, another wise woman, took it and put it away in her closet.  Many, many years later, I came across it on a visit to my parent's house.  I asked my mom if she would mind if I took it back.  You see, I had just started sewing and when I saw the blouse I formulated a plan.  I saw a keepsake that I could share with the rest of Dorsey's grandchildren.

My grandmother had seven grandchildren and five of us have children.  Although my grandmother, Dorsey,  lived long enough to meet only one of her great-grandchildren, I want all of them to have a part of her, as well as pass down her love of sewing through me and my work.

My sweet cousin, Crockett is 9 years old and this week he lost his daddy.  It really breaks my heart.  It also makes me realize that if I really want to embark on this journey of leaving a part of Dorsey with the next generation, I need to start now.  Also, when I get bad news, I like to DO something...so I started sewing.  Here is my journey.

I started with Dorsey's shirt, a world map fabric panel, some boy-themed 'I-Spy' squares, flannel fabric for the quilt back, fabric for the binding.  Supplies used are as pictured.

After I added a flag and I-Spy boarder, I cut some batting and the blue flannel fabric a bit larger than the quilt top.  I then made the 'quilt sandwich' and held it in place using about 20 safety pins.

After I quilted the top following the latitude and longitude lines, I trimmed the quilt (no picture...sorry) and sewed on the binding.  That's me and my 'Hello Kitty' 3/4 size sewing machine.  Having a simple, no frills machine really makes sewing much easier and enjoyable.

So now the fancyshirt has a new life as part of a quilt!  Crockett gets a small strawberry embroidered by Dorsey on a quilt made by his Cousin Marti.  It's a family quilt made by two different generations.

 

Here's the finished project, ready to be boxed up and sent to my sweet cousin!

Hope you enjoyed the journey and look for more of these 'Cousin Quilts' in the future!

Cheers~

Marti in San Diego

Flag Quilt

Max loves flags.  For as long as I remember, this has been a favorite item for Max.  When I bought my sewing machine in November 2010, I started sewing to fix Max's pants, so it came as a big surprise to me that in February I would be starting a flag quilt for my boy!

The inspiration for this quilt was, of course, Max!  The catalyst was a flag bandanna he received as a party favor at a Fourth of July party long past.

I started by making a red border out of a worn sheet around the bandanna.  I then added another in the red & white star fabric.   I had the red dot and white dot fabrics, but I was stumped!  This is the second quilt I ever started, but third I've finished.  My other projects had been based on step by step tutorials.  I made 4 inch squares of both the red with white dots and the white with red dots.  I kept thinking that the quilt needed something extra.  I tried several different blue and patriotic fabrics, but none looked right. 

Because Max has anxious to use it, I went ahead and finished with what I had.  I backed it in a bright red flannel and used cotton batting.

Max calls this his "Flanket" which I guess is a flag blanket. 

I tried my first ever applique on this project too...MAX!

I learned it's much easier to start with an end in mind, but I also learned that the journey of making the quilt...to see what it wanted to become...was also a rewarding experience.  The best is how much Max loves the flanket.  When I saw that Amy's Creative Side was hosting a Spring Blogger's Quilt Festival, I knew I needed to share this one! 

Click to see the other entries in the Bloggers Quilt Festival

Hope you enjoy!

Cheers~

Marti

Streak of Sunshine Quilt

So this week, I wanted to try something  a little different.  I came across a quilting tutorial for a Streak of Sunshine quilt at Qulitville.  I really liked the idea of getting a finished product quickly, but I am sold on the quilt as you go method demonstrated by Jenny at the Missouri Star Quilt Company.  I will try my best to document my process and my efforts at combining the two.

Here is the almost finished product :-)

• I selected my fabrics.  I chose pinks and tans as I have never made a "girly" quilt before.  I wanted a quilt a bit larger than the tutorial, so I made my strips a little larger. 
• Here are 8 strips of fabric that are 5 inches to the width of the fabric, so about 44 inches long. 
• I then sewed all of the strips together, rights sides together. 
• I sewed the first piece to the last piece, right sides together to make a tube (you can see a full demo on the Streak of Sunshine link in the intro).
• Then I cut the tube into 5 inch strips giving me 9 strips with 8 squares each.
• Since these were still in a tube, I took my seam ripper and removed one seam, each row one square over from the previous.

• Now I laid out my squares with the darkest pink square in the top left hand corner "streaking" down to the bottom right hand corner.
• I decided that I wanted a solid pink border, so I cut out a 3 inch border for all 4 sides. 
• Here's where my real adaptations begin.  Since I'm using the quilt as you go method, I need each strip, including the borders, to be complete.  I needed to cut the 3 inch side borders into 5 inch pieces.
• I attached a pink 3 inch by 5 inch piece to both sides of each strip. 
• Now I'm ready to put this quilt together!!!

• Start with you quilt back right side facing the table (or floor, where ever you lay out) then put your batting on top. 
• Now you're ready for your first strip!

• Sew your top border on the quilt right side facing up.

• Now pin your first row of squares to the border, rights sides together and sew.

• Press open and you have your first row of your quilt!

• Continue to pin, sew and press until you are out of strips, ending with bottom border

• And here is the almost finished product.  I just need to trim and add a binding.



This came together really quickly.  The strip piecing method is quick.  Add the the tube piecing and quilt as you go method and you make it super quick.  The entire process took a few hours!  I actually think it's taking me almost as long to write this post...haha!

If you're interested in either the quilt as you go method or streak of sunshine pattern-tutorial, the links are in the into section of this post.  As a beginning sewer and quilter, I am amazed that I can make almost an entire quilt in a few hours.  I think this can be used by someone at any level of sewing, beginner to expert!

I hope you enjoyed this and feel free to ask if you have any questions!

Cheers~

Marti

Little Bunnies

I wanted to try my hand at sewing something for Easter, for Max and for gifts.  I did a quick internet search and come across Twig & Thistle's Poppy the Easter Bunny.  These looked easy enough, so I gave it a go.  Wow, were they easy and addicting!  So far I've made 10 of them!

This first batch went off in the mail to my nephew, Cooper.  Baby Cooper is 9 months old, so I had to make sure there was nothing that could be harmful.  These are made of a cozy flannel.

So let's get started.  I used this pattern from Twig & Thistle as a jumping off point:  BUNNY

The pattern had 2 bunnies and indicated cutting out a front and a back.  I folded my fabric and placed one  template on the fold.  This way my cutting didn't have to be as accurate and I had a little less sewing to to.

The more of these I made, the more adaptations I made to the pattern.  I made the tails a bit more prominent.  I also added a sewn eye and whiskers to my bunnies.

I made blue boy bunnies and pink girl bunnies.  I used the same template to make a pair of bunnies...a bigger bunny and a smaller bunny. 

So art imitates life.  These fabric bunnies were multiplying, like....well rabbits!  My next batch of bunnies will be made of fabric scraps sewn together in strips. 

I hope you enjoyed this....feel free to ask any questions you might have.  Happy Easter to those of you who celebrate the Holiday!

Cheers~

Marti

                                                             

Friday Night Sew In Stuff

Although from looking at my pictures, it doesn't seem like I got a lot accomplished, I actually did!

I cut and chain pieced about 200 pieces for a coin quilt I am making.  I'm using a tutorial from Moda bake shop, which actually looks quite easy.  I'm still fiddling with the sashing and border fabrics, but the bulk of the work is done, as shown in this pile.

My limiting factor last night was that I really didn't feel like dragging out the ironing board, so I stopped with the chain piecing.

I then moved on to a placemat project.  I had cut out the fabric last weekend for 4 placemats.  I tried one technique, that did not work the way I wanted it to.  Basically I'm trying to use left over fabric and old t-shirts as the inside batting.  When you sew woven cotton to knit (like t-shirt material) it stretches and puckers....bummer for me.

So I had to embark on a new course with the placemats.  I sewed together one side, quilted the front, t-shirt and back together, trimmed and then added seam binding.  It actually turned out cute.  I started the second placemat (top of photo) and quickly realized that I needed the iron, so I stopped for the night.

So, this is my first Friday Night Sew In.  I really like the idea of setting aside time to do something creative.  Although I just started sewing, I have a lot of projects that I need to work on. 

Cheers~
Marti

Friday Night Sew In

 I'm working on a mother's day project for my mom.  Shhh...it's sort of a secret!

Storage Cubes for the Nursery

Max is on Spring Break this week and we are trying to pack in as much fun as possible!  We started by heading up to Hermosa Beach to see Max's newest cousin, baby Cooper.  Cooper is nine months old and he is quite possibly one of the cutest babies I've ever seen.  This little guy also has an amazing personality!

 

Look at this face....wouldn't you want to make him something special?  I have made him a few items with this brown and blue fabric as these are the colors in his nursery.  I had enough left over for some storage cubes for his nursery.

I started by cutting out a piece of fabric the size I wanted the cube to be.  I used this as a template.  It turns out it was about 10 inches by 10 inches.  You can make these however large or small you like.

You'll need:

• 5 squares of fabric for the outside of the cube--I used brown & Blue decorator's fabric
• 5 squares of fabric for the inside of the cube--I used brown felt
• Interfacing to reinforce the outer fabric-optional
• Ribbon for handles--about 7-8 inches
• Supplies--scissors, rotary cutter, mat, ruler, sewing machine, thread, pins

Start by sewing the 4 sides together in a row.  Next attach the bottom to each side of the cube.  Then finish the cube by closing the side (brown dot to giraffe) of the cube.  Attach interfacing if using. (I only did 2 sides.)  Attach the handles.
Repeat the process for the interior fabric.  I used brown felt for the lining for its stiffness.

Sew the interior and exterior fabrics together, right sides together.  Attach on three and a half sides, leaving an opening to turn.  Turn the cube right side out, press and top stitch.

And here they are....two fabric storage cubes for baby Cooper's nursery.  These are great for storing diapers, supplies, toys or books.

If I do these again, I think I might use interfacing on all four sides or add some cardboard or cardstock to give the cube some additional stiffness.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and feel free to ask if you have questions.  Have a great weekend!

Cheers~
Marti