Project Linus Charity Quilts

Last fall, my Relief Society group did a service project of making and donating quilts and blankets to Project Linus. We ended up donating somewhere between 40-50 blankets, if I remember correctly. 3 of those were my contribution.

The best part about these quilts is that all the fabric was donated! I was visiting my sister in Tennessee and we happened to pull out her (humongous!) tote of fabric to look for a particular quilt top. While digging through, she came across two very large cuts of  rather beautiful batik fabric that she had gotten from her Mother-in-Law a few years back. Her MIL had intended to make quilts out of them, but never did and was going to throw the fabric out when my sister rescued it. 

My sister was more than happy to pass it along to me to turn into quilts for our Project Linus service project.  I decided not to do anything fancy, just whole cloth and machine quilted. I had quite a bit of large sized leftovers that I was intending to make another, pieced quilt top out of, but ran out of time. 

These pictures aren't the best, and really don't do the quilts justice because I took them with my phone, inside, at night, as I was literally running out the door to the activity!

The above photo is the only finished quilt I have a picture of, but the second one was just like it.  The third one was a small, unbound, tied blanket I found in a box last summer.  I threw a binding on it and donated it, also.  The photo below is a glimpse of it as I was binding it.

The most rewarding part of the whole project was when I got an email from the mother of one of the girls that received one of my quilts while at Johns Hopkins.  It was very touching, and so rewarding to know that my service is being received with love and gratitude.  It makes it all worth it.

Baby Drew's Quilt

I put the last stitch on this quilt the morning I left my sister's house after a week-long visit to see my new nephew, Drew, at the end of September.

 

I had it all done and quilted when I left for her house, I just had to trim it, make the binding, and bind it while I was there.

 

The fabric is an older line by Moda called Meadow Friends, backed and bound with two different Denyse Schmidt fabrics.  

I was happy to be able to use some of the yellow Denyse Schmidt fabric in the quilt top, too, because it was fabric left over from my other new nephew's quilt that I made earlier in the year (which I have yet to post about!)  I was happy to be able to have a little of the same fabric in both boys quilts.  Kindof ties them together in my mind.

Once it was done, we put the quilt straight to work during a photo shoot of Drew.  I personally think it did a wonderful job showing off my adorable nephew!

Happy Halloween!

**For last year's post on previous costumes I have made, go (HERE)**

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This year, only one of my boys wanted me to make his costume.  Which is nice in that I don't get totally burned out on costumes by the time Halloween rolls around and it is actually time to wear them!  

My son decided to go classic this year and be a ghost.  I paid .99 for a basic Simplicity kids costume pattern for the robe and hood, but as usual, didn't bother to follow the instructions for assembly at all. Haha! 

I made it out of bleached muslin and some Halloween "fabric" cheesecloth that I got dirt cheap during a big sale at Joann's.  So, all in all, it was a fast, cheap and easy job...and I LOVE it!  I think it turned out great.  

My son loved it too, and literally looked like a spooky white spectre floating through the parking lot of our church's Trunk-or-Treat.  He rocked that ghost costume!  Which, of course, makes every effort of making homemade Halloween costumes worth every stitch.

Happy Halloween!!

All Moved and a Diaper Bag

I realize it has been over two months since posting, but with the move (which happened September 1), my husband deploying two weeks later, and two weeks of traveling and visiting family a week after that, I really feel like I have just gotten here and finally have things in place enough to sit down and post something!

I have actually done quite a bit of sewing since I have been here (one of the "perks" of my husband being gone - lots of alone time in the evening to fill with sewing, I guess!) and I will be posting about them soon, but I will start with a little baby doll diaper bag I made for my nieces birthday (pretty much following  THIS tutorial, except I added side pockets to hold doll bottles, etc.)

The crazy thing is, when she opened the gift she said, "It's a diaper bag!"  Neither her mom nor I could believe that she knew exactly what kind of bag it was without being told. Kind of awesome.  

Apparently, it was just what she needed. 

(Warning: crappy, uncropped phone pics ahead - that's what you get when you have only unpacked half your house and don't know where anything - like your camera - is!)

Sew Many Books - A Summer Sewing Series

I'm excited to be a part of the summer sewing series, SEW MANY BOOKS, over at Nap Time Creations today!  Head on over to read my tutorial on how to turn an illustration from your child's favorite book into a wearable piece of clothing!

Extra bonus: you get to see a bunch of photos of my adorable twins! (Who, me biased??  Nah....)

And while you are there, don't forget to sign up for some fun giveaways. 

A Ghastly 241 Tote

I've been wanting to make myself a new bag for awhile.  I've been hauling around the same old diaper bag for almost 5 years now, even though at this point it is pretty empty with my youngest being almost three.  I just don't have the need to haul around a bunch of baby crap stuff anymore!

The problem is I have just been very indecisive about both the pattern and fabrics I wanted to use for a new bag.  I know it shouldn't be a big deal...it's not the first and not that last bag I will make, but I just couldn't seem to get inspired about it.  So I put it off, and put it off, and well, you know how it goes.

However, as I would do my random bag pattern searches, hoping to get a little inspiration, I kept coming back to the 241 Tote...you know, the one that is all over the internet made in every fabric possible?  Yeah, that one.  Let's be honest, it's just a darn cute bag!  So anyway, that was kindof in my mind when I walked into my LQS and saw the new line of "The Ghastlies" on the shelf.  

That was it.  I knew exactly what I wanted to do with that fabric.  And thus, my 241 Tote was born!


The Front:

The Back:

Honestly, I can't decide which side I like better!

And here is the interior.  The lining is another print from the "Ghastly" line called "ghastly clovers", I believe.  The other  fabrics are a matching Sketch (charcoal, maybe?) and a random  pink polka dot fat quarter they had in the store.  Truthfully, when I found that pink polka dot in the EXACT shade and tone as the cheeks of the characters, I knew it was meant to be.

And I just love this "ghastly" little couple that peeks out at me from the pocket every time I look inside:

I followed the pattern exactly EXCEPT that I lined the body of the bag with fusible fleece instead of the cotton woven interfacing (I still interfaced the handle and pockets with the cotton woven interfacing), and, as seen above, I made the pocket a little differently so that I could have the polka dot band showing on top.

I just love it!

Linking Up:

Fabric Tuesday @ Quilt Story

Cute Ruffle Butts and a Fun Summer Sewing Series!

This is a little project I finished a few weeks ago and am now just finding time to share:

 It is essentially the same as the Diaper & Bib sets I made for my nieces for Christmas last year, but with one adorable change...a ruffle butt!



I had thought about adding the ruffle to the Christmas sets just a little too late, so I knew when I made this one, I wanted to try it.  I think it turned out totally darling!

This set was made for my twins' good friend's little sister (say that five times fast!) for her birthday last month.  She just turned two, and I felt like this could be a gift that she could really grow into and use for years to come.

The only thing I didn't end up loving about this set was the little baby quilt, which was made entirely from flannel from my scrap box.  I used it to practice some FMQ on...and I definitely quilted it far too densely.  It ended up feeling like a place mat, rather than a baby doll quilt!  (I do, however, love the cute bird flannel backing!)

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Something else I wanted to mention:

I'm participating in Nap-Time Creations Sew Many Books sewing series. This is a fun series of posts all about children's clothing inspired by children's books.  How fun is that??

Come back on August 12th to see my addition to this fun series.

Here's who else is joining in the fun this month:

Nap-TimeCreations - Buzzmills - All This For Them - Wild Wandering - Cocoa Pie Creations 

Sunny Stitching - Bless by Tone - Coles Corner and Creations - Nap Time Crafters

Threading my Way - Welcome to the Mouse House - Sewing like Mad - Sews N Bows

Simple Simon and Co- iCandy Handmade

Be sure to stop by Nap-Time Creations on these days for some great giveaways

August 6th- $50 to fabric.com & free Personalized kids book from iseeme.com

August 13th- Pattern Pack from Peek-a-Boo Patterns 

August 20th- Pattern Pack from Coles Corner and Creations & A Remnant Surprise Book

if you are interested in sponsoring a giveaway or participating in NEXT years Sew Many Books series e-mail Emily at nap-timecreations{at}hotmail{dot}com