Hexagon Quilt

I finished a quilt for my daughter! It took a few years:) I started collecting vintage linens in pinks and yellows until I had a nice stack..

I was inspired by this hexagon quilt...

...which is in this book. 

Here's my quilt!

It turned out to be a nice queen size, about 80x90 inches.

 

My mom, sister, and friends helped me hand quilt this quilt. We double-quilted all the seams and I love the way that turned out. Now it's looking pretty on my daughter's bed!

A Quilt Finished

I finished a special quilt. My grandma embroidered the squares and I had fun adding some boyish prints to go along with the cars.

The embroidered squares are cut 6.5 X 6.5 inches, and the little squares and strips were cut 2.5 inches square or 2.5 x 6.5 inches. So the figuring is easy! With a 6-inch border this quilt ended up being about 38 X 46 inches. I'm linking up to The Blogger's Quilt Festival.

Blogger’s Quilt Festival Stats

Finished quilt measures : 38"x46"

Special techniques used : hand embroidery

Quilted by : Trish Boese

Best Category : Baby Quilt, Hand Quilted Quilt

Kona Solid Fabrics at Contemporary Cloth

Contemporary Cloth has a good deal on Kona solid fabrics right now. Half-price shipping for Canadians, and a coupon for 25% off your purchase means the Kona solids work out to be $5/yard. Enter the coupon ThanksMaureen at checkout. This deal expires Wednesday, October 10, 2012.

Spoonflower

I love Spoonflower! It's a fabric website where you can upload your own designs for printing onto fabric. Think children's sketches, photographs, words, cut-and-sew projects, labels, or anything one-of-a-kind. Right now Spoonflower is giving away free fat quarters, 1 per customer, so it's worth your time to shop around and find one you like! Or upload one yourself. Enter the code ETSYPARTY12 to claim your free fat quarter, and only pay $2 for the shipping. I don't know when this coupon expires. Here are some of my favorites (some of my own designs, even!)

Vintage Sheets

I've fallen in love with vintage sheets! Here and here are some Pinterest boards with beautiful projects made from vintage sheets. They are so pretty... I've bought a few sheets and my plan is to make a quilt next winter. I'm on the lookout for more sheets in pink, white, yellow, orange, and green. Since I won't use all of the fabric, I've cut some of it up and put it up for sale in my Zibbet shop. (Zibbet is like Etsy.)

Two Quilts

I became an auntie at the ripe old age of 28! Anyone else been older than that when they became an aunt? I sewed 2 quilts in anticipation. The baby's a boy, so he got this one. (inspired by Jo at BlueElephantStitches.)

This girl quilt is up for sale in my Zibbet shop.

Activity Tote

Papers, pencils, crayons, books, papers, markers, stickers, papers, scissors, glue, flashcards, and more papers...
This is my attempt to keep it all in one place - an activity tote made from fun fabrics.

 I'm kind of fond of Thing 1 and Thing 2 :)

The dimensions I cut this cube tote:
2 sides 9" wide by 11" high
2 sides 8" wide by 11" high
Bottom 8" by 9"
I put pockets of different shapes and sizes everywhere - on the 4 outside pieces plus the 4 inside pieces. I used heavy interfacing on the pieces so the cube would keep its shape.

Bandana Dress Cutting Instructions

I've been making some cute dresses like these for charity. I got the idea from DressAGirlAroundTheWorld. Here are my simplified cutting instructions to print, use, and share. I'm trusting you to sew it up all right on your own.

It makes a great project for the ladies at church, and for using up neglected pieces of fabric, especially polyester and knits.

My Insulated Picnic Tote

I was inspired by this post over at Sew Mama Sew to make an insulated tote. I hope to use it in place of my bulky cooler this summer.

It's large, it's sturdy, it has strong handles and it will haul plenty of food - either out to the picnic or home from the grocery store.

I used recycled denim for the handles and (though you can't see it) the bottom of the bag. The tutorial for this picnic tote was so simple and easy to follow!

A Much-Needed Cell Phone Cover

I once sewed a little drawstring bag out of black velvet as a cover for my cell phone. I always meant to embellish it with some artistic beadwork but before I got to it, my little bag was lost, and when I looked in my stash for the fabric I had used, it had vanished too. So I was inspired by my friend and blogger Jo at Blue Elephant Stitches when she made her cell phone cover.  (Note to Jo: Better not blog if you don't want copycats!:)

Here is my version, in some Michael Miller fabrics. I love it so far! I managed to get it to fit my Blackberry quite perfectly. The credit card pocket, key ring loop, and wrist strap make this cell phone cover one I do not intend to lose, ever.

Old Socks = Central Vac Hose Cover

My husband thought I was crazy because I've been rescuing his worn-out socks from the garbage bin for the last few years. Well, now I'm getting a central vac system installed in the house, so I made a Hose Sock.

I know it's nothing fancy, but it's a project and that's what my blog is about. Even humble projects like recycling old socks get a post here!

If you have old tube or crew socks with holes in the feet, making a hose sock is easy. Cut the tops off at the ankle (where the ribbed part ends) and sew them all together in a strip. Sewing elastic on the two finished ends helps them stay in place. I needed 25 pairs of socks to make this tube for my 30 foot hose.

Inside Pockets for a Tote Bag

After making 3 bags (2 were given away and 1 is for sale in my Etsy shop) it was time to write down the measurements of the inside pockets, instead of figuring them out all over again each time I make a bag. 

This is what works for me and hopefully sometime soon I can blog about a bag that I've made for myself!

My First Bags

I had never sewn bags before, but I've wanted to for a while. 

As a mom and errand-runner, diaper-hauler, mail picker-upper, and library book-carrier, I expect a lot of the bag I'm using. Many times it is required to haul all of those items at the same time! So they wear out... 

Well, now I can make a new bag when I need it, in my choice of colors and with my own inside pocket configuration. 

I can't tell you exactly how I made the bags because I didn't use a pattern. I started with some ideas in my head, and learned as I went. The basic shape is a rectangle a little wider than it is high.

I had some help with the zippered pocket tutorial from here. 

In fact, these turned out too small to be my perfect right-hand bag, so they were Christmas gifts.

Ugly Toy Horses

I made some ugly toy horses for my kids last Christmas. I didn't mean for them to be ugly; it's just that they turned out that way. That doesn't hinder their play-ability, though! I made these for my kids because they were always stealing my yard-stick and pretending it was a horse. It was no problem for me to find some lonely socks and scraps to put to good use. 

Some tips if you want to make a sock-horse:

Start with a 3- or 4-foot stick of some kind. I bought 5/8" dowels from a craft store. Use scraps to make ears, and anything you want for stuffing. 

Loop some yarn back and forth for the mane and sew it on, then cut. Kind of tricky to get the sock onto the arm of your machine and sew sideways. 

After stuffing the horse-heads, I used crochet cotton and a large darning needle to sew on the eyes, stitch along the mouth to pucker it up, and stitch through the neck to make it bend. 

I drilled a small hole through the dowel near the top, and then when I stitched around the neck, I stitched through this hole a few times to keep the head on the stick, and the stuffing inside.

So even though they are ugly as old socks, my kids have played with their horses a lot! It was a fun and easy project. No professional skills required.