Wheels Quilt

Finally a finish! At about 11 pm the night before my son's 5th birthday - so had a bit of time to spare! I washed and dried it while he was at school and presented it to him that evening. He immediately snuggled into it right on the floor and it's been on his bed since. I'm so pleased that he loves it so much and it was really nice that he showed it.

I borrowed it for some photos today. Although it was overcast, the photos came out ok. It's made from Riley Blake wheels fabric, with three different kona solids thrown in to tone it down a bit. I did three different proportion square in squares, which mathematically allowed me to cut squares and strips perfectly out of 1/2 yard cuts. The blocks are 10" square and the quilt approximately 67" x 86". It generously fits his single (twin) bed.

The backing was pieced out of what I had left! I hadn't foreseen how huge this was going to be and was lucky to find enough 'leftover' fabric for it. As for the quilting, I ended up using gutterman cotton in a pale blue to match the backing. I got to use my new walking foot and LOVE it! I quilted straight lines about 1/4" either side of the main seams. And I must thank this post for solving some pretty serious and frustrating tension problems. If you don't know what that little screw on the bobbin casing is for than check it out!

My son wanted the red dots which I really love as the binding:

I sewed the binding by machine a la Red Pepper Quilts tutorial. It's not perfect but it took me about an hour instead of many many long evenings.

My next quilt project will be a single quilt for my daughter - she's already chosen the fabric AND pattern. At two and a half she already knows what she wants!

We have a quilt top!

Those that have been following my blog for a while would know that I've been making my son a quilt for a long time now.

You can see my son checking out the fabric way back in 2010 in this post. And some sample blocks at the end of this post. I've been ever so slowly working on it. I'm not sure why it is taking sooooooo long. I aimed to complete it for Christmas 2010, then his birthday 2011, then Christmas 2011. Wow! That's pretty bad. So now, I WILL finish it for his 5th Birthday, which gives me about a week. Today is basting day. I'll straight-line quilt it with my new walking foot. Hope the machine (and I) can handle it!

Any quilting suggestions? And what type of thread do you use for machine, straight-line quilting?

Cool Kindy Pencil Case

My eldest just started Kindergarten this year and I couldn't send him to school with just any pencil case.

I gave him a choice of fabrics and was really pleased that he choose my favourite Melody Miller print from her first line of fabrics, Ruby Star Rising. It's been sitting in my stash for quite a while now in need of some love!

The size was determined by the print - I cut 1/2 inch out from the edge of the viewmaster reels to make eight reels fit perfectly on each side. Whenever I make a zippy now I use the techniques from Oh, Fransson's perfect zip bags pdf pattern - it makes for such tidy zipper ends. I also ironed interfacing onto both the outside and lining pieces, and sewed in a stiff woven interfacing. It should last at least the year!

Inside, one of my fabric faves - a snippet of MoMo's Wonderland scissors. So perfect for a pencil case, and I love to see it peeking out.
Still plenty of finished items to blog...I just need some sunshine to take some decent photos!

Bubbles and Ice Cream

I made this bubble skirt for my friend's 3 year old. She always wears very trendy clothes and I thought this fabric and look would suit her perfectly. I can't wait to see it on her!

The fabric is from Joel Dewberrys' Aviary 2 collection - sparrows in aqua, and is lined with a basic muslin. I kind of made up the pattern, but it's heavily based on the skirt from the Oliver + S bubble dress. I used the front skirt and front lining pattern pieces, size 24 months, to cut out both the front and back pieces of the skirt and lining (this worked well for a size 3 skirt, as on the dress the skirt starts up well above the waistline). Then I stitched it together and stitched the elastic as per the pattern. I completed it with a simple elastic casing at the top for the waistband.

I really love it and secretly wish it was in my size. I've been contemplating how to replicate it for me, but it would be more complicated with gathers and a zipper, so not too sure yet.

I thought I'd also include some photos of my daughter wearing her ice cream dress and top, now that they fit properly!

Today, I'm laying out my son's quilt blocks. I might have a quilt top before the end of the week!

Kitchen Curtains

Really? Have I not blogged since my giveaway winner post? Sorry about that - times have been busy (in good ways, mostly) - overseas visitors; brother-in-law's wedding (can't wait to show you the flower girl dress I made my daughter); my sister's moved here!!!

I've got lots of projects to blog about, some from ages ago, so here's the first one - our kitchen curtains. Yes, it took five years for me to make a window covering for our kitchen, but at least these are pretty awesome, thanks to Melody Miller's Ruby Star Rising fabric. I was super excited when I showed my husband about a dozen fabric options and he chose this one! I was even more excited when an online search turned up this fabric half-price - making it much more affordable. Somehow I managed to order just a bit less than I needed, so I used some Denyse Schmidt Country Road from my stash to make the casing and some tiebacks - it coordinates really well.

Unfortunately, I found it seriously hard to take a good photo of curtains, as they were so back-lit. Hopefully you get the idea.

I've got lots of little Christmas presents to blog about, and that flower girl dress - I'm just waiting for some photos from the proper photographer.

And the winners are...

The three winners for my SMS giveaway have been chosen by the random number generator. Thanks so much to everyone that entered - I wish I could give you all a prize!

The Grand Prize Winner is #400:

Robin said...

My favorites are the Punctuation charm pack and the Lizzie house scraps. I just can't seem to get enough of scraps!

So Robin gets her two picks - Prize #3 - Punctuation Charm Pack, and Prize #2 - Lizzy House scraps (which I've added some more to!). Congratulations Robin!

The next winner is #260:

baukje said...

I would love to win 1 and 3. My favorite salad, very easy. Lentils with oignons , herbs and smokes salmon

Baukje, you get Prize #1 - DS Quilts fabric.

And the last winner is #15:

Katherine said...

And I'm a follower! Have been for a while. :)

And in her comment #14, she wrote:

Katherine said...

Prize #2 and Prize #4 would be my top two picks :)

I always bring something called "Berry Mallow Yam Bake" - it is a casserole that has yams, whole berry cranberries, a oatmeal brown sugar crumble on top and browned marshmallows on top of all of that. Really yummy!

So, Katherine, you have won the Moda scrap bag, and given me a super yummy casserole idea!

I'll email all the winners tomorrow to organise details.
Thanks again!

Crayon Rolls for Christmas

Crayon Rolls

Firstly, a quick hello and thank you to my followers - old and new. You've provided me with such wonderful support, inspiration and assistance in my crafting endeavors (and sometimes life, too)! I'm a bit overwhelmed again by the response to my giveaway - thanks so much, especially for all the food tips; I hope to add some dishes to my repertoire. My giveaway will be open a bit longer than the official time (I'll be sound asleep here in Australia at 6 pm PST); I'll close the comments when I get up in the morning, and draw the winners sometime during the day. I'm so excited to pick and announce the winners!

Crayons galore!

I've made three more crayon rolls, for Christmas presents, using Skip to My Lou's easy-to-follow tutorial. Every bit of it - from the size of the pocket to the length of the ribbon, works great. But what works even better is Lizzy House fabric - those peeps are just the right height for the pocket - don't you love it?

Red Letter Day Ugly Duckling

The above fabric is particularly special to me, and since my little girl loves pink, this one is for her! Lizzy House Red Letter Day Ugly Duckling on the outside; pearl bracelet on the inside; and some DS Quilts for the pocket - I thought they looked great together.

Castle Peeps - for boy

The next two are for a sister and brother - our friends' kids that we're about to meet for the first time when they visit from Holland (for Christmas). So I made coordinating Castle Peeps rolls.

Castle Peeps - for girl

I love how the peeps look like they're guarding the crayons!

On Guard!

So that's three gifts finished, about a dozen I'd like to complete before Christmas. I'll be happy if I finish four more. How many gifts do you still hope to make?