Very Basic Quilting with a Regular Sewing Machine

I made this baby quilt for Natalli's nursery.  We're excited for her twin girls to arrive!  

The first step is to cut your top fabric and some batting to the same size.  Lay those face up on the back fabric, which should be wrong side up.  The back fabric should be about 2 inches larger than the quilt top all the way around (this will become the binding).

Smooth the fabric and start pinning from the center outward.  Quilting pins are great because they're slightly curved, which helps the pin go through all 3 layers easily. 

 You want to use a lot of pins so the layers are secure.

For sewing the quilt, I didn't have a walking foot so I just used the regular foot and it worked fine. It's best to use thread that matches your top and bottom.  In this case, white on top and teal for the bobbin.  I set my stitch length to 4 (pretty large) and sewed around each circle S-L-O-W-L-Y.   Someone more skilled could probably handle a faster speed, but the slowest setting is what worked for me.  

Make sure the material is staying smooth as you go.  

Just like pinning, start sewing in the center of the quilt and work out to the edges. 

 Once I did all the circles, I folded the back fabric edges over twice onto the top fabric to make a finished edge around the quilt. I pinned it down, then sewed close to the edge all the way around. This is the lazy way to do binding.  The corners look like this...

 Traditional binding will give you a nicer mitered corner, but this way is really easy because you don't have to cut and attach a separate binding.  The finished product:

Pattern Review: Baby Peasant Dress

I used the tutorial at Sew Much Ado to make this cute baby dress for Natalli's twins.  It was the perfect use for this adorable Riley Blake fabric.

I LOVE this pattern.  It is so simple and it turned out really cute. There are so many possibilities for customizing this pattern.  I may even try an adult size!

Batman Busy Book

One of my friends is having a baby boy soon, and her husband is obsessed with Batman. So I put together this little Batman quiet book or busy book or whatever you want to call it. I wish I would have made little pattern pieces to share as I went, but I was totally improvising and I'm sure anyone is capable of cutting nicer felt shapes than these.

The book itself is felt rectangles folded in half and sewn around the raw edges--one layer was too flimsy. Then I punched 2 holes on each page and put in eyelets (grommets) in and bound it all with binder rings. This all happens, of course, at the very end.

Cover: I just cut out a Batman symbol (freehand, mind you) and hot glued it on.

Page 1: I cut out a little bat cave and sewed jagged lines on it in white. I sewed only the top of it to the page so it could lift. Underneath I sewed a little pouch to hold the Batman finger puppet. I can't even tell you how I made him, but there was a bit of trial and error, cutting, gluing, and sewing involved.

Page 2: Cut out a bunch of shapes and glued them together. Except the vest which I stitched buttons on and sewed to the book, only at the sides. I also stitched on Robin's little smirk.

Page 3: I cut out 2 of each shape and letters just for the top ones. The bottom shapes are glued onto the book and the top ones are sewn to ribbons that are sewn to the book. I put Velcro on all the pieces so they can be matched up.

Page 4: I cut out a speech bubble and added strips of Velcro then sewed it onto the book. I wanted to find little Velcro letters (remember when they use to make t-shirts with them?!) but to no avail. So I finally settled for writing out every letter of the alphabet a few times in sharpie onto a strip of Velcro and cutting it up. There's a little bag in the book that holds them all. Then the kid can write out whatever he wants!

Page 5: I cut out all the shapes, glued them together, and put a little rope underneath the Joker before gluing him down to the book.

Page 6: I made the Batmobile from sparkly felt and sewed a little loop on the back. Then I threaded ribbon through the loop before sewing it at the corners of the page so the car slides back and forth.

Page 7: Pretty self explanatory. I traced the shapes of the pieces on the page of the book, so it wouldn't be too hard to put together, but it doesn't look very nice. I also made a little pouch for all the puzzle pieces.

Page 8: I cut two circles and two silhouettes (copied from Harvey Dent's actual coin, because I'm legit)--one in black and one in silver. Then I hand stitched around the face and all the details. I then sandwiched a piece of elastic between the two before sewing them together. I sewed the elastic to the book, so you can pull the coin and "flip" it. You can't tell from the way the picture's cropped, but I also stitched some scratches on the burnt side of the coin.

If I had a lot more free time it would have turned out a bit nicer and included hand-stitched directions on each page, but it turned out pretty cute and I'm happy with all the fun ideas I came up with!

Chore Chart

I needed a system to help the kids get their jobs done this summer, so I had them help  make a job board.    The girls picked out some paint and letter stickers from the store, painted the board, stuck the stickers on, and then I screwed in some mug hooks.  They're easier to screw in if you make a pilot hole first with a nail.  The little tags are just the right size.  I just wrote each job on a tag, and printed pictures for our youngest, who can't read yet.  When they finish a job, they move the tag over to the last column under "Done!"  I also included a hook at the bottom for all the jobs that are not on the agenda that day.

 Here are my girls getting crafty!

Teacher Gift

Marinne, my almost 14 yr. old, made these cute apple cupcakes for all of her teachers.  She found the idea online, but we tweaked it to make it better.  The one she saw just had a white cupcake liner, but we made them with red liners so it would look like a whole apple.

She made the cupcakes, frosted them red, stuck a pretzel in the middle, and added a leaf.  The leaf is a green "Airhead" candy cut like a leaf.  She put it in a clear cup, put that in a treat bag, and tied it up with cute ribbon.  I made the tag on Pic Monkey.

Veggie Hummus Pizza

I love hummus and once ate an entire Costco tub single handedly in a matter of days.  I soon found out I was pregnant, which explained my ravenous behavior.  But pregnant or not, hummus is awesome!

This has been my lunch a couple times this week.  It's healthy, tasty, and colorful!  Spread a piece of naan bread (found at the grocery store or Costco) with your favorite hummus and top with sliced fresh cucumber and red and yellow peppers.  So easy, and a delicious way to get those veggies in for the day!

After eating such a healthy lunch, I felt justified in eating a Ghirardelli dark chocolate square... or 2... or 3.

Another favorite healthy snack lately:
carrot chips (I swear it makes them taste better when they're cut like potato chips) dipped in hummus.

DIY Mother's Day Gifts

Mother's Day is coming up fast! Here are some projects I've rounded up from past posts that would make great gifts AND a new tutorial AND some free printables (compliments of Bethany). You've hit the motherlode! (see what I did there?)

For the Accessory Lover:

Mother's Day "Corsage" Brooch

I'm surely not the first to use this method to make a fabric flower, but briefly: I cut two strips of fabric, one about 1.5" wide and one slightly thinner and tapered at the end. Bother were roughly 20" long. Specific measurements are unimportant as you can gather and/or trim to your desired size. 

Next I folded each piece in half and sewed a running stitch (a longer stitch) along the raw edges and pulled on one of the strings to gather the fabric. I then used hot glue to spiral the ruffle around a small circle of felt, starting on the outside edge and working my way around to the center (tuck under any raw/fraying edges as you go). I finished it off by glueing a pretty button in the center and a brooch pin to the back. You can find those at any craft store or even Walmart, usually in the beading section. 

I pinned it to a pretty piece of card stock and labelled it in pretend calligraphy. A simple, pretty accessory (that won't die!) for mom to wear on Mother's Day.

Vintage Buttons Necklace: tutorial here 

For the Decorator: 

Pretty Throw Pillows: tutorials here, here, here, and here.

 Oversized Cross Stitch Wall Art: tutorial here

No-Paint Watercolor Map: tutorial here

For the Organized:

Envelope System Wallet: tutorial here

"Today" Reminder Board: tutorial here

 

For the Cook: 

Ruffled Apron: tutorial here

For the Sentimental:

Sibling Quilt: details here

 

Children's Silhouettes Window Pane: tutorial here

Forget Me Not Cupcake Bouquet and Book: details here

And here are some pretty card and tag printables to go along with whatever you give: PDF here