I Finished My 1st Quilt
I finally finished my first quilt! You may recognize it from this post or this post. It took a little longer than I hoped but I love it. The binding was much easier than I thought it would be (thanks Kathy) and I love that I'm not stuck with the store bought binding options. My stitches are big but I like them that way.
Tree Skirt
This is the tree skirt I made for my mom. She hasn't actually seen it yet but I hope she loves it as much as I do. This was a really fun project that I had to use a lot of creativity for since I wasn't using a pattern. I started with a charm pack of the Moda Figgy Pudding collection and went from there.
Stroller Revamp
Calder's car stroller (as in, it stays in the trunk) was showing a little wear. It isn't bad but the cover was fading in just a few places. I bought the stroller on Craigslist and absolutely love it. It's small but still has the full reclining position. So, I decided to sew a new cover for it. I LOVE this fabric and was so excited to try it. It is fully removable and I didn't change the original, so I can revert back if needed.
August Card Club
These are the cards I made for card club this month. The theme was celebrations and since I was plum out of baby cards I thought that's what I would do. Everything is basically from Close To My Heart.
Lucy Dress
I'm going to a baby shower tomorrow for baby Lucy. I made this dress last week and totally love it. It has ruffle sleeves, button details and ruching around the bottom. I found a onesie with yellow ribbing around the neck that matches perfectly. Of course it comes complete with ruffle bottom tights.
Mei Tai
I have found as my baby gets bigger that the Baby Bjorn is getting less and less comfortable. I have been looking for other options but didn't want to spend $100 for something I wasn't sure would be worth it. We don't use the baby carrier on a daily basis but when we do, I want it to be comfortable.
Amy Butler
Kati Cupcake is giving away this awesome kit. It is the Quilt Soup kit and I want it something fierce. It is so cute and I would love to have it be my second quilt. You too can enter! Just post a comment on her blog.
Basting
After finishing my pinwheel quilt top I am ready to baste. Basting just holds the top, batting and back together so it doesn't shift while quilting. I know some people use safety pins for this but I've heard it allows too much give. I've never tried it. I also know some people just run quick lines on their sewing machine. I prefer just to hand sew wide stitches across my quilt. My stitches are about 1 inch long and I run a row every six inches or so. It doesn't take very long at all and I know my quilt isn't going anywhere. Also, it is very easy to take out once I am all done quilting.
20 Minute Skirt
I saw this tutorial from Grosgrain and knew I had to try it! It was indeed as easy as she said it would be. I've made tons of skirts but never like this. This would be an awesome first skirt for a novice sewer. It's strait lines and you don't have to use a pattern. You can also adjust it to make it not so full. If I were to do it again I think I would decrease the fullness a bit.
My First (real) Quilt
This is my first real quilt. I have made patchwork quilts before but this is the first one where I had to do more than cut squares. I love it! I think it turned out really fresh and modern.
Fabric Shopping Online
I get asked all the time how I can buy fabric without touching it. I've found that I like the feel of some designer's fabrics better than others, so basically trial and error. I love Moda, Michael Miller, Heather Ross and Amy Butler. You could just do a search on Etsy for any of these designers and I'm sure you'll find something you love. I've never bought fabric online that I felt was poor quality, it's just some feel softer and thicker than others.