Patchwork Pillow and "The Best Bib"

I made my mom another gift for her birthday (this one was a surprise:). It's a patchwork pillow made out of 1.5 inch squares. I used this tutorial.






This is probably one of my most favorite handmade items. There is just something about it that is so beautiful to me. Probably going to make me one very soon!


I also made a new bib today. Not for anyone in particular, especially since it's boy colors. I saw this on someone's blog and decided that I could do it myself, without a pattern. And then I felt guilty so I will probably purchase the pattern anyway. I worry about my conscience.

Anywhoo, here is the one I saw:





And the one I created:







*where you can buy the pattern

Frosted Glass

Ok, so I have found one of the funest crafty items yet! It's glass etching cream and let me tell you it's addicting. So hopefully my mom doesn't read this tonight because I'm going to show you one of her birthday presents.
So here is the cream: it's about $8 at Hobby Lobby, but of course you must use a 50% off coupon :)





Here is the application process. I cut out the words on contact paper and then adhered it to the pie plate.





And here is the finished product. I LOVE it. So subtle. And when you have taken a few pieces of pie from the plate, it will look so cute peeking out :) I'm going to put our last name on some of my 9x13 glass pans.

Pay it Forward

So I know I don't get much traffic here, (YET!!!! ) but I would like to try this anyway. I am also doing it on Facebook. Go0d thing I have all of 2011 to send out gifts.

So what does this mean?

"I promise to send something handmade

to the first 5 people who leave a comment here.

To be eligible, you must also post this in your blog(or your Facebook),

offering the same thing to 5 other people.

The rules are that it must be handmade by you and it

must be sent to your 5 people *sometime* in 2011."

Picnic blanket from.....

Finished my picnic blanket last night. Let me tell ya, there are more flaws on this thing than I would like to admit. The zipper has a good side, and then an evil twin side!


I think it will come in handy when we are at the park playing. We can stash our phones and keys in there without too much of a worry. When deciding to use my excess sheet material for the pocket I accidentally grabbed my backing piece and cut a huge square out of it.



No biggie, just pieced some fabric on it, I kind of like the look :) I made the rock pockets out of a pair of Jon's old khakis and I really like the weight they added. Now all this snow needed to melt so we can use this puppy!!!!

Well this just made my day!

Last summer I used a tutorial on The Cottage Home to make a bonnet for Demi and today she featured it on her website under "Talented Tuesday"! It's very inspiring to have someone call you talented, creative and artistic.

In other crafty news, I'm working on a picnic blanket using only materials that I already have on hand. I've used a ton of scraps of fabric that I know I am not really going to use. I took the batting out of a comforter that Jon and I hate. It was kind of tedious because I had to rip out all of the quilting, but it wasn't made very well which benefited me, haha. And for the back I am using a sheet that I got at Goodwill yesterday for $1.99. The tutorial I am going to use (here) will be modified a bit. I'm using 8 inch squares instead of 16. And my mom had a great idea of adding a zippered pouch to the backing to store keys and phones. Ties will be sewn in as well. The top is all done, just need to figure out how to add that pouch. Google, here I come!

Sick sick sick, and a new pillow :)

So I haven't left the house since Sunday due to a very sick little girl.....and then it was my turn. Feel like I've been pushed down the stairs! But, I still managed to squeeze a pillow in there somehow. Guess I'm trying to fill the void of my husband with pillows!!!

I used "Film in the Fridge" tutorial for String Quilting. This was done on copy paper which is pretty darn cool. You change your stitch length to 1.4 and then tear it away when you are done.

First quilt in the books!

Finally finished my first quilt. I was a little ambitious and chose a queen size. The only issue I had was the binding. Really wanted to hand sew the back on but since it was so large and I'm going to be a busy little lady I decided to machine stitch. Needless to say there are quite a few gaps that will need to be addressed before that first wash. Other than that I ADORE it!!! I used Kona muslin for the sashing and backing so its super soft and silky. Also threw together a little pillow with some scraps, but i think it's cute :)

Sew to Speak fabrics

My hubby took me to my favorite fabric store today!!! Sew to Speak Shoppe has the most beautiful fabric I have ever seen. There is not a single one I would turn away.
Here's what I picked for my new quilt.

Next quilting adventure

So after we get all settled in (or maybe before,since I am so impatient when it comes to sewing:) I'm going to start a Quilt-Along. I just love the style of this modern quilt. Hope I can find some fabrics that really showcase the style.
The Quilt-Along can be found here: http://www.stitchedincolor.com/p/colorbrick-beginners-quilt-along.html

Southern Fried

So it's official, we are moving to Louisville!!!! Jonathan starts his new job as Operations Manager on MONDAY!!! Definitely didn't see it happening so quick but we are very happy about it all. We've got some major loose ends to tie up here and there. As sad as I am to be leaving family I must remember that it's only 2.5 hours away so we can come back as often as we'd like. There are so many positive things coming from this move. The one I am the most excited about is that Jonathan will be home with us every night! I can make dinner and we can enjoy family time like normal people!!!! It still seems like a dream, but once we are finally living there it will feel more real.
Updates to come (and hopefully a picture of my finished quilt!)