Old project, never posted

I made a few more of these jumpers, but never posted them.

Note: size small of this pattern fits my one year old.


made from corduroy. I don't know how it is rendering on your monitor, but it is kind of a purple/burgandy hue


this is what I lined it with



I had trouble finding a button to match. Nothing was this exact color. So Emily suggested silver and I think it worked out really nice.
***I didn't make the top. Found at KMart



white onesie is from Target. And I used snaps on this one instead of buttons so it wouldn't interfere with the yo yos


This jumper I lined with a solid navy. But unfortunately, I used symphony broadcloth (very cheap) which is made out of polyester. So as I was pressing my seams, etc the lining shrunk causing it to not lay flat. Not a huge deal, but I won't be using it anymore.

Tote Bag Winner Announced

I had to interrupt Mr. C.'s T.V. watching for a moment so he could help me out.

And our January giveaway winner is:

Here is what Joy wrote us about her New Year's resolution:
"I never win these things but this year I would like to learn how to quilt. I already have the material for my first project!"

Well, Joy......never say never. :) Congratulations!! And I think you should let us know when you finish your quilt. Just e-mail us your address at emilylovesbaskets@msn.com and we'll get your tote bag sent out.

And a big THANKS to everyone for stopping by our blog. We have a few more ideas in store for the upcoming months' giveaways that you won't want to miss. And we're thinking of doing a swap in April. It should be lots of fun!!

My first quilt

Emily's love of quilting has been rubbing off. I've decided to attempt my first quilt for baby L (Valentine's Day gift). And I was going to buy all new fabrics because I wanted to do a pink quilt, but decided I needed to use what I have. Especially since this is my first one. I guess if I get hooked I can always do a pink version.

This is the color scheme I came up with from my fabric stash. And look! No red. I've given myself a personal challenge to move away from red for a while. It's so hard to leave your favorite color.






{P.S. During a joint trip to the fabric store I found Emily amongst the quilting books. So I browsed a little too and discovered this gem. The "cappuccino waves" quilt stopped me in my tracks. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. I couldn't find a picture to share but it is a series of pleats. Run to the bookstore if you want modern quilting.}






Let the fun begin.

Home obsessed

I've been sewing lots. All in different phases of not finished. So until I get all those sweet projects completed and posted....you can take a peek at what else I'm doing these days.

Bento Box Quilt

My husband was kind enough to leave me home alone for 3 whole days over the weekend, while he and our 4 kiddos went to visit his parents. What a lovely, quiet, and productive weekend for me!

Here is what I tackled: The Bento Box

After seeing beautiful bento box quilts around the blog world I decided I'd try and figure out how to make one myself. I worked out the dimensions on paper...yadda, yadda, yadda.

As I was laying it out I saw that some of my dimensions were wrong (forgot to account for some seams...duh!) so I recut my pieces and went on my merry way. I still wasn't sure if it was going to work, but pressed on. Not until after I got done sewing the entire thing did I notice that I had, again, miscalculated some pieces. Oops!

This quilt is supposed to be square, not rectangular. I'm just happy that all my seems matched up--no matter the shape!

Up close you can see where I'm a bit off! Everything is supposed to be the same narrow width. It's very visible in the center. In spite of my goof up I am still happy with the end result! When I showed it to my 89 year old grandma, she said "It sure is a colorful thing!" I took that as a compliment.

Finished measurements are 44" by 53" (111.8 cm by 134.6 cm).

My husband and I are on the tall side, so I'm sure I'll have to add some sort of a border to make it long enough to cover our toes.

And finally...a look at my jumbo pile of "trimmings" from my miscalculations! Oh, what could've been...

For more beautiful bento box quilts check out these talented women:

Kathy at Pink Chalk Studio: This one inspired my wild fabric choice! If Kathy can use tons of bright, colorful fabrics, then so can I! Her fabric choices give this design so much life! Hers is such a cheery quilt, don't you think? (Kathy sells the Bento Box Pattern in her shop!--This would be the pattern I should've bought to save my sanity!)

Amanda's at Crazy Mom Quilts: Amanda does great work! I love looking at her blog to see what's she's been quilting lately. I get lots of ideas from her stuff.

And to waste lots of time, you can search through Bento Boxes on Flickr!

The main fabrics I used came from the Flirtations line by Sandy Gervais. Squares, Dots, Bias Stripe, and Stripe. I also used Jewel Mobile in Brown by Alexander Henry, with a few scraps from my stash thrown in.

EDITED: FINISHED BENTO BOX QUILT CAN BE SEEN HERE.

New Year's Giveaway!

This contest is now closed. The winner is JOY! Congrats! Hope you enjoy your new bag!

Lucky for all of you my error is now going to be your gain. I wanted a new tote and when I found this fabric I told the cutter the wrong yardage. It was too late to fix, so I ended up buying two pieces. With the smaller piece I made this cute little tote--to give away.

If you would like a chance to win this tote, then leave a comment about your Crafting Resolution for 2009. My resolution has to be to reduce, reduce, reduce the mess in my sewing room. That means finishing a bunch of projects and trying really hard not to buy any more fabric for a very long time.

You'll be able to comment and link through January 7th and we'll draw on January 8th (or 9th).

MULTI-COLORED POLKA-DOT MINI TOTE

Finished dimensions 11" H x 8" W x 4" D
Hot pink nylon straps 16" long
Front pocket fully lined
Lime green lining
White snap closure

Fully washable and dryable!

Good Luck!

And Happy Crafting Resolution Making to You!

Ponchos

Here are the assymetrical ponchos I made for my bigger girls for Christmas this year.

I used JoAnn's brand Sensations Angel Hair Stripes for L. I think that I bought a discontinued color (story of my life)--Turquoise/Cream Stripes, but the Angel Hair yarn is so yummy to work with. If you ever want to try some super soft yarn I would recommend this. It would make a delicious scarf and hat.

For M. I used Moda Dea Ticker Tape color pink passion. Mine is made out of this yarn too--only a camel/tan color.
The pattern I used for the ponchos was Moonlight Mohair Poncho--I adjusted it slightly to fit the sizes of my girls. Only cast on 44 for Miss L. and 38 for Miss M. For myself I had cast on 48 since I am so tall.

This is just straight knitting for about 40+ inches and then fold it in half lengthwise, sewing partially shut and leaving an opening for the head and adding fringe. VERY EASY!! but they are fun to wear.

Sound of Music quilt update

O.K. I added a double border on the quilt top--3" strips for each of the edges. No method to the madness with my color choices. It was just what scraps were left over. I did want the darker print on the outer edge however.

I bought the batting this morning and ordered a walking foot for my sewing machine. That may not arrive until next week. So until then I'll figure out what I am doing for the back and get it all pinned together so that I can be ready to machine quilt--and hopefully not screw up all the work I've already put into it. Scary!

I did it! ....Now what?!

O. K. I made another denim quilt for son #2. See denim quilt for son #1 here. Both were excited about them for Christmas. Daughter M. wants one too. I think I have enough denim for one more blanket. I'll have to check into that.
I made this quilt slightly different--a bit offset--so that they could easily determine which quilt belonged to which boy. The center of each nine patch I used my double needle and white denim topstitching thread to give it a little something extra. I had used dark blue on the first quilt.
Anyway, I then decided I would try my hand at the Disappearing Nine Patch for real--with actual quilting type fabric. I used the scrap fabrics from all the Sound of Music pajama costumes that I had made earlier this Fall. This is what I came up with. L. will get it as a memory quilt since it was her school musical. It measures 54" square. I made 12 nine patch blocks--using 6" blocks, and then ended up having to make one more quarter square, if that makes sense.
But the big question is......now what do I do??!

Tree Mini Quilt

Now that December is practically over I am finally finding time to do some Christmas crafting. Here is a quick mini quilt I've had in my head all month.

I've been seeing trees all around blogland, so I came up with this simple forest idea. I'm not sure if I'm going to turn my forest into Christmas trees by putting star buttons on the top or just leave them regular trees. I kind of like the simpleness of regular trees.

(Measures 16" by 32")

I really like the paisley and the camo-looking print. I will probably use one of them for the back and the binding just to add some funkiness.

Here and here are some other cool tree designs I've seen--a little too complicated for my skills--but cool none the less. I really like how the advent calendar is quilted in diagonal lines. If I get brave, I'll give it a try on this one.

I have some more ideas up my sleeve for these particular fabrics, but it involves a different "green" holiday. Stay Tuned...

Finished Quilt can be found HERE.

Homemade Gift Idea--Snowman Soup

I was under the weather earlier this week and a friend of mine brought me a little "cheer me up" for later. Today we whipped up these little "gifts" so that the kids could take each of their friends at church a present.

Contents to be placed in small ziploc jewelry/craft bag --3 3/4 in. x 5 in. long.

1 Individual Hot chocolate packet
3 Hershey kisses
A small amount of mini marshmallows (or 2 lg. ones if you run out)
1 mini candy cane

Here is what the little tag reads:

Snowman Soup
Was told you’ve been real good this year
Always glad to hear it!
With freezing weather drawing near,
You’ll need to warm the spirit.
So here’s a little Snowman Soup
Complete with stirring stick.
Add hot water, sip it slow.
It’s sure to do the trick.

I printed off 6 labels on an 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of cardstock. Fold the label in half and attach with stapler to baggie. All the kids were excited to make them--it was SO EASY and QUICK!! And their friends thought it was great too.

If you don't want to come up with your own tag you can print tags here, or here, or use a completely different tag saying here, or here. There are actually a NUMBER of sites for this cute little gift idea if you google "Snowman Soup". You're sure to find a tag and saying that works for you.

Christmas 2009 (I hope)

I just about fell off my chair when this pattern came out. How cute can it get! The local fabric stores did not have many options for pre-pleated tape (pattern calls for this). So I made my own trim with the selvage edge. Just cut a long strip and gathered it myself.





I used KONA cotton solids from JoAnn's only because it is slightly heavier and made a size Large (guessing since we haven't had much luck with sizing lately) which ended up being the equivalent of 18-24 months size at BabyGap (had a dress in her closet to compare). If she stays on the smaller size like she is...it should fit perfect next December. If not, that's ok too. She'll wear it when it fits.

Quilting with Denim

I am not a quilter, but here is my attempt at a quilt for one of my son's for Christmas. I wanted to make a denim quilt for him since I STILL have lots of recycled denim. So I did make this quilt not buying anything new. It was all fabric I had in my stash. I tried following Emily's Disappearing Nine Patch style. I made my squares 6" square instead of 4" square. Here are a couple of the nine patches before cutting (above) and after cutting and rearranging (below).

I forgot to take a before of this one--This one was 3 dark diagonally and 4 in an + shape and then 2 others in opposite corners.

Here is another before and after arrangement.And finally the finished product. I just put grey fleece on the backside. Sewed them right sides together and left an opening to turn it--slipstitched the opening closed, and then topstitched around the outer edge about 5/8" seam.

I'm in skirt heaven

I finally purchased a basic skirt pattern. This particular one starts at age 2 (hard to find) and goes up to age 7.

Here are the first few I made for L. I made a size 2, 3, 4.

The bird fabric was spotted by Emily at our local JoAnn's. It's Alexander Henry. I'm on the prowl for a black and white stripe boatneck tee to go with it.





This is the size two skirt paired with a clearance top from baby gap. Last night I had my two year old niece model it....so cute! I can't wait until it fits L.





And I'm dying with excitement over this skirt. I think I'll be making lots of versions with the yo-yos. ...more for L and some for gifts.



this view is just showing how I attached them...all by hand. typically, not my favorite task, but kind of theraputic this time. I just randomly attached them. No method at all.

Kids Winter Hats

Since I have NO time to actually accomplish a project this month, I thought I'd post this idea from a few years back (that's already finished). It's one of my favorites! I made these Reindeer Hats for my (then) 3 kids to wear one year for our Christmas card picture. The idea and directions are from Family Fun Magazine!

(And as an added bonus: I'm pretty sure I'll be able to use this picture to keep my kids in line when they are teenagers. I'll threaten to show it to all their friends or post in the yearbook if they don't behave!)

The instructions were pretty easy to follow (as with most things from Family Fun) with only a minimal amount of sewing

But, since Christmas is rapidly closing in on us, maybe a Snowman Hat would be more appropriate. Some day I'll make that version, too!

Ornament memories

I got this idea from my BFF: Each year we buy an ornament that represents that person, their interests, or an event from the past year.  Here are our past two years:

2007 - Nathan (Noah's Ark) for surviving tough financial year @ work

Shauna (thread tree) for her interest in sewing

Joshua (car) for getting his driver's license in July & getting a car in Sept

Bethany (cell phone tree) for breaking 1 phone & dropping 1 in the toilet (don't ask) & constant use

Hannah (bicycle) for getting a bike and overcoming her fear of learning to ride

2008 -  Nathan (life jacket) for water skiing after 25 years

Shauna (butterfly) for spreading her wings & starting to fly

Joshua (graduation frame) for graduating from high school & seminary & getting his Eagle

Bethany (dog) for getting one after 5 years of dreaming/asking

Hannah (baby) because she is in constant demand for babysitting (2-3 jobs/week) - couldn't find $ one

So maybe y'all would like this, too.  It makes for an interesting tree & conversations & memories.

Homemade gift idea--Rice Packs!

Today seemed like a great day to share this project as we woke up to nasty blowing snow, and -8 degrees, before the windchill was factored in. That sure makes for a brutal wait at the bus stop for my kids. Oh well...school doesn't cancel often here.

In the midst of sewing new pajama pants for all my kids before Christmas Eve, I am also taking care of a really easy project--Hot/Cold Rice Packs! I have also heard them called bed buddies--which is so appropos as that is exactly what my kids like them for. Heat them up and then throw them in bed with you so you can fall asleep all roasty toasty!

Last year for the first time I made each of my kids their own rice pack, that actually matched one of their pairs of pjs, so that they could each get warmed up before falling asleep. And it helped to eliminate any arguing over who wanted which one, etc. They are ready for new ones this Christmas as the old ones are looking rather ratty and dirty. (Once they get the new ones the old ones are going in the trash.)

Here are the basic instructions:

1. Cut a piece of flannel or cotton fabric (nothing stretchy) so that you'll end up with a finished bag that will measure about 12" x 6". You can either cut a square 13 x 13, or a long strip to fold in half lengthwise, or even 2 pieces that are about 13 x 7. **The beauty of this is you can use scraps and make the rice bags whatever size you want or need.

2. Sew your fabric, right sides together, so that only 1 short end is open. Use 1/4" - 3/8" seam allowance.

3. Turn bag right side out and fill with rice, not instant, filling the bag half-way full.3. Fold the open edge in toward the inside of the bag, about 1/2" and sew closed with a little topstitch seam.

4. To warm--put bag in microwave for 1-2 minutes depending on how warm or hot you prefer it.

Enjoy being toasty on a cold winter's night!

These are a couple that I've made this year for my kids.

Here's a little side story about these rice bags:

Last Fall I made about 10 of these for the ladies in my ECFE (early childhood & family education) class. We had been talking about things we do to help calm our kids when they can't quite do it on their own. One of the women said she had a rice pack that she had made out of old nylons and rice that she gave to her daughter when she couldn't get to sleep at night. She just tied a knot in the end of the cut off nylon. Not real pretty, but effective.

I went home and told Hubby about our discussion and he suggested that I make them all nice ones, since I did have so much scrap fabric. I hoped that woman wouldn't feel like I was trying to show her up; however, we all know that we don't always follow through with great projects ideas when we hear about them. So I went ahead and did it--They were a hit!! I heard complimentary things for the next couple of weeks as they were all using them. Everyone was so appreciative--and since, of course, none of them sewed, they all thought pretty fabric rice bags were great.

Just this Fall I ran into one of those ladies again and she made a point of letting me know how much she just loves that rice bag and uses it all the time, especially when her husband is out of town. That is how she can get to sleep easier when he is gone. I was so glad to hear that as I had truly wondered if this might have been a goofy gift--but apparently not.