Cat in the Hat Baby Quilt

I made this baby quilt almost entirely out of scraps.  The only thing I had to buy was the backing and the 3 inch boarder.  I used the scraps from the cat in the hat quilts I made to make the center of the quilt and the binding.  I even still have a little more left over.  Not quite enough for a back though.  Even basting batting together and using it can be helpful.  It is nice having a stash. I need to get more boyish fabric because most of my stash is quite girlie.  I really like how this quilt turned out.  I used the same pattern as the one I did for my quilting class.   My husband actually sewed the rows together for me then I sewed them into columns then did the rest.  It is so amazing how you could make several things out of one pattern and have it look completely different. Sometimes it is hard to make stuff and then to give it away.  My piano teacher is going to have her baby next week so I made this quilt for her.  Hope I didn't spoil the surprise Kristen.  Thanks for all you do for me.  Also thanks to my wonderful husband for all your love, support, and of course help. :) What would I ever do without you honey??  No seriously. LOL  You truly are my other half.

Baby Quilt

I recently took a couple of quilting classes that were very informative and very fun.  I made this cute baby quilt in the class.  I am going to use this same pattern to make my piano teacher a baby quilt.  I really like how this quilt turned out although I still can't get over how busy it is.  I had bought a kit for the class so had to just pick from what they had available.  I liked the purple so that is why I ended up choosing this pack.  They do have one at the quilt shop that I like better than this one and goes with my bedroom colors of grey and purple but I already made the cat in the hat quilt for myself and don't want to spend another $75 to make another quilt of the same pattern.  This quilt was a smaller version of the pattern so it was $40.  I like the pattern.  I really liked how the binding turned out.  I am not quite fond of the striped boarder and squares. Besides that I liked all the other fabric that came in the kit.  I still think it is very busy.  This was the first quilt I did with random pattern for the squares and that was very hard to wrap my head around.  I hope I can get more used to the random patterns.  I learned a lot of awesome tricks to the trade.  I know I will just keep getting better and better from here on out.  I am excited to keep improving my skills and learning new things.  I look forward to growing a lot in the quilting trade. :)

Cat in the Hat quilt #2

I finally finished it.  It took me a lot longer than expected because I ended up doing a lot of little projects in the middle.  I did a binding on this one different from they old fashioned one that I did on the other one.  I will say that I will not be using a polyester fill on any other quilt I do on my machine.  I did the same fill for the other one but I did everything by hand so I didn't run into problems.  At least I didn't try and machine a lot more on this quilt otherwise it would have been a nightmare.  It turned out looking a lot cuter than I had expected.  I did some things different than the first one because I learned from some of the problems I ran into with the other one that I don't normally run into.  I also ended up using flannel on the back of this one.  I really like that feature.  It has 2 different temperatures it feels like because it feels cooler on one side than the other.  I can't wait to start the next ones I had waiting for me.  I didn't want to start something new until I finished this one.  Glad it is done.  Now time to enjoy it. :)

Receiving Blanket

I really enjoy making flannel receiving blankets.  I made a ton for my daughter when I was pregnant with her cause I had a broken foot and needed something to do. A friend of mine taught me how to crotchet.  That was 5 1/2 yrs ago.  I have loved crocheting ever since. I actually made this one a while ago.  I love this fabric together and had to make a blanket with it.  I have been holding on to it one because it is hard for me to give something I made that I love away and two because I just hadn't found the right person to give it to yet.  I love to make my receiving blankets a little on the large size.  It is nice to use on the floor with babies.  I usually buy 1 1/2 yds and make a receiving blanket and burp rags to go with it.  I made this one extra large because I bought the same amount of fabric and didn't take any away for burp rags.  I am still not sure if I want to part with it yet but I am finally going to.  I have probably had it for at least 2 yrs.  I didn't get too fancy with the crocheting on this one like I have on others but I think it turned out great anyway.  I used 2 different colors for the contrast.  I love how that turned out.  I will definitely be doing that again. I have another receiving blanket that I have cut and sewn together but just haven't crocheted it yet.  I love the fabric on that one so much too.  I will probably crochet it when I decide who to give it to.  I have so many other ongoing projects that I haven't had the motivation to do that yet.  So here I am sharing with you my gorgeous blanket. :)

Book Bag Tote

I just recently started taking piano lessons with my daughter.  I didn't want to keep carrying the books back and forth not in something and have one get lost.  I decided to make this simple book bag.  I got the tutorial here.  I didn't like this tutorial and ended up just doing my own thing.  The only thing I got from this tutorial was the measurements.  Although my handles are shorter cause I wanted to use the width of the fabric to save on some fabric so I didn't buy the length of the handles.  I did not think this tutorial had very good instructions but because I made bags on my own before I was able to just go with what I wanted with just the measurements.  It turned out really cute.  I love the fabric I ended up getting for this project.  I think from now on  I am not going to use tutorials unless I really don't know how to do something.  I just get annoyed with them especially when they skip steps.  My daughter helped me pick this fabric out and is excited to use this bag.  We will sure use it. :)

Mini Me Purse......Finally

I don't know why it took me so long to get this one done.  Motivation plays the biggest part I guess. I haven't been motivated to do a whole lot lately.  This turned out really cute.  I used a little pattern that I found on sale but I did adjust it a little bit.  She loves this purse.  It is nice cause it isn't so big that she can fill it with tons of stuff.  She was excited it was just big enough for her mini book of mormon.  She also realized it was like my purse.  She got so excited and said "mom it's just like yours".  I love to hear that she gets excited about having matching things.  It is so fun to make matching things.  I will be sad for the day to come that she doesn't like to be like mom anymore.  I used the same black flower fabric as the inside as mine and the same outside and I used the striped fabric for the handles.  I didn't end up having enough of the fabric I used for my ruffles to use on any of it but it turned out just as cute.  She is happy with it and that is all I care about.  It took me about 30 min to cut and sew this purse cause I had to stop and go get my son from school in the middle of it.  Overall a very easy project and very cute.  I hope to see her wear things out that I make for her cause then I know for sure that she loves it.  She keeps asking me when I am going to make her quilt and I keep telling her soon.  She is so anxious for me to make her anything and not make anything for anyone else. :)