Things With Wings!

It's time for the twins' birthdays again! And despite the fact that I didn't think I was going to be able to pull it off, I did. Because I rule. The twins are really into imaginative play, as any 5 year old is, and since mom is really into handmade stuff I pushed myself to complete a project for each of them. I can honestly say that it took longer for me to work up the motivation for these projects than to actually complete them. Especially since I completed both in a matter of a few hours (ONE DAY!) and put the project off for about two months...

Thing One is really into dragons and knights, so for him a handmade dragon capelet that he can easily get on and off (modeled by Diva-- note the fierceness). The capelet is made of felt, green glitter and matte orange, elastic and some velcro.

Thing Two is prefers things a little more feminine so for her, a monarch-inspired butterfly (also modeled by Diva).This is also made of felt, black glitter, purple and white, as well as some elastic.

I can't wait to see if they like them!

Santa Claus Came to Town!

It's amazing how life can just get away from you. In August I took on a temporary job and was working full time, plus being a full time mommy and wife to two spunky little girls and hubby. Needless to say there wasn't much time for sewing. But there was one project I was determined to finish by Thanksgiving. Thankfully I started it in July, otherwise I never would have made it.

I bought the pattern for this beauty way back in February and knew I was going to make it for my parents' house as an early Christmas gift. I was slightly disappointed by the pattern itself. It came together well enough, but there was absolutely no wiggle room. What I mean is that instead of the pieces overlapping, they were designed to basically butt up against one another. Since I didn't realize this and it was hard to judge exactly where the pieces belonged, when the whole thing was put together there were gaping holes in the beard. I was able to remedy that by putting a big section of white under it before I appliqued it to the black background but if I ever did it again I thing I would redraw the pattern pieces to allow for some overlap. 

I also didn't follow the pattern for the boarder. It was more applique to create a candy cane stripe and holly leaves. I was just too appliqued out. But I actually LOVE my fabric choices, maybe even a little bit better than the original design. 

After the whole top was assembled, I hadd- embroidered the face, and a couple of other parts like the thumb line and the lines that add dimension to the gifts. Then I free-motion quilted it to the batting. I did the outlining edges of everything but the beard. For that I tried my hand at thread-painting. 

Then I sewed it right-sides together to the backing with the rope-style binding and turned it out like a pillowcase  and hand-sewed the last side. Done! I also added a rod pocket to the backing before I did all that.

I really, really love it. I told my mom if she didn't absolutely love it I was taking it back with me!! She did, so I guess she can have it. I hope everyone has a happy rest of the holiday season!

I'm back!

Whoa. It's been a long time. I had a really busy spring and I guess I needed a couple of months to recover! Don't get me wrong though... I've still been busy. I just haven't had time to share!

After Little Loo's 1st birthday and school wrapped up, I took a couple of weeks to recover before starting my next big project-- Diva's new nap quilt for school. Unlike last year, when I whipped up her quilt (start to finish) in about a week, I wanted to spend some time and create something really special. When I asked Diva what type of quilt she wanted, naturally she told me "something princess-ey." I knew just what I was going to do!

At my first quilt show I had bought a pattern that I just adored called Happily Ever After by Ribbon Candy Quilt Company. The pattern was for a 42" square quilt which was just not the right size, but I was able to modify the pattern to work, and I love it even more.

In case you are wondering, I duplicated the blocks from the top row, adding them as a row to the bottom, and swapped the direction of the bottom (now middle) section. Then, I patterned the words "happily," "ever," and "after" and patterned the dragon from a coloring page I found online. I also omitted the flowers. This was the first time I tried applique, and I decided it wasn't as scary as I thought it was going to be.

The other thing I wanted to do on this quilt was try out a whole bunch of new and different quilting techniques. I'm so glad I did. I tried all sorts of things. Below are my two favorite blocks, front and back. I love how I was able to quilt in the cobblestones and scales, and I especially love how you see the images from the back of the fabric, a blue minky dot.

And while we are on the subject, I heard nightmarish stories about quilting with minky. But what can I say, I'm a glutton for punishment I guess, so I decided to go big or go home. Honestly though, I had absolutely no issues with it! I used a combination of my 505 basting spray and straight pins and nothing shifted so much as an inch.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this quilt. I had a wonderful time making it. And I know Diva loves it!

I hope to be back soon... I'm half way through a Christmas wall hanging, and I also have another quilt that needs to be done by mid-October. I'll keep you posted!

Linking up with Made with Love Monday!, Market yourself Monday, and Let's Get Acquainted Monday Link Up (buttons of the right bar).

Come one, come all and join the fun!

Little Loo just turned one!

 I can't believe my youngest angel has just turned one. I know I've been totally MIA over the last few weeks. Between Diva's Beauty and the Beast birthday extravaganza, the school auction and quilt, and getting ready for Loo's big 0-1, I've been a bit swamped! But I'm super excited to get to show you everything I've been working on!

Here are photos of my projects in no particular order. I created the pennant below to compliment the decor. It was super easy to make. I cut out triangles. Sewed them wrong sides together and then sewed them into extra-wide, double-fold bias tape. The quilt (if you remember) is the quilt I made before Loo was born. It just so happened to match! I also made some matching, no-sew, birthday hats. They were super easy and looked amazing.

 The next project were these home-made (or at least home-painted) faux carousel horses. These horses were made from old Radio Flyer spring mounted horses (and other similar products). I took the horses off the springs, spray painted them white, and then hand-painted their details. Before they were painted, my husband cut holes into them and fit them with PVC pipe, which was later painted to match.

There's one of those birthday hats I mentioned above. I also made the display for behind the cake from a giant canvas and some of those great party decoration fans.

And now, the cakes. When I decided that Loo's theme would be "vintage carousel" I knew I wanted to do just that for her cake. Wilton makes a carousel topper that I hand painted and inserted into the cake. I also placed the cake on a turntable so the carousel actually rotated.

Well, that's pretty much it. I hope you enjoyed what I created... I know Little Loo did!

April Finish

Wow. This month was quite the whirlwind with everything going on! But I did manage to finish what I had set out to do. The taggie baby quilt for my friends baby shower (taking place this weekend) was finished yesterday, just in the nick of time!! Without further ado, here it is.

I used charm packs from Riley Blake's Willow collection and taggies in a bright yellow. For the first time ever, I tried the disappearing 9 patch. Considering the fact that I was sooo rushed on this, I think it came out really cute. I also used a satin blanket binding, which I had never done before either. It really gives it an extra baby quality, and the texture is a nice change too. 

I also tried a new quilting technique with this quilt, and was able to quilt hearts all over it. I love love love the way it came out. I only wish I had put even more on there.

Linking up with: (see sidebar for links)

TGIFF

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop

2013 NewFO Project

A Lovely Year of Finishes (apparently I'm a day late for this one! Oops!)