First Quilt Ever

My favorite craft blog in the world is Obsessively Stitching.  She is so creative and most of the projects are inexpensive which is always a plus.  A few weeks ago she started a tutorial called "First Quilt Ever".  I wanted to join, but I was barely managing to brush my teeth every day and take care of Landon let alone start a pieced quilt.  About 2 weeks into the tutorial, I felt the craft itch really, really strong.  It was rainy Saturday and Ryan was watching Landon.  I started looking through my many, many boxes of fabric to see if I could find fabric in a box that would work.  And then I the idea came.  Back in 2001 when we first started trying to get pregnant, the Blue Jean Teddy Bear was really popular.  Every fabric store had tons of fabric.  And I bought it up a little here, a little there, and little more over there.  And I ended up with an entire box of Blue Jean Teddy Bear Fabric.  Back in 2001 when I had no idea it would take more than 3 months to get pregnant, Ryan and I hand quilted a Blue Jean Teddy Bear baby quilt. (I know, I made Ryan help me...) A quilt to be used for our first baby.  And then I made bumper pads.  Now I have about 4 or 5 Blue Jean Teddy Bear quilts put away waiting to be used.  Plus I have a box full of coordinating fabric. I've match it up and have 7 more Blue Jean Teddy Bear quilts ready to be made. 

So in that lovely box, I found remants and pieces of fabric, 9 in all and I decided to go for it.  I was going to make the quilt with my Blue Jean Teddy Bear fabric.  It took me 3 days, but I busted out the steps and got l caught up. 

And there it sits, in my craft room, waiting for the border (which I need to take a picture of it pieced together).  I got distracted with several other projects while I was waiting for the next step on Obsessively Stitching.  And I just haven't made it back to it yet.  And partly because I'm scared. I don't want to mess it up.  I worked so hard on it and it looks so good, I'm afraid I'll ruin it when I start the dreaded machine quilting.

a shortage of pillowcases

Somehow during our 10 marriage, Ryan and I have not accumulated extra pillowcases. Pillowcases in my house growing up were everywhere. Perhaps it is because when someone couldn't figure out what to make for the homemade gift, the default gift was a pillowcase.
This week I got fed up with not having a clean pillowcase in the house. I ventured into my craft room, found some flannel I had been toting around for years that was given to me (thanks Joan) and 20 minutes later, I had solved our problem. I'm probably whip up a few more sometime soon, but this should work until then.

It's hard to tell it the picture, but I used a cute decorative stitch with red thread along the top.

Just a few cards

I had quite a few thank you cards to write, but I realized I was almost out of cards. So I made a few up, and then I made a few more and a few more and a few more. Soon I had over 200 cards. Not all are thank you cards, some are Congratulations, Happy Birthday, Just Because and some are for babies. I still need to attach a little accent/tag on each one. This should last me for a while.

It's addicting..and I used 2 full glue sticks!

Most people have 9 months...

Most people have 9 months to prepare for a baby. Sometimes a baby will come early and shorten the preparation time, but the majority of the world has 9 months.

We had 9 days...just 9 days to prepare for this. Although we have been waiting for years and years, 9 days is just not a lot of time.

Landon Kyle Jacobs

3/5/10 at 1:58pm

8lbs 2oz and 19 inches long

We have the most amazing birth mother ever. She is an amazing woman who we hope will always be a part of our lives. We are so grateful and humbled that she chose us.

I finally did it. I finished the last denim quilt for Ryan's 3 siblings. I would say I'm done making denim quilts, but I will probably end up making a few more in my lifetime. I still want to make a new one for me. I made my denim quilt more about 20 years ago and it has had a good life, but eventually it will need to be retired and replaced.


Did I mention I love flannel?

I am addicted to flannel

I love flannel. I love looking at flannel. But even more I love buying flannel. Which would explain the 4 boxes of flannel I have sitting in my craft room closet. I can't help it. I can't resist buying it. Mostly I make flannel baby blankets and sometimes doll blankets, but most of the time it just sits in a box waiting for me to actually have a child so that I can use it.


Since the whole kid thing wasn't happening for us, I started making flannel baby blankets and giving them away. It was actually therapeutic for me. And it enabled me to continue to buy more flannel to feed that addiction.


I've had several friends the last few months have babies and I decided I need to send a flannel baby blanket their way. These are a few of the ones I've gifted in the last few weeks.

A new toy for me

I not sure the life span of a cutting mat. I've had mine for at least 7 or 8 years and it was in pretty bad shape. I have cut so over 1000 denim squares and more than 80 flannel baby blankets. The mat is no longer self healing, it's beyond hope of healing.

I've been wanting a new cutting mat, but they are just so expensive. I found a great sale over the holiday weekend - 50% off with an additional 10% off coupon. It's a different brand than my old one, but the new one is double sided so maybe it will last twice as long (hopefully).

My old Olfa mat next to my new Fiskars mat.

My first attempt in a long time

I haven't tried machine quilting in a long time. In fact, I've only machine quilted 2 baby quilts with mediocre results so I've been hesitant to try again.

I decided to start with a very simple pattern, straight lines sewn at a 90 degree angle.

I really like how it turned out. And of course, I didn't make it for me, but I like it enough that I want to keep it. Just like all the rest I make :)

Another I-spy

My latest craft obession just happens to be I-spy squares. Thanks to Care of Obessively Stitching, I've found my newest addiction. (Her husband was one of my friends in Ecuador).

Last week (or maybe the week before) she started another I-spy swap, but I had worked a really long day at work (like 12 hours) and by the time I got home and saw the swap, it was already past full. But she had linked to another I-spy swap and lucky for me, there was room. Here's my squares that I sent in.

I can't wait to see what comes back.

Another denim quilt

I love flannel and I love shopping for flannel. I found this cute frog flannel during the after thanksgiving flannel sale. Ryan's sister loves frogs (or at least she did at one time) so I started forming an idea. I still had plenty of squares left to make another denim quilt. This one didn't take near as long as the last one and the best part was Ryan helped me tie it so it was only on the quilt frames for about 24 hours.

Cute Frogs!

More Raggedy Ann and Andy

I picked up this fleece panel of Raggedy Ann and Andy several years ago when I was collecting RA&A fabric. Since my sister, Lara, is going to have a RA&A baby room, I've been making all sorts of things for her with the fabric. I made this during summer, but I couldn't post it here since she might see it.

I used pinking shears to cut the strips around the edge so I could tie them. It took hours and I ended up with very sore hands and a blister or two. Later Crescent, another sister, told me she had a cutting blade that cut like pinking shears. Next time I'll borrow that.

I gave it to Lara for Christmas. Hope she likes it because I sure do.

Erin's scrappy quilt gifted to Alisa

I haven't posted on here in a while. It was all about keeping the secrets at Christmas. I made several presents for my sisters in November and December, but I couldn't post them here just in case they happened to look here. I'll post those projects soon, but my sister Erin just sent me a picture of the scrap quilt she made. Another sister, Alisa, saw her making it and begged her to give it to her. Then she begged to borrow it "one day". They she flat out asked to borrow it. Still the answer was no. Then on Christmas morning she opened up her gift and got her wish. The scrap quilt was hers to keep! (or that's the story I was told)

Erin with the pieced front of the scrappy quilt.

The back of the scrappy quilt

Erin used upholstery fabric scraps that she picked up from somewhere (thrift store maybe?). I'm just in love with scrappy quilts lately. Now she needs to make another one for her to keep. But if she does, maybe I'll ask for that one.