Carrie's Creations

First Quilt Ever

2010-05-17T22:02:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-04T10:44:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-02T22:33:00.000-07:00

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...

2010-03-20T19:47:00.000-07:00

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.

2010-03-17T19:52:00.000-07:00

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

2010-03-09T22:48:00.000-08:00

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

2010-02-20T21:18:00.000-08:00

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

2010-02-15T21:06:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-31T21:16:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-30T10:19:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-25T22:12:00.001-08:00

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

2010-01-05T21:21:00.000-08:00

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.

Fleece quilts from scraps

2009-11-09T22:04:00.000-08:00

I have a really hard time throwing away scraps. I just think I need it some day. Especially when it comes to scraps of fabric. I have several boxes of just scraps. And to my credit, I have used those scraps for different projects. Remember the bags we made while my nieces were here? From the scraps box...but that could be a completely different post...things I've made from scraps.

This weekend I got the crafting itch. It's been a while since I've spent some time in my craft room. We've been spending most of our time working in our backyard getting it ready for sprinklers and lawn and a better garden area. I wanted to make another fleece scrap quilt. I made one exactly 1 year ago and something in me needed to do it again.

Several years ago (probably 5 or 6) my sister picked up some fabric scraps from somewhere, maybe the DI, I'm not sure. She kept them for a couple of years, then she passed them onto my mom who kept them for a couple of years. My mom was cleaning out getting ready to move and she gave them to me. I packed them up and moved them with us to CA and them moved them to CO. As I was unpacking and settling into our new house in CO, I went through all my fabric boxes to see what I had and to pick out some projects. I looked in the big bag of fabric scraps and decided I was never going to use these, I had no idea what I could even make out of this weird fabric. It was a fleece of sorts, but a bit like carpet (but really soft). I finally gave up and threw the bag of scraps in the trash. Not even 20 minutes later I ran to the trash to fish out the scrap bag. I just couldn't do it. There must be a use for these. I finally decided to make a blanket for us to use to while watching TV on the couch. I cut squares out and it was not as big as I wanted so I added some flannel squares from the same flannel I used for the backing to make it a little bit bigger. This has ended up being the warmest quilt in the house. We love it!

After a church service project last year, there were scraps of fleece left that were about to be tossed into the trash when I asked if I could take them home. The bright blue plaid and circles fleece I got free from Craig's list last year. The grey squares came from a failed fleece jacket for sewing class my sister did in school. My mom didn't want to waste the fleece as it was expensive so she had my sister unpick everything and then she stored the fleece for however many years and finally cleaned out and I took it. I knew at some point I would have a use for it. And the other squares are scraps from projects I've worked on.

For the back, I used some navy flannel I've had kicking around for years and didn't know what to do with it. I stitched it all together this weekend and then tied it. I'm thinking of giving it to my brother for a wedding gift for when they are too poor to heat their house and need a cuddle blanket for the couch. I'll have to see when the time comes if Ryan will actually let me part with the warm fuzzy blanket.

Raggedy Ann and Andy

2009-10-08T18:40:00.000-07:00

I love Raggedy Ann and Andy. Several years ago they made a comeback in popularity and there was a plethora of cute fabric to buy. I bought up as much as I could find with future plans of a Raggedy Ann and Andy nursery. But as time went on, I found other fabric for a nursery and then another idea as well.

My sister decided she wanted a Raggedy Ann and Andy nursery. Now I could put my boxes of fabric to good use for her.

I made these Raggedy dolls for her birthday. It was a pretty simple kit. I bought the panels for the bodies and the panels for the clothing. Everything was pre-printed so I just cut and sewed.

The best part is I made a set for me and a set for her. Everybody needs a set of Raggedy dolls.

Levi Quilt

2009-09-14T19:55:00.000-07:00

When I was about 12, my madre helped me make a levi quilt. I still have that levi quilt today and more amazing, I still use it. It is like a right of passage in my family. All of my sisters also made a levi quilt. It's just something we had to do. So several years ago my madre gifted me some supplies. She had already cut out enough 6 inch squares to make a quilt, then she decided she didn't really need another levi quilt. Lucky me - I got out of a lot of the hard work.

I really wanted to make this for my brother-in-law's family. He and his wife have 5 adorable girls so it was only appropriate to find some cute girl flannel for the back. Then I found the perfect flannel with a rainbow of pastel colors, but it all stayed boxed up for a couple of years. But I finally broke it out this summer and started on it. I got the denim part sewed all together and ready for the girls to help me tie it.

Laying it all out

Denim part on the quilt frames with Tessa hiding beneath

With the flannel on top ready to be tied

The four center squares have pockets from a pair of my old jeans and from a pair of my hubby's.

Finished product :)

The girls helped me get it on the frames and then they helped me tied it as well. I finished binding it just in time for it to go in their suitcase for the trip back east. I loved how it turned out. I still have enough squares for one more quilt. Now I'm looking for some more cute backing for another quilt for another sister-in-law and her cute family.

Watermelon and justice for all

2009-07-28T21:44:00.000-07:00

I found this fabric panel a few years ago for $1. I panel had all the different pieces printed on it, all I had to do was cut it out sew, it together, add batting and hair. Super easy. Well I finished a few years ago, but never had a place to hang it up during July. I was finally able to bring it out for July and put it up. Super easy and very inexpensive!

Blanket-a-thon 2009 Part II

2009-07-01T13:30:00.000-07:00

This one now one of my favorite baby quilts ever. Ryan bought this fabric for me when we were living in Provo when we first were hoping we were pregnant (8 years ago). I must have commented once while we were in a store that I liked it, because he bought the panel for me a while later for my birthday. I put it away in box and kind of forgot about. In my continued effot to finish 1 project every 6 days, I dug it out and fell in love with the panel and immediately had ideas on how to finish it. I quilted it with cotton crosheen in a variegated orange around some animals and around others I used blue. I loved how it turned out. Definitely a keeper!

I love Strawberry Shortcake (the old one) and when I found this fabric a few years ago, I couldn't pass up. Besides, one can never have too many baby quilts right? Although with no kids, it makes a little less sense to have so many...

I found this panel on clearance a few years ago while shopping and fell in love with it. So simple and girly. And so far, most of the stuff I made was boy stuff (I just didn't find girl fabric I liked as much).

I quilted it with pink cotton crosheen and then used some pink satin binding I picked up for free somewhere. The next step caused me grief and pain. I sewed one edge of the satin binding down and then proceeded to pin the other edge down so I could hand stitch around the rest of the quilt. Oh how I regretted the decision to use that satin binding. I took it to work to hand stitch on my lunch break. The first day I only got about 6 inches done. I was frustrated. this was going to take forever. After a few more days, I got the hang of it and managed to finish it quicker than I thought. I'm not sure if I'll ever use satin binding again. Once might just be enough.

I picked this panel up at a clearance table back in Provo. But there was only 2/3 of a yard and not enough to make quilt. I cut some strips to put at the top to enlarge it to a yard and then turn it into a baby quilt.

I picked this panel up the same time as the previous one. It is a cute rag doll pattern. I tied this one with cotton crosheen as well (can you see my pattern for quilting and tying with cotton crosheen?) I wish I could keep them all!

Not by me, but wanted by me

2009-05-11T22:00:00.000-07:00

Isn't this the cutest quilt? My creative brain just can't think this way, but I love that others can.

Someone I don't know (but I adore her stuff) is having a fabulous giveaway. Head on over to Pigtails and Snails to leave a comment to put yourself in the running. Wouldn't you like to have this?

Harry Potter scarf

2009-03-30T15:59:00.000-07:00

Ryan rarely asks me to make things. So when I asked me to make a Harry Potter scarf, I had to say yes. Well, I wanted to say yes, but I was a little bit overwhelmed. I don't really knit and I have only ever in my life knitted one thing. Dishcloths. The same thing over and over again.

I searched the Internet and found a pattern and instructions I liked. I had my craft friend, Joan, help me start.

I had never used a circular needle and I had never switched yarn in the middle of project before. She helped me get started and I set off. I worked on it every day at lunch and at night. By the time Christmas came, Ryan opened up about 40 rows of knitting and a skein of yarn. I vowed I would finish it in January. Well, things happen and I almost finished it. We moved and moved again. I finished the scarf in June 2008...18 months after I started it. Then we moved a few weeks later and the scarf was lost. I was devastated. I was not looking forward to making him another one.

I opened up a suitcase to pack for a trip and there it lay...the Harry Potter scarf I had worked so hard on. Ryan was ecstatic! And I was relieved.

Winter crafts

2009-02-26T13:24:00.000-08:00

I've been lugging these items around half finished since 2005. So one week, I made it a winter craft week and finished these up. The Santa and Snowman with arms going on a holiday basket that I fill with differnt things (I also have a witch) and the other snowman is for a door or wall hanging.

Now that we live in an area where it gets cold and snows, I'll actually get an opportunity to use display them next winter.

Baby Blankets galore

2009-02-23T19:39:00.000-08:00

My sewing machine was in the repair shop again. It turns out, they didn't fix the real problem last time it was there just two weeks ago.

So in order to keep up on my goal of 1 project every 6 days, I had to find projects that didn't require a machine. I dug through boxes and decided to use my fabulous quilting frames that my Padre made for me for Christmas. I have an addiction to making anything baby related. I know, i don't have children (why won't my body cooperate?) But I can't help falling in love with baby fabric each time I go in a store.

I tied four of the baby quilts in two nights and then started quilting the other two. I love quilting using cotton crosheen. It goes so much faster and I love the look of it. I got my machine back and was able to finish the edges of the quilts. My hermana came for a visit and fell in love with a couple of them. I snuck one of them to the car for her to find when she got home from her visit.

For Mother's Day when we were in Provo, Ryan bought me the Zoo fabric. This was when we first decided it was time to start a family and I had no idea that 9 years later, I would still not have any kiddos.

After this quilt was finished, I fell in love with it even more. It now resides in the box labeled "Our Baby Box". One day I hope to have a reason to open this box.

Little Einstein's Quilt

2009-02-10T17:32:00.000-08:00

Ryan fell in love with Little Einstein's while we were staying with his brother's family. I found this Little Einstein's fabric and decided to make Ryan a blankie. We needed a lot of blankies as we were adjusting to the cold Colorado winter after living in Southern California for the past 3 years.

I backed it with blue fleece and we tied the quilt. It is soft and warm and perfect for using on a cold winter's night.

Christmas Tree Skirt

2008-12-05T17:19:00.000-08:00

I finally finished quilting my tree skirt that I first started in 2001. Yes, 8 years ago. I bought the fabric at an after Christmas clearance sale. I bought a few more fabrics in the ensuing 6 years. I bought enough fabric that I decided to make it a reversible tree skirt. Then my sister Erin also wanted to make one so we decided that we would finish them during that holiday season (2006). We would talk each Sunday to discuss our progress and we would be held accountable to accomplish this task. I spent hours and hours laying it out going for that random, but coordinated look. I pieced together each side although one side required a lot more piecing.

Two years later, I unboxed it and decided to finish it. I stitched along the major seam lines with creme colored cotton crosheen. It turned out pretty cute and I even put it on and spun around just like we used to do when we were little.

I am about out of projects that I've started and never completed. I mean I have boxes of projects that I've never started, but my 1/2 finished projects are almost completely finished.

$1.18

2008-11-06T17:09:00.000-08:00

Ryan and I love to shop the after the holiday clearance sales. Madre taught me this is the best time to buy for the next year.

So we went to Walmart after Halloween and I made this cute little craft for $1.18! The broom cost $.68 and the bow $.50. Gotta love those 75% off deals!

Jumper

2008-02-05T16:49:00.000-08:00

I buy clearance fabric sometimes without knowing what I want to make. I usually buy it if I like it or I think I might have an idea of what to make. But mostly, I just love a bargain.

I had this fabric for a year or so and I felt the urge to sew. I decided to make a jumper out of this slightly stretchy fabric. It matched my deep red sweater which also matched my cute red shoes I inherited from my sister Crescent. I finished it in time to wear it to my sister-in-law's wedding.

Brocade dress

2008-01-05T17:13:00.000-08:00

I first made a brocade shirt a few years back. I loved the look, but brocade was so expensive and hard to sew on. I found some on clearance and an idea for a dress.

It was an experiment, I was happy with how it turned out, not perfect, but I was content with it.

A pink tent

2007-09-15T16:59:00.000-07:00

When I was little, my Grandma Beck made us a tent to play in. We loved this tent! It was made out of PVC pipe and army green fabric, but oh how we loved to play in the tent. We set it up inside and outside.

I got the pattern from my Aunt Norine and I set about making plans for a Pipe Tent. I searched all over for fabric. It had to be sturdy enough and since I needed 6 yards, there had to be plenty. I didn't want to spend a ton of money so I searched for months at the clearance sales. I finally found something suitable. Since I was making it for my nieces - 5 girls and no boys, I thought pink was the perfect color.

It turned out a little short, so I added a border along the bottom. I also made a bag to store it in.

Plastic aprons

2007-08-10T16:39:00.000-07:00

When we were little, Madre made us some plastic aprons. We used them to when we painted with watercolors, played with play dough or anything else messy. They were great. Madre just wiped them off when we were done.

I decided to make some for my nieces. I found white and pink plastic and used nylon straps around the neck and for ties.

When Madre made ours, she used bias tape all around the edges and for ties, and after trying it a different way, I would do it Madre's way if i ever make these again.

Graduation announcements

2007-06-05T19:27:00.000-07:00

Ryan and I both were graduating on the same day. I wanted to send out announcements, but our poor college budget couldn't handle the insanely ridiculous price for official ones. And we wanted both of our names to be on the same announcement. My creative brain started coming up with ideas. And we decided to make our own.

First we drove to about 10 different scrapbook stores looking for the right color of purple. So many shades of purple and I was simply not going to settle for a nasty purple. We bought some official stickers from the bookstore and we set about making announcements.

Ryan decided he wanted to make one as well. I was surprised, but I wasn't going to complain. This is the announcement I created. I found the perfect matching purple ribbon for $1. I know it looks like a wedding announcement a bit, but I liked it. It is probably not noticeable in the picture, but I used a vellum overlay with the print on the white card stock below and the sticker/seal on the vellum.

And here is the one Ryan created. He went hi-tech and downloaded an image of the Campus and printed it on the announcement.

We ended up sending out some of both announcements to our families. It was a fun way to end our college careers together.

Minnie Mouse doll blankies

2007-04-07T16:43:00.000-07:00

I bought this fabric on clearance back in 2001 or so. I've hauled it around as we moved. My plan was to make pillow out of the panels. My twin nieces got into a doll phase. I decided to make doll blankies instead of pillows. It was quite convenient as well. Their parents had dressed one of them in pink on the other in purple since they were born. So there was no question of whose was purple and whose was pink.

I machine quilted around Minnie's face, bow and hands.

They were the perfect size for their dollies.

Apron for Cresy

2007-03-15T16:26:00.000-07:00

Growing up in my family, we had a Christmas tradition of making homemade gifts for each other. A month or two before Christmas we would draw names and then make a homemade gift for that person. After a few years, we started a rotation. My sister had drawn my Padre's name for the past 3 years and he is one of the hardest ones. So the rotation began and it continues today.

Crescent asked for an apron for her homemade gift. I set about searching my boxes to find some cute fabric that I had to make the perfect apron. I had bought an apron pattern before when I made an apron for Ryan's mom a few years ago. The apron for her turned out okay, but the pattern was not the best. The binding along the edge was done in several strips so there ended up being layers of fabric at the top corners of the apron.

I learned my lesson. This time, I made the ties, neck loop and edges one continuous strip of binding.

Hair cutting cape

2007-02-07T16:09:00.000-08:00

One of the first traumatic moments of our marriage occurred about 6 weeks after we had been married. Ryan asked me to cut his hair. I had never used clippers, I had no idea what I was doing and I didn't attempt it again for several years.

Ryan asked me to make him a hair cutting cape. But he wanted it out of "slippery" fabric. I had made one when I was younger as a gift for my father, but it was cotton fabric.

However nervous I was, it was a great excuse to drag Ryan to Joann's as we looked for suitable fabric. This process of looking for the perfect fabric took several months. One day after a shopping trip on my own to Joann's, I came home with the perfect fabric.

Slippery spiderman fabric. I made many phone calls to Mom asking for instructions and advice on what to do. My plan was to use a rolled hem around the edge. However, the "slippery" fabric didn't take to a rolled hem.

I was stuck. I finally gave in and finished the entire thing with bias tape. When Ryan opened it Christmas morning (no surprise this year), our brother-in-law Luke exclaimed "I want one of those"! (One year later, Luke received his own slippery spiderman hair cutting cape.)

Josh, our nephew, wouldn't get his hair cut without the spiderman cape.

Yoda blankie

2006-12-27T15:44:00.000-08:00

Every year I make Ryan a homemade gift. I love coming up with an idea and then usually I can surprise him. I had bought this fabric a year before for another purpose. But when the next year came around, I set to work.

It was really hard to find a time to cut the fabric when he would be gone for at least 4 hours. He had tickets to go to a BYU football game at UCLA (i think) on a Saturday. So I spread out the fleece and began cutting. It took forever. Fleece stretches so much and can change shape. The front side is the Yoda fleece and the back is black fleece. Each of the sides had to be cut at 1/2 intervals and then the black fringe is tied to the Yoda fringe. I managed to get it cut and cleaned up before he got home.

I spent the next few weeks at work during lunch tying together the fleece during my lunch break. It was well worth it. He was extremely surprised on Christmas day and loves his Yoda blankie.

Willy Wonka

2006-12-15T15:54:00.000-08:00

My niece Brittany loves Willy Wonka. For that matter, she loves anything Tim Burton. For her birthday party, she wanted to dress up like Willy Wonka. So her grandmother bought the fabric and I set off to make the Willy Wonka outfit. It turned out okay. I didn't have time to make a vest, but the jacket and hat looked good. She wore it in the city parade at Christmas time as well and handed out candy to the kids.

Shag quilts

2006-12-01T19:02:00.000-08:00

My mom told me about this great new look she had seen for quilts and blankets. Shag quilts I think. My brain got thinking and I decided it would be fun to make doll quilts for my nieces out of leftover flannel scraps.

I'm such a planner, that I actually worked out the pattern in an excel spreadsheet. I wanted the random look of each suare being a different size. I ended up making two for my nieces and one for myself. One of my co-workers asked if she could pay me to make one for her daughter. Like I could take money her money when it gave me someone to make projects for. I have all these cute ideas and no kids of my own. Maybe someday. In the meantime, I have boxes of finished and unfinished projects waiting for our baby(ies).

Simpson Blanket

2006-11-02T19:12:00.000-08:00

Ryan loves the Simpson's. I wanted to make him a Simpson's blanket ever since we got married. I searched all over for Simpson fabric. I couldn't find it anywhere. I couldn't even find a website that carried Simpson Fabric.

One spectacular day at the Ogden DI, I found a Simpson's flat twin sheet! And for $2! It was in pretty good condition. My creative brain started forming ideas and I remembered my grandma used to turn flat sheets into twin quilts. I was going to make him blanket with that twin sheet. Mom had 2 bolts of royal blue backing fabric and it matched exactly so she graciously donated to the cause. I decided to surprise Ryan at Christmas with this quilt.

I finished my finals and went to work at 11pm one night. 12 hours later at 11am i came home, called my sisters to come over and help. I was going to need their help to finish this before our flight that night. Ryan was going to be home at 5pm and we were leaving for the airport to fly to California for Christmas. We furiously tried to get it ready for machine stitching. I was just going to sew 4 straight lines down the the quilt from top to bottom. It wasn't going well. I no practically no experience machine quilting. I spent more and more time unpicking and time was running out. 5 minutes before Ryan would be home, my visiting teacher showed up at the door. I didn't want to be rude, but I had a really tight deadline. Luckily, she understood my predicament. Finally, despite the crooked quilting lines, I stuffed it in suitcase about two minutes before Ryan walked in the door. I would just finish the edges at his parents house before Christmas.

He was so surprised when opened the present Christmas morning. He stayed wrapped up in the blanket the rest of the trip. He wanted to put it on our queen size bed when we got home.

** Confession - It took me another year before I got around to finishing the edges. Better late than never, right?