Last Quilt Project

To finish up my quilt projects, I made this quilt for Kris and Ashley who are due in October. I loved the crooked pinwheels and the colors are slightly crazy, but I like how it turned out!

Closeup of the pinwheels!

Finished Quilts!

After a long to-do list and a huge pile of half-done projects, I FINALLY sat down and finished a whole bunch of them.
This is a quilt I made for our good friends the Talbot's. I LOVE the fabric and the backing. It makes it very romantic.
The front! I've used this pattern lots of times, but it's a favorite and I have never not like how the quilts have turned out!
This is the back of the quilt I finished for this baby. I have to mention, I didn't have enough of one fabric for the backing, hence the stripes, but since we are having a boy, I figure it works!
I free-style machine quilted. I used transparent thread, which I learned I'm a huge fan of!
And the front. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this quilt! So happy how it turned out!
And lastly, I've been working on a quilt since I was pregnant with Sevy, and decided it was high time I finish it. Here is a close-up of one of the front blocks, but I pieced the backing the same way with various white fabrics and love it!
Close-up of a couple of the blocks. I hand-quilted the whole thing, and most the blocks were put together by hand. The lady bug has cotton in the wings to give it a 3d effect.
And the front. Not the greatest picture, but the quilt turned out better than I expected!
Now to decide what to do with it!

Summer Crafts

I have a whole slew of crafts on my list right now, but always seem to get distracted! We were invited to a fancy party, so here is the gift I came up with. The hair clips: please note the awesome zebra brad!
The skirt: tulle, ribbon, and elastic. So simple, but I love how it turned out! The hair clip here has some tulle and a brad in the center. This skirt is about a 2T. I also made one that is 12m, and then a 5T for Sevy!
Close-up of bow detail. I put it on a pin so it can be removed. Love it!
And finally, some of my gathered fabric flower clips. I love these! So simple but really cute!

Shoes and Signs

With so many babies about to enter our family (both Jon's and mine), it's made me very crafty! I found this Simplicity pattern and I knew I had to make these shoes! I'm hoping these will be cuter on, but I love the fabric, and as long as my baby really is a girl, she will be sporting them!
So, I doubt these will actually stay on a baby, but I loving how cute they turned out! I skipped a lot of steps (fusible felt, and jiffy grip) because I figured babies aren't really going to be walking anywhere and baby shoes are all about the look anyway!
I was at a consignment shop one day and I found these awesome letters! I got a ton of them (at a whopping $.25 a pop), and have been trying to decide how I'm going to use them. This is my first finished project with them. The board is a cabinet door I got from IKEA's 'as is' department for $1. The letters were a total of $1 for Sevy's name. The clips were the most expensive costing me a total of $3.76+tax. And the screws we had at home. We are currently working on Sevy's room, so this will go up when we are done!

Starting May with a BANG!

My sister Brandi is pregnant with baby #7, and I sadly realized I have never made her anything for her babies! I've had the cutest fabric lying around and decided it was high time she got an "Aunt Kat" quilt! This pattern comes from this book which I LOVE. It has a lot of cute baby quilt and other fun craft ideas! I'm lovin' on the backing fabric too!
Here is a slightly better picture of the front. One day I'll take photo's of my quilts on something other than my unmade bed!
While looking for fun fabric flower ideas I came across this blog and instantly fell in love with these flowers! I made them into hair clips, but you can also stick them on headbands, pins, pillows, or really anything! Give me fabric and felt and I am a happy camper!
Here is the collection I made. I did have 2 green ones, but somehow they disappeared when my son thought my craft desk was a good place to play instead of going to bed!
I'm slightly obsessed with certain colors of felt! I honestly don't remember where I came up with this idea. I believe is was a picture my sister-in-law sent me and I played off that. Anyhoo-I've had this done for months, and finally this week stuck it on a headband!
I LOVE how it turned out. Perfect for my five year old!

Projects in queue: Mother's Day gifts for Primary, Hounds-tooth quilt (just quilting and binding left), baby shower favors (just need to picture and post), baby shoes, dress for Sevy, and comfy dress for me!

April Crafting!

Easter time means Easter dresses! I stole the inspiration for Sevy's dress here, but being unwilling to spend the money, I figured I could make it myself! With the help of a Butterick pattern that I've had for years, I had the basic muslin dress, then added 8" strips of tulle folded over and gathered spiraling around from the bottom up, using lighter shades of purple until we got to the white layers on top! I took long strips of tulle (3 colors) and braided it for the belt, just tying a knot at the end of the braids. The head bow, I just gathered a strip of tulle into a flower, added a rhinestone brad to the center, and hot-glued it to a clip. Easy breezy. I love the belt, I love the skirt, but not sold on the top. Oh well! Maybe I'll fix it, or leave it as is!
Here is my work in progress. This is the quilt for baby #3! I got the pattern here, and love her (V and Co.) work! I have the back done now also, I just need to iron, layer, quilt, then bind. I'll post the finished product soon!
Backing, front, and my self-quilting attempts!
My sister-in-law Torrie has got me addicted to Thimble Blossoms quilts. She has made a few and they turn out ridiculously cute! For this quilt, I used the pint-sized pattern #129. Granted, my fabric choice is slightly out of control, but I love the way it turned out! I made it for my best-friend Kalle. If she hates it, I'll forgive her!

Garden Helpers

I found these cute little crafts in a Family Fun magazine and have been wanting to make them for MONTHS! Finally, I got around to making them. I'll be honest, mine aren't the cutest, but they do a great job of reminding me what I planted where!

How does your garden grow . . .

When asked what I LOVE about Houston, I can honestly answer year-round gardening! Today was gorgeous, and it's suppose to cool down this weekend, so I figured it was high time I attacked my much neglected garden!
Here are my radishes that I've left a little too long in the dirt! They are now each the size of my fist!
For some odd reason, I have the greenest thumb when it comes to tomatoes! My two longstanding tomato plants looked dry and dead and still I pulled two good-sized bowls of eatable fruits off them (oh, and a couple of pea pods I didn't pick yesterday!)! Too bad I don't like tomatoes!
And for the crown jewel of my garden! I grew broccoli! Isn't it gorgeous?! We are going to cut it and eat it for dinner on Sunday and Sevy is stoked! She wants to do the honors! While I was weeding my sad neglected garden, I also found little bundles of spinach I planted with the broccoli! That was a fun surprise! It seems to be doing alright, if not a little small! Ahhhh, the joys of gardening!