Baby Boy Up-cycle Quilt

Here is an up-cycled quilt made from old jeans with a puppy printed blanket used for the backing, perfect for that new baby boy! 

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Can't you just see this quilt spread out on the lawn for the baby boy to play on?  He could name the puppies, too! The denim will hold up to the damp lawn and the puppy side is incredibly soft. Cozy.

Eighty 6 x 6 squares, in different shades of blue. Sewed together to make the top.

I used Warm & Natural 100% cotton batting. 

And added a baby size jean jacket for the shower gift.

Popped the folded quilt and jacket in a gift bag and DONE. Loved being able to use old jeans that would have ended in the landfill.

It has been way too long since I've posted to this blog, but I will try to make-up for the last couple of years in the next few weeks - maybe...no promises here (smile).

Hope you enjoy this idea,

Hugs, Maggie

A Hand Made Winter Quilt - My First Pieced Quilt

The idea for this quilt started several years ago while I was on a Christmas tour of houses in our local area. The thing is...I told someone from my garden club about what I wanted to make. And if you tell someone, then you need to do it!  I described a red and white quilt with red embroidered cardinals. Ta da,  that is what happened!  Not that I didn't consider other embroidery motifs before I made it. There is the cutest little reindeer embroidery pattern from Ann the Gran called "Rudolph Reindeer" and so many snowflake patterns, too. But in the end the "Winter Cardinal" won out. This way it is a winter quilt rather than just a Christmas quilt. 

I found the directions for this easy quilt in a Gooseberry Patch Christmas book I checked out from our very tiny local library. The next challenge was to choose the fabric. I needed to pick six fabrics (half a yard each) the ones making the final cut where: two plain fabrics, red and white; two dotted fabrics, white with white dots and red with white dots; red and white stripes;  and a small gingham check in red and white...plus the white polar fleece for the back (about 2 and a half yards). Finding reds that did not clash and whites that didn't look pink next to the red took awhile. There were several fabrics that just did not work as well as I had hoped, for instance the zigzag fabric shown above and a large gingham check not shown.  I was exhausted and hadn't even started to sew! Made several 7" square templates from my favorite freezer paper and cut out a total of eighty squares. I ended up using only 54 squares (six per row - 9 rows total) which made a perfect cuddle on the couch size.

The cardinals took awhile to embroider, some are complete in the picture above. And as you can see I had a lot of help for the layout. 

So much help that I ended up laying it out on the dining room table. Time to sew the blocks into rows, then the rows together using a 1/4 inch seam allowance. Finished squares are 6 inches. Sewing the squares together went much more smoothly than I originally anticipated! The block corners met where they were supposed to. Imagine!

I researched several quilting websites before this step. Time to make the quilt "sandwich" with the top, batting and the polar fleece backing. I used sew-able basting spray "Spray n Bond" between layers which I've used many times to hoop fabric for embroidery and had on hand. Then large safety pins to hold the layers in place.

Taking my time and using my walking foot for first time since I started sewing many years ago, I carefully stitched 5/8 inch stitch line from the seam on all sides of the blocks. I loosened the tension on the sewing machine and used a large stitch. Love the way it looks! Trimmed the batting to an inch and a half all the way around. Then pulled and pinned the polar fleece evenly around the quilt, mitering the corners and stitched in place. Fini.

Tilly loves it, too!

First Ever Christmas Post:

Oh Christmas time is here!

Usually I love to shop, but this year I think I will try to make it a completely home made Christmas and forego the shopping. I haven't done that in years, and it is quite the challenge. The decorating is also scaled back...I love the lights and tree and do dads, but I am not going quite so overboard in 2017.

I learned to tat two years ago and tatted sixteen of these star snowflake beauties. Gave most of them away as presents last year! This year I'm doing a different pattern and am planning to give most of them away again. It is so magical that just a simple knot can make something so beautiful.

The house is dressed in traditional colored lights.

The front door deck is decorated with my old sled and red wagon.

The stockings are ready and waiting for Santa.

Handmade coffee filter and Epson salt snowflakes are glistening in the sun.

And quietly falling on the windows.

Shortbread snowflake cookies are baked and ready to eat. YUM! Yes, I will have to make another batch before Christmas Eve. 

My very first quilt is ready to cuddle under with a mug of hot cocoa and a cookie. Then I think I'll settle down to a long winters nap! And just enjoy the sparkle of the season.