This fun cowboy quilt was made from my stash for my soon to arrive nephew. I sewed nine 12” blocks and put them together. This quilt consists of four star blocks and five framed blocks. Here is a quick link for the star block:
** Since I was working from my stash I made some alterations to the pattern to work with the fabric I had. I left the square blocks whole instead of having to find another fabric to add to the quilt.
Four of the framed squares I cut the animal fabric to an 8” square and then framed it with black 5”X 15” strips and trimmed the squares to 12”.
The middle square I cut the cowboy fabric to 10” and then framed it with black 4” X15” strips and trimmed the square to 12”.
Once all the blocks are trimmed to 12” piece together and have fun quilting!
A local charity said they needed bags to fill with school supplies to give to preschoolers. They gave me some orange corduroy and paisley fabrics that were donated to them. At first I could see why the fabrics were donated and didn’t know how I was going to make bags that would appeal to preschoolers. So, I decided to dig in my stash and see what I could come up with that would make these bags a little cuter. That is when I decided to pair my scrap pink fabrics with the orange.
Here is how to make a scrappy bag:
1. Cut your fabric strips at least 15” in length. The width can vary.
2. Sew you r scraps together till the sewed together scraps measure 15”
3. Iron and cut your pieced scraps to 13” in width by 14” in length.
4. Either follow steps 1-3 again or cut out a piece of fabric that is 13” x14” for the back of your bag.
5. Cut two strips of fabric 4” width and 15” length for your handles
6. Sew the front and back of your bag together. Leaving it open at the top. Hem the top if you have a raw edge (I cut these bags using the edge of the fabric so I would not have to hem, after all they are scrappy)
7. Fold one handle piece with right sides together. Sew. Flip out and iron. Repeat with the second handle.
8. Hem raw edges of handle. Place on outside of one side of the bag. Sew and x. Repeat with second handle.
Now your bag is done and you can fill with whatever you want!
A few years back I saw a cute Halloween quilt that I wanted to recreate for my own home. This is my version of that quilt. I would love to give credit to the original designer, but I honestly can’t remember where I saw this quilt. So, if anyone knows leave me a message and I’ll provide a link to the original design. This Halloween quilt was fun and really easy to make. Simply decide how big you want your quilt and then use squares and half triangle squares to make the ghost and pumpkin. *Make sure your squares and half square triangles are the same size.
This quilt was made using the quilt as you go method. It is a simple and quick way to make a quilt. First piece your block. Then, place batting between your front and back layers. Use pins or safety pins to hold your block together.
It is that time of year again to change over to summer clothes. My daughter had some cute sweats that fit great this winter, but like most of her pants they ended up with holes in the knees. I decided to upscale one of her favorite pair of pants into a cute spring skirt.
First, cut off the pants you are going to upscale right above the inner leg seam. Next I bought a ½ yard of the kitty fabric (one of her favorite animals) and a ½ yard of the stripe fabric to match. Cut the kitty fabric on the fold line to get the front and back pieces. Next, folded the stripe fabric length wise and cut on the new fold line to get the front and back border.
With right sides together sew the one border fabric to the front skirt piece and one to the back skirt piece. (The border fabric may be longer than the skirt front or back pieces. Cut off the extra fabric to make it even)
With right sides together match the side seams of the front and back of the skirt and sew together.
Sew a baste stitch on the top of the skirt. Gather. With right sides together and once again matching side seams sew the skirt to the cut of pant top. Lastly, hem the bottom of the skirt. Now a special little girl has her own twirlly skirt!
These cuddly blanket bears make a fun gift! I made them for my nieces for Christmas.
I picked out a soft teddy bear. Then at the fabric store I bought flannel in their favorite colors.
I bought ¼ of a yard of flannel in their favorite colors. To make the blanket even up the sides so you have a rectangle. With right sides together sew around all the edges leaving a 2” opening. Turn fabric right side out. Tuck the unfinished ends of the opening in and iron the whole blanket. Sew ¼ inch from the edge all around the blanket.
Wrap the blanket around the teddy bear and hold in place by tying a cute ribbon around the middle. Lastly, give this cute gift to someone who needs a cuddle!
Row 1: Is all blue squares the same size
Row 2: have one blue square then two blue and white half square triangles to make the top of the ghost head
Row 3: Is one blue square, and three white squares
Row 4: Is one blue and white half square triangle, one white and orange half square triangle, one orange triangle, one orange and white half square triangle
Row 5: Is one blue and white half square triangle, one white and orange half square triangle. One orange triangle and one orange and white half square triangle
I bordered the quilt with green fabric.
For the face on the ghost and the pumpkin I traced the design on the back of the black fabric and cut out two pieces. I sewed them together with right sides facing, then flipped and ironed the pieces. I hand sewed the pieces closed. I stitched them to the quilt using the stitch in a ditch method. Next, using black DMC floss I stitched a spider web in the upper corner and a spider in coming from the ghost.
Have fun with your quilt and add any embellishments you want!
This quilt is also a part of the quilt fall festival:
http://amyscreativeside.com/2012/10/26/bloggers-quilt-festival-fall-2012/
This quilt is also a part of the quilt fall festival:
http://amyscreativeside.com/2012/10/26/bloggers-quilt-festival-fall-2012/
This quilt was made using the quilt as you go method. It is a simple and quick way to make a quilt. First piece your block. Then, place batting between your front and back layers. Use pins or safety pins to hold your block together.
Next, quilt your block anyway you want. Lastly, you sew the blocks together using the borders. (The picture below is the back of the quilt) I used this YouTube video to learn how to connect the blocks. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbEo34PEEh4&NR=1
*As a quick note make your borders only 1” to 1 ½” wide. If you want to make the borders bigger you’ll have to put batting in between your layers.
I had a lot of fun making this cupcake skirt for my daughter. I used the simplicity pattern 2242 for the basic design. Here is where I deviated from the pattern:
For the bottom layer I sewed 5” squares alternating between the cupcake pattern and the pink. Then cut it to fit the pattern piece. This skirt is easy to make and wear.
**Wouldn’t it be cute with rick rack on the bottom of the hem?
Retro Doll!
I found
this retro doll head in a thrift store and decided to make a doll for my little
girl.
Hopefully by sharing what I did you can make
your own doll.
I used a
zip tie to connect the head to a pre-made doll body.
I
basically made the dress using rectangles and squares. For the bodice I measured the doll and added
about 2” for stitches. The sleeves were
made by measuring the arms and cutting out a rectangle that again was about 4”
bigger than the width. I just gathered
the top to fit the bodice and hemmed the sleeves to fit. For the skirt I again
made measured the doll’s width and length and then made a square that was about
10x10”. Again, I gathered the top of the
skirt to fit the bodice and hemmed the dress to fit the doll. The apron I made by rounding out a 4” square
and adding a ruffle. I measured the doll
and added ties to the apron. I added
trim from my stash to finish the doll.
Have fun
creating your own doll!
Twirlly Skirt!
Do you love fat quarters, but are not sure what to make with the fun fabrics? Here is another use for fat quarters. This fun skirt is made using just 3 fat quarters!
Supplies- You need two fat quarters of the same fabric and one contrast fat quarter.
-Fold all fat quarters length wise and cut along the fold. Now you should have six pieces of fabric
-Set aside the two pieces of contrast fabric for now (will call this fabric A)
- Take one piece from main fabric (will call this fabric B) and cut 1” off both sides of the fabric. This will be used for your top layer. The remaining three pieces of fabric B will be used for the bottom ruffle (will call this fabric C).
- With right sides together sew fabric B at side seams. Fold fabric to make a waist band.
- With right sides together sew fabric A at side seams. Sew a basting stitch ¼” from top of fabric to make a gather.
- Sew waist band (fabric B) to top layer (fabric A) leaving an opening at one side seam (for the elastic). Trim.
-Sew all three cuts from fabric c together to form a circle. Hem the bottom of the fabric. Gather the top of the fabric.
- With right sides together sew fabric A & B together. Trim.
- Measure the waist of the lucky little girl who will wear the skirt and cut elastic accordingly. Guide Elastic through waist band (fabric B). Sew ends of elastic together. Sew opening on waist band and skirt to close the hole.
- So elastic doesn’t turn. Sew a reinforcing stitch at both of the side seams of the skirt on the waist band.
*This skirt will fit 4-6 years of age. To make small just trim the layers or to make bigger add another layer.
Ever wonder how to easily finish off those cute panels you see in the fabric stores? Here are two methods that worked for us!
First, I made this easy Valentine Wall Quilt out of a Moda panel. I did a running stitch around the pictures and then took some scrape fabric I had and pieced it together for the back. Then, I made my own bias tape for the binding. Super easy.
Here is also another Valentine Moda panel. I call this method the pillow method. Place your panel and back fabric right sides together. Then, place your batting on top of the back side of the panel. Now, sew your panel and backing together all round except leave an 5” opening at the bottom of the quilt. (Watch the batting so it doesn’t catch on your presser foot.) Then, flip your quilt inside out. Iron. Next tuck in your opening and sew a ¼” seam around the whole quilt. Last, mark a diagonal line every 6” on the back of fabric. Sew the along the diagonal to machine stitch your quilt. (On this small of a quilt you really don’t need to change your presser foot to a darning foot.)
This quilt takes less than an hour to make.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
I made this dress for my niece’s 8th Birthday! She wanted an elegant white dress for her upcoming baptism. This Dress is easy to make thanks to the white ribbon rose fabric I found at my local fabric store. First, I followed the basic dress pattern for the bodice and sleeves (Simplicity 2683). For the skirt I used my niece’s measurements and cut out two rectangles. To get the width of the rectangles add 6” to the width of the bodice. For the length I used the bias at the bottom of the ribbon fabric and cut the length I needed so the dress reached her ankles. Sew the two rectangles together with right sides together on the side seams to create the skirt. Gather the top of the skirt and sew to bodice. For the hem simple hem the bottom of the bias of the ribbon fabric.
I made this dress for my niece’s 8th Birthday! She wanted an elegant white dress for her upcoming baptism. This Dress is easy to make thanks to the white ribbon rose fabric I found at my local fabric store. First, I followed the basic dress pattern for the bodice and sleeves (Simplicity 2683). For the skirt I used my niece’s measurements and cut out two rectangles. To get the width of the rectangles add 6” to the width of the bodice. For the length I used the bias at the bottom of the ribbon fabric and cut the length I needed so the dress reached her ankles. Sew the two rectangles together with right sides together on the side seams to create the skirt. Gather the top of the skirt and sew to bodice. For the hem simple hem the bottom of the bias of the ribbon fabric.
I hand sewed on extra trim and beads around the neck and waist to add an extra touch. This is a perfect dress for any girl wanting to feel like a princess!
Make a dress from your scraps. My daughter wanted a new summer dress so we went rummaging through by scrap bucket. For the top I used an old pattern and scrap white fabric. The bottom of the dress was 5/8th of a yard. You can sew your scraps together till and square up 5/8ths of a yard or like for this dress, I found cute fabric at a local store. Next, my daughter searched through my old ribbon box and fell in love with this brown ribbon. I tried to convince her to go with a traditional white, thinking the brown would not match. It turns out I was wrong and she was right. Sometimes her stubborn streak comes in handy.
Lastly, I sewed the ribbon onto the front of the dress using tiny white pearls from my jewelry stash to tack it down.
