Boy Quilt Continued

The Great White Hunter has arrived!  That's what his great-grandfather calls him!  His quilt is ready to present to him next weekend.  It was great fun designing it and sewing it for him.  My first boy-themed rag quilt.

I started with the small squares, sewing two together in a continuous seam which I clipped apart later.

Then I sewed the two squares with opposite patterns together in a continuous seam.

You can see one whole big square of small squares open beyond the sewing machine.

Sew the big squares together (all three layers in this quilt as I added a third layer of solid fabric in primary colors) with a big stitched X to secure the layers.  I did the same with the patched squares.

Sew together the large and small squares to form a row of seven squares.

Then sew seven rows together, row by row, in the desired pattern.

Make sure the seams are all sewn flat, front and back.  

It takes some pinning/unpinning and some finger checking as it slides under the pressure foot.

In this photo, you can see the third layer of red, yellow and green in the large squares.

You can also see the pattern of the rows and the diagonals they create as they are sewn together.

The reverse side is usually all sewn seams, but on this quilt I made a mistake and decided to turn it into a purposeful design of some ragging on the outer rows.  All of the open seams are clipped to create the ragging. After washing and drying, the ragging makes the quilt come alive with texture and color.

Love the blues and the patterns in this quilt!

A Boy Quilt--Blue and Square!

The run of girls is over and a boy is expected soon in the family.  I haven't made a rag quilt for a baby boy yet so I don't have a stash of baby blue flannel. I ordered online from Fabric.com and the box arrived just as I finished a funfetti quilt for a little girl baby.

For the older boys, I've used rectangles. But this time, I wanted to try squares. I have a pattern for a much bigger rag quilt made of squares, so I did some math and drawings to convert the pattern to a baby quilt.

I cut 6 inch squares out of three bright patterns.

I used the smaller patterns for the 3.5 inch squares.

Four of them together will make another 6 inch square.

I cut five 3.5 inch strips from each fabric and then cut those strips into 10 squares.

That's a lot of squares!

And enough sewing prep for one day.

Funfetti Quilt

My niece's favorite birthday cake is a flavor she calls Funfetti. It's actually a Pillsbury cake mix. 

She has requested it for her cake since she was a kid! 

Now she is a mother to an almost two-year-old girl and soon to deliver a little boy.

This should have been her quilt --but the new baby is a boy!

And you can see that this new quilt is very pink!

It's made from a lot of leftover circles from other quilts made for girls.

We've had quite a run of girls in the family recently, but this one

is for a friend of mine whose daughter recently had a daughter.

Sorry, Katherine!

Yours is coming but it won't be pink--or funfetti!

Here it is in progress.  Half-way done sewing.

And the reverse side.

And done today!

March Cards

Green is the color of choice this month since Faith has a March birthday and also a very Irish family! I need a birthday card for her and the basket at the clubhouse is also in need of birthday cards.

I added a die cut birthday or a hello to the pennant banner.  The impression folder for birthdays is new to my stash as well as the word die cuts. I ordered from Paper Wishes recently and was very happy with my loot!

The second card design also used green paper and another impression folder I already owned. I did buy Tim Holtz's impression plates that allowed you to fade out an oval, circle or square for stamping purposes on embossed areas.  I wasn't really happy with it. I did watch the video of  Tim explaining how to use the plates but wasn't pleased with my results.

More practice needed, I guess!

I did use the new slider die cuts to make a slider to go on the ribbon. Carol will be happy it's not a bow! A butterfly can always rescue the design too.

February Card Kits

My card-making group met yesterday to make greeting cards for ourselves and/or the Outreach Committee in our community.  Here are my samples for the group to make.

 A masculine card with embossed script background and a green-patterned paper, all tied up with some twine.  A dimensional drop shadow sentiment shape punched from the two main colors grounds the design on the off-white card (shown on a wood table top).

The other design used a patterned background with rounded corners and a scalloped oval for the sentiment.

The bloom was punched and stamped two or three times with different shades of orange and yellow.  These colors were blended then with a blender pen. Brown leaves, the dots on the scallops and the sentiment's chocolate ink complement the kraft paper card base.

Simple designs with good color contrast should make a bright note when sent to those in need of a lift.

Photo Album Cover

I recently found (a long story, this is the short word for it) about 90 old black and white family photos. I ordered archival photo sleeves and a 3-ring binder for storing the originals (after I scanned them all and stored the digitized version my computer).  I was really disappointed that the binder was an ugly black color with a slick finish and that the album would not close completely.

So, the old creative mind got busy and I thought of covering it with fabric with a Velcro tab. I found some scraps of fabric in my Amy Butler stash, some Velcro and some polyester batting.  Here's the result:

And here is how I did it!

I laid the album opened on some kraft paper and drew lines 5/8 inch bigger all around.  I cut out two pieces this size in the main fabric.  I used a scrap doubled to make the tab in a coordinating fabric.  I used the same coordinating fabric to cut pieces almost the same size as the front and back (without the spine) and pressed those in half.  Cut one large piece of batting the size of the entire album cover and another small piece for the tab.

Start sewing the tab by attaching the polyester batting to the back of one piece with a 1/4 inch seam.

Then make a sandwich of the front and back with right sides together and the batting on top of one piece. 

Be sure to leave one side open for turning.

Trim the corners and edges and turn the tab right sides out.  

Sew a piece of Velcro on the sewn end opposite the open end.

Sandwich the batting, the album cover front right side up, and the side pockets at the two ends.  

Sew all the way around.  

Please notice: The pockets should be pressed wrong sides together and right sides showing on top of the sandwich. I had to rip the seam out and do it over--but you'll see how this became a plus shortly.

Sandwich

Side pockets on the ends (right sides showing this time).

Sew through all layers, all the way around with a 1/4 inch seam.

Don't forget to place your tab centered on the back cover between the side pocket and the back fabric.

The front cover should have a piece of Velcro centered and about 1 inch in from the seam.

Before I ripped the side pocket off and re-pressed it right side out to sew back on, 

I noticed the pattern which I had centered on the front.

Why not stitch around the flowers frame and quilt the front cover?

So I did!  All three large patterns on the front and back and spine.  Nice touch!

And a good save for that mistake and the time it took to correct it.

The final sandwich has front with batting, side pockets, tabs and Velcro 

and the back cover with right sides together.  Sew 1/4 inch

but not all the way around.  Leave an opening on the bottom so that you can turn the fabrics right side out.

Don't forget to trim the corners first for neater corners on the finished product!

Now the old plastic album looks nice--and stays closed to protect the old photos.

That's my Dad and his Mother, my grandmother Nana, about 1930.

January Cards for Papercrafting Group

We meet Monday to make some cards for ourselves, for the Outreach Committee to send and/or for sale at the clubhouse.  It was almost 60 degrees so I could spend some time in my basement studio without freezing.  I turned on the space heater, wrapped in a blanket and put on some heavy socks and thick-soled shoes.  Some coffee and leftover Christmas candy helped too!

The first card uses a frame die-cut to highlight some floral stamps.

 

 

The flowers (dahlias?) were stamped with a rock and roll technique. Press the stamp design on one color stamp pad and roll the edges around in a different color. I stamped lines of handwriting over the blooms with Papertrey Ink's Fine Linen stamp cube for an antiqued look.

 

 

The paper frame was two-sided paper. Either side could be used as the frame.  I chose the dark solid color for the sample, but will make another with the lightly patterned paper as the frame.

 

 

I finished with a script For You stamped in Papertrey Ink's Chocolate Chip and then sprayed the stamped area with Smooch Spritz in gold for some shimmer.

 

 

The dark frame could use a gold bow at the bottom to anchor the design. I might add that to the kit!

 

The second card uses color contrast instead of shimmer.

 

 

I stamped three feathers in purple, blue and green on the white sentiment band

and anchored it with a bright green scallop

to match the ribbon and first layer of the backgrounds on the black card.

 

 

 

The bright green layer is embossed with a Cuttlebug embossing folder D'Vine Swirl. The scallop die cut is from Papertrey Ink. The sentiment stamp is from Stampin' Up--and the

sheer ribbons in purple and green are from Christmas Tree Shoppes.

 

Two pretty, quick cards to make with items already in my stash!