Everyone needs an Apron

After all my quilting leading up to the holidays, our older sister asked if I could help brainstorm and make a fun gift for her friend’s one year old, Wilder.  With a little thinking and researching, we decided an apron would be both cute and practical for this little dude.  He’d be able to wear it while painting, cooking, or simply as a new accessory!

Fat Quarter Options

We picked two fat quarters and an accent binding (to use for ties).  And then I had to figure out how big – or small rather – a 1-year-old is!  I measured, sketched it, cut it and started to sew!  In about 10 minutes flat, an apron was made!  I have to say – it’s pretty darn cute too.  I might be making these for everyone’s kids soon.  :  )

Apron – Blue Side

Apron – Yellow Side

Hanging Apron

Enjoy,

Sarah

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A Quilt for James

Ah, my third and final nephew of the year.  My sister – as you all know from her previous post – gave birth to her sweet baby boy, James, in December.  I had picked out the fabric for this quilt before knowing what gender she was having, but I based in on colors she was featuring in the nursery.  I think it turned out adorable – if I do say so myself.

James’ Quilt

It actually took me quite a while after purchasing the fabric to decide on my final design of the quilt.  I wanted each nephew to have a different pattern, so I picked rectangles and spent hours doing calculations to pick just the right size.  Each rectangle was cut 3″ x 7″.  This used the fabric so efficiently I had to NOT use one row to ensure my backing fabric fit!  All-in-all, the quilt came together better than I expected.  Especially because this was also the first time I made my own binding – which I LOVE on this quilt.

James’ Quilt Back and Binding

I had a great time making all of these sweet nephew quilts, and I’m excited to watch them grow up (with the quilts, of course!).

Until next time…Enjoy.

Sarah

A Quilt for Carter

Hey Everyone,

As you may notice, I have a bit of a theme going on here… I was blessed with three new nephews last year, and they each got their own quilt.  My other half’s sister had her sweet little boy in November – Carter Lee.  Below is the baby quilt I made just for him.  I used a combination of fat quarters and regular cuts of fabric as well as a sweet, faux satin baby quilt binding to finish it off!

Carter’s Quilt

Carter’s Quilt Back

Enjoy.

Sarah

Quilt for Kemett

Hey Everyone.  Sorry I’ve been MIA for quite some time.  Lots going on, but I thought I’d take some time and update you on a few projects and meals I’ve tackled lately.

Our oldest sister – Melissa – had her first child a few months back.  The sweetest baby boy – Kemett.  In true fashion, I waited til he was already entering the world to start and finish his quilt.  BUT – it turned out adorable.

In progress

I used a charm pack and backed it with a soft flannel which wrapped around the sides to bind.  To add some textures (and hide a couple flaws), I added felt squares scattered across the front.  Enjoy the pictures!

Adding Felt

Finished!

Thanks for reading!

Sarah

 

Coffee Filter Garland.

Hello!

Finished Coffee Filter Garland

I bet you’re excited to see this craft doesn’t involve a wreath, aren’t you?  I decided to make a garland, but not just any garland.  I’ve been saving this stash of unused coffee filters for a while now and finally decided to make something with it.  I found this really easy to make garland online and decided to run with it.  Check out the process below.

Materials:
–Unused coffee filters
-Food coloring
-water
-Cups
-Drying rack
-Sewing machine
-Scissors

Directions:

1. Divide your coffee filters into stacks.  I made 12 stacks because I was going to try to make 12 different color dyes.

Coffee Filters

2. Add a small amount of water and food coloring to cups.  The less water, the higher concentrated color.  I used gel food coloring, but you can use regular food coloring as well.  I found they all faded to a lighter color once dried in the sun, so take that into account.  (Also, you may want to wear gloves.  I squeezed the excess water off and ended up with lovely greenish-blue hands.  Nothing a little baking soda couldn’t remove, but if you can prevent it, I say go for it!)

Dying Coffee Filters

3. After dying each pile, I attached them to the drying rack in the sun.  I left them in piles of about 10 until they got closer to dry.  Once I had a few dry, I’d remove them or try to separate the filters to allow them to dry more evenly.  The colors look very vibrant here, but you’ll see they faded after drying.

Dying Coffee Filters

4. Once dried, randomly mix the coffee filters to create the effect you want in your garland.  I chose to make piles of between 7 and 10 coffee filters.  This allowed me to have a longer garland.  Once I had each pile, I folded them in half to keep them together, but give me guidance for the next step.

Dyed Coffee Filters

5.  Choose a thread color you’re happy with and stitch through each pile of coffee filters.  Leave some extra thread between each set of filters to allow the garland to sage and sway as you drape it.

Stitching coffee filters

6.  Once the filters are attached, you will cut them and fluff them to create your finished product.

How to cut coffee filters

Finished Coffee Filter Garland

 

Voila!  A beautiful garland for any occasion.  And so easy too!

Happy Garland!
-Amanda

Furlough Quilt

Hello friends,

For those of you who do not know me personally, I am one of those people furloughed due to government shut down.  I have decided to embrace the time off and be crafty!  (As you can tell, I’ve been blogging, which I’m so excited for!)  I’ve been maintaining a clean home, cooking, and crafting.  I decided late last week that I wanted to quilt.  Nothing big or extravagant.   I’m not completely with it during this pregnancy, so I decided on a color blocked quilt with pretty quilting.  I dug through my fabric stash (not the new stuff) and found some big pieces of fabric that would make for a beautiful, and patriotic, furlough quilt.

I made the quilt roughly baby quilt size.  I’m such a fan of americana colors, it’ll be the perfect addition to our baby’s already bright and happy nursery.   Baby’s grandma already made a bright striped quilt so this will be a second quilt for baby to enjoy!  You can never have too many quilts, right?  🙂

What do you think?

Cut.Bake.Stitch: Furlough Quilt

Cut.Bake.Stitch: Furlough Quilt

Furlough Quilt

Cut.Bake.Stitch: Furlough Quilt

 

I chose to do rounded edges on the quilt because I have never done that before, and I thought it might be easier.  It wasn’t too difficult really.  I found this how-to and then went with it.

Cut.Bake.Stitch: Rounded edges

I hope you like the quilt as much as I do.  I will admit, my edging is not perfect.  It could’ve been better if my back didn’t hurt so much while I was trying to hand stitch it.  I resorted to top stitching, which doesn’t always turn out nicely.  I’m very happy with it though and can’t wait to use it!

Happy quilting,
Amanda

Fabric Stash

Hello Friends!

I haven’t been up to much crafting lately, but I have been adding to my fabric stash.  I decided to share some pictures of the great fabrics I recently picked up from my favorite fabric store when they closed their storefront.  I am so excited about these fabrics because they are modern and bright and some are solids!  If you follow me on pinterest you’ll know I pin quilts like a crazy person.  I’m pretty sure my board has close to 900 pins of just quilt ideas I’d love to do myself.  Some are completely within reach of me doing and others are far from anything I could ever accomplish at this point in my life.

So check out the newest addition to my fabric stash:

Fat Quarters

Fat Quarters

Amy Butler

Solid Yardage

Amazing Fat Quarters

Ombre Bright Colors – Fat Quarters

Aren’t they beautiful?  What would you do with them?

Here are a few quilts I pinned that I’m thinking I may try…. of course I have to decide if I’m making this quilt for someone or just for me.  (Probably me and baby, right?)

http://www.thesweetersideofmommyhood.com/blog/art/2013/05/modern-log-cabin-cross-quilt-finished/

http://mypoppet.com.au/2013/07/the-haphazard-quilt-a-scrapbusting-project.html#more-6126

Or just about any quilt on my pinterest board!

Happy quilting!
Amanda