Monday, October 29, 2012

Boy's Room Mini Makeover!

When we last checked in with my son's room back in April, I was messing around with fish-print curtains and dotted duvet covers and Star Wars: The Clone Wars decals and it looked like this:



Well, get ready to freak out because it now looks slightly different!



Basically, it's much tidier and the color palette is calmer.  To achieve this slight difference, we first did a HUGE toy clear-out which opened up a lot more floor space.  We then retired the old toddler table and got a new desk at Ikea for homework and art projects.  It's the Ikea Micke desk in white/green, but I spray painted the front of the desk drawer with chalkboard paint for some reason.  Cute!




We picked out some more mature grey and blue bedding.  It's the Land of Nod Midtown duvet cover, and the pillows are from Target.  I made the G pillow out of mustard-ish wool felt.  Let me know if you want one for your name!



Next, of course, we added a quilt!  It wouldn't be Quilty Business without some quilty business.  For this cute wall hanging, the pattern is Neighborhood Charm (free) and the fabric is mostly Chicopee (not free).



I hung it on the wall by attaching a long fabric tube to the back of the quilt and then putting a thin wooden dowel in the tube, which is held to the wall on picture hanging hooks.



We also added a few fun accessories like these army-men book ends from Urban Outfitters:



And on the dresser I added a few rocks from my childhood rock collection (nerd alert):



My son is really happy with his slightly different room!



Friday, October 5, 2012

Non-quilt Quilted Items!

In addition to all the quilts I've been working on, I have also made two different types of items.  They are all quilted!  They are just not quilts.

The first are these cute place mats:



Since this set of blue and grey ones, I've also made some others.  Might be good for gifts and/or craft fairs?  They are fun to make, and you can make up a set of four during a 2-hour Dateline.  Pro tip: if you're watching a 2-hour Dateline, it takes that extra hour to explain that the murderer was the husband.

I also made this super cute pencil case:



I got the pattern online.  It was fun to make!  I was able to successfully install a zipper!  I definitely sense more of these in the future.

Well, have a good weekend!  I plan to do lots of sewing and will work on my photography skills to see if I can actually post some attractive images.  Here's hoping!

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Catching up on More Business!

Continuing yesterday's photo dump, here are some photos of projects that are actually completed and mostly living at other peoples' houses.  These photos are from my phone, so be warned they are even worse than usual!

First up is a cute quilt of Loulouthi fabric that follows a free pattern called Positively Perfect.  I made this for one of my sisters for use in her kids' play room.  We also whipped up some coordinating drapes and pillows!  For this quilt, I used a jelly roll and the quilting was just straight lines.  Quick and easy!




Next is a quilt made for one of my other sisters (I know, there are so many of them) from Lucy's Crab Shack fabric.  The pattern is called Beach Blanket.  The Sister seemed to really love her quilt!  




I also made a unisex baby quilt for a pregnant friend!  (Not a sister)  I used this Charming Plaid pattern and one MoMo Oh Deer! charm pack in addition to a lot of white.



The quilting follows the lines of the squares then adds diagonals:



I really love the back of this quilt -- it's just a big piece of the Oh Deer! Enchanted Forest print:



Perfect for a girl or a boy!  She is having a boy, FYI.

And finally, I did one more square of my never-ending Swoon quilt.  This thing is probably going to be done in 2014 if I am lucky.  Here it is:



Even though that last one is still a work in progress, looking at all those quilts makes me feel pretty accomplished!  Check back tomorrow for even MORE projects that are quilted but aren't quilts!  HINT: one is for eating dinner and one is for encasing pencils.  Mysterious!




 

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Back to Business!

Hi Quilters!  I took an extended break from blogging but have decided to get back into the swing of things.  To get the blogging ball rolling again, I am starting with a photo dump from my camera over the last few months.

First.... the Sparkle Punch quilt!  Here, you can see that I had finished all of the individual squares, but had yet to assemble the quilt top.  Here I am laying out the whole quilt on the floor to make sure my star colors were distributed evenly:



I will update you on the current status of this project later this week!  SPOILER ALERT:  it's not done.



Second is a fun quilt made of Hello Pilgrim fabric using the pattern Off the Rails.  Here is the front:



And the back:


And an in-progress shot of making the quilt sandwich (I use painter's tape to keep the back of the quilt from wrinkling):


I will take some updated pics of this one too.  I'm actually still working on it....I'm trying to free motion quilt it!  The lesson I am learning is that I don't enjoy free motion quilting.


Finally, here is a project I actually completed!!!  EXCITING!  It is a circle applique quilt made of Reunion and the pattern is from the book Little Bits Quilting Bee.  Here is the front, all finished and stuff!



Here is the back.  I just made a wide stripe out of some of the leftover fabrics.



Close-up of the back.  I love the bunting print fabric!



The big circles are cut from a layer cake and then machine-appliqued onto the front:


And, in big news, I retired my 5-year old used for size reference and am now using a 6-year old!  Here he is!  For size reference:


More tomorrow!!!