New Quilt Top

Remember this; I blogged about it last month.



It took me a while to decide what to do with the moda fabrics. After going back and forth, I finally made the decision to use snowball block to make the quilt. Once I started it was a very easy and quick project.




I was so excited when I finished piecing that I'm thinking about making another one with the same pattern but with my usual color scheme.
I'm going on a vacation this weekend with my friends. (NO KIDS!!!!) There are so many projects that I want to do, I want to bring my sewing machine and fabrics with me, but I won't. If I did, they would kick me out of the mini-van. :)
Sometime next week, I will do my first give-away so check back next week. Everyone have a nice weekend!

Tutorial--Bias Tape---

I decided to make a tutorial about a project that I have done. I am going to have more tutorials in the future, won't that be fun! That way my blog would be more useful for some of the people visiting here. In this tutorial I want to show a technique that I use to make bias tape. There are several ways to do this; I've tried many, but for me this is the most comfortable and effective way to make bias tape. This is very useful knowledge to have, and I find it fun to do. If you have a fat quarter you can start making bias tape and using it for many different projects. They are used to finish off a quilt. Here goes!

First I make a square out of the fabric. The corners must be 90°. Fold the fabric into a triangle.


Cut away the excess.



Because I have a cutting mat, I was able to just cut the triange in half. If you don't have a cutting mat, you can open the triage to make a square and then using a straigh edge, draw a diagonal line from corner to corner, and then cut.



Arrange the triangles right sides together. Offset the triangles by about a quarter of an inch.



Pin the triangles together. (This picture shows the overlap a bit better too)



Using a quarter inch seam, sew them together.



Open the seam and press with a hot iron (Don't stretch the fabric).



Fold fabric back into a square.










I like to cut 1 3/4 inch strips, you may prefer wider strips. It depends on the project you are on and what you need or want.










After I finish cutting it into strips, I then sew the strips end to end by pinning the strips right sides together, offset a quarter of an inch.



After they are all sewn together in one long line, open up at the seams and press with an iron. Then cut off the excess.



As I iron, I use my fingers to fold the fabric. Some people prefer folding the strip in half, I prefer folding the edges into the center.



Now the bias tape is ready to use. I hope this was helpful to some of you.

Farewell

It has been a long time since I brought you home. But it is time to say good-bye. You have been there for us whenever we needed you. Even one of my children was so attached to you. Everyone needs to move on, it will be a little bit wierd to see your usual spot empty. In my heart, I know you will be more useful and appreciated somewhere else. Since my last one doesn't need you anymore, I have to say good-bye to you, "Good-bye, Good-bye, Mr. Potty"

I will enjoy the extra space in the kids small bathroom.

I DID IT!!!

I don't know what came over me, but one night while I was sitting on the couch, I decided, "OK, now is the time to do it!!" What is it, you might ask yourself? Machine quilting. I had been avoiding it for a while now, because I didn't want to mess up my quilt. I guess you have to start from somewhere. I pieced a baby quilt a few weeks ago.



It was based (which means the back, batting, and top were layed out and then held together) and ready to be quilted. I kept putting it off until I finally found the courage to just do it. Ever since I've started quilting, I've been a hand quilter. I still love doing hand quilting, but it is nice to have both skills.



I've done machine quilting before but it was just straight stitches. This time I tried a method called stippling. It is free motion quilting, I just move the quilt around randomly and make this pattern. Because I made a tight pattern, it took longer than I thought it would. It took about four hours, but I finished it. It's not perfect, but this is the first of many to come! :)

Sweater Felt Project

I been wanting to try this project, it was in a Country Living magazine a few months ago. I'm sorry I don't have a link to it, but I will tell you what I have done.

I went to a thrift store and found this old sweater. I personally don't care to wear this particular sweater but I like the patch-work look.


First get a wool sweater and wash it hot water with detergent in the washing machine on a normal cycle. Then dry it in the dryer. That's it. Depending on the sweater you might have to rewash it several times. This will transform the wool into felt.

In the magazine they had instructions for a different style of bag. I did not care for that one so I did my own thing.


After the sweater became felt, the whole process of making this bag was fun! When I made the first cut with my scissors, it did not flay. I succeeded in making felt! I had no plan on how to make this, I just kind of went with the flow. I would love to make more wool felt but it was hard to find 100% wool sweater at the local thrift stores. I have to say, my curiosity was satisfied.

House of Discipline

I was out running some errands. Aaron was home with the children. We were talking on the phone and as Aaron was walking down the stairs he noticed someone was in timeout.



Aaron called Rachel, and she came from the TV room and replied, "What Daddy?"
Aaron then said, "Did you put your baby here?"
"Yes!"
"Why"
"She's in timeout." (Rachel was put into timeout this morning and was probably "reliving" the experience through her baby doll.)
Aaron asked, "Why?"
Rachel smiled and said, "'cause, she hit me"

Love is in the Air

Just before Christmas, American Crafts had a warehouse sale. My friend and I went there, I bought lots of ribbons and scrapbooking supplies. One of the things I bought was this container of felt cut-outs.


I thought using this would speed up the Valentine's project I had in mind. I used the felt hearts with embroidery thread, beads, and buttons. I made several combinations.










The project was small and very easy to do. Since I didn't have much time, before Valentine's day (helped the kids get their Valentine's pary stuff done, tae kwon do, and other things) I caried them around in a zip lock bag and I did them while waiting to pick up my boys from school and other spare moments I could find. I love projects like that!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine's day with their loved ones!!