WIP: Dinosaur Whole Cloth Quilt

My friend and coworker loves many things, but two that stand out are Dinosaurs and flannel shirts. I was in Joann's and happened to come up with the best quilt for him, well NOT him his nephew. This way his nephew always has his uncle near him. I think its cute.

Well anyway I thought so!

That is before I tried quilting shirting flannel. It sucks! I also have two big factors working against me.

1) I sure as shit did NOT spray baste the flannel side enough! No way!

Those are not straight, not even close! And I hate when the fabric comes up and is puffy!

On my last quilt the quilting was my best EVER!

2) I have a McGivered quilt guide. Let me tell you it sucks. There is no hole on my walking foot for it to slide into! So it keeps moving on me!

Electrical, masking, and a toothpick and it sucks. :(

At least from the Dinosaur side things look a little better. The basting spray worked and the fabric isn't super puffy like on the other side.

So I will power through and finished it, but don't you hate when a special gift doesn't meet your standard? 

DIY Kindle Paperwhite Sleeve

I received a Kindle Paperwhite for Christmas and my birthday. I am notorious for breaking and destroying things. So I got straight to work on a fabric cover for it.

Everything is scraps but the outside. Although, I did find it in the remnants bin at Joann's!

I quilted in the ditch on the front like the pattern suggested. Can you see i followed the cream zig-zag line for the back?

Things I Learned:

- My lining is a tad too big. Maybe I should have used a quilting cotton instead of a thin flannel. But it is super thin!

- The interfacing on the lining is awkward to work with. I think i should have trimmed my 1/4 inch seem on the lining down a little. I definitely have wrinkles on the lining that are not cool!

- I thought the soft fuzzy flannel would be nice to protect my kindle, but I think it is harder for the kindle to slide with it. I guess it if keeps it from sliding out it is a good thing.

So I fixed it! (Well part of it)

I pulled the lining out and seam ripped the last seam that closes the opening. Then I just stuck my scissors in the hole and sniped some of my 1/4 seam! Then sewed up the hole! It is definitely a little bit roomier in there now! YAY!

Fence & Rail Baby Quilt Finish!

After what feels like forever I have finally finished my fence and rail baby quilt! The top is made out of a jelly roll. I am a bad quilter and do not know the fabric line. Opps!

This quilt is a milestone for me because I was able to go from start to finish on the quilt and do it all myself! It feels good to need less and less help each quilt. Ok I admit, I did need to double check on the sizing and how to use my binding tool.

I followed the chevrons on the back as my quilting guide. I am so proud of myself because I didn't mark my quilt lines, but trusted myself to sew a straight line down the middle of the chevrons. I do think this is my best quilted quilt yet!!

I even got to use my first custom label! I know they are small and a little on the boring side, BUT I thought I'd start somewhere.

I do have to say that I am not super in love with them. When I tried to hand sew them the fibers kind of broke apart. So I machine stitched it to make sure it didn't break out of my hand stitches.

Linking up to Finish it Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts!

Montana String Art

Like everyone else on Pinterest these days, I have been wanting to make my own string art. Having just left my beloved Montana, I thought what better way to bring MT to my new home.

The string is a nice bright green, but it seems to be shy and look white :(

Things I learned:

- The nails looked better the more I hammered them in, but then they poked through the back. Careful!

- Staining plywood is awkward. Definitely leave it to sit longer than you might a good piece of wood.

- The heart is harder than it seems. I had to wrap mine with string for it to really show up as a heart.

Can't wait to make another one! I think I am going to try a word or saying next!

Climbing Rope Door Mat

I have had this old climbing rope for years. It has literally been put into storage three times! When I moved to AZ I gave myself and ultimatum, either make it into a rug or throw it away. So that night I googled it and made it. Here are some photos!

I followed directions here.

Need:
Old climbing rope
Staple Gun
Caulk, super strong glue, or some really strong/durable sticky something!
Duct tape

Ok so some directions say use needle and thread to hold your rope together as you turn in around into a spiral. I say nonsense! Use a staple gun! But use lots of staples. My first attempt didn't stay flat. I wound the rope too tight and didn't use enough staples!

Then cover with glue. I used a piece of cardboard to spread it around. Make sure you get it in the cracks!!

Let dry over night. Then cover the bottom with duct tape. I know it is lame, but it does need a little extra on the bottom. I think they are best for indoors not out. 

And voila ! 

DIY Sewing Box

My first restoration project!!!

I have been swimming in DIY and restoration project ideas with my new place. There is so much that I want to do that I actually got a little overwhelmed. Damn you Pinterest! The lesson I learned today is that you have better thirft/antique finds when you aren't focusing what you think your looking for. Let things surprise you!

I was looking for a bookshelf and found these two gems!

Now that I have a good example, I want to make more wooden crates like this one. Can you say floating shelves for my empty wall!?

Now this tool box reminded me of my Grandpa right off the bat! I wanted it before I even knew what I was going to do with it. It didn't take me long to decide to turn it into a sewing box. 

So I cleaned it up and googled fabric lining boxes.  I found this gem of a site!

Helpful Tips:

1) Measure the box with a tape measure, but then square your poster board like you would fabric!

2) Spray the poster board and then put it on the batting. This keeps the batting clean so you cans till cut it and not ruin your fabric scissors. Same thing with the batting covered poster board. Spray it, then lay it on the fabric. 

3) Spray evenly but not heavily! If the spray adhesive is wet on the material it doesn't say when you fold the fabric or batting over. 

4) Pull the batting and fabric tight over the poster board. It looks nicer!

5) Make sure you put glue in the corners when you lay it down in the box. 

Here she is! Isn' she pretty!

So excited about my first restoration project! It is small but you gotta start somewhere right!!! 

I moved! yay! It feels so good to be out of Phoenix and in Flagstaff. So I am not quite set up to sew yet.  Maybe tomorrow or saturday. In the meantime, it has been so much fun being part of the Blogger's Online Quilt Festival that Amy is putting on at Amy's Creative Side! Other people have finally found my wee little blog. It feels so good to have people, that I do not know, tell me that my quilt looks nice. Sometimes I think my family and friends feel obligated to say it looks good. So thanks everyone!

I took advantage of finally having my own place to decorate, and made this!

I got all the supplies on sale at Joann's and Michael's. I had a 50% coupon so I bought extra burlap. Well I used very little to cover the wreath so I have almost a yard extra! Eek! At least I got it on sale, but guess I will have to come up with another burlap project! 

I even used a little bit of scrap fabric from my T-shirt Quilt!!

And just for fun my new baby cactus! Isn't he cute!

Win a sewing machine?

I am so excited to be entered in the Blogger's Online Quilt Festival.

They even have a sewing machine give away. It is a baby lock melody! I can't even imagine sewing on a machine as nice as that!

Go check out the festival at Amy's Creative Side. There are some amazing quilts!

Embroidery Update

Somehow I have not completely messed up my two embroidery projects!! I am kind of stunned!

I did have to redo part of the black horse, but I fixed it! I really think I may actually be able to complete my first counted cross stitch with this piece!

Then my embroidery is working! Definitely wish I had a steadier hand when tracing my design!

Here is a view of the flowers on the bottom. I know the lazy daisy stitch is supposed to be easy, but I kind of don't like it. Maybe I just need more practice. I did an extra stitch in the middle to fill them in. I think they just look better. But now I need to go and add a little to leaves, them seem empty next to the flowers. 

Blogger's Quilt Festival

Here is my Skipping School Fish Quilt. I am entering it in the baby quilt category of the Blogger's Online Quilting Festival. This is my first time enter a quilt in an festival or show. I am very excited to show you all my quilt because it is only the fourth quilt that I have ever made!

The pattern is from Tulip Patch. I did not know how hard curved seams are when I started the quilt. Boy was I in for a surprise! Some how I managed to get her done! I wasn't planning on entering my quilt so I do not have tons of photos.

The fabrics are a mix of cottons from Joann's and some quilt stores around Phoenix. The background is a Moda marble. The sky is a white with olive polka dots. I wish I had a nice artsy photo of the backing. It is such a nice pretty blue. Here is my hand embroiderd label!

I quilted in the ditch on the front which made a nice cross-hatch on the back. For the front I used an invisible thread and the back a matching light blue. It was my first time using an invisible thread. As alwasy I hand stitched the binding on the back.

Thanks everyone for taking a peak at my quilt entry! I hope you all have fun looking at the rest!

<3 Mags

Stash Building on the Cheap!

I love goodwill! Who doesn't! This spring I had an amazing goodwill fabric find with my Alexander Henry vintage bronc rider fabric. So now I try to swing by goodwill just for fabric.

This is what I found today for only $7.50! I think it is around 3 yards of fabric.

A vintage pillow case with yellow flowers. I think once it is pieced it will look cool. Even though it is kinda lame as a pillow case. Then I found about half a yard of this kids fabric its a light flannel in fall colors. Super cute!

Then I found this home decor weight fabric. I am not sure if it's too old lady-ish. But I think it would make a great cover for an outdoor pillow!

Then I found an old red fabric that reminds me of calico. I know it is not, but it has that old school feel that I think will look great in a traditional looking quilt! Maybe for my bestie Maia! The other fabric I think would make a great and simple table runner. I think it would be a nice country touch to my new place in Flagstaff!!

Sorry for the bad iphone photos!

Needle point shop in Paris

My mom and I found the most wonderful needle point shop in Paris!

It is in the Left Bank District in Paris sitting just across the river from Notre Dame. 

They literally have two walls full of boxes with different colors of wool.

The colors peek out at you from the handle slot and just taunt you to buy them!!

The cotton floss was kept in this gorgeous cabinet! Ugh it was too die for! My crummy iphone doesn't do it justice!

They even had wool hanging from the staircase. 

The shop has two local painters who hand paint every single canvas in the store. They were amazing. Almost too beautiful to cover with wool!

These are a couple of my favorite designs. Unfortunately they were all very expensive. 

My mom calls it "yarn envy" when you see yarn you just gotta have, but won't buy.

If you like to needle point and are on vacation in Paris you must go here! And since it is near Notre Dame you really have no excuse!

Bayeux Tapestry

We are staying in Bayeux which is well known for the Bayeux Tapestry. It is one of the oldest tapestries still around. It was made in the 11th century and depicts the story of William the Conqueror. It is 70m long and is really amazing. Here are some bad iphone photos.

Can you see the fallen soldiers on the bottom border who were dismembered and stripped after the battle. The artists were very specific about the detail work. 

My favorite was the horses. They were so realistic!

The whole tapestry was done in two stitches. Stem stitch and the Bayeux stitch. Stem stitch was used for all the straight lines and outlines just like normal embroidery. The spaces were filled in with the Bayeux stitch. It is a special crewel work stitch from that part of France. 

After the tapestry my mom and I took an embroidery class (or broderie as the french call it) from a local woman. We learned both stem stitch and the Bayeux stitch. I hate to admit it but until that lesson I really could not learn stem stitch for the life of me!!! 

My mom may have had a little bit harder of a time with the lesson than I did. 

The Bayeux stitch is just long straight line stitches to fill the space then you use perpendicular stitches to hold them down. It goes really fast once you get the hang of it. 

I have always been intimidated by crewel work until now. I bought a kit at the shop to work on at home.

I think it will look so cute in a kitchen with a little wooden frame!

The Bayeux Broderie shop has a great website in both French and English. They sell kits and individual supplies. If you are looking for amazing linen definitely check out her site. 

Fish Quilt Finished!

I did it! My Skipping School Fish Quilt is finally complete! I am so excited that my drunkards path blocks came out so well for only my fourth quilt!

Sorry for my unceremonious photo. I am at my parents house and didn't have my clothes line 

to hang it on.

I kind of like the back more than the front. I just love the color combination of the blue and green. Especially with the label it just looks more girly. Also, I hate those damn fish. 

I literally finished this quilt a couple hours before I went to hand deliver the quilt to my good friend Henrike. I had machine stitched the binding on the day before I left Phoenix. Then I hand stitched the back of the binding on my flights. I tried to machine stitch it and it looked like POOP!!

This is a photo of me hand sewing in the airport. I was getting a couple of funny looks from people so I asked them if they wanted to see it. Surprisingly they were really excited to see it.

The last photo is my dad holding baby Eleanor. As you can see she isn't too excited for my dad to hold her. But can you see the quilt in the background? Henrike's mother in-law made it like 20 years ago. It is applique with cross-stitch and some crewel work. It is really amazing! 

Linking up to Finish it Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts!!