Category Archives: My Favorite Things

Oh Baby (Quilt)

The day after my brother and sister-in-law announced they were expecting, I found myself in a fabric store freaking out over all the adorable baby patterns. I saw this fabric and knew I had to do something with it. Let’s face it, a baby opens up a whole new genre of crafts that can be made, and I am so ready to embrace it.

Naturally, the first thing that came to my mind was a quilt. So I bought a yard of this fabric, a yard of this amazing plaid fabric (that matched perfectly, I might add), and 4 inches of an orange polka dot fabric (that matched the monkey) for the binding.

To assemble the quilt, I decided to not cut up the fabric but keep the pieces whole. This made it super easy and super fast to make. I used the adhesive spray to stick the fabrics to the batting, and then I simply quilted boxes using the plaid side as my guide.

Finally, I attached the binding (see instructions on earlier posts). I was able to make the quilt in less than a day, and it might be the most adorable thing I have ever made.

I can’t wait for the newest member of this family to get here, but in the mean time, I’m sure there are many crafts I can make until then.

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50 Nifty United States

I am a big fan of Pinterest because it opens the door to many craft blogs I would never have found on my own. This project is the first one I have completely copied from the website. I figure if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! Plus, I’m always a sucker for a good map.

Thanks to a box of fabric so lovingly given to me by my aunt and old puzzle from my childhood, this project is super easy and super cheep!

I used the puzzle to make stencils on printer paper. When cutting each state out, don’t cut on the line but instead around it. Then I found a piece of fabric for each state (note, I chose not to do Alaska and Hawaii).

Next, I used Heat-n-Bond which I purchased at Joann’s. The directions on the package is pretty clear, but basically, cut a piece the size of the fabric. Iron the liner side. Cut the fabric to the shape you want (in this case, the shape of the state). And then once I had each state in place, I pealed off the liner and ironed it onto the muslin.

Above shows how I laid each piece out. Once ironed down, I took to the sewing machine to stitch the outline of each state. I used an embroidery foot (or a darning foot) for the first time. It was difficult at first, but you learn to get the hang of it.

I mounted the finished piece to a flat canvas (and when I say mounted, I mean I used packaging tape). I obsessed over the finished thing for about an hour, thinking I should definitely whip up another one. I could totally see this being sold at Anthropologie or Urban Outfitters for a crazy amount. Thanks to my box of scraps, this cost me less than $3!

Spin Art is the best

I uploaded pictures from my camera today and found this little gem from the last month. For Welcome Back Week, we had an “art” day, meaning free Pastry Art’s baby bites, free caricature artists and my favorite, free spin art! We put a clothes line out between two trees for people to hang their spin art to dry, but secretly, I do this so I can collect all the abandoned and the forgotten ones for myself. Truth be told, spin art makes the best stationary. Here, I used it to write thank you letters to people who helped us out during the week.

I use them as post cards, simply drawing a line down the middle. I think the extra paint on the back makes it look even better. If only I could have my very own spin art machine, I could start a business.

Quilt no. 2

I couldn’t help myself. The day after my last day at work, I started making another quilt. I have been looking around online at different quilts people have made, and when I stumbled across a pattern similar to this one, I knew it was one I could easily do.

   

This time around, I really tried to shop for fabrics that would “match.” I picked 3 colors – blue (light and dark), purple and coral. Together, I think the fabrics created a very cohesive quilt.

Quickly and easily, I created the squares that make up majority of the quilt. Each row was made up of 13 squares (26 triangles) with a total of 5 rows in the quilt. I laid out each square before stitching them together to make sure no 2 fabrics would be right next to each other.

With the rows of squares complete, I then attached the rows of purple fabric.

After choosing a back fabric (a grey, floral print), I attached the 3 layers (back fabric, batting and front fabric) and began the quilting process. I chose to simply quilt straight lines, along each row and outlining each triangle.

   

I created the binding using scraps from the triangles and simply sewed together a 2″x 276″ strip, attaching it with a 1/2 inch seam allowance on the front and top stitching on the back.

I purchased batting that was more plush than my previous quilt, and I think my cat very much approves of this decision.

Dimensions:

  • Quilt = 60 inches x 78 inches
  • Rows = 6.5 inches x 78 inches
  • Triangles = 6.5 inches –> 6.5 x 6.5 inch squares
  • Binding = 2 inch x 276 inch strip (with a 1/2 inch seam allowance)
  • 1/4 inch seam allowance

Quilted American Flag

Weeks after making a quilt, I can’t help but want to make another one. And with leftover fabric from my patriotic napkins, I decided to make a small, yet very festive, decorative quilt.

Sorry, but I didn’t take any pictures as I made the flag since the project started out on a whim. But shoot, didn’t it turn out pretty adorable! (I love the embroidery detail. It really makes it look more hand-quilted, though it is definitely machine-quilted!)

  

Once I finished the flag, I dug up an abandoned canvas, grabbed a stapler and mounted it!

  

Which brings me to the finished product…

 

Style Your Sole

As a part of Spring Fling, SAC hosted a Toms Style Your Sole party. An event where people could pre-order a pair of white, canvas Toms, and then pick them up and decorate them on the night of the event. It was a huge success. We sold 150 pairs of shoes, and on the night of the event, people were creating some pretty amazing, customized shoes. Of course, I ordered a pair, but being way too busy, I simply let them sit on my desk… until tonight.

Ta da! I feel like it would be no surprise that I chose a stars/constellation theme. And I am so excited in how they turned out.

Step one – get rid of all the white. And how appropriate that the color was called “Midnight Blue.”

Step two – splatter paint. I used this to create the effect of the millions of stars that are out there in the universe. For the color, I chose a silver, metallic paint.

Step three – embroider the stars. On the left shoe, I keep it simple by adding stars here and there (with a shooting star, of course). And then the right shoe highlighted the Orion constellation (one of my favorites).

  

I am simply obsessed with them!

So close to summer

My apologies for appearing to have disappeared from the face of this earth. With school work, Spring Fling (pictures to come) and now the final days before final exams, I have barely anytime to craft, let only post what I make. But once I survive these next 2 weeks, I will have the entire summer to execute all the ideas that have been floating through my head all month. One being the idea of spending an entire day painting. With that said, I leave you with a painting I did last summer

And so the countdown begins…

Anthropologie Inspired Tablecloth

I don’t shop at Anthropologie often, because let’s face it, who can afford it? But goodness, do I love that store. My roommate one day pulled out a napkin from the store that someone gave her as a gift, and it sparked my inspiration – a tablecloth made up of cloth napkins. So I went online and found these. The napkins come in a set of 6 for only $32.

With the napkins, I wanted to make a table clothe. My game plan was simple – to sew together the 20×20 inch napkins into a large square and then cut out a circle. With only 6 napkins, I had to do some planning, but first I wanted to make sure I could use every inch of fabric. So I took out the hem, adding about an inch of fabric on each side.

Once I removed the hem, I needed to secure the edges so they wouldn’t continue to fray. This is how I discovered the overcasting stitch feature on my sewing machine (I know this is probably something really basic, but you’ll have to bear with me. I’m relatively new to a sewing machine.)

Once I had stitched over all the edges, I began to lay everything out. I needed to make a 50×50 inch square. So I kept 4 napkins whole and cut 2 napkins in half, placing those on the outer edge. If you notice, that leaves a 10×10 inch square missing, but I’ll come back to that later.

So I got to sewing each piece into place. The napkins’ corners were cut off, which caused a few hole to appear when sewing them all together. But I just decided to embrace the patchwork-ness of it all, and I simply hand sewed it together.

And then using the technique I learned on my last table cloth, I marked the fabric to cut out a circle.

I found this fabric rather difficult to measure and cut. And as you can see, I was unable to cut a perfect circle. But since this is inspired by Anthropologie, why not accept their homemade philosophy. It’s homemade; it doesn’t have to be perfect. (It just has to look adorable!)

Now, back to one of my original problem – the 10×10 inch missing square. Well once the circle was cut out, the missing piece was easy to fix. I simply took  a piece of the scraps leftover from cutting out the circle and patchworked it into place using a simple straight stitch.

For the finishing touch, I decided not to hem the tablecloth, but instead to use the overcasting stitch again. I liked how it makes the fabric look raw, like it’s a scrap piece from another project.

And that’s it. I’ve learned you don’t have to shell out a lot of money for Anthopologie products. You just have to buy the cheaper, simpler ones and make them into something extraordinary.

Look to the Stars: Constellations Embroidery

I worked at a camp this summer that opened my eyes to the different, cultural stories about the constellations in the night’s sky, and I quickly became obsessed. This idea of embroidering a constellation has been floating around my  head for awhile now, and it took a simple swatch of navy blue fabric in the clearance bin at Hobby Lobby to put my thoughts into action.

Gemini (The Twins)

Orion (The Warrior)

Pegasus (The Winged Horse)

I cut out navy blue felt to cover the back side of the embroidery and added the name to the constellation for any clarification that might be needed. I love how simple this project was, and after I get some nails in the wall, it’s going to look adorable in my green bedroom.

Painting Butterflies on a Window

The weather is making me dream of warmer days, so today I decided to pull something out of my craft vault. This summer, everyday on the way to work I passed Dave’s Goody Barn (pause for the weirdness of the name), a place that sells used construction materials as well as a bunch of random, cheap stuff. One day I decided to stop by and look around, and I came home with two old windows.

And with butterflies on my mind, the one window became my canvas!