Quilt Journal

I have kept a journal that features information and pictures of almost every quilt I have ever made. When I recently filled up the third book, I was trying to find another one to use. That is when I came up with this printable quilt journal log.  The other books I used to record my quilt information in were small, so I thought this time I would look for something a little bigger. 

The perfect solution was a 3-ring binder! I filled my 3 ring binder with plastic page protectors and then printed out several log pages to fill them with.  I should now have plenty of room to write all the notes I want and even include more than one picture.

You can download my log and use it to make your own quilter’s journal:

Download the Quilt Journal Log PDF file
(The one pictured below is a partial page)

Sew Some Magnets

I noticed that my grandkids were drawn to the any magnet that ended up on my fridge. It didn't seem to matter if it was a business card sized promotional magnet or a face one shapes like a puppy. This made me want to make some fun magnets that would surprise and excite them next time they visited grandma's house.

When I sat down in my craft room, I can up with a couple of magnet ideas...

 

First, I grabbed some fabric that had a Dr. Seuss theme. I used the Seuss fabric for the front of the magnet, muslin for the back of the magnet, and a piece of batting in between it. I sandwiched them together and sewed around the design, leaving a small section over to stick the magnets in. I put some glue on the back of the magnets and stuck them to the batting. Once the magnets were in place, I sewed the opening closed.  You can find the more detailed, step-by-step directions I wrote for making these fabric magnets here.

 

 

Not too long after I created these fabric magnets, I thought I would experiment with making some using photos.  The method I used was similar to those above. You can find the directions to make these fabric photo magnets here.

 

 

 

 

These magnets were all so easy to make I hope you have a lot of fun making them. Not only are they great to hang on your own refrigerator, they make wonderful gifts.

Burlap Crafts

Last week, I shared a picture of some fun burlap I found with a chevron design printed on it. Every since then, I have been trying to figure out what to make with it.  I have a few ideas in mind that I hope to tackle next week, in the meantime, I thought I would shares some of the fun burlap crafts I have discovered while I was searching for inspiration.

• Burlap Easter Egg
• Mini Burlap Heart Wreath
• Rustic Burlap Letters
• Ombre Chevron Burlap Bag
• Burlap Wreath
• Burlap Wedding Decorations

Which one do you like best?  What do you think I should make my burlap into?

 

Chevron Burlap

I had great timing with my shopping trip today.  I was hoping to score some colored burlap but this is what I found instead, they said they just got it in stock yesturday:

 

 

Now, what should I make from it?  My first thought went to a tote bag of some sort. It would also be great made into placemats or a table runner.  I just can't decide. What would you make from it?

Blake's Babies

A couple of weeks ago I got to babysit my two granddaughters for a few days. While sweet Tatum was just 2 months old at the time and easy to entertain, little Miss Blake was just a couple months shy of being 2-years-old. I wanted to find something creative we could do together and I think I chose the perfect project!

While I was walking around Jo-Ann fabrics, I came across a Darice Foamies Kids Activity Bucket. She loves her baby dolls so I thought she might like "dressing" these craft foam babies. You can tell by the pictures that she loved putting all of it together and also hugging her babies...

There were some small pieces so I sat close by the entire time she was playing with them. Instead of using craft glue, I used Glue Dots. I started out by showing Blake how they stuck together and then I let her pick out the pieces she wanted to use and point to where she wanted the glue.  I was in charge of putting the glue dot where she pointed. This method worked well.

Once she was done making the babies, we glued magnets to the back and hung them on the fridge.  Everytime she walked by the fridge and noticed them, she would get the biggest smile and say, "Oh! Babies!"

St. Patrick's Day Fun

How far do you go when it comes to celebrating St. patrick's Day? Sadly, I have no Irish blood in me so we never did anything when I was a child. When my kids were little we did do crafts and other fun activities.

If you want to have some creative fun for St. patrick's Day, start out by trying 5 of my favorite crafts.

1. Pot of Gold Craft
2. Leprechaun Hat
3. Shamrock Clip Magnet
4. Leprechaun Kisses Craft and Poem
5. Button Rainbow Craft

If you want to check out even more of my favorite St. Patrick's Day crafts and activities, check out my Pinterest board for this holiday.

Comma Fabric Patterns

Sorry I am so slow to check in again...  I did just get back from quilt retreat and I worked on a few quilts using my Comma fabric by Zen Chic. I thought I would give you a sneak peek at the 3 quilts I have made so far using this bundle of fat quarters.  I used 2 different patterns. Both were inspired by pictures of quilts I found on Pinterest.
 
I used 25 of the fat quarters in the bundle (there were 40 all together, so I still have plenty left) to make these two quilts. At first I was calling them "his" and "her" quilts, but people just didn't get it. Plus, now I am considering making one quilt using both of these, one on the back and one on the front. Each one is about 90-inches square.   I saw this pattern and created my own version of it.

Once these are finished, I will post better pictures.
 
The third quilt top I made using this fabric is a strip quilt similar to this one.  I actually used the strips of fabric I had left over after cutting all of the rectangles for the quilts above. I was almost going the throw them away, but I am so glad I didn't; and so is Katie since I promised this quilt to her! The strips were not all the same width so it was a little tricky cutting the gray fabric for the background, but it actually went together a lot faster than I thought it would.

I will also post better pictures of this one and a more detailed description of how it was made once it is all done.

Comma Zen Fabric

This fabric is a new line from Moda, named "Comma,", designed by Zen Chic. I fell in love with it the moment I saw it, and I can't believe that this fabric is still bundled since I bought it 3 months ago. I suppose that might be because I haven't quite figure out what to make with it yet. I know I want to use it to replace the quilt on my bed that the dog accidentally chewed through (Oh-No!!!), but that is about it so far.

I bought this fabric from Country Fabrics and Quilting in November when they had a trunk show/mini shop set up at the quilting and craft retreat I go to twice a year. My intention was to find a pattern to use it with and then make it while I am at the retreat in March. So, I figured I better get to it!

Since there are 40 fat quarters included in this bundle, I am actually thinking about making two smaller quilts from it rather than one large one. We have a king-sized bed but, since I do the quilting on my personal machine, I am not looking forward to making a king size quilt. So, one thought I had was to make a "his" and "hers" quilt. Sounds like a good idea to me because that might mean less fighting over who has more of the blanket.

So, now I am off to find or design a great pattern. Any ideas?

From Popcorn to Puppy Food

At this point, I wonder if there is still anyone out there who doesn't know what Pinterest is? Like many others. I am hooked on it. I love using it as a tool for organizing great web sites I find, and I have a variety of boards that are related to crafts. (Follow me on Pinterest if you like.)

One thing I found on Pinterest that I wanted to try right away was this puppy food tin. My husband buys me a big container of popcorn for Christmas evey year and I am running out of things to do with the empty tins. I saw this idea on Pinterested and thought it was perfect!

It was so easy to make and didn't take much time either. Here is what I used:

• Empty Popcorn Tin
• Red Paint
• Paint Brush
• Cricut Expressions Machine
• Cartridge
• Adhesive Backed Vinyl

Start out by making sure your empty popcorn tin is clean and dry. Use your favorite color of paint, I used red, to paint the outside of the tin and the lid. Let the paint dry completely.

I used a Cricut machine and cartridge to cut out the letters and the puppy, but you can use a stencil instead, of draw them out freehand if you like. I cut out my designs on adhesive backed vinyl so all I had to do was peel the paper backing off and stick it where I wanted it.

A Couple of Quilts

I feel so horrible that we had such good intentions for this blog and somehow, over the last several months, life just got in the way. isn't that the way it goes sometimes though?

I have been busy with several creative ventures over the last several months, bbut since the last post I made was about the Pooh quilt I made for my grandson, I thought I would post a follow up with this post since he is now 11 months old!

My gradnson's name is Easton, and here are the two quilts I made for him after he was born. I couldn't decide on a style for his name quilt so I decided to make him one styled after one I made his daddy, and then I made another one styled after one I made his mommy.

I still need to work on typing up a tutorial for these. Would you be interested in learning how to make one or both?