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!"

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?

Winnie the Pooh Quilt

I can't believe it has been so long since our last blog post. I am amazed sometimes how time gets away from me!

I had put quilting on the back burner for awhile. For some reason, I was just not feeling it; this last week, however, I have made 3 quilt tops and am working on a fourth! But I digress... This blog post is about a special quilt I made last month.

This Pooh Bear quilt was made for my 3rd grand baby, who I have nicknamed Jora because Joey (my son) and Sara (his girlfriend) won't tell anyone what name they have picked out. This made it a tad harder for me to decide what kind of quilt to make simply because for the other 2 grand babies I appliqued their names onto the quilt.

I did have some Winnie the Pooh fabric in my stash and I pulled it out to work with because that is the theme they picked for the baby's room. No matter how many quilt patterns I looked at, my mind kept going back to a pattern I downloaded from Blank Quilting Web site called Froggles.

I modified this pattern to suit my needs:

And since I couldn't applique a name onto the quilt yet, I did do a little applique on the back of the quilt...

Now, I just need to wait for hopefully just a few more days to be able to make the new baby a quilt with his name on it... His due date is February 16th!

Christmas Stockings

This past week I was at quilt retreat...  I usually get at least 3 or 4 quilts made during my week long stay plus a couple of other projects, but this time around I didn't feel like I accomplished much. The projects pictured here are the main reason why:

I actually made 6 of these a couple years ago and I needed to make for this Christmas since there are 4 1/2 new members of our family this year.

This project was so time consuming because I ended up cutting, sewing, and quilting 1445 2-inch pieces of fabric! It was truly a labor of love.

Mason's Quilt

So I can finally post a picture of the quilt I ended up making for baby Mason now that the baby shower is over and I have given it to Emily and Chris. Here is what I ended up coming up with. What do you think?

This quilt pattern was inspired by 3 other quilts I saw:

• Peek-a-Boo Monkey Quilt
• Simple Modern Baby Quilt: Giraffe
• Snuggly Squares II Baby Quilt
  

A huge help in coming up with this pattern was a Web site Katie introduced me to, called Pinterest. I gathered together pictures of all of the baby quilts I liked and it helped me compare them all side by side!

Still Searching...

If you remember, a few weeks back I wrote about how I was trying to find a pattern for a quilt to make for grandbaby #2...  Well, I am still on that quest; although, I am narrowing down the search!

I have found other quilts I want to make. Too many of them! I realised one thing I can do is to use the quilt patterns I like as inspiration to make smaller versions of the pattern. The smaller versions can be used as stroller quilts like this one I made for Blake:

Perhaps these stroller quilts might be a good thing to try to sell in our Etsy store? What do you think?

Flashback Friday

Awhile back, Katie shared a flashback picture of the entire family and I thought it was great to see those pictures right next to each other.  I thought with all we have shared about Blake on this blog, I thought I would dig out some pictures of Katie when she was a baby! (Sorry Katie! :-)

I tried to find some of Katie eating similar to the ones posted of Blake this week but I don't have anything similar scanned.  I did find these though:

Wasn't she an adorable baby! :-)

Baby Quilt Patterns

One of my favorite sewing related blogs is the Moda Bake Shop, so when I was searching for ideas for a quilt to make as a baby shower gift for Blake (my granddaughter), I checked there first and fell in love with this Bricks in Bloom QUilt. I fashioned Blake's quilt with that one in mind, what do you think?

So, now I am on a quest for another baby quilt to make for Mason's baby shower (my grandson who is due in November). I want to include Mason's name on his quilt like I did with Blake's. I also know I want to use greens, blues, and browns, but other than that I had no clue.

At first, I was overwhelmed thinking about all of the possibilities, but then I remembered the Moda Bake Shop! I found several there I am now trying to choose between, plus I am still looking around:

• Snuggly Squares
• Snuggly Squares II
• Pure Baby Boy
• Whimsy Square

Like I said, I am still looking a little around for more quilt pattern ideas. If you know of one, please share it! I am also in search of fabric. Blake's quilt was made mostly with fabric from the Chirp Line by Katie Hennagir and I am hoping to find a fun fabric line that features blues, greens, and browns.

Maybe next time, I will share the fun and easy stroller quilt I designed and made for Blake...

Speaking of Photography...

Thanks to some coupons and store-closing sales, I have aquired some new photography books... I had them stacked in the corner of my desk with the owner's manual for my new camera (BTW, did I mentioned I got a new Canon 60D). This past weekend I finally got tired of just looking at them so I started reading.


Actually, some of these will more likely just end up on my bookshelf and used for reference (they aren't meant to be read cover to cover), but I will at least flip through all of the pages first:

• Taking Stock: Make money in microstock creating photos that sell
  This is the book I started reading first. I have been told by so many people that my photos are good... Really good... So I started looking into the many sites available online for selling them. When I saw this book, I figured it couldn't hurt to learn a little more about selling those pictures. This book was very inforamative! The manin thing I have learned is that, while my pictures might be good, they are mostly night right for microstock site. :-( But, now I know what kind of pictures to take to try my hand at selling them.

• National Geographic Photography Field Guide
  I got this at Half Price Books. This will be more of a reference book, but I will page through it first.

• The Photography Bible
  I got a great deal on this book at a Borders bookstore that was going out of business.

Creative Uses for Embroidery Hoops

A couple of weeks ago I went to Katie's House (about 150 miles away) to help her with some finishing touches for the Dr. Seuss themed nursery. Among other things we used 7-inch embroidery hoops to add some creative flair!

We printed out Blake's name using a font named Pea Noodle Parlor. We traced the letters onto fusible web...  Then, we started over because I had forgotten that the letters have to be traced backwards onto the fusible web!


We ironed the letters onto fabric, cut out each letter, and then ironed it onto the black and white Dr. Seuss fabric. We then cut the fabric a bit bigger than the 7-inch embroidery hoops. Then you simply stretch the fabric in each embroidery hoop. (You can find more detailed directions here.)


What do you think of it? We may consider making customized embroidery hoop wall art if anyone is interested!