my first quilt!

I had always assumed that making a quilt was WAY beyond my reach, but I'm proud to say - I DID IT!

Let me preface this by saying that I did NOT piece 12,034 bits of fabric together.  I did it the laaaaazy way and did cute printed cotton on the top and white kona fleece on the back.  I basically followed the pattern for the 'reversible tied quilt' in the modern crib set from Amy Butler's 'Little Stitches for Little Ones' with a few of my own changes (which as a novice/moving into intermediate territory sewer, I'm finding I need to do a lot of).

I didn't take any pictures of the quilt making process, but to anyone who can sew the instructions are very straightforward.  I cut my blue and white fabric 36x50 inches, and the fleece and quilt batting 2 inches wider (so 38x52 inches) to allow for better piecing.  The patterns calls for 2 layers of batting, but I used one and think it looks and feels great as is.  I just bought a package of crib quilt batting, so there was only minimal cutting required.  I pinned all 3 layers together with safety pins while I sewed.  I did french straight binding, which seemed easier then bias binding to me.  My fabric wasn't long enough for the required piece (190 inches) so I had to sew extra on the end, and I'm happy to say you can't tell where it's joined.  To attach the binding, I matched the raw edges of the cotton and the binding and sewed around.  You can then trim the batting and back fabric to match the front, and fold over the binding and attach to the back.  Doing the slip-stitching around the binding on the back was definitely tedious, but it's a good sit in front of the TV activity to keep one's hands busy.  I tied it with light blue embroidery floss, spacing the ties about 6 inches apart (which conveniently fell in the middle of the white dots).  The finished size of the quilt is 36 x 50 inches, plenty big for a crib, and big enough to last well into toddlerhood.

The blue/white/brown colors go so well with the baby's room, and I see this quilt getting plenty of use for years to come.  White might not have been the best choice of color for the back, but it looks beautiful and the kona fleece is soooo soft.  Now I'm gonna have to make one for my daughter too (you've gotta be fair after all!)

It's a mad scramble trying to get a few last minute projects done before baby comes.  I've just done some placemats, and I'm trying to work on some Christmas crafts in preparation for submission to show at got craft in early December.  Next up is an apron for my daughter - stay tuned!

Linked up here

minky love (and hate)

Minky is something you've probably seen (and fondled) before, but had no idea what it's called.  It's a super soft, fleecy type fabric that you see in many baby projects these days, mainly blankets.

A few months ago, I bought some minky in order to try my hand at sewing some ribbon sensory blankies.  Man, this stuff is NOT fun to sew with.  It is slippery and stretchy at the same time - and once perfectly lined up seams pucker and drift apart easily.  So while I love the softness of the fabric for babies, sewing with it is a pain in the butt.

This the ribbon sensory blanket I made for my little man a few months ago (the minky is the brown dotted fabric you see on the back).  You can buy minky plain or dotted.  Babies seems to love the dotted texture for blankies.

This put together this cute pink number for a friend who recently had her second little girl.  I used plain white minky for two of the squares on the front, and the brown dot minky on the back.

I also got really ambitious and made a minky change pad cover for the change table.  Lots o' work, but love the result.  Have to make another since the fleece ones I used for my daughter are all a) girly colors and b) washed and worn to within an inch of their lives.

The possibilities for minky in baby sewing are endless - bibs, blankets, burp cloths, stuffy toys, sheets (now THAT would be some work).  Any other fun ideas you'd like to see in minky?

simple car seat canopy

I've been pulling out the baby gear from storage the last little while (and remembering the insane number of C and D size batteries all these gadgets take!) in preparation for our little man's arrival.  We went with gender neutral prints for pretty much everything (the 1-2-3 Tea for Me Exersaucer was the exception, but I bought it in a moment of weakness when our daughter was 5 months old, cutting her first teeth and hubby was on a business trip to China). 

Our carseat from last time around is still good - you know that carseats 'expire' like sour milk, right?  I decided to whip up a simple car seat canopy to keep the sun, rain, and germy strangers' hands off the kiddo.  I would use a receiving blanket over the seat last time, but this looks so much cuter.  I used the same fabrics I bought for his baby quilt (which is nearly finished as well - stay tuned!!).  

The project turned out to be really simple.  The finished canopy is about 35x40 inches, and I used the interior print to make the handlebar attachments, which fasten with velcro.  It only took a couple hours to put together.

The nursery is almost finished - once we've got everything ready, I'll post some pictures.