Wow that's a lot of adjectives!

I made quilting blocks for a ragged edge quilt.  I had a few extras so I decided to turn them into a tote for my sister.  I'm really pleased with the outcome!  The more it is washed, the more frayed the edges of the squares will become and it will have more of a "country-ish" feel to it.

 



I thought it would be amusing to use this fabric for the interior.




I used my basic tote tutorial (part 1, part 2) for the form of the bag. I decided to pinch the corners of the top and sew them to help the bag keep its shape and it worked like a charm!

What is your best quilting tip for a quilting newbie? What do you wish someone had told you? Or something you've learned that has made quilting easier for you?

On Tuesday, I watched a friend do this from start to finish. It looked simple enough, so I came home and did it too!  I am so stinkin' proud of this tote! It's my first REAL quilting project.

Detailed instructions:
Part 1: http://mommasez.blogspot.com/2008/12/moving-tape-for-quilting-tote-part-1.html
Part 2: http://mommasez.blogspot.com/2008/12/tote-part-2.html

For this project, you need to quilt two pieces.  The size and shape are totally up to you. 

Pin your sides.  Cut a 2" square out of the bottom corners. My tote was rather large, so I cut out a 3" square. The size you cut out determines the width of the bottom of your bag.  Sew along the bottom edge.

Use quilt binding along the top edges. Sew the sides and trip the excess binding.

Flatten the bottom of the bag so that the cut out edges meet each other. Pin and sew. This creates the bottom corners of the bag.

Turn it right side out, add a strap and accouterments (I used a button. My first time EVER doing a button hole!).

There are much more detailed instructions on my blog, but I figured a bare bones set of instructions here would be appropriate for those who understand what I'm talking about. Still.. read the blog... I used moving tape to quilt. LOL




My son happened to be stretching when I snapped that last photo. I promise. I really don't send him out in belly shirts. LOL

This was an easy Christmas present to make!

I'm so so so new to quilting.  Add to that my very poor abilities with spacial relations and that makes piecing things together very hard for me.  I recognize this and always double, triple, quadruple check everything.

Last night, I was laying out the batting and backing for a lap quilt for my MIL's Christmas present. Due to some poor cutting at the fabric store and the type of material, it was a royal PITA to get everything centered, straight and pinned. I even had my husband helping me.

At LEAST five times, I made sure I had the order of materials correct so that when I turned it right side out, the batting would be in the middle.

I happily closed up my quilt, trimmed my excess, cut my corners and started to turn it.

You guessed it.

The batting would end up on the outside.

HOW ON EARTH WAS I SO REMISS?!?!?!!

AAARRRGGGHH!!!

Sure, I could rip it all out and repin it. But it's like I was kicked in the gut and have lost my drive.   

Such a stupid mistake. Ugh.

My grandfather used to be a cattle farmer.  When I looked at this cow print fleece I ordered to make pj's for my son, I immediately thought of my grandfather.  After giving it a quick "arm" measurement, I realized I had enough to make a cozy lap blanket.  I had some fat quarters and thought I could whip up a very, very simplistic "quilt" for him.

I laid my fat quarters out and simply sewed them together. Once they were assembled, I attached them to the fleece and then turned it right side out.  I used an appliqué pattern to make the stars and sorta winged it on the rectangles. I figured using as many straight lines as possible would make the project a bit easier.

I didn't use any batting because it's pretty cozy with just the fleece.

I turned the end under and top stitched it to close the blanket, then cut strips of the leftover fleece and knotted them.

While it's not going to win any prizes, it was a good first attempt and gave me some confidence to try something harder.

I used one pattern to make both costumes.  My son's puppy dog costume was much harder because the material was so thick.  I had trouble getting the spots to stay on. The combined fabric was just too thick for my machine. I ended up using fabric glue and then hand stitching to tack down the edges of the spots.

For the ears, the pattern called for a hood but I knew my kids wouldn't wear hoods.  I bought premade cat-ear headbands from Michael's. I made my own ears, then used velcro to secure them on the headbands. They can take the costume ears off and still use the original headbands.

I'm really proud of myself! This is only my third sewing project, not counting the endless cloth diaper wipes I've made.

The puppy dog ears didn't really turn out very well and my son was very distressed by them. He said, "Momma. I just cannot wear 'dese ears all around." LOL

 

I tried making a headband the other day and it was a bit lopsided - to put it mildly.  I tried again tonight with much greater success.  It's still not perfect, but it's better.

It won't stay on my head very well though, but most headbands like this don't. I'm going to have a friend try it out tomorrow.

I used velor from a shirt I got for free.  Man that was a mistake! That material curls and slides so much!  As a result, I have a very, very lopsided headband. LOL

I used an online pattern (but I can't find it now -- maybe Stephanie still has it bookmarked because I IM'd it to her) and then sized it down. I think it's a bit too tight. Darn, I'll just have to make more of them! LOL

I recently started sewing. I knew it was going to be a challenge because I am terrible with spatial relations. It's really hard for me to "see" how all the pieces come together.

I decided that my first project would be pajamas for my kids.  I overcame my first big fear: cutting the material. Once it's cut, you're committed and I was terrified of screwing up that first step.



I started sewing my seams, closely following the instructions. But it became apparent that something wasn't quite right.  I mean really! These would be SUPER LOW riders on my two year old daughter!  And those legs... and the crotch!!



I headed to a friend's house and even she was baffled by the instructions so we decided to wing it and do what made sense to us.  I came back home to cut and sew the top ALL BY MYSELF!! I was so proud of myself! I even put the sleeves in without any help -  or lifeline phone calls! LOL

Here's the finished product (sans elastic waist and then on my daughter).  The size is off, but she'll grow into it. She is so proud of her bumblebee and butterfly pajamas.

I don't have a serger (  ) but I'm trying to repurpose a pair of velour pants into an a-line dress for my 2 year old.  There is fuzz *everywhere*!!!  I know the best way to keep the fuzz down, and to keep the material from curling, would be to serge. Since I can't, would a standard zig-zag stitch work well enough for my seams?