Snazzed up cheater quilt

***Looking for the Lady Belle Fabric $50 gift certificate giveaway?  Check here!***

******************************************



My signature welcome baby gift to friends and acquaintances and even friends of friends and family is now almost exclusively a baby quilt.  Shocking I know.  Now that I've been at this quilting thing for a few years, I love hearing how these quilts seem to be used and loved for years and years by their recipients, and that just makes my heart happy.




So when I found out that an old college friend had her baby, and it was a girl I went into immediate baby quilt gift mode and tried to think of something I could put together quickly to get to the new mommy and her bundle of joy.  Usually I plan ahead, but they didn't find out the gender, and I've found its much more fun to wait until baby is here and make a quilt more tailored to a boy or girl.

So, as I was thinking of what I could make quickly, I remembered those cheater prints I purchased from Dragon Fly Fabrics a month or so ago.  It was absolutely perfect for what I had in mind.  I quickly ironed my fabric and basted it to a piece of grey fleece and was ready to get quilting!

I have never not used batting when making a quilt before, but I am loving the weight and drape that this quilt has with a little less bulk.  The fleece backing makes it super snuggly still, but this feels more like a blanket than a full on quilt.  I will definitely be incorporating this technique more often!




I followed the faux patchwork seam lines quilting 1/4" on either side of every other square, so approximately 4" apart.  I think from start to finish this took me about an hour.  While it was beautiful as is, I felt I needed to add something a little extra to make up for my lack of actual quilt making.




Enter my Cricut Explore.  Of course second to my trusty sewing machine, this is by far my favorite new crafting toy.  I've been using it quite a bit lately making paper and vinyl projects, so when I read about how nicely it cut fabric, I decided to give it a try.  I planned out a circle scallop and text "n" for baby girl's name, applied some steam a seam and got to cutting.  It worked beautifully and just as I had imagined.  I used a zig zag stitch to complete the applique and just love this quilt to pieces.




 I seriously had to talk myself out of keeping this for myself because, you know, I also have a baby girl who's name starts with N!  You can bet I will be using my Cricut to personalize baby quilts more often (like every time) and showing them to you here on the blog.

This quilt will be going in the mail this week so it can begin getting it's baby love soon!

For the record: Cricut does not know me from Adam, I purchased the machine on my own and am passing along its rave reviews to you!

Welcome Lady Belle Fabric and a Giveaway!

I'm happy to introduce SewCraftyJess' newest sponsor, Lady Belle Fabric!  I'm very excited to be working with Brooke, the lady behind Lady Belle Fabric, to bring you not only another great place to shop, but a $50 gift certificate (see below for entry details) to spend as you wish at Lady Belle Fabric!

Lady Belle Fabric is a new online fabric shop that Brooke and her husband Rob started a few months ago.  Brooke loves fabric (she is a self diagnosed fabric hoarder, just like the rest of us!) and all the beautiful colors and patterns that modern quilting has brought about.  The name Lady Belle came from their beloved dog who sadly passed away this summer.  They channeled Lady's beauty, entertaining personality and even her little bits of sass into Lady Belle Fabric's name.

Brooke told me, "I was wanting to sell a beautiful moment. You know the moment, when the fabric comes together, the ideas of the pattern all click, and the project starts coming to life. Most quilts are gifts to others, an heirloom of love, hard work and beauty. Those are things which Lady is to me. She left a beautiful moment on my heart. What better way to show others how much I care about their fabric choices then to name my store after the girl I loved so dearly."  Sorry, should have warned you to have your tissues nearby!

And now for the fabric.  Oh Brooke certainly has an eye for beautiful fabrics, and I think I want everything she has in her store.  Not to mention that orders over $150 ship free AND everything else ships at a flat rate of $5.75!  Lady Belle Fabric also does everything in their power to provide same day shipping.  That means you get your pretty fabrics as fast as possible!



I'm loving this pretty color combo of coral, turquoise and lime featured in Tula Pink's Bumble line.  Totally makes me think of summer and a juicy watermelon.  Or honeydew.  Either way 100% delicious.

I am also dying to have some of this Emmy Grace by Bari J for AGF yardage.  Florals.  Scallops.  The blue houses!?  Its just so darn pretty!



Be sure to check out Lady Belle Fabrics Sample Spree section as well!  This Cotton + Steel lawn bundle is calling my name.  Cotton + Steel AND lawn fabric?  Heavenly.

I could go on and on.  Like I said.  Want. All. The. Fabric.  Now its your turn!  Head over to Lady Belle Fabric and see what catches your eye.  To enter the rafflecopter giveaway, simply comment in the giveaway below with what you would spend your giveaway winnings on!

Giveaway details:  To enter to win, head over to Lady Belle Fabric and tell me what you would use the gift certificate to purchase in the comments section.  For an extra chance to win, share this giveaway on your favorite form of social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram).  Be sure to log in to RaffleCopter below.  This giveaway will be open until Wednesday, November 12, 2014 at 12:00 AM EST.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Belated Halloween Post

To say this post is a tad bit belated is an understatement.  As I finished this project up just before Halloween.  Halloween of last year.  The whole having a baby thing made my brain go on the fritz for some time, so when I was looking back through my Flickr feed, and found these pics I realized I never blogged about this little guy!  Without wanting him to feel neglected, I figured he's already waited over a year for his time in the spotlight, so who cares if two Halloween's have now passed since he was finished.



While my quilting and sewing has definitely slowed down, I am really enjoying cross stitching at the moment.  I love that its a small project that is 100% portable and perfectly conducive to background tv watching while I'm stitching away.  My husband has recently accepted a new job, that means no more nights and weekends (woohoo insert happy dance!!)  and while I am thrilled to have him home every evening, I now have zero motivation to head downstairs after Nora is in bed to sew, and instead have been snuggling up on the couch as the hubs and I catch up on the DVR que (we haven't even started this season of Homeland yet!).



So while my sewing machine is probably staging a protest from lack of use, I'm keeping my fingers busy working on a few adorable cross stitch patterns from the Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery.  Their patterns are just so darn adorable, that I can't get enough.  This one is last years Halloween Spooky Sampler.  After working on this project last fall, I switched from stitching on Aida cloth to linen, and my like for cross stitch last year has turned into a full blown love with the linen.  The stitches just pop off the fabric!  I have half a mind to restitch this sampler on linen, but that will have to wait for another day.



I just love how Amanda and Ashleigh have made cross stitching cute and youthful.  They seriously don't have a pattern that am not in love with.  I have stayed up to date with the Once Upon a Time 2104 Sampler, that is destined for framing and a spot on Nora's wall once its done and am almost done with last year's 12 Days of Christmas Sampler, which should be finished just in time for the release of this years Christmas Celebration Sampler.  Whew!



So anyways, happy belated Halloween!  You can bet you'll be seeing more cross stitch projects on the blog, as I'm resolving to try and post more progress pics, as things are moving at a much slower pace than they used to, and I'm okay with that.

p.s.  be sure to check back here tomorrow, a little birdie said there will be a great giveaway from a new sponsor!

Happy Birthday Nora!

Happy happy birthday to our little peanut!  I cannot believe just one year ago we were welcoming you into this world.  You bring so much joy and happiness to our lives that we truly cannot imagine our world without you in it.



Enjoy your day sweet girl, mommy and daddy love you more than you'll ever know!

Candy Girl Tiered Dress

pictures in this post compliments of Dana Monticelli Photography

One of the things I had always planned on doing from the day Nora was born was making tons and tons of baby clothes and dresses for her.  Now that didn't exactly go as planned, as to date I have made exactly three dresses (including these two Geranium dresses), but when her first pictures were just around the corner I decided she HAD to wear a handmade dress by her momma.



I had purchased a bundle of patterns from Ginger Baby Patterns on Etsy a few months back and decided to make the Candy Girl Tiered Dress.  I just love the gathered elastic top detail and the ruffled gathered sleeves.  I was debating on a few fabric options and ultimately decided to cut into my Heather Ross Far Far Away bundle, because every little girl needs a pink unicorn dress in their life.



I just love the fabric flower detail, the dress is great on its own, but the center flower adds just the extra pop this dress needs.  I would highly recommend this pattern, it was a breeze to sew together, oodles of step by step pictures and no pattern pieces!  Everything is straight rectangular cuts of fabric, perfect for this quilter at heart.  It was also a quick sew.  I easily finished the dress in one nap time, having already prewashed my fabric ahead of time.



I'd say Nora is a fan!  I know I missed my window of prime dress wearing weather this year, but I fully intend on wearing this dress through the rest of the fall with a long sleeved onesie and leggings, and I don't think Nora would object.



If you have any toddler sewing tutorials, I'd love to hear about them!  I have my eye on the Little Pearl Dress that Sarah made for her little girl from the Liberty Love book I have on my shelf, now that Nora is big enough to wear the smallest size!

daddy proof changing pad covers

I'm still on my baby things sewing binge and next on the list were a set of changing pad covers.  Throughout the past year as I was actually using the things I made for Nora and her nursery, there were of course a few things that I thought I absolutely would not be able to live without, that ended up hardly being used, and things that I found to be worth their weight in gold.  I really tried to keep this in mind as I was sewing things for my new nephews on their way.

One of those things that I made and absolutely loved, and gets used multiple times daily were these changing pad covers I made using this Prudent Baby Tutorial.  I have lost count of the amount of diapers I have changed on this changing pad, and thats probably a good thing, as I'm sure its an insanely high number, but at least when I am standing at that changing pad, wrestling my now almost one year old daughter, who apparently equates diaper changes to torture, as she channels her inner Houdini to escape, I can  at least look at a pretty cover.

In addition to their super cuteness,  I love the function that the two fabrics give, as its now pretty apparent which end is for the baby's head and which end is for the baby's dirty bottom.  Because there is no doubt if this wasn't spelled out plain as day, I'm sure my husband would decide to change her the other direction, and that would be just gross.  So we'll call these the daddy proof changing pad covers.



It is also imperative to have two covers in rotation at all times.  And from what I hear this is even more so with having a boy, as the likelihood of a surprise "shower" increases 1000 fold compared to a girl.  Two seems to be plenty, as at least for me it seems I am throwing in a load of laundry at least every other day.  Seriously.  Something so tiny amasses an amount of daily laundry that is just impressive.



I just love using minky or a soft cuddle fabric for the main body of these covers, they are so soft and just perfect for baby's skin, I just want to sit there and pet it!  These covers are a super quick sew, I was able to put both covers together (I prewashed my fabrics ahead of time) in one naptime, so about 2 hours.  Win!

 I have a few lingering baby projects to tackle (helllllooo quilts!  where are the quilts??!?) so rest assured, those are on the way!  

Around the World Blog Hop

I was tagged by my good quilty friend Ann to participate in the Around the World Blog Hop!  Actually, I was supposed to write up this post for last week and you bet, I forgot.  Luckily Ann sent me a little reminder email, or this post would have likely never seen the light of day, thanks again lady!! 

Ann lives in Italy (but is from Canada) with her adorable little girl and hubby, so this blog hop has truly come around the world!  Ann not only makes beautiful quilts, but also the most adorable clothes for her daughter Olivia.  When Nora was born and my mind had its first thoughts of sewing, I went straight to Ann, as she knows oodles of great kids clothing patterns and tutorials.  She led me to make the Geranium Dress, which I cannot recommend highly enough!  She's way more brave than me, and has even tackled deciphering a Japanese print sewing book and made the cutest pair of shorts for Olivia.  Thanks so much for involving me in this great blog hop Ann!

1.  What am I working on?

Most recently I finished up this darling little dress for Nora's upcoming 1 year pictures.  Lets talk for just a minute about how my little girl is going to be one year old later this month!



Thats how I feel about that.

Anyways, back to the dress.  I haven't done any clothing sewing since the 2 Geranium dresses I made a few months back and decided it was time.  I had purchased this Candy Girl Tiered Dress pattern a while ago and thought it would be perfect to cut into my Heather Ross Far Far Away fabrics for.  I am absolutely in love with this little dress.  Since I've snapped this pic I added the little fabric flower that is pictured in the pattern picture and it is just the little something extra this dress needed.

 

I've also been stitching all things baby for my two new nephews that are on their way!  The most recent project were these changing pad covers for my sister in laws fire truck themed nursery.  I love the covers I made for Nora's changing pad, and hopefully my sister in law likes these just as much!  Up next are a few Divided Baskets and of course these little boys need quilts!

2.  Why do I write/create what I do?

I think this is the simplest question to answer, and that's because I love it!  It is my little sliver of me time that I get to head to my own little space and just make something.  Life is a little bit different these days, and free time isn't something I have oodles of, or even have every day, so it just makes me happy to be able to spend a few moments working on something I love.  In the past I've gotten bogged down with "commitment sewing", and while that's great to do when I can, I've really learned to say no and only take on commitments where I know I will love what I'm working on.  

3.  How  does my writing/creative process work?

I sometimes think about what it would look like if I could snap a picture of what is running through my mind at any given time, either creatively or not, and I have to think it would just look like one of those crazy flow charts with arrows pointing in every direction connecting to different points and dots that is ever changing.  At least creatively speaking I feel like my "process" is ever changing.  Sometimes it starts with the need for an item.  

I needed a new purse, so I tracked down a pattern I liked, found fabric I liked, and made it.  Pretty straight forward.

Other times it's a particular fabric, or in this particular case, a group of quilt blocks that had been shelved for entirely too long, that the inspiration for a project emerges. 

Sometimes I see a project through from start to finish without setting it aside for something else, and more often, like this case,  I will pull a set of fabrics and set them aside for later use, or collect quilt blocks and set them aside, to work on a quilt top months years later to set that aside and put it together into a complete quilt at some to be determined point in the future.

I think I like it this way.  While it might just seem like a disarray of started and stopped projects, it gives me a choice when I walk into my sewing room to sew about what sort of project I'm in the mood to work on.  Something from scratch?  Something half started?  Something that just needs binding? Pretty sure I have one or more of each of those projects ready to be worked on.  Of course it also makes my sewing room look like it a bomb went off, but we'll just call that a creativity hazard.

I'm going tag my neighbor and quilty friend Amy if she'd like to participate!  This next hop won't be going nearly as far as from Italy to Pennsylvania, but it will be hopping down the street about two houses!