Baby Blanket

For all of the babies that have received sheets from me, I have also made baby blankets. I did not take any pictures of either. My picture taking has slacked lately! BUT since I am making more blankets (and sheets) I decided to make this tutorial and TAKE PICTURES of the process.

How do I make these blankets? Well, it is much like making a pillow...

I get a total of two yards of flannel. I say total because you can use the same or different fabric for the front and the back. I have done both.

Place right sides together.

Fold in half. Fold in half again (it is now folded into quarters).

folded into quarters.

Square up all sides. At this point you can leave the corner squared or you can curve it. As you can see I usually curve it use a salad plate as a template.

plate intention

Open up the folds and sew all the way around the outside leaving a four to five inch space that you do not sew closed. You can use a 1/2 inch or 1/4 inch seam. I have used both.

space left unsewn to turn inside out

It is your chose to clip the curved corners (I find that they smooth out better) just make sure you do not cut the thread. Been there done that. Then you have to resew the cut section.

notches-these could be neater and prettyier, but who is going to see it?

Reach into the opening and pull the blanket inside out. Then sew the section closed. I find that if you press the blanket (you press the blanket before finishing might as well save yourself some time and frustration) that it is easier to sew. You can sew this closed on the top of the blanket or by blind stitch. I have done both.

You want me to stick my hand where?

I wish I had taken a picture of pulling the blanket through the hole, but you can use your imagination for that.

The final step is to press the edge and then sew around the outside. I have been experimenting with the different decorative stitches on my machine for this, but it can be a straight stitch.

I chose the leaf pattern on my machine. Fits don't you think?

There you have it. A blanket for a baby. For me many blankets for many babies. I do love making these! They are so fast.

Like I said, it is much like making a pillow. The difference is stuffing. Pillows are stuffed and this is not. Top stitch if you like or don't. That part is optional.

May small project list down by one.

May small projects list

I have been avoiding away from my blog for several reasons. One is that I was waiting to understand the new blogger setup. Still working on that. Two my husband's family is experiencing extreme sadness, which I may or may not discuss tell you about.


Say thanks to Crazy Mom Quilts for the idea to have a small project sew along and the reason for this post. Amanda Jean has a list of twenty things to do.

Me, not so many.

I think I may add to it later but for now:
1. finish blue jean tree skirt
2. baby blankets (4) (3) I finished all three in one weekend
3. skirts (5) (2)
4. Kindle cover
5. baby sheet

I have a list of not so small projects. You will see what comes of that, hopefully. So, here is to May and the completion of some small projects.

Graduation Pictures!

Graduation pictures as promised.

These were taken by my friend. She does not live close to me, so I did not know that she was having a hard time which makes me sad. Anyways she sent me these pictures the other day, so here they are.



On my way to the stage.



Hi there!



Getting my diploma cover and telling Dr. Glenn "Thank you, and I will!" Dr. Glenn says to every graduate "Congratulations!" and "Do good work."



He got an unexpected hug from me here. I thought it was great!



The happy/I just graduated dance.



YESSSSS! Hahaha...



I got my diploma that day too. I just had to pick it up after the ceremony. It is in the white envelope.

There you have it. I graduated. I am still waiting for my certification from the state. It should be here any day. Hopefully this fall I will be teaching. Let the good times start!

Blue Finish

I still don't have a name for this quilt! I sorta like "Blue Period" or "Quilted Blues" but not sure.
Just the same here it is.





quilt flimsy

This is a layer cake friendly quilt pattern. I did not use a layer cake, choosing instead to use scraps and fat quarters. I wanted my finished blocks to be seven and one half inches (7 1/2" square), so I cut rectangles eight and one half by no less than seven and one half inches to nine inches (8 1/2x 7 1/2-9"). Then I used scraps of eight and one half by no less than one and one half (8 1/2x 1 1/2-3") to sew into the center. I cut the rectangles at different places (at least two inches from one side) and sewed the scraps in the center.

There were some matching scraps that put together were big enough to be the main square, so I just put a different scrap in the scrap sandwich and started sewing. After sewing I just squared the whole thing up to eight inches (8x 8").



This is a close up of the blocks around 1:30 in the morning after I finished the binding. I used blue thread to quilt it with. Also, I used Kona Royal for the binding, which is the only fabric I can name in this entire quilt. I picked the binding fabric out after work Friday then, after watching a movie with the hubs, got to work cutting and sewing it that night. What else is a girl to do when she cannot sleep.



My wonderful hubs picked out the location to take the pictures and held the quilt for me. Don't you just love those legs?



Then he was like "I want to take some pictures!" and got a few of me holding it up. If you look closely you can see my sandals and toes.

We got the pictures and the measurements taken before we packed it and just made it to the Post Office to mail it. I walked in and they locked the door behind me.

It measures 44x58 1/2".

Blue Quilting

I have been quilting and finishing the blue quilt. I decided to go against my need for perfection and quilt organic straight lines. I enjoyed how they turned out.

I still need a name for it. The back has NFL Colt fabric so "Blue Colt" or "Colt Blue"? Boring. Maybe "Blue State" or "The State of Blue"? hmmm... What about "That Blue Quilt I Made"? Oh, to name a quilt...

Tutu Fun!

We had a lot of fun with the tutus. Yep, I made a couple more.



I gave my nieces theirs, and they had so much fun with them.

There was a lot of twirling









and just hanging around.





It was fun watching them twirl, dance, run around, and play blocks with them on. I hear that they are wearing them at home and even to the store. How fun!



Also in case you couldn't tell, my niece LOVES Justin Beiber. So, her tutu was made to match her favorite Beiber shirt. ;)
She was twirling and singing "Baby, baby, baby OHHHHH!" How cute is that?

Tutu!

My niece really like Angelina Ballerina. She really wanted a tutu, and it is more fun to make one. So, I bought some tulle and got to work.

I decided this time to see if I could cut it faster. I wrapped the pre-cut tulle around the top of my chair and then put the tube on top of the knob to protrudes from my chair.



Then I cut it at that end, because that was where I started and stopped, I repeated with the other two colors, and started tying the strips to the elastic band that I had sewn together.

I watched some TV and tied the strips. Before long I had a new wig tutu.



I can't wait to give it to her!

I plan on making a purple one very soon. So hold on for that. I may be wearing that one around my waist instead of on my head. Oh so normal. ;)

Note: The first tutu I made I did not blog about, but you can see it in my profile picture.

Quilting Blues

For the last month I have not wanted to quilt or make anything. I do not know what happened, but I have just been so tired.

Now I feel like I want to start doing something again! I have a quilt due in mid-March for Margaret's Hope Chest sister Wrapped in Hope. The recipient has requested blue and Colts (NFL). So, two different blues will converge and hopefully I will get out of this rut!

A New Stack

I have a new stack to start on.



A friend asked me to make a T-shirt quilt using these shirts that belonged to her father. He passed away a couple of months ago, so this is a memory quilt for her.

At first I planned to make two separate quilts: one for her and one for her mother. The one for her was going to use just the images, and the one for her mother was going to be plain fabric from the rest of the shirt.

She asked me to make the quilt as big as I could. So, now I am going to make the center the images and the outside border the plain fabric.

I know she will enjoy this quilt.

Sisters

Here they are!

This is my mom (in the middle) and her sisters.

My mom, my sister, and I took the three and a half drive to meet and visit with her sisters, their children and grandchildren, and the children and grandchildren of my mom's brother. We were unable to meet everyone due to location, but we met many of them.

We all got along very well and my mom was very happy to see her sisters, and since I have not had cousins until now, I am very excited to have cousins.