Fiona Dress with Michael Miller Fabric

I don’t know about you, but the past 2 months flew by, I’m still trying to figure out what happened to them.

Every Thanksgiving, I make a new dress for my daughter. I usually use a simple knot dress pattern, but decided to go out on a limb and test my sewing skills. I fell in love with this pattern, and after completing this dress, I’m so glad I did! I bought the pattern at Fabricworm and picked up Michael Miller fabric from my local fabric store, Quilt Crossing.

I cut everything out and then set to work on assembling and sewing.

Working on the bodice and adding the buttons and loops.

Skirt gathering. Isn’t the deer so dear!

Adding the tie to the back. I love the big orange bow in the back.

Overall turned out so great! At least in my opinion.

Doesn’t hurt that it matches my daughter’s room so nicely too.

Off to another project!

 

 

 

Restroom Sign made from Pallet – Pinterest Inspired

Here I am with another pallet sign. You know when you have one pallet, with a lot of wood to work with, might as well use it. I saw this one on Pinterest also, and decided it would be easy. My husband put together the first pallet sign and this one too. I printed a man and woman restroom sign and traced on the pallet. (don’t mind the allergy medicine bottle in the picture 🙂 )

This time I used a sealer for the paint. I thought since I was using a chalkboard paint, that the sealer would help to even out the paint, which it did, nicely!

Once the sealer was dry, which is really quick, I painted the figures. I did use a Martha Stewart chalkboard paint, in taupe, that I had handy. I think next time, I will use a darker paint that will stand out on the pallet better.

Once it was dry, I gave it away, so I will definitely need to make another one for myself. This was a super easy Pinterest idea.

I’m on to my next Pinterest Inspired craft.  If you are interested in the actual Pinterest link that I used, you can take a look at my Pinterest page here. Happy Crafting!

 

 

Watercolor Poppy on a Wood Pallet

I have been using Pinterest to save my favorite craft items, and realized, I save and never do. I am starting to change that. I am a blog follower, from party ideas to photography to crafts. Lately it seems that pallets are the “new” thing. They’re usually free, so why not take advantage of that.

I recruited my husband for the first phase. Taking apart the pallet and cutting it down to the size I needed. Gluing.

 

 

And hammering into place.

This is the inspiration. I love the simpleness and the pop of color.

One simple tip I like to give, if you need a “circle” or dot design, use the end of the paint brush. Simply dip it in paint, and dab your piece. Easy!

I had painted the stems, but decided that they were way too thin for the size of the canvas, so I went back and thickened them up a bit.

I used simply acrylic paints, that are inexpensive and can be found at your craft store.

 

The stem placement made me a bit nervous. I wanted to make sure that how I painted the stems, the flower tops would make sense.

 

Once I had the stems painted, I mixed a few colors to find the perfect red. Using a bit of white and black to either lighten or darken your base, will give you the perfect color flow.

The final result. I actually did this for a very good friend of mine. She has it hanging on her patio, so I need to make myself a matching one. I didn’t paint on a clear varnish, I was too excited to give this to her, but her husband was awesome and painted on a clear coat. Very important since it is hanging outdoors.

Off to my next project, expect to see more from my Pinterest Files!

 

Tatami Mat Quilt 4 – the Final Product

I really am happy with how this all turned out, and I know Baby H will be happy to have this quilt.

The white background really helps to make the pattern pop.

 

And the backing is so soft and cuddly, perfect for baby!

Again, I hand stitched the binding.

Wrapped up and ready for use!

 

Tatami Mat Quilt Part 3

I don’t think I’ve ever shared how I “pad” the quilt. I don’t use pins at all, instead I use a spray adhesive.

I’ll lay out the backing first (back up of course), then the batting, then the quilt top.

The amount of backing will drive me crazy sometimes, I hate having so much left over. This backing I didn’t mind so much, I was able to make some cute “lovies” for baby H.

This is the adhesive spray I’ve been using, it’s stickier than most, but it works for now. I also wish I had my table back. Having to layout the quilt on the floor is annoying.  It’s tough to get the wrinkles out but it’s important to lay out your quilt so you can make sure it’s ‘square’.

The backing is Minky fabric. Super soft, perfect for a baby blanket!

Tatami Mat Quilt Part 2

The best part for me, is laying out the quilt and getting an idea on how it will look.

You just know, you’re almost done.

The next step, there was a slight error. I worked on making sure that the side matched up, but the two rows in the middle were off a bit, so I had to take out the stitching and redo.

That ended up being an easy fix though. I love how the white highlights the other material. I actually just bought some more so I can do another one with the same pattern, but bigger. In the meantime, I’ll be working on finishing this one though. Wait til you see the backing!!

Tatami Mat Quilt

This quilt is for my cousin and his wife who are expecting their first baby in July…a girl! I can’t wait to meet Miss Harper Rose!

I didn’t want to do a traditional pink and white quilt. Theyare such a fun family and love the beach, that I wanted to go with a beach-tropical feel. I picked up this bundle at fabricworm, of course.

I love the turquoise and blues with a few corals and pinks thrown in.

This quilt pattern had a lot of white, which really helps the colors really stand out. I’ve had my eye on this pattern for quite awhile, and I’ll be using this again soon for another quilt. You can find it here for an immediate download, which I love!

There was a lot of cutting of the same sizes. I felt like I was in a sea of white for a bit. The hardest part, which really wasn’t that difficult, was actually making sure each “square” was different. I didn’t want to duplicate patterns.

I arranged all the squares together before I actually started sewing, this way I could be sure they were all different. I had a few changes to make along the way, so I did save a lot of time by doing this.

More pictures to come soon, this was a fun one and turned out awesome!

The final product – Enchant Fabric

I had my friend snap a few pics and send me the final product. I sent it without thinking about taking a few pictures.

I decided to sew it so it looks like the colors bleed from one to another. Not sure if it actually worked, but I love the final result either way.

I used a simple white on the back and created a small section with left over fabric. Maybe my new favorite thing to do.

I used turquoise and coral thread so you can really see the detail of the stitching.

I’m working on a new quilt, so I should a new project to post soon.

Tea Party Quilt Continues

I tried to keep this pretty simple and cute.

I think the fabric colors and design speak for themselves.

Basically you have three layers to make one block. I like how the center square really pops out on these blocks.

I did forget to take pictures of my layout complete before I sewed it all together, but the overall pictures will make up for it. I was rushing to get the quilt done and mailed out.

Tea Party Quilt

This quilt is not only super cute (yes I almost kept the fabric) but it is very near and dear to me. One of my very dearest friends just had a baby girl (Hi Aviana!) and this quilt is for her. I purchased the pink and navy blue fat quarter bundle from fabricworm….remind me to buy stock in this company. I’ve had this Happy Hour book for quite some time, the place I bought it from is no longer in business, but you can find it here: Create For Less, this is my third quilt from this book, so definitely a good purchase!

I mean, really, the deer color chart! It was so cute how could I not share it. Again, if you missed one of my tips before, if you’re looking for coordinating fabric, the guide is always a good one to take to the store with you.

The cutting is pretty basic, but there is a lot of it. The main idea behind this book is that it can be done in an hour. Well if that is all you are working on, I guess you could do it. Not sure if it accounts for ironing and tv watching, in the middle of it all.

I mean really! This fabric! The little girl having tea with her animal friends, birds on a wire, tree houses, all of in one product line!

Seems like it’s babyville all around! I’m busy, busy, busy, but it’s fun! Between my full time job, and my fun crafting “job”, circles are being ran!