Quick and Easy Block Quilt

I made this quick and easy block quilt when my twins were 3 months old. Looking back I don't know how I found the time, but I had promised myself I would make a quilt for all my nieces and nephews on their 10th birthdays and my nephew Trey was turning 10.  

Here is the quilt I made for his brother on his 10th birthday.  

The pattern I used I based off of a pattern I pinned. I added his name in contrasting colors.  

The pieces I cut were as followed:

6" Squares-

Red- 24 squares

Blue- 12 squares

Yellow- 24 squares

12" Squares-

Jayhawk Fabric- 12 squares

The thing I liked about making this quilt was that it really was easy because there were only 2 sizes of blocks to cut and the larger pieced blocks were all the same, I just sewed them together different directions when I pieced the whole quilt.

I feel like this would be an easy pattern to use if you find a fabric that you absolutely love the print of it and you can make it the bulk of the quilt by using it as the larger block.

I am hoping to start on some more quilts soon- maybe a quilted tree skirt too!

I will be linking up to Parties!

Thanks for reading,

Zoe

A Vintage Spring Table Runner

A Vintage Spring Table Runner
 I am so excited to share a project with you today!!

This spring I decided to make a table runner. I wanted it to be bright and cheery so that it would make me happy every time I saw it. I had a bunch of vintage floral fabrics that belonged to my grandmother. I mixed in one fabric that I had purchased at Wal-Mart. 

Do you want to make your own spring table runner? Here is how I did it!

You will need:

5-6 different coordinating floral fabrics, a fat quarter is plenty of each

(I chose mainly greens and blues with a pop of pink) 

Rotary Cutter

Basting Spray

Batting (at least 13 1/2" X 40 1/2")

Fabric for backing (I made mine 13 1/2" X 40 1/2")

Fabric for binding or bias tape (about 3 yards length)

How To:

Cut out strips of the fabrics in a variety of 1", 2", and 3" by 13 1/2" long.

I chose to keep my accent strips (the pink) all 1" strips.

Arrange strips in an order that you like. I tried to get mine to be about 40" total, but the length can vary.

Sew each piece to the adjacent, right sides together. Press seams after sewing.

Once the top is done cut the batting and backing to be a little bit larger than the top.

Using basting spray stack the backing, the batting and the top.

Quilt along seams in contrasting thread color. 

When it comes to adding the binding I still have to check back with a tutorial I found a long time ago. It explains making bias tape and binding the quilt a lot better than I ever could!

Here is the link- How To Bind a Quilt

The video shows how to hand sew it to the back, but I usually just sew it on with coordinating thread on the machine.

And then you are done! Enjoy Your new table runner!!

 What the binding looks like on the back.

 Larger view of the back.

Thanks for stopping by!

The Twins' Care Bear Nursery

For the twins nursery I wanted to do something bright and cheery that they could enjoy for a while.  I love classic care bears and decided to use those type of colors for the nursery. Also the Care Bear quilts would go good with the decor. We had already painted the room yellow when we moved into our house 3 years ago (planning that it would be a gender neutral nursery).

Their changing station- my husband's great grandfather made this changing station for him as a baby and it is still in great shape for us to use for the twins- there is storage behind the doors which works perfectly for holding cloth diaper covers, cloth wipes, receiving blankets and burp clothes!

We kept the twin bed in the bed room because I knew with twins I would be spending a lot of nights in the nursery. I sewed the curtains and matching pillow covers several years ago for a house I had in college. I made the care bear pillow to match the rest of the decor.

A book shelf for holding toys and books.

Little Man's bassinet/pack and play with his quilt hanging above it.

My sister drew this picture for the twins before they were born.

Diaper basket with all of their GMD newborn pre folds ready to go. It makes me sad that they have almost outgrown their newborn  pre folds already!

I made the cradle pad cover from leftover quilt fabric.

Care Bear lamp along with little monsters from my other sister.

I made this cross stitch as soon as I knew I was pregnant.  It was done before we even knew we were having twins and it hangs in the nursery. It is a design that came from Care Bear Baby Book.

The changing station. The babies love the little rattles while they are getting their diapers changed.  I made the changing pad cover using this tutorial from Family Julius.

For the rainbow and cloud mobiles I used a Rainbow Brite Mobile pattern that I altered to fit my needs. I used felt for the rainbow, stars and hearts. I used a cotton fabric for the clouds. I love the way it looks in the corner of the room and the twins already love staring at it as it moves.

Thanks for stopping by!

Care Bear Baby Quilts for Twins

I had previously posted finished Care Bear Cross stitches on my blog. I had always wanted to make a baby quilt out of them when the time came.  I had four of them all ready to go- bedtime bear, good luck bear, cozy heart penguin and proud heart cat (yes I am a nerd who knows all the names of the Care Bears and the Care Bear Cousins!).  But then I found out we were having twins! I knew I wouldn't have time to stitch four more Care Bears, so I altered the quilt design to have an appliqué in the center square and put their name with a border on the lower right square.  Then I stitched Baby Hugs and Baby Tugs Bear which was perfect for Little Man and Little Lady's quilts!

The finished quilt for Little Lady.

I used the quilt as you go method to put these quilts together, because I don't have a quilting machine at home and I knew the shop I usually take quilts to couldn't have them done in time for the babies' arrival.  There was definitely a learning curve with getting the back to line up right, so Little Lady's quilt is definitely sewn better than Little Man's because I did it second.  It is a method I would use again, but probably only on quilts this small or smaller.

The finished quilt for Little Man.

The quilts hang in their nursery and I love how cheerful they look on the walls.  I also use them as a background for the twins monthly growth pictures. 

 Little Lady at 2 Months

Little Man at 2 Months.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Copper Tub Lining Tutorial

I had made this Copper Tub Lining back in January. I had intended to make a tutorial, but didn't have my camera with me when I made it.

 

After several requests for a tutorial, someone hired me to make one so here is the tutorial- with pictures!!

This tutorial will use measurements from the tub that I have but it could be adjusted to fit any other oval container.

The measurements for my tub are:

Width: 13.5"

Length: 24.25"

Depth: 13"

Pattern Pieces

Bottom of liner: Trace around bottom of tub with 1/2" seam allowance and cut out

Measure the circumference- mine was about 64"

Sides of Liner: 2 pieces- 16" X 32.5"

To get this measurement I took the circumference divided in half plus 1/2" for seam allowances.

The height is just the depth measurement plus ~3" for seam allowances and hemming.

Longer Tabs (sides): 2 pieces- 25.5" X 6.5"

Shorter Tabs (ends): 2 pieces- 3.75" X 6.5"

Both of these are adjustable- if you want them to be a little shorter you can do less than the 6.5".
Both pieces will be folded in half after they are embroidered.

Ties: 8 pieces- 1.5" X 10"

EmbroideryThis part is optional- I just wanted a small amount of detail on my liner.
The first one I made I did a straight line with 1/2" stitch, 1/2" white.
The second one I did a pattern of 1/4" stitch, 1/4" stitch, 1/4" stitch, then 1/2" stitch with 1/4" gap between each stitch. (Does that make sense?)

Place the ruler on the edge of the tab and measure 4 inches up- make the pattern you want along the whole length of all 4 tabs.

Chose embroidery thread and do a simple backstitch along the pattern you marked out. I put mine in a hoop to make it easier. If you have questions on making a backstitch this blog has a lot of info about embroidery stitches. But basically it is just following the lines.

Once the tabs are embroidered fold them in half lengthwise and press.

To Make the Ties-

Fold end over 1/4" and press.

Fold both edges to meet in the middle and press.

Fold in half and press. Sew lengthwise down the tie.
Complete this process with all 8 ties.

Now we attach the ties to the tabs-
Turn the tabs right side in and pin tabs- unfinished end sticking out so you can see it. You want the tab to be right in the middle up and down.
See the little tab sticking out. 
Sew seams together with tie in it. Do this for both edges on all tabs.

Turn Right side out and press.

Once you are done with your tabs now it is time to work on the liner body- sew both rectangle pieces together with 1/4" seam allowance. Press seams to the side.

I forgot to take a picture of this, but pin this giant circle of fabric (right sides together) to the liner bottom- placing two seams at very ends of oval. Sew in place with 1/2 " seam allowance

At this point I like to check and make sure it fits the tub. Yep- it fits!

Turn top edge of liner over twice towards wrong side so there is no raw edge showing. Press into place.

Pin tabs into place- right side of tab facing right side of liner. Center small tabs on liner's seams. Once small tabs are pinned in place center longer tabs on long side of liner- with even spaces between each tab.

 Once all tabs are pinned in place, sew around entire top edge, securing the tabs and the hems.
Place in tub and tie the ties in bows.

If any of this seems unclear or you have any further questions don't hesitate to contact me and I will try my best to help answer your questions- zoer110@gmail.com.

If you don't want to make your own and would like me to make one for you just contact me- zoer110@gmail.com.

I will be linking up with some of these parties!



 Have a great day!!