Quilting Inspiration

I love quilts- I love all the detail, the color, the design and planning that goes into them. I remember having quilts that my grandmother made when I was growing up. She made quilts from scraps- old shirts, leftover fabric from sewing projects. I always thought the quilts were special because they take so much time and thought put into something to keep you warm!

For the longest time I thought that I couldn't make a quilt- that it was too hard or too much work. I finally got over my fear and just went for it. I made my first quilt in 2009. I made the pattern, cut the squares, machine pieced it and hand quilted it. We now use it for our bedspread and I couldn't love it more!

First quilt- sorry about the mess in the picture- was just too excited to have it finished!

This is the second quilt I made- I did some applique quilting and gave it to my inlaws for Christmas. I had this one quilted at the local quilt shop. (This picture doesn't show it quilted- just the quilt top) She did a wonderful job. 

This past summer I did a few quilt a longs to help improve my skills. I haven't finished either project so those are still on my to-do list!

English paper pieced hexagon- I have a few of these done- don't have definite plans for the finished piece- maybe a pillow or table runner?

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The Summer Sampler QAL- halfway done- I really liked working on these- gave me opportunity to practice new skills (triangle piecing, paper piecing, etc.). All of the tutorials on the squares were wonderful and easy to follow.

I have plans for future quilts too- My Grandmother had scraps that she had cut into 4 1/2" X 8" squares that my mother is being generous enough to share with all of her daughters.  We decided to cut the same size squares from my mother's fabric stash, my fabric stash, and all of my sisters' fabric stashes so that we can each have enough squares for a multi-generational scrappy quilt. My aunt on my father's side of the family also recently let me know she had some scraps from my paternal grandmother's fabric stash, so those are going to be part of the quilt too!!

As for the design of the scrappy quilt I have a lot in mind- here are a few inspirational pieces off Pinterest!

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Scrappy Nine Patch- so pretty!!!

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This is such a beautiful way to use up scraps- visually appealing and We would have plenty to make a queen/king size quilt!

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This is just solids, but could easily be done with a scrappy design!

One last quilting project I have in mind- I have all of my t-shirts from high school and college saved back and in my stash. I want to make a really cool t-shirt quilt from them. 

Some Inspiration:

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What quilting projects do you have in the works? 

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Photo Challenge Week #8- Black and White

So I missed last week's challenge- What I Wore Today- But this week's challenge I did!

The theme is black and white. I was messing around with my nephew and I came up with this shot. On one hand I like it in color because he has the most beautiful blue eyes, but I really like it in black and white too!  

I like the blur in the background and you can see the reflection in his eye! Love him so much!!

It's not too late to join in the fun. Linking Up at A Step in the Journey!

And a big thank you to A Step in the Journey for featuring my Game Day Dress in her Fabulous Blogland Finds Friday!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day!

Seasonal Character Cut-outs Tutorial

When the seasons change I always get in the mood to change up the decor. And it is no different at the office. We were trying to do things to make our office more fun and inviting for the kids (I work for a WIC office). Then we got our budget for what we could spend and we realized we would have to be very creative! But we do have a lot of scrapbook paper, construction paper and markers at the office, so I decided to make some pretty seasonal character cut outs. I am counting this as a project for Stashbusting September, because I am busting the office stash!

What you will need:
Clip Art (or your own art- if you are that talented!)
Printer or Copier that can adjust size
Scrapbook paper, cardstock or construction paper
Double Sided Tape
Scissors
Regular Tape
Sharpie
Contact Paper or Laminator (optional)

This technique can work with almost any clip art or picture you can find that is cartoonish- doesn't have a lot of small details or shading that would make it hard to turn into a cartoon.

Here is the picture I started with:

And the cutout I made:

I will walk you through the steps with this farmer boy- he is ready for the harvest!!

First print off the picture full page. If the outlines are blurry or not very dark you may want to outline them in marker like I did for the picture above. The farmer boy already had a pretty dark outline.

On a copier adjust the size to whatever ratio you want for how big of a cutout you want- I did mine at 250%. It may take several tries to get each piece you want to have cut out copied at the larger size. If you have one large piece- such as the boy's hat, you may have to piece two copies together. Below you can see how I made one pattern piece out of two copies of the hat (sorry about the blurry pic!).

Decide what pieces you want to be cutout together and cut around them. Once I cut them out I like to label where they go and what color/pattern I want them to be. Example: Overall cuff- orange pattern.

When you have all of the pieces cut out start tracing them on paper of the color you want. I trace on the right side because I go over all of the edges with Sharpie later, but you can trace them upside down or on the backside.

When you are tracing and cutting the colored pieces you want to think about how the pieces will go together and cut out some extra room for sticking them together with double sided tape. As you can see I left extra room on the side of the boot so I could stick it to the back of the overall cuff.

Then start piecing, one by one. Once you have it all pieced together it is almost done, but just needs some finishing touches. I went over all of the edges with a black sharpie and drew in the details from the original clip art.

After I was done with that I covered them in contact paper so that they will last for more than just one year in the office. 

Aren't they so cute up there with the little pumpkins!!

Here are some of the projects my coworkers have done so far using the same technique:

 Cathy's Jungle Animals

Becca's Penguins

The other thought I had was that this would work well with coloring pages- my niece might have some of these in her future:

I am planning a woodland animal theme for my office- I am sure I will post pics when I am done!!

Check out all the great StashBusting projects over at Stash Busting September at The T-Shirt Diaries!

Linking Up to These Parties!

Today's Creative Blog

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Guest Posting and New Food Friday #7!

First off, I am guest posting over at T-Shirt Diaries for Stashbusting September. Check it out to see how to make cute homemade Christmas Ornaments out of your stash! Plus Robin has great projects listed all month long to help you get rid of your stash!

Second, it is New Food Friday. This week isn't anything too groundbreaking- but it sure was easy, and good!!

I don't usually cook a lot of hamburger but we had some leftover from a BBQ last weekend and also had some left over buns. So the easiest thing that came to my mind was Sloppy Joe's. I had never made them before, so I looked up a recipe.

I modified this recipe at AllRecipes.com. The main modification I made was to add a whole onion and a whole pepper. It was a very quick, very yummy recipe!

Sloppy Joe's
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 chopped onion
1 chopped green pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp prepared mustard
3/4 cup ketchup
3 tsp brown sugar
salt and pepper to taste

Saute green pepper and onions until tender.

Brown hamburger.
Drain liquids.

Add all seasonings and let simmer 15-30 minutes.
Enjoy!

 

From Zoe's Kitchen- Easy Pumpkin Spice Muffins

One of my favorite things about fall is pumpkin desserts!
My go-to recipe is this one for Pumpkin Spice Muffins. It is so easy that it barely takes any effort!

There are only 2 ingredients-
Spice Cake Mix
15 oz. can Pureed Pumpkin

Mix together, cook according to cake directions!

That's it and you have yummy, moist muffins in no time at all!

Enjoy!



I am linking up with these parties.



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