Quilting/Fabric Projects

Miss Crafty…

January 24, 2013 By JulieK

Miss Kathryn is AKA little Miss Crafty! here she is with the doll quilt that we made last weekend… There’s also a matching pillow, and I think I’ll write up a quick tutorial on how to make them… They were really easy to make, and Kathryn did 99% of it without any real help from me!! The only part I did was the ironing!It’s made from 5″ squares of Moda fabric (I’ll have to look up the fabric line) and she laid them out the way she wanted them and then sewed them together in strips. If I remember this afternoon, I’ll take a pic with the blanket, pillow and one of her dolls. For this project, she used my sewing machine…

She doesn’t know it yet, but she’s getting her own sewing machine for her birthday (next week) I have *ALMOST* given it to her early several times… but I really want her to have it on her actual birthday… I got her the Janome 11706 Hello Kitty machine, it’s solidly built (not a cheesy plastic model) and I’m hoping that she’ll LOVE it :) Seriously, I’m kinda worried that I’m more excited about it than she will be!! I also made her a machine cover out of fabric that matches her quilt and will get pics of that as soon as I can without her seeing me!I’m mildly worried that I should have bought her a full sized machine, but from all the reviews I read, this one is made of metal, is solid, and many people use it as their travel machine ’cause it’s lightweight but sews well… Worst case, she can have my machine when I get the new one I want (having serious sewing machine envy myself… but that’s a post for another day!!).

Here’s a pic of her new machine… So super cute!! I’ll post an update when she knows :)

Halloween and All Saint’s Day

November 5, 2012 By JulieK

I wanted to share some photos from Halloween (less than a week late :) It was a nice night, everything was back to normal after the storm (for us at least). Here’s a few pics of the kids before we went TOT… The Bandit and Cheetah :) Together on the front stairs.

The bandit by himself…

and the Cheetah…

being silly

How silly can you be?

Oh man, we went Trick or Treating with my Brother in Law and nephew, the kiddos had such a fun time!!

And, the fun didn’t end there!! With the kids at Catholic school, All Saint’s Day is a big deal!! The 5th grade was in charge of All Saint’s Day Mass, and each student researched a saint and had to dress up as their saint for the mass… Here’s the costume I made for Sean (I keep telling him how lucky he is to have a crafty Mom!!) So, here is St. John Baptiste de la Salle… The costume started out as a black sheet :)

Happy Labor Day with Finished Projects!

September 3, 2012 By JulieK

We went away at the end of summer with my in-laws (a post about that is coming!!)… We had a wonderful time!! I wanted to take some crafts with me, but didn’t have space in the car for the sewing machine :) So I took a few projects that I could work on by hand… And, cross off my to-do list :)

Last summer I made a quilt for Kathryn using a super cute Moda Amelia Layer Cake, we loved it!! Last fall I brought it to the local quilt store (Bits and Pieces in Derry, NH) and had them quilt it for us… And, then it sat, all quilted just waiting to be bound… Well, this was the perfect opportunity!! And, I got it done while we were on vacation!!

Here’s a picture of a small section of the top

and she chose a cool fuzzy backing fabric! Here’s a picture where you can see the quilted flowers.

Here you can see the binding a little bit…

I LOVE how it came out, and more importantly, so does Kathryn :)

And, the other project I FINALLY finished :) was Sean’s blankie :) Last year I started a knit blanket for him, and it got close to done, but I just couldn’t get it finished… He reminded me OFTEN that he wanted it done, and here it is!! A fuzzy acrylic yarn, and the Plymouth Yarn 5 hour baby blanket pattern (made much larger than the instructions… you all know I can’t simply follow directions :) I have to say, he LOVES it, the other day it was 85 degrees, and he was covered with the blanket ’cause “It’s so soft, and I love it soooooo much!” Makes a Mom Crafter feel awesome!!

Here it is spread out a little bit…

and a close up of the knit…

LOVE getting projects finished!!! Especially when they are so loved by their recipients!!

Hello Kitty Reversible Gift Bags

August 27, 2012 By JulieK

Kathryn had a birthday party to go to for 3 of her friends… Our first stop was the mall to pick out some gifts (At the Hello Kitty store, of course) but you know me… I couldn’t just leave it at store bought gifts!! Our next stop was the fabric store for Hello Kitty Fabric, some fun buttons, and webbing for handles! I used the same michellepatterns.com pattern (but this time the small size) that I used for the last bag I made, but because time was a factor (I made them all Saturday afternoon for the Sunday party!!), I used a nylon webbing instead of making handles :) Here’s the front… You can see the little ladybug button :) If you like the projects, don’t forget you can pin them using Pinterest just by clicking the little “pin it” button under the photo…

Here’s a shot of the inside…

The bags are also sporting my new fabric tags!! I know my Mother in Law is a huge fan of me signing my work :) and here’s the fabric version… I think they came out great, and make the bags look a little more professional :) I had them made by www.misslabel.com and they did a fantastic job!

We filled the bags with little Hello Kitty things, and I sure hope that the birthday girls like them as much as I do!! I made all 4 (one for Kathryn) bags in less than 2 hours, and I really love how they came out. I have enough fabric to make a couple more, but alas, summer vacation ends today… I’ll have a little less time to sew in the next few weeks…
Here’s a sponsored link to the inside fabric that I used… Who doesn’t love Hello Kitty??

The 2-6-12 Skirt Tutorial

August 22, 2012 By JulieK

I was THRILLED to be invited to be a guest blogger over at Keeping it Simple. Kaysi’s blog is so great, and she’s moving and needed a few blog posts for her move week… I hope you’ll go over to her blog and check out the full step-by-step tutorial… And let me know if you try it out, I’d love to see what you make!!

The 2-6-12 Skirt

I was so excited that my daughter’s friend (and her mom) wanted me to teach her how to sew! It’s so fun to pass along the traditional skills that I learned from my grandmothers when I was little! I wanted to have the girls make something “real” that they could show off a little, but also that they could really make themselves, so I came up with this little skirt. It uses just 3 cuts of fabric (and only 2 if you use prepared bias tape). My daughter doesn’t like seams, so this skirt features an enclosed pillowcase top band that was super easy, but looks impressive! We added a little t-shirt with an iron-on detail to make the perfect outfit. I hope you enjoy and make these with a special little girl in your life!

Here’s a peek at the finished product! Look at how proud she is of her own handiwork!

JulieK, Sewing, Skirt Pattern, 2-6-12 skirt, Julie Kelley

Here’s a picture of the finished skirt.