happily surrounded by little boys: quilts

Showing posts with label quilts. Show all posts

15 January 2009

05 January 2009

good thing val took pictures...

Val sent me pictures of the quilt I made them for Christmas and the girlie sock monkeys. Aren't the cute!

29 November 2008

Stephanie's good friend and his wife had their 3rd baby almost 4 months ago. Mia. She was born with a severe heart defect and waited for months on the heart transplant list. I used to work as a nurse in a Pediatric Cardiology unit. I helped care for babies like Mia and their families. Each new day and every little change in the baby's condition brings a roller coaster of emotions. The physical and emotional tole it takes on families is overwhelming.

When my own children are sick I feel so helpless and lost when I can't make them feel better. But they do get better. The are healthy kids. I can't even begin to imagine the emotions Mia's family is going through at this time with her heart struggles. My heart aches for her mom. And on top of all this their insurance will not cover all the expensive surgeries and needed health care.

But baby Mia finally got her heart! Here is cute Mia when her mom finally got to hold her after the transplant surgery. Imagine not being able to hold your little baby for so long.

So it's a happy quilt giveaway! But she still has a long road of recovery ahead of her. And the medical bills and medication costs will keep piling up. So if you can we would love you to help her family.

A recent quilt giveaway got 2100 entries. Could you imagine if everyone who entered donated a dollar? It could be such a blessing for little Mia. I don't know that we will be able to get those kind of numbers but anything will help.

So here it is, my quilt to help baby Mia. The quilt measures 38x45 inches. Perfect to cuddle up with as a lap quilt or if you can stand to give it up, use as a crib quilt.

How to enter:
Leave a comment after this post to be entered in the quilt giveaway. Make sure you leave a contact email if your comment does not link to your blog.
Post the baby Mia quilt give away button on your blog or facebook account to get 5 more entries. (html code for button at bottom of post)
Email all your friends and tell them about the giveaway and get 5 more entries.
Donate to the help baby Mia fund and get 15 more entries.
(Don't forget to tell what you have done when you comment so you will get all your entries!)

Click here to go to the Help Baby Mia blog. You can then click on the sidebar at the top right to donate through paypal.

And because we love you and your help in donating and spreading the word we have two more items to give away to a lucky second and third place winner!

Baby Bjorn cover. Made and donated by my friend Melissa. (she sells them here!) Opposite side is brown, shows when top of cover is flipped over to carry forward facing baby.

Crayon roll. (If you need one for a boy I can do that instead)

The give away ends at midnight on December 9th.

One more thing - thanks for hanging in for the long post! I will have the quilt pattern ready to sell after the contest closes. Email me at bwrdavis@telus.net if you are interested in purchasing a pattern.

Code for quilt give away button - copy and paste html code to your sidebar in the layout section of blogger.

21 August 2008

done done done

Last night I finished painting the crib and today I moved it inside and it is all ready to go! I found this crib (and crib mattress, not a normal size at all) at a garage sale a few years ago. Kept it out in the back shed until a few weeks ago. Stripped it, sanded it, stained it, sanded some more, and painted it. Made the bumper pads awhile ago. Got the idea from Brittany, her mother in law made her bumper pads like this when Lucy was born. Used one of those quilted cotton blankets/bedspreads. Just cut it up and made a case for some old pads I had. $20 at TJ Maxx and enough left over to make a little crib quilt too. Love how it all turned out. Had fun doing it all. And a huge weight off my shoulders that it is finally done!

Have to sand the other drawer down a bit, paint made it fit too tight. Tight fit in our bedroom, had to move my wardrobe to Roman's room. So his room is a little full of furniture right now. But we will get going on his new room downstairs soon enough, and then all the furniture can get back to normal.

I also did one more quilt last Sunday and finally got the binding sewn on. I know I know, as if I don't have enough blankets and quilts already. But I have had this material for years and have been waiting for an idea to strike me for it. So when the idea came I had to do it. Actually went pretty fast because none of it is pieced, all the squares are just sewn on top. Looks better in real life, it is really wrinkled so it looks like an older quilt.

Well, that's all for now. We'll see who's quicker - me making more stuff or the baby coming! I do have a bobby pillow that needs a cover...

15 August 2008

sewing - yet again!

I think I am slowly moving away from sewing. Not sure if there is anything left out there for me to sew! Instead I have moved on to stripping, sanding, and staining a little crib. (Romans is still in his, not gunna kick him out of the cage if I don't have to) Now I just need to paint the rest of the crib that isn't stained. Hoping to do that tomorrow. Then I need to sand and paint a little dresser I am using for a changing table. I know, I too am wondering why I didn't do those things earlier. My doctor actaully asked me on Wednedsay (37 weeks) if I wanted him to strip my membranes. NOOOOOO!!!!! I am in panic mode. Not panic because of a labor or a new baby, panic because I need more time to finish stuff and get ready! And panic because my 2 1/2 year old is in full swing terrible twos. Serious huge kicking and hitting and crying fits about EVERYTHING! Wow I love being a mom!
Anyway, here are some pictures of the things I have made since the last sewing post.

Car seat cover. Minky inside, and soft kinda like velor outside. Quilt batting in the middle so it is nice and warm. Is the zebra a bit much? Had it sitting around so I just used it.

Car seat blanket. Someone made me one like it for Roman. I pretty much wore it out. Has 4 rounded over flaps and cut outs for the seatbelt/buckle. Then you flip up the bottom, flip over both sides, and you can cover their head with the top flap. Seatbelt still fits nice and tight, baby is totally covered, and blanket doesn't fall off. I know it looks silly, but I love love love it.

Just a few of the burp clothes and diaper/wipes cases I have been making. I know WAY too many people having babies, and this is what they are all getting. Plus a few for me of course. Made up my own patterns, but I am sure there are lots floating around in blog land.

Roman modeling his new apron. A bit big still. Not the best picture, looks cute in real life I promise. Used this tutorial but changed how the neck strap is. I used velcro on one side, because if any kid was to get tangled up in the strap it would be this kid. Romes loves it to death. Now he can "cook like mama".

Roman chillaxing in his hooded bath towel. Uses it at the pool and spray park too. It gets washed A LOT. Think I need to make one or two more. Very very easy project. Used this tutorial, but didn't bother cutting off the point of the hood. Word of advice, buy two bath towels and one hand towel, then you will have 2 hooded towels. Didn't realize when I bought the towels that one hand towel gives you 2 hoods. And of course I bought the towels at Target when we were in the states so I can't get another one to match.

Hemmed new curtains. But I have a double curtain rod in the room so I needed something else. So I made a valence with the left over fabric from the crib bumper pads I made. First valence I have ever made or used. Opinions please. Am I allowed to use a valence? I am a little afraid the 80's might call and say they want their valence back!

Bird mobile. Bad picture I know, hard to get those birdies to hold still! Got the mobile while garage saleing with Steph. Three dollars. Immediately cut off the ugly bears that were on it. I hate baby stuff with bears. Sorry to offend bear lovers everywhere. Got the bird idea and pattern here. Another very easy and quick project completed in one naptime.

A few more blankets. Orange cotton and brown/cream flannel. Simple pillow case style, quilted with circles so it won't shift when washed. Found double sided minky on sale in Kalispell this summer, used Amy Butler polka dots in green, yellow, and blue for binding it.

I must thank my awesome husband for this chair. I love the armchair rockers at Pottery Barn and Land of Nod, but there is no way I am paying over $800 dollars plus shipping for one. So I bought this chair at Ikea. Got an old swivel rocker from my grandma. Convinced Brad it would be so much fun to take the swivel rocker thing off one chair and put it on the other. And oh what fun it is! But I might not be saying that at 4:00 in the morning 3 weeks from now...

And last but not least... my baby quilt is done! Random is harder than you would think. It is also hard to find solid blue fabric. I had to use shirting material for the blue. I laugh every time I look at it because it perfectly matches a church shirt both Brad and Roman have! Totally copied the idea from this blog. Copied the colors, used her tutorial as a starting place, and even copied one or two of her blocks. It's a little crazy to look at, but I love how it turned out and it was fun to make.

Wow that was a lot of stuff. I must admit I will miss nap time and bedtime sewing once the baby comes. But I can't wait to use all the stuff I have made!

02 April 2008

circle quilt tutorial

This post is for Steph. I don't know when we will ever get together with both our crazy lives - so instead of teaching you how to make it I made a step by step tutorial for you to follow.

WARNING - this is a very long post and will be very boring if you don't like to quilt!

This tutorial is for a quilt that I made for my sister in law Rhonda and baby Lucy, and my best friend Stephanie and baby Finley. I made the quilt for Rhonda almost three years ago and had enough material left over to make Steph one this last fall. Both of them get compliments on it all the time, which is funny to me because it is sooo easy to make. Here is a picture of Steph's quilt. (You can click on all the pics to get a huge look at them if you want!)

First a little disclaimer. This is my first attempt at writing a tutorial for anything, so sorry if I forgot something or ramble on too much.
I enjoy quilting, but I am more into get it done and enjoy it instead of do it perfect. Especially with this quilt. I like it when it puckers, or the circles don't match up just right. Also, I don't like to prewash cotton. I like it to pull a bit after it is done and washed. Makes the quilt look older. So with that said, here we go.

I haveo nly used cotton for this quilt. Use whatever you want, but I like the way cotton frays just a tiny bit. For the quilt I am going to show you I used scraps that someone had given me. Not sure how the all green and only 3 different fabrics will turn out, but at least you will be able to get the general idea. For Rhonda and Steph's quilts I used 6 different patterned materials for the circles, and a striped material for the sashing.
I 'm not sure how much material to tell you to buy, not good at figuring that out. Sorry. For this quilt I used six fat quarters for the circles (two of each of the three patterns). And I used nine 12x12 white or light colored squares. My squares are all the same fabric, but my mom has made this quilt with squares all the same tones but different patterns/fabrics. Do whatever you want. Then you will need fabric for the binding and sashing. You could also add three more sets of circles and three squares to make it rectangle instead of square. Wow I am talking A LOT already. Sorry.
Okay, so get a cereal box or card stock and draw 3 circles - a 10 inch, 7 inch, and 4 inch. I went back to junior high math days and used a protractor to draw my circles.
Then trace the circles onto your fabric with a washable sewing pencil or marker. Cut out 9 of each size circle. I like to cut my smallest circles from the the inside of my biggest ones, saves fabric. Also cut out nine 12x12 inch squares. I highly recommend a cutting mat and rotary cutter for this if you have it! Here are some of my circles.

Now the fun part. Put a big circle on the square and sew it on around he outer edge of the circle. I don't measure, just eye ball it. Again, I like it when each circle is off a bit and not all the same. But measure if you want to. I use about a 1/4 inch seam allowance. Gives it enough to flip up and fray a bit. I usually just follow around with my presser foot on the circle edge, but I'm not too exact.

Then do the same with a different color/pattern of the 7 inch circle on top of the 9 inch circle. Mix it up anyway you want. I pretty much just go random with this.

And then the 4 inch circle, again totally random color choice. (easier to be random on the other ones I made because I had more to choose from. Not to much option with only 3 material choices!)

When you have sew all the circles onto all the squares cut each square in to even quarters (will end up with 4 6x6 inch squares).

I pile mine together in sets so I know what I have to pick from for the next step.

Go random or with a pattern and set it all out how the quilt will be. I like to leave mine near my sewing machine, usually on the floor beside it. Obviously Roman is no where near it, learned that the hard way. I like to then pick up each square and sew it together, then lay it back down. A bit more time consuming, going back and forth to the sewing machine, but it keeps me from messing up the pattern. Learned that the hard way too.

So pick up the 4 small squares that will make 1 big square. Sew two together and then the other two together. (1/4 inch seam allowance for everything from here on out) Then press the seams. I never use pins here. I am very anti pins. Too impatient.

Then sew those two rectangles together to make your big square and press the seams. Keep going until they are all done. I don't pin here either. I'm lazy. I just match up the center seams instead of the edges and then sew. My edges never seem to be even, but I really don't care! The quilt turns out just fine.

Then sew three of the big squares together to make a strip. You will have 3 strips of 3 squares. Again, I just match the seams instead of pinning.

Now it's time to sew the strip together. At this point I give in and break out the pins. I match all the seams, on the top and then the middle on each side. Then I pin to keep it in place and sew and press. Then do the same for the last strip.

And there you have it, the quilt top! Now you can add sashing to make it as big as you want. Then the binding, and then quilt it, and had sew on the binding, and you got yourself a quilt! I usually leave the circles alone and quilt in the white area or in the ditch over the entire quilt. I like to wash it too once I am done, gives a better effect of what it will look like, especially if you are giving it for a gift.

Here is my quilt top. I used a small white sashing, only 3 inches. It was a bit bigger on the other quilts - it's really just to get the quilt to the finished size you want. And then I sewed together different sizes of green strips at random to make my binding. I like a 3 inch binding. I think a lot of people sew their binding on after quilting, but I learned to do it first. So do it how you want to. Unfortunately I don't have any batting right now! So the quilt will have to stay as is until I find a use for it and get some batting. (finding out in a few weeks if this little belly has a boy or a girl in it - maybe that will be the motivation I need!)

I usually just lay out my binding around the sides of the quilt to see how much I need. But you can figure it out by measuring the quilt, adding length and the height, and multiplying by 2. So if I had a quilt that was 8 inches x 10 inches, that equals 18. 18 x 2 = 36. Then add 12 inches for mitering corners, seam allowance etc. So I need a binding strip that is 48 inches long.

And here are a few tutorials I have found about how to bind a quilt. This one has real pictures of each step. This one is great simply because it is Heather Baily! And this one is my favorite method for finishing off the binding - a bit different method that the other two.

And just in case you need it, here is a little tutorial on the quilt sandwich - basting front, batting, and back together so you can quilt. I like how she pins the backing to the carpet to keep it flat. I have also heard of using masking tape to do the same thing.

So happy circle quilting! I would love to see any pictures of any finished quilts!

01 February 2008

quiltiing time

Mom, Dixie, and Rhonda this is mostly for you. But maybe I can pursued some more of you to get going on quilts. February is quilt month at sew mama sew. Go to there website here, and click on the link to the blog. Here is a great tutorial for a crazy nine patch quilt that they had links to. I haven't quilted in a long time, a have lots of fabric grouped together that I really want to get going on, so I'm hoping to get lots of good ideas this month. May sound strange, but I find quilting in small doses relaxing. Love all the colors. Love combining all different colors and fabrics. Love binding quilts too. Crazy I know, but I like to do it when I work nights.

And because no post is complete without a picture.... Here is the quilt I made for Stephanie a few months ago when Finley was born. Rhonda actually has the same one for Lucy. I had to teach a class in Relief Society on this type of quilting, only we did squares instead of circles. Very easy way to quilt. And the more you wash it the better it looks.

15 January 2009

links galore

05 January 2009

good thing val took pictures...

29 November 2008

quilt giveaway

21 August 2008

done done done

15 August 2008

sewing - yet again!

02 April 2008

circle quilt tutorial

01 February 2008

quiltiing time

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