Baby Girl’s Quilt: The Hoots

Tada!

Quilt Deets:

Pattern name: The Hoots by Amy Bradley
size: 49″ x 59″
fabrics: I do not know – it was a kit with a mix from here there and everywhere.

 

Finished the second quilt for our Baby Girl.  This one I’ve been slowly working off and on since November of 2012.  This one took a lot of time, but with Nate’s help we got it done.

When Quilt Canada was in Calgary, almost 2 years ago now, I saw this quilt in a booth in the Market.  I walked by it a 100 times, loving it and finally made the decision that if it, the kit and pattern, was still there on the last day of the show I was meant to have it and make it- though originally it was going to be made for someone else not for us.  But once I had it in my hand I decided that IN NO WAY WAS THIS GOING TO BE FOR SOMEONE ELSE – especially after reading the directions and saw just how much went into it, I was on a tight deadline and knew there was no way I was getting it done in time.  So I decided that when the day came I would make it for our child.

As I mentioned this took a lot of work and time.  We had to trace out  16 owl bodies, 16 owl tummies, 16 owl eyes, 16 owl eye outlines, 16 beaks and 32 owl feet onto steam a seam.  Then iron them on the fabric, then cut them out, then place them, iron them to the fabric and stitch around all the parts before pieces the sashing and corner pieces on.  Thank goodness Nate was willing to help trace owl pieces out or I think I would be still sitting at my kitchen table.

I will say that all these owl pieces sure made a royal mess of my iron.  I don’t why I seem to always have trouble with steam a seam and residue on my iron.  I was thankful that I was given some iron cleaner so I could at least clean the iron between sections.

A decision that I had to make during the process was what to outline each owl part in.  The pattern called for a brown, but I just didn’t want those pieces to stand out that much.  So I found thread for each of the colors the owls were in and I worked in a blanket stitch around each of the parts (the eyes, the feet, tummies, bodies, etc).  But because I had about 8 different colors of thread I had to try and think of a way to stitch around these pieces so that I wasn’t switching thread every two seconds.  I ended up picking a thread color, like the brown, and stitched ALL the brown pieces first.  On some owls it was the tummy, on some the body.  Then once that color was finished, I switched to the next one.  It worked pretty well.  It was a slow process, but I think it could have been even slower had I tried the other way.

I quilted this pattern in a basic stipple pattern, though I did little swirls in each corner stone, and I outlined the owls as well.

Will I make this quilt again?  NOT ON YOUR LIFE.  Not because I want this to be special and only for our girl and no one else, but because IN MY OPINION (and that is what this is here MY PERSONAL OPINION) this was not a good pattern to work from and I am now leery of patterns by the same company.

Here where some of my issues:

1. The pattern was printed on ROAD MAP size pieces of paper and there were 4 of them, front and back.  It was pain to work with pieces of paper that large and having to switch back and forth so many times because of the “order” of the instructions.
2. The cutting instructions are hidden in the paragraphs through out the 4 pages of pattern pages – I prefer having all the cutting instructions on the first page under the fabric requirements.  I really was annoyed that I had to DIG for each cutting instruction
3. That the instructions were not in a logical order.  The finishing instructions were on a placement piece -which was step 2 of the process, and the borders came before they were to be added
4. There was a “placement” sheet that you were to use to place the owl pieces, but it wasn’t the same size of the owl if you made the large quilt – instead of the wall hanging – so the placements were wrong
5. The cutting instructions were wrong.  It said to cut some many pieces for the inner border, so many for the sashing, so many for the binding and each time I had to add at least 2-3 strips more to make it fit – and I checked my quilt measurements each time in case I happened to make the quilt bigger then listed – but nope.

Needless to say I am very happy that this quilt is done.  I am happy with the end result and know it will be terrific, but honestly it was a pain in the rear end.

Baby Girl’s Quilt – Hopscotch

I’m sorry for my absence on the blog lately.  We haven’t had our baby yet, but it is close – very close.  And because we are so close, we’ve been very busy.  Car seats to install, bags to pack, packing list items to get, nurseries to finish, etc.

Luckily though I was able to finish the nursery and our baby girl’s quilts and I wanted to share with you one of the quilts.

This quilt is called Hopscotch and the pattern comes from a couple of gals in Moosejaw, SK, who own a company called The Quilt Patch.    They are super nice ladies and I do like their patterns.

This Hopscotch pattern I have made about 5 times.  I’ve done 4 “baby” versions for friends and family and so far 1 “lap quilt” version.  The “baby” version uses about 6 fat quarters and some yardage, while the “lap quilt” takes 12 fat quarters and yardage.  It is great pattern to follow.

Simple cutting instructions and piecing too.  You can easily do the “baby” top in an afternoon.  I’ve actually done the baby version, cut, pieced, basted and quilted in a weekend.

Maybe you remember when I showed you this picture. 

When I first started this quilt I had this fun striped fabric that I was hoping to use as the inner border, but once I put it in – I HATED IT!  Hated it.  I didn’t even want to finish it.  So I ripped it out and tried a solid fabric instead – which was better, way better.  What a difference a border makes.

Quilt Deets:

Pattern name: Hopscotch by the Quilt Patch
size: ?
fabrics: Mod Basic and Mod Squad by Birch; Pond by Kona Cotton

 

The fabric is the Birch Organic Fabric in Mod Basic and Mod Squad.  Organic Cotton was very interesting to use.  It has a very different feel, literally it feels different, than the typical cotton I use.  I found the edges didn’t fray as much after cutting, but it didn’t have the same fluffiness either.  I’m glad I used it and gave it a try.  It will be a great quilt for our little girl to wrap up in and crawl all over.

More Baby Quilts

I FINALLY get to unveil 2 quilts that I have had on the go for quite a few months since both recipients have now had their baby showers where I could finally gift them to them.

The first one I’d like to share with you was made for my friend Christine.  She teaches with me at school and is a hilarious, bubbly girl.  She too is having a little girl, could be any day now too.  Christine told me back in October that she was expecting and I was over the moon, because by the time she told me, we knew we were having a baby which meant another fun girl to do mom activities with.

Quilt Deets:

Pattern name: Hopscotch by the Quilt Patch
size: ?
fabrics: Bliss by Thimble Blossoms and Kona Cotton (Lagoon)

This pattern, Hopscotch, is a pattern I have made now 5-6 times.  It is a pretty straight forward pattern that uses mostly fat quarters and some yardage (for the binding and inner border).  You can easily get it cut and the top pieced in a day, for the small version at least.

I really like the way this one came out.  Nate helped me to pick out the fabric for it, he wanted that mentioned, though it was my idea to go with the BRIGHT inner border.  I didn’t know how I would feel about it, but when I saw it on, it somehow just made the colors POP!

The second one I did was for my friend Lauren, from Wilting with Lauren fame.  Her and her husband told us they were expecting back in the fall.  Then I began my search for the perfect pattern and fabric.  Something that screamed LAUREN!  Its funny, I really do try and match the pattern and fabric to the people I am making my quilts for.  Anyways, I had just gotten the latest “flyer” from Connecting Threads and was perusing through it, when out jumped the perfect pattern and fabric.

This fantastic star in BRIGHT COLORS.  It yelled, fun, joyful – LAUREN.  I showed Nate and he agreed that would be perfect for them so I ordered it.  Luckily it came just before I went to the October Quilt Retreat.  I’ve been showing sneak peaks of the quilt for a little while now…. because it almost killed me to keep this one a secret.

Quilt Deets:

Pattern name: Sparkle Plenty

size: 48″ Square

fabrics: Homefront by Connecting Threads

Oh how I love this one.  I love the stars and how they echo themselves and build out.  I love the contrast of the black (polka dot by the way) and the bright primary colors.  I hate half square triangles, we are frenemies after all, but oh I would make this quilt again in a HEART BEAT!

These were the last two baby quilts I made before I had to concentrate on the ones I needed to make for my little one.  But I’m glad I ended with these.  Will I start making more baby quilts?  OH YEAH! Without a doubt, but they might have to wait just a little bit.

 

Change Pad Cover

It was about 2:30am in the morning a couple of weeks ago when I had had just about enough of this NO SLEEPING nonsense and hauled myself out of bed.  I was tired (but apparently not that kind of tired) of hoping sleep would happen.  I got up and headed down to my sewing room to continue my work on the nursery projects.  Things were cut out, tutorials were found it was simply a matter of putting the projects together.  At that time in the morning I decided to try an put together the change pad cover.

Viola!  The finished cover!  This is of course after two attempts.  So let the tale begin….

Once upon a time there was an about to be mom.  After much consideration she decided that she wanted to make the nursery linen for her little girl.  This to be mom had lofty dreams of course.  Her good friend had given her a change pad, but it needed a cover. “I can make one” the MTB (Mom to be) exclaimed.  She looked online for tutorials and videos and found a wonderful one at E Tells Tales.  The MTB wrote down the measurements of fabric she needed and all the supplies and studied the tutorial closely.  But she put the project away until her spring break when she could actually take the time to work on it.  During her spring break she was ready to make the cover, but alas the tutorial had been taken down – apparently evil people were using the tutorial for business use and were making and selling the change pad covers so the tutorial designer pulled it from her site. The MTB was so disappointed, perhaps she might have weeped a little bit.  Back online MTB went and found another tutorial.  She had such high hopes for this one – after all it included seam allowances, which had been missing from so many.  The materials and supplies were still the same so MTB was ready to go.  One evening when the dreaded Sleep Monster disrupted MTB again and awake she lay wondering what to do.  ”I will make the change pad cover,” she decided, “what could possibly go wrong.”  She triple checked her measurements and set off to make the cover. It was near completion too, all that was left was to put the elastic through, but the MTB stopped and decided to fit the cover onto the change pad to make sure nothing had gone array.  To the MTB’s chagrin the cover did not fit – it was too small, the change pad was buckled just to get it into the cover.  Where had she gone wrong – her measurements were good, she even gave extra fabric for seam allowances – just in case.  With her trusty friend the seam ripper she began to rip the end pieces out so she was left with a rectangle piece of fabric.  ”Now what do I do?” she said.  Back to the drawing board she went and found yet another tutorial.   But alas this one did not have seam allowances to guide her so she had to trust her eye to guess what they might be.  Then disaster struck – she didn’t have a piece of fabric that was big enough to use to make the cover.  It was too short.  But, that wasn’t about to stop her.  She dug into the pile of fabric that was scraps from the other nursery projects and found a piece that she could add to the sides to make the piece longer.  ”It will add a decorative element,” she told herself, after all it was about 4 am at this point and the only other option was to cry (she was saving those for a fitted sheet meltdown later on).      Besides not having any seam allowances – the tutorial was a good one and in no time flat the change pad cover was complete.  

So there you have it.  The adventures of the change pad cover.  You would think with all the bad luck I’ve had with my online tutorials and nursery sewing that I would be deterred and stop – not me, I will not let this beat me.  Though I have a feeling I might need more than one.  Oh well, another project, another time. Maybe I will use some of the scraps I have – yeah that’s what I will do.

The tutorial and photo is from Smile Like you Mean It

A note to those who use the tutorial for this cover – I would add an extra inch to each of the measurements.  I used the measurements given and I find with a contoured pad it is a bit snug.  

For those who would like to know:

* The change table is a sofa table that we had and could never use.  It has been painted white by Nate.

* The bucket on the floor under the table is our hamper (small I know, but it will keep me on top of laundry, I hope) – Purchased from Canadian Tire

* The storage box on the table is the Martha Stewart Fabric box from Home Depot in Lagoon

* The Diaper Pail is the Playtex Diaper Genie (a gift from my Uncle and Aunt) – Toys R’ Us

* Fabric for the Change Pad Cover: Gray and White Play Dot by Michael Miller

Brown Bag Challenge: An Update

As I mentioned back in November, my quilt guild introduced a few challenges  on this year’s program.  One of them was the Brown Bag Challenge.

 

The Brown Bag Challenge

Anyone who wanted to participate in this was to bring a brown bag filled with 4 fat quarters, 1 meter of fabric and a cookie cutter.  We all put them in a pile and then randomly grabbed a different bag.  Your job with the new brown bag is make a completed (bound and quilted) quilt for your partner using what they’ve supplied you.  In June the finished quilt will be given to your partner.

I’ve been working on the quilt for a little while now.  One night when I couldn’t sleep I finished sketching the design I wanted to use.  It is a basic design, but it did take a bit to figure out how all the pieces would fit together.   When we found out we were having a baby and she would be due in June I was a little concerned with the commitment I had made to complete my partner’s project.   I know my partner would totally understand if I didn’t make the deadline, but I just didn’t want to have that happen.  The worst thing that will happen is that I won’t be able to be the one to deliver it to her.

Since I wanted to ensure that I had it complete for the June reveal I made it one of my first priorities – after all it was being made for someone else.

I love how it turned out.  I call it “On the Plus Side” but I can’t show it to you yet.  But I will show you the back of the quilt.

My partner included this mustard colored fabric that I used as the backing – as you can see.  Her cookie cutter was a little hippo that I had to somehow use in the quilt.  I used a wavy quilting pattern that Bijou Lovely did a tutorial on and when I would look on the back I often thought it looked like rolling hills.  So I appliqued the little hippo on the back to wander over the rolling hills.

I really like the back and really like how the wavy quilting turned out.  I will definitely have to try this quilting pattern again.

32 To Do: #19 Make a camera case

Nate got me this fabulous camera for Christmas this year.  It is the Canon Powershot S110.  It has a huge screen on the back – it is a touch screen too.  And he got me it in white – pretty flashy if I do say so myself.  The only problem with it is that it didn’t come with a case and I didn’t want the screen to get all scratched up in my purse or diaper bag as I paparazzied our baby.

Once again I scoured pinterest for DIY camera cases and looked at a bunch of tutorials.  I found this super wonderful one too and I saw that many other people had been successful at it as there was picture proof.  So I thought I would give it a whirl.  Lets just say it was a debacle.  The measurements for the camera were the same, so I cut out the pieces as guided in the tutorial.  But once they were cut out and looking at my camera I was starting to doubt  this was going to fit.  So I cut more fabric an inch and a half larger thinking that would help me out.  Continuing on my merry way I began following the instructions, only to discover – NO SEAM ALLOWANCES.  I decided to ere on the side of caution and use a 1/4″ seam allowance.  Lets just say that my camera didn’t fit – and if I made the seam allowance smaller I was afraid it would rip open while putting in my camera.  So I stepped up to the bigger pieces of fabric I had cut and tried again.  This was going better until the finishing stitches.  It called for you to insert the lining into the outer piece wrong sides together.  Then fold the two top edges in, how much?  don’t have a clue, then stitch around it to finish it.  I did my best.

And voila, that is what came out.  UGLY!  I will not use that, I will not take that out of my hand bag, I will not allow this to leave my drawer or circular file bin.  I didn’t even want to post this photo.

After this, this was the 4th project with no seam allowances that didn’t turn out, I was ready to give up, but then I remembered I had put it on my 32 To Do List.

So back to the drawing board I went.  I found another one that I quite liked and thought, ok maybe, this will work, after all I’ve tried her tutorials before and they have all turned out rather well.

And I was able to make this…..

Now this I will carry around.  It is another Pink Penguin Tutorial.    She also did that tutorial on the lunch bag that you’ve probably seen around everywhere.

It was a really good tutorial and it was her very first one in English too.  I did alter it a little bit, because the camera hers was made for wasn’t the same size as mine. I would be happy to share my calculations if you would like – they have been checked and as you can see did work out – just let me know.

I also didn’t want to hand sew the top and bottom binding on, so I used the tutorial Amanda Jean over at Crazy Mom Quilts for machine binding.  

The only thing I don’t like is the raw edges at the top and bottom of the side binding pieces.  I am concerned with fray there, but for now I am quite happen to put my little camera in its case and tote it around.

Pregnancy Brain: A Real Condition

I don’t want to admit this, but I NOW believe that the condition known as Pregnancy Brain is a real thing.  I’ve been fighting it for months, trying to keep my brain fresh and active not succumbing to the lose they all talk about.  Not admitting that my forgetfulness is a result of the pregnancy, but instead on having too many things on the go.  Or admitting that I actually lost my train of thought altogether and instead blame it on trying to talk to Nate while doing something else at the same time.  Or the classic, trying to shower in the morning, but running out of hot water immediately, not being able to discover why until I get out of the shower to find that somehow in my pregnancy haze I turned on the bath tub at the same time and had both running.

Finally, the pregnancy brain has effected my sewing life and it is too hard to deny this anymore.  Last weekend, on Saturday, we had nothing scheduled – except our weekly trip to the Home Depot, and I decided it was the perfect time to dig into the nursery sewing – after all I couldn’t quilt my last project as I had run out of thread (doubting this was a coincidence).  In my note book I carefully read through all the tutorials and figured out what I needed to cut out for each of the projects.

I was cruising along.  Until I started sewing the fitted crib sheet.  Then I hit the wall.  You see my fabric was 58″ width – a little larger than the typical quilting cotton that the tutorial called for.  I sketched out that I needed a piece 45″ x 69″ to fit the mattress.

I drew out my fabric piece to visualize what I had and what I needed to do.  As you can see I took the width of my fabric  minus the amount I needed and it equaled the amount I needed to remove.  So I cut 13″ from my fabric, from all the pieces of fabric I was going to use to make crib sheets – as anyone noticed my error yet?  I thought I was doing pretty good at that point.  That evening I woke up at 2:30 and was wide awake so I decided to sew.  I thought I would get the fitted sheets done so I could spend Sunday feeding elastic through the casing.

There I was in my pajamas at my sewing machine, marveling at my work.  But as my previous tutorial following had taught me (no seam allowances -remember) that I should double check to ensure that things were fitting.  I was concerned about doing this as it was still very early and I didn’t want to wake Nate.  I snuck upstairs and decided that rather than trying to get the sheet on the mattress in the crib, I would carefully remove the mattress and take it with me. Yes, taking a giant mattress down two flights of stairs in the middle of the night is a good idea – another reason to support this theory.  I did get it down to the basement and laid it on the floor and triumphantly put my sheet on it – only to discover that it wasn’t wide enough.  It was long enough for sure, but width wise I had somehow messed up – but where?  My triple checked my math, I used a calculator to make sure, I sketched it out.

And there on the floor, in a heaping pile of flannel pajamas and crib sheets I lay crying my eyes out.  Not knowing where I screwed up, not knowing how I could fix it, not knowing if I had enough fabric to fix it, and not knowing how I was going to tell Nate.  When I couldn’t take it anymore I went up stairs, woke up Nate and told him what had happened, alright I cried what had happened.  No matter how I make fun of Nate on the blog sometimes, he really is a good fellow.  He took me in his arms, told me everything would be ok and that we would fix it.  He asked if we could salvage them, add other fabric to them to make them fit, and other options I had already tried before coming up.  He finally said – order more fabric and that he would help me get them finished once the fabric arrived, just in case I am too big to fit in front of my machine, he would sew them for me while I supervised.  See, he is a good catch.

That morning I thought long and hard about what I had done – then it hit me – THE FOLD.  I didn’t consider the fold.  Yes, my fabric is 58″ wide, but I wasn’t cutting it opened up, I was cutting it folded.

Which meant that on my cutting table I had a piece of fabric that was 29″ x 69″ and if I opened it up I would have my 58″x69″.  I was right though, I needed to take off 13″ – TOTAL, not from each side.  I took off 13×2 =26″ (because of the fold) off in reality.  I should have taken that 13″ and divided it in two, giving me 6.5″ to take off because of the fold.  At least I figured it out.  It was a costly mistake to say the least, but one I will never make again – I hope.

With all this being said, I think this pregnancy brain really does exist because I refuse to admit that I could have made this mistake being of sound mind.