Update on the unfinished projects

I was able to complete most of the projects but I did forget that I needed to buy velcro for the casserole carrier and "the dress" is just kind of overwhelming to me because I really have no clue what I am doing. I will admit I didn't even look at it the last two days. I may need some additional help with it. 

Added the decal to my husbands bag.

Mitered corner napkins; sewn, washed, and ironed.

Double Handed Pot Holder; binding has been stitched on.

Casserole Carrier; seam ripped, sewn, dowels cut out and inserted as handles.

Josie trying to take over the sewing machine!

Unfinished Projects Part 2

Below are some of the items I will be trying to complete before the new year. These projects have been sitting around making me feel guilty for never completing them! I am hoping to relieve some of that guilt before the new year!

I need to add the decal to Buz's bag.

Dress; I started this a few years ago for Ellie and am not confident in completing it so I have pushed it off for too long. 

Double Handed Pot Holder; need to add the binding.

Mitered Corner Cloth Napkins; They are cut/ironed and only need to be top stitched.

 

Mitered corners on the cloth napkins.

Casserole Carrier; little bit of seam ripping, re-sewing and cut the dowels

Tyler's T-shirt Quilt

 

This quilt top has been completed for a few months but with two small children I haven't been able to carve out the time to quilt and bind it. My husband encouraged me to finish it by taking the children for a day.  I wasn't able to complete that day but just getting started on the quilting processes re-energized me and I managed to get a day of quilting in with my children and a few hours here and there to finish it. This morning I finished sewing the back of the binding on and put it in the wash.  I love the look of a newly completed quilt just after being washed and dried!

I didn't work on any other projects due to my sick little 3 year old.  Doesn't she look pitiful?  

Josie giving her sick sister loves.

Ellie looking pitiful.

T-shirt Quilt

Yesterday I finished quilting this quilt. I am hoping to finish the quilt today!

To-Do:

• Remove safety pins
• Trim all threads
• Trim quilt (batting/backing)
• Make binding
• Sew binding on
• Wash quilt
• Once over for any threads I missed
• Fold and send to Tyler

My Unfinished Projects

Today I am trying to finish up some projects that are in need of just a little bit of my time.

This morning I just completed a breastfeeding cover for a friend who is due at the end of January. I had started this a couple of weeks ago and needed about an hour to complete it. I like to add a small pocket on the nursing cover so that the mom is able to put her nursing pad or the child's pacifier in there.  The pocket is made out of soft terry cloth just in case she needs to wipe up some spittle. I also made a burp cloth to go with the cover that can be rolled up with the cover inside and tied.  It makes it nice to always have a burp cloth with you and it keeps your cover nicely folded up in the diaper bag.
 

Nursing Cover and Burp Cloth

Nursing Cover Rolled Up Into The Burp Cloth And Tied

The next project on my agenda today is to finish quilting my husband's cousin's graduation quilt.  I have worked on it a couple of times and I am almost finished. I am hoping it will not take much time today.  I will then need to start working on the binding.  My goal is to have it completed by the end of the week! The picture below is of my little "helper" and the quilt!

Tutorial; Easy Applique Using Fusible Webbing

My sister was over the other day asking how to do an applique project. She wanted an explanation so that she could go home and do it herself. She is a visual person and likes directions so I searched for a tutorial that would help her out. I found several different ones but none the way I do my applique. I hope this helps make applique a little easier for her and for you!  Enjoy!

Materials needed:
Fabric (pre-washed without fabric softener)
T-shirt (or whatever you are going to applique onto, make sure it is also pre-washed without fabric softener)
Heat n' Bond Lite
Iron
Sewing Machine
Scissors
Coordinating Thread

Directions:

1.  Find what you want to applique. Today I am making a circle with the letter A to put on a onesie.   I made this in Word and printed it out and adjusted the size until it was the size to fit on a onesie.

2.  You will need your Heat n' Bond Lite Iron on Adhesive and a pen. You will trace your letter backwards to make the applique correct. You can do this by making a mirror image on a computer program or you can turn your sheet of paper over and trace it with a black marker (by doing this you will be able to see the letter through your Heat n' Bond). You will then put your Heat n' Bond Lite over top of that and trace both the circle and the letter.

3.  On the Heat n' Bond cut around the circle and the letter. This does not and should not be exact as you can see in my picture.

4.  Place the letter on the backside of the fabric that you have picked out. Iron it down as stated on the Heat n' Bond Lite directions. Do the same for the circle.

5.  Cut the circle and letter out. You will be cutting on the lines this time.

6.  Peel the backing off of the pieces you have just cut out.

7.  Place the circle on the t- shirt. At this point I usually use an applique pressing sheet or a piece of scrap fabric over top of the applique so that if there is anything on my iron I will not get it on my white shirt. 

8.  Place the letter on the t-shirt and the pressing sheet/scrap fabric on top of that and iron the letter down.

10.  Pick out your coordinating thread and sew a small seam with a straight stitch around the circle applique. You do not need to back stitch when you start your stitches because you will end up coming all the way around your applique and at that point you will sew on top of your beginning stitches and then back stitch. Change thread if you need to and do the same for the letter.

11.  I hope I have made applique a little easier to understand!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! 

Feel free to read our family Christmas letter posted at my husband's blog.



XO

Jolen

Christmas Subway Art

I found a great 16x20 Christmas Subway Art for free on Pinterest.  The majority of the free subway art out there is for 8x10 and smaller but I felt a 16x20 would make a larger impact and love it.  I had an old 16x20 frame in our basement that I spray painted red.  I then downloaded the subway art file unto my thumb drive and took it over to Staples to be printed.  It cost around $15.  You can find the blog post and free download here. 

Christmas Yarn Wreath

I made a wreath a while ago at a MOPS craft night. I really liked it but it had been hanging up for a while and we were in need of a more festive wreath. I searched Pinterest and Etsy and found one that I liked for around $40. I knew that I could not afford to spend that and I knew I could make it so that is what I did. I assumed it would be easy and didn't search for a Yarn Wreath Tutorial which I do regret. Instead of using a smooth wreath I used a Styrofoam one that you couldn't push the yarn around. Live and learn sometimes, right!

This is the book wreath I made at MOPS.

  

The Yarn Christmas Wreath I just made.

Close up of the wreath.

 

My daughter was using the old wreath to be a "lion".

Gingerbread House

On Tuesday I took a break from crafting and made a gingerbread house with my family.  This is the first time I had attempted to make my own gingerbread house and needed to find a recipe.  I luckily found this one while searching on Google.  I loved her tutorial and all her pictures.  Here are a few of our pictures from our time making the gingerbread house.

Cutting out the pieces.

Baking.

After all the pieces were cooled.

Using the cans to prop up the pieces while the frosting dries.

Using the cans to hold up the roof while the frosting dries.

My husband, daughters and our niece and nephews.

After it was all decorated.

Before my daughter took a "few" pieces.

The "after" photo!

 Please note the candy canes extending from the roof. My nephew informed me that  those were guns. Really, what gingerbread house is complete without two gun turrets extending from the roof?

Christmas Wish List

There are so many things I wished I had time to make this year.  I will be putting the following items on my to-do list for next Christmas!

I am loving the circle garland. The tutorial she has for this is great!

I put this big sign on my mother's to-do list. 

I really love it and I know she could make it for me!

I found this on Pinterest but was unable to find the correct link for it.

 

We have wrapped a book a day for Ellie and now Josie for the last two years instead of an advent calendar.  I would like to do a better job at wrapping them and displaying them and I love how she did it!

Click here to go to her blog post.

 These are just a few things I am hoping to do for next year!