Shiver me Timbers

Ahoy me hearties!

Avast ye, weigh anchor, and hoist the mizzens.

Yo-ho-yo-ho a pirates life fer...

There is more, trust me.  Just type how to talk like a pirate and more info and pirate phrases than you ever wanted to know is at your finger tips.  I will try and restrain myself as much as possible.

But blow me down, this is my oldest's pirate quilt and I'm pleased as punch with it.  The colors are girly but the prints are not overly so.   Mostly just geometric or batiks.  The fabric is joyful and striking and I love the old timey atlas panels.  Plus, how fun are narwhals, mermaids and girl pirates?

This is one of the most balanced quilts I have made.  See, I am learning as I go and getting better (I hope) with every quilt I make.  There's quite a lot of white space to guide the eyes from image to image and an equal amount of prints to solids.  Every square on square block has a print and a solid, but the solids are always on the bottom to keep the eye moving in the right direction.  I used 3 different shades of solid purple to border the ship prints.  It makes it a little more interesting.  And, just look how cute it looks in her room with the lavender walls and wrought iron bed.  Gasp.  Love.

I designed this to have the three atlas panels going straight down the middle with fun blocks surrounding them.  The atlas panels are my favorite part of this quilt and it's perfect because My Oldest loves maps.  She will play with Google map and go all over the world, exploring.  We even tried the African Sahara....didn't work so well.

I was able to use a bunch of my gorgeous scraps for the half square triangles in the square in square blocks which I found to be tons of fun and a ginormous mess because I had to practically rip all my fabric off the shelves to look at it and then leave it in a heap while I sewed.  No time to tidy,  I'm crafting here.  The Mister practically died every time he looked in my room.

Then just don't look in when you're down here.

But, I have to walk past your dang blasted, pig sty of a craft room to get to my office.

Pshaw!  You can work at the kitchen table.  Let's be reasonable,  I cannot work like this!!!  I need to be free to create in chaos.  You have to love me for who I am.  Messy craft rooms/sweat pants and all.

Sigh.  Can you at least close the door?

Deal!

I loved mixing and matching my scrap prints to the solids I was using: pink, light blue and purple.  The dimensions for this quilt were actually designed around the square in square blocks.  Once I got the dimensions worked out for those, I figured everything else out from there.

This quilt took quite a long time to make.  1- Because the square in square blocks were quite time consuming because of all the bitty half square triangles and lots of cutting was involved.  2- I took my sweet time about it.  I had other things going on and so would get back to this one WHEN I GET TO IT!  (I may have gotten pestered a time or two about getting a move on)  3-  It's BIG with a lot of blocks.  Things like this take time.  4-  I hand quilted it, which I really enjoyed.  The fabric is so soft and pretty that I was glad I really got to play with it a lot.

I used the fabric collection: Out to Sea by Michael Miller

It's still available and if you are interested in how to make this quilt, shoot me a comment and I'll get back to you with destructions.

Thanks for stopping by ye bilge rats.  Sorry.  I don't really think you're bilge rats.  Love ya.

Heather

Deers are Very Versatile

My house is being over-run by deers.  And yes, I know deer is the plural, but I like calling them deers.  More fun.

Pretty pillow.

On my Deer Quilt I used multiple strips of fabric for the deer head.  I love the look.

But, sometimes simple is preferred.  I can get this pillow sewn up in an hour, lickity split, using just one fabric for the deer.  Perfect to give as a gift.

I love deer for two reasons...at least.  I am sure I love them for more, but here's two reasons why I love them.

1.  My sister and I have a game called the Dead Deer Game...Don't judge.  I am from the foothills in deer country and if you don't hit a deer in the twilight, sometime in your life, you can't call yourself a Utahn.  So the game is this:  You watch for any sign of a dead deer on the side of the road or in the brush.  You call it by hollering: "Dead Deer!!!"  And you keep track of how many dead deer you see in a season.  Dead deer season goes from about November to March.

The kicker is, if you call, oh, let's say a piece of carpet, then you have to deduct two dead deer points from your tally.  You've got to keep an eagle eye.  It's tricky because you'd be surprised how many bushes look like dead deer.   How many discarded chairs look like dead deer.  How many mounds of just dirt look like dead deer.  And if, say, you accidentally call a dead coyote thinking it's a dead deer....minus two points. And, you can only call a deer once.  So, you have to keep careful track of which dead deer you have called and make sure to inform your sister that she CANNOT call the dead deer on the off ramp to Mom's house because, well, you already did. 

Oh yes, one more thing....stray dogs count as a dead deer.  But it has to be an actual stray dog and not a dog simply walking a few steps in front of its owner.  Again, if you call a stray dog and isn't a stray....minus two...well I think you get the idea.

2.  I grew up in deer country.   It is not unusual for a gazillion deer to be where you are.  I can remember one frosty, moon-lit night I was driving home at an unmentionably late hour and there was a herd of at least a couple hundred deer on the road and in the fields I was driving through.  It was so magical, I stopped and simply enjoyed the beauty of nature...until some jack-A honked at me to move.  

My children will have memories of being at Grandma's house, somebody shouting DEER, running to the windows and watching several deer, including fawns, wander through the yard on their way to greener pastures.  Oh and of having to watch where you step because of the pellets they leave behind.  Thanks, deer.

3.  I figured out a third reason why I like deer...sort of.  In the town I grew up in, they actually made it legal to hunt deer inside the city limits with bow and arrow.  Oh yeah!!  I can just envision the hunters now, tracking bucks between the picket fences and swing sets all decked out in their camo.  Good times.

Thanks for reading!

Heather

I could only be just a SMIDGE more last minute...Valentines Pillows

If you are a giant fail at Valentine's decorating (like me), then join in for one tiny attempt at showing the love.

Fun and easy conversation heart pillows.

Raw edges.

Simple embroidery.

Quick, easy and fun!

1. Make a heart template out of paper

2.  Trace heart shape on fabric and cut out two hearts. 

3.  Mark lines so you can write your message straight and even.  Use an erasable pen.  I went straight down the middle and across where I wanted the words to be.

4.  Write your words

5.  Embroider words.  I used a back stitch and, wait for it...yarn!!!  I wanted my words to really stand out.  Had to use a giant needle.

6.  Pin both pieces of fabric together.  You'll rarely see these words on this blog, but Wrong Sides Together!   Raw edges, baby!

7.  Using a walking foot, stitch the two hearts together using a 1/2" seam allowance.

8.  Make sure to leave a space, about 2 inches wide for the fluff

9.  Pink the edges.

10.  sorry, no pic.  Stuff with fluff until you feel it is fluffy enough.

11.  Sew the gap so the fluff cannot escape.

Make a bunch because they're so cute and easy!  And fast!!  And easy.  Best kind of last minute craft.

My kids have been sleeping with them, so I haven't even been able to use them in my non-existent Valentine's decor.

Tell your kid to lay on the pillows like she does at night and this is what you'll get.

No, with your head, like you do at night...

Close enough.

Happy Valentine's.

Heather

Rebel Insignia....dun, dun, da-dun, dun, da-dun, dun, da-dun.

John Williams and I'm sure a few million geeks, only, would understand the humming in the title.  :)

Daughter's Princess Leia inspired costume coming along....as long as you can call her sweet Rebel Insignia Blaster Holster belt as the only thing I have done....coming along.   Aannddddd, I bought her some white leggings and a white bedazzled shirt.  So yeah.  I'm thinking it's just fine that I haven't begun the be-sparkling of her pants yet, T-Minus...3 days.  Gulp.

Luckily sequins don't take too long to affix...unless your daughter has come up with an intricate pattern that will require many thousands of sequins.  Wondering what I'm doing tonight?  Me and my thimble will be having a party.

If you are needing to make a sweet blaster belt, well, here's how I made mine.  Completely pretending I know what I'm doing, and loving it!  I like it when I can just wing a project and it works.

 1.  Using the very high quality compass I bought in the children's arts and crafts section, that does not lock in place and makes it extremely difficult to actually draw a circle...make a circle.  I am using a very light, icy blue cotton that has already been ironed onto some fusible web.

 2.  From the above circle, make a shape inspired by the Rebel Insignia in Star Wars.  Not too bad.

 3.  Cut a belt-shaped piece of felt, make sure it's big enough to tie in the back...because I am too lazy to sew on buttons, alright.  Try it on your kid and pin a swatch of fabric where the insignia is going to go.  This is a reference for when you sew on the blaster holster.

 4.  Make a blaster holster.  I just cut a long rectangle using felt.  Folded it almost in half, sewed a scant 1/4" seam across both sides, making sure to back stitch....and yeah, a blaster holster is born.

 5.  Sew it onto your belt.  As you can see, I just pulled down the front, top of the holster down as I sewed so it wouldn't get sewn shut and did a straight seam above it onto the top of the belt.  Back-stitching again.  I don't want it to fall apart mid trick-or-treat.

 You can sew on a snap or a button to close the holster.  I haven't decided yet what I'm going to do with it.

 6.  Remove your belly button marker, seen above, and iron on your insignia.  Love fusible web.  My sewing BFF.

7.  If you are making a belt for a certain princess, then bedazzle it baby!

Mine is extremely bedazzled, but I figured, it's a space princess's belt, so heck ya she needs some gems.  Like a lot of them.  But not too many, as to make it tacky.  Just the right amount.

More costume fun to come.

Update:  Check out how cute my Leia is!!

 Hey, even princesses have homework.

Thanks for reading!

Heather

Homemade Costumes...Princess Leia and Ariel

You may already have Halloween costumes for your kids...but if you don't, why not let them design their own?  I know this sounds like pie in the sky, especially if they want to be Iron Man or Ra-Tangled...I mean Rapunzel, but it's still fun to let them figure out what they want.

My little munchkins hard at work.

My Youngest is going to be Ariel this year.  Think it has something to do with the barrage of commercials for the re-release of the movie?  Nah.  I have a deal with her that if she chooses to be a princess, I let her choose the princess nightgown of her choice from the Disney Store, then she not only gets a costume, but a sweet nighty for the rest of the year.  We have done this two years in a row now, and I highly recommend it.  First, you don't end up with some crazy costume that only gets worn once in a while.  Second, it costs the same or less than a costume and is completely useful.

My Oldest is going to be Princess Leia.  We are kinda doing our own thing.  She was a little worried about not having a costume exactly like in the show, but I assured her that Princess Leia has lots more clothes than were seen on the show and won't it be fun to come up with our own version of what she might wear?  Nod head very emphatically.  It worked.

I bought her a white shirt and white leggings and from there we are going to add some sweet touches, a wooly vest, sparkly embelishments down the side of the legs, I am making her a belt with a scabbard and the rebel emblem on it.  What?  You didn't know there was a rebel emblem?  Or was that just me.  I confess to not having a clue.  Luckily I married a geek and he basically free-handed the emblem from memory.  She gets to have a light saber and maybe a blaster....still trying to decide on the blaster.  Maybe I'll have her make a blaster from what she can find around the house.  Love encouraging a little creativity.  And of course, the buns.  And a pearl necklace.  Yes Princess Leia loves wearing a bit of bling while she galavants about the universe.

Super love seeing their imaginations at work.  Of course My Youngest feels bad that her creations aren't as good as her sister's....It's hard being little.  I'll keep you updated on our progress.

Thanks for reading!!!

Heather

Short Pants alterations

The Mister isn't exactly what I would call a fan of capris, but I am.  So unfortunately for him, I wear them happily all summer.  I have a pair though, that I did not love.  They hit me in exactly the wrong spot.  Not long or short enough.  So, I am taking a deep breath and taking full body shots...for the second time THIS YEAR!  What in heaven's name has gotten into me.

The leg on the left has the hem where it originally was.  The leg on the right is where I decided I wanted the hem to be.  The problem was, they hit me at the widest spot of my calf.  This caused my legs to look larger and it made my body look squatter.  Bad.  Very bad.

So, I decided on making them into longish Bermuda Shorts.  Scissors and hem thingamabobber in hand, I went to work.

The original hem.  3 buttons right in the way.  I decided to leave the very top button.

When measuring, I found it helpful to line up the outside and inside seams and pin there.  This ensured that I wouldn't sew it wonky.

Pin every couple of inches or so.  Measuring and pin all the way around.  As you can see, in case I didn't like the results, I did not cut my pants before sewing them.

I did a double row of stitching using black thread to match.  Saddest thing ever, I was sewing using an extremely short stitch length due to some paper piecing I had been doing the day before...there is no way I am unpicking this now!!

Well, I like how they turned out and I used an extremely small stitch, we are sticking with what we've got!  I don't have a serger...time for the pinking shears!

Pink around the seam allowance, I left about an inch, and use a hem stitch to keep your hem from falling.

And ta-daaaa!  New pants and I like where they hit me much better than before.  Don't be afraid to take some initiative and alter your clothes.  If you're not happy, see what will make you happy...and if you completely ruin something....well, I guess you learned a valuable lesson on what not to do.

Thanks for reading!

Heather

mitered baby blanket...AKA super cute

I have made my sister three mitered baby blankets now.  One for each of her children.  She has taken them to the hospital with her each time and each time she has gotten raves about them.  Where did you get that adorable blanket?  My Sister made it.  I must have one...where can I buy that?  You can't.  You have to make it.

So, you get the idea.  This little blanket is a big hit!  It is a bit complex though, so I would say if you are a beginning sewer, go for it...but be prepared to have to pay a lot of attention to the pattern...or you can do what I did, and take a class.  I am very happy with this blanket and best of all, there is a free tutorial where you can get all the details on how to make it.  Click here for the free pattern.

I will say this about the measurements...the bigger you make it, the longer you can swaddle your baby in it.  So, if you take a normal piece of fabric, the biggest square you can cut out of it without sewing anything is about a 40" X 40" square.  If you feel like making it a bit bigger, you can, you will just have to sew a panel on to make it bigger.  45" X 45" would be a nice size, because then you would only need 1 yard of your inner fabric.  Saving money on fabric is always a good thing.  Ummmm...I would like to point out, in case you might not have noticed in the upper left hand corner of this picture...is a nude Ken doll.  Dolls in this house never seem to wear clothes for very long...righty then.

Also, it is very important, you need to become aware of grain of fabric.  There's a Crosswise grain and a lengthwise grain.  Lengthwise grain doesn't stretch if you tug gently.  Crosswise grain does stretch.  So, if you are going to make it larger, make sure you sew lengthwise to lengthwise or crosswise to crosswise so that the stretch is the same across the entire piece.

I don't know what I was trying to tell you in this picture.  We'll just go with...PEACE!

I was probably trying to say that you have to line up two sides of the blanket to make that flap in the corner because you are going to sew a 45 degree angle on that flap then cut off the rest.  It's quite adventurous to chop a flap of fabric...it's thrilling really...because what if you cut wrong?!?!  OHHHHH the horror!

See, you draw on your line, then pin the fabric together so you don't get shifting and then...

That's right.  CHOP!  Better pray you had your angle correct!  Cause that piece of fabric ain't coming back.

Here it is in all it's glory.  You can see that you have the two fabrics with the larger of the two coming around from the back and making a cute border for the front.  My Youngest helped me choose the kitty cat fabric.  Choose something VERY VERY soft.

The two individual pieces of fabric can come apart in the wash, so I sew lines through the middle.  This one I went from corner to corner, across the middle and down the middle in the shape of a giant asterisk.  I think it turned out good.

My cute back fabric.


Thanks for reading!

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Feather's Flights

Heather

Get your mending on

My brother-in-law told me recently that even though I have girls, they play like boys.  It's true.  My daughters are the rough-housing, chase the dog around the house, wrestle things to the ground and crawl around like whatever animal they are playing today, kind of girls.  Quite often this involves shimmying around on their hands and knees...and wearing out the knees in their pants.  I am not completely opposed to my kids wearing holey jeans...I'm frugal...but it isn't my favorite either to have them running around like a bunch of ragamuffins.  So....patch time.  But not just any patches...oh no...we're giving their jeans an all new style.

That would be the pile of pants needing mending in my house...

So, you start with a rip.  Turn the article of clothing inside out.

Cut out a piece of fabric that extends past the rip a good inch on all sides.  Pin it in place.  It is probably a good choice to use a piece of fabric that has been pre-washed.  I know this is difficult as I rarely pre-wash my fabric before using it and so therefore rarely have scraps that have been pre-washed.  This is a piece of old sheeting that I am using to make my Valentine's quilt.  So, I actually did use pre-washed in this case.  I wouldn't say it was a complete necessity, but fabric does shrink a bit...so be forewarned.

Turn pants right-side-out now.  First step is to make a blanket stitch around the rip. I used 4 strands of regular embroidery thread. You can either use a contrasting color of thread or try and match it to the pants.  You can also choose to trim away the raggedy ends or as I did here, tack them down with some simple running stitches.

Using a running stitch, circle around and around the patch to help reinforce the weakened fabric..plus it looks cute.  When you are finished with your stitches, turn the garment inside out again and trim away the excess fabric.  I would say leave approximately 1/4" of fabric around your stitching.

Here's a sort of up close so you could see the stitches in the middle.  Obviously pale yellow thread doesn't really show up that great.  Oh well.

Here is an example of a patch that I decided I didn't like.  So I unpicked the red running stitches.  If you're not loving something...change it.

I mended leggings.  Gave these ones some cute little embroidered flowers using the daisy stitch.

Remember the one above that I didn't like...this is what I changed it too.  I used a lighter shade of embroidery floss for the running stitches than the blanket stitch around the rip and gave this one some flowers as well.  So cute!

Here's an example of matching my thread to the color of pants.  So, you don't see my stitches much, but the pattern on the patch fabric comes through.  Both my girls are thrilled with their "new" pants...and I'm thrilled that I am not buying new pants half-way through the school year.

Thanks for reading!!

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Heather