A quilt for my nephew

Last Sunday my new nephew was born!  I’m so very excited!  I live over 800 miles away from my family, so when a new baby is born I have to wait until our Christmas or summer vacation to see the new addition.  But, a few years ago we were lucky enough to have my husband’s brother and his family move in to our neighborhood.  And since then, we have welcomed two new nephews! 

The newest addition surprised us all by coming a month early, which meant I had to do some speedy sewing to get his little quilt finished.

I used two charm packs from the ‘Ten Little Things” line.  The fabric is so bright and colorful, I decided to keep the pattern simple and just sew the squares together. 

I thought big loopy quilting went best with the fabrics.   It’s fun and playful.

And of course, I had to go with the striped binding…..

Since we are a household of many girls, my only son is thrilled to welcome another boy cousin into the family!

Stormy

My own Minky blanket

After making all these baby blankets, I decided I wanted a soft cuddly blanket of my own.  I found a fabric I loved, added minky for the back and a polka dot binding.  The result – my very own cuddle blanket.  Well almost, my kids tend to steal it from me when I’m not looking.

It’s super simple and only took two days.  One day to quilt it, one day to trim and bind it.

Because I live where it is very warm, I wanted to keep it lightweight.  So, I didn’t use any batting, just the cotton top and minky back.

I use it everyday.  Everyone should have one.   Hmmm. I’m thinking Christmas??

Stormy

School time!

I can’t believe summer is already over!  We have done so much during the summer, the time just flew by…….  The older kids are gone and my youngest is on a play date. So, here I sit all alone.  Wow.  It’s been awhile. 

My two teenagers.   It makes me sad to see how much they have grown up from this time last year.  It’s amazing how day by day can pass so slowly, but the years fly on by.

This is the last year my third daughter will be in elementary school.  Sigh.  Next year little brother becomes big brother when my youngest starts kindergarten.  What am I going to do with myself?

Probably sew.  A lot.

Stormy

A few summer projects

I haven’t been doing much, but my sewing machine has seen a little bit of action in the last few weeks.  My oldest daughter wanted a new purse, so while we were in Utah I picked up some fabric she loved.  (It had to be purple with writing.)  I couldn’t find exactly what she wanted, but I came close.

I used the pattern “Nan’s Bag” as requested by my daughter because she loves the tie at the top, the magnetic closure, and all the pockets inside.  (Three on one side and one on the other.)

It’s pretty simple, but she loves it.  Yeah! (Picking out something for a picky teenage girl that she actually likes is a little hard to accomplish.)

Next up is yet another self binding baby blanket.  I know, this is my third one in as many months, but they are so easy to make and turn out soooo very cute and cuddly.

I didn’t take a whole blanket picture, just a close up of the cute nursery rhyme toile fabric.  I bought it years and years ago for my youngest daughter and never used it.  Oh well. It’ll make the perfect present for another beautiful, baby girl.

Now, I’m off to start on my next two projects.  A jelly bean print skirt and a big minky blanket just for me! 

Stormy

The coolest lightning storm…

Here in Texas, most of our rain comes during monsoon season in July and August.  This year has been an especially cool season with lots and lots of rain and thunderstorms. (Almost every night!)  I took this picture two nights ago from the balcony on the back of my house. 

I LOVE summer thunderstorms so very much…..

Stormy

Another baptism quilt

We have been gone/going (crazy) for awhile.  It took us a week to get ready to go on vacation.  Then two and a half fun filled, busy, crazy weeks in Utah. Then another week and a half to come home and get adjusted to real life again. Hence, the really long sewing break. 

But, yesterday I got in my sewing groove again and quilted an entire quilt, added binding and cut another half of a quilt out.  Yeah!  My little boy (not so little anymore) was baptized with his cousin while we were in Utah.  And, I make each of my kids a quilt as a present to help them celebrate their wonderful decision.  Since, I just finished making him a pirate quilt a few months ago, I wanted to go with fabrics that were a little more grown up, but an eight year old would love.  Hence the skateboarding and mountain biking fabric…..

I used a simple “Turning Twenty” pattern to show off the bigger print fabrics.  The piecing took one afternoon.  Super easy.

The backing fabric is every bit as exciting as the front and as an added bonus, I quilted fun words that describe my little monkey into the quilt.  Like: awesome, hiking, football, crazy, cool, fishing….. you get the idea.

I think he likes it!

Stormy

Summer Purse

Every year I think I’m going to get lots of sewing done in the summer because the older kids are around to help with the younger kids.  Hah!  One day I’ll learn….  Anyway, while my oldest two girls were away at camp this week, I did get a little bit of sewing done during ‘movie time’.

I made a couple of these cute little purses using the Pick a Pocket Purse pattern (say that 10 times fast) found over at AllPeopleQuilt.com. They were super easy to make and turned out pretty cute.  The only change I made was to add some thick interfacing to the straps to make them a little more stiff. 

I’m just loving these one day projects!

Stormy