Amuck, Amuck, Amuck

The past couple of weeks have been spent sewing a very different kind of project. For one, it was something for myself! I actually started this project last September. It got put in a box and forgotten about until this September. But what can I say . . . it's all just a bunch of hocus pocus!

To me, Disney's Hocus Pocus is Halloween! I cannot get through October without watching it a few times over. So when my Dolls and Daydreams pattern group announced a Halloween themed sew along this month I knew I had to finish the dolls I had dreamt up last year. Winifred's face was the only thing I had gotten through last year. So I pulled out her face and got to work. 

She proved to be a bit of a challenge as I had to create her jacket from scratch. But I was surprised to get it right on my first try. Mary came together a lot easier. 

The hardest part of Mary was just pushing out the point at the top of her hair as I turned her right side out. Hehe. Sarah was the biggest challenge of all the sisters though, due to her wavy blonde hair and her seemingly pieced together clothing.

I had to create Sarah with a boy cut and sew her hair on strand by strand after she was completed. This way I was able to give her a full head of hair without it getting caught in any seams. I also tried to capture the look of her skirt by creating a purple satin bustle and adding a slit to the front.

As you can probably tell, all of the capes and the coat are removable.

These were a lot of fun to create and were a nice smaller scale project to get me in the mood for costume creating. They will also make a wonderful play set for my daughter once she is old enough to enjoy the movie! In the meantime, they will make a great Halloween decoration.

I am off to design some Halloween costumes! Until next time . . . happy fall and happy sewing!

A Very Special Blackhawks Quilt

My baby boy had yet another birthday last week . . . I guess he really isn't even a baby boy anymore. I cannot even explain how much I am loving the person he is becoming. My favorite moment before his birthday was when he turned to me and said, "I really want you to make me a quilt for my birthday". That was all this sewing momma needed to hear . . . what better words of appreciation could there be. And he was very specific in what he wanted. It had to "go from here to here", he said as he pointed from our dining room table to the back of our couch. It had to have a "giant blackhawk head" and it had to have lots of red. Unfortunately, I am a procrastinator and my project began 7 days prior to the due date. 

I began with a center square of about 3 feet by 3 feet and a full roll of wonder under. The applique Hawks head would prove to be the most time consuming bit of the whole quilt. I worked from sun up to sun down every day . . . so please excuse the less than perfect progress pics. 

I knew I was on the right track though when I could see the jealousy growing in my husband's eyes. I think I am going to have to make another version in the near future. 

It took me a full 3 days to get the center block completed.

But I would say it was well worth every hour. I kept the rest of the quilt design very simple. No small piecing . . . I knew I had to crank this out. 

Again, excuse the poor lighting . . . photos were taken at the end of my night each night. The quilting took 2 days despite me keeping it simple. I stuck with echo quilting around the Hawk head and some straight lines through out the jersey stripes. 

To the top and bottom red rectangles, I quilted in the words Chicago and Blackhawks. 

I was so worried that it would turn out looking like childish writing but in the end it looked great! Binding was put on 2 hours before my bedtime the night before his birthday. So I bound the quilt in a way I had never done before . . . using store bought binding! I have to say, I could get spoiled by such a thing.

And yes, the backing is a super soft red minky. My only issue with minky on such large quilts is the inevitable slipping of fabric. Unfortunately due to my time constraints on this, I just couldn't go back and unpick quilting to straighten up my few puckers. Luckily, none of them were too drastic and I don't think anyone but myself even notices. I had the quilt washed and ready to wrap the morning of the big day. 

And it was worth every second of work once I heard him squealing with delight as he opened his quilt that night.

Before bed that night he hugged me and said, "thank you for making me my quilt, mommy. It was my favorite present." 

And I know he was telling the truth because he has slept under it every night since! In the evenings he drags it into the living room and lays under it while we have some TV time. 

I think this is definitely my favorite quilt thus far (do I say that every time)?!

Until next time . . . happy sewing!

The Crib Quilt That Was The Greatest Adventure

My closest and most cherished friend is expecting her first baby and I was beyond honored that she entrusted me with the task of creating her baby's crib quilt. But what made it my greatest adventure? This quilt took me completely out of my comfort zone, and in the end I fell in love with the finished product. 

My friend sent me a large selection of fabrics that she liked and wanted as many prints and colors that we could get into the quilt. At first I was daunted by the task at hand but once all the fabrics arrived they fell into place. I spread them out on the floor and started grouping them and suddenly a whole pattern popped into my brain. 

As I stitched each piece together, and then each row, I found myself falling in love with every fabric and the quilt as a whole. Everything just started to work so well together.

The quilting lines also just came to me while looking at the pieced top. I knew I wanted the large rectangles to really stand out and I wanted the thin repeating strips to flow through the quilt. Some straight line quilting through the larger rows and wavy lines in the thin strips brought the whole quilt together.

I was so nervous and excited to gift this quilt and am so very pleased to report that my friend was very happy with it. I am hoping it will wrap her baby in all the love that we have for her family!

I couldn't just stop at one for my dearest friend so, I decided to make a small surprise for her husband to open as well. He is a huge Buffalo Bills fan but finding Bills goodies in our neck of the woods is not easy to do. So I created a small baby quilt for him.

I love appliqueing so this one was a lot of fun to put together. There is something so satisfying about creating images from fabric. I simply created the Bills logo on the top portion of the quilt and then wrote their name in white applique on the bottom portion.

Echo quilting was perfect for making the logo pop from the quilt.

Some basic straight line quilting finished off the bottom portion. I lined the back in a super soft minky fabric for a little bit of textured fun while doing tummy time on the floor.

I cannot believe I was able to finish these two quilts as quickly as I did but they were such a pleasure to stitch out. And I think I will have to take more adventures with lots of prints in the near future! 

Until next time . . . happy sewing!

Monkeying Around In July

Is it really August already?! This year is slipping through my fingers faster than I thought it would. I would normally complain that the kids are keeping me from work but I actually have been enjoying them thoroughly this summer. We have been soaking up good weather and just having fun together. But do not think that we are spending all of our time monkeying around . . . I have still been working. It just so happens that I was working on a special monkey gift set this past month.

This is my favorite way to work on quilts. I love the generic requests that allow me to really get creative and play! This one was so simple; pink, purple and monkeys. And I really got creative with my free motion quilting this time. 

I created a flower design on the main block and used scallops and waves through out the rest of the quilt. 

To go with this one I made a few goodies. For one, I had to follow the only guidelines I was given; pink, purple and MONKEYS! I never found monkey fabric that struck me but I decided to make a monkey as an accessory to the quilt. 

The monkey pattern from DIY Fluffies was the perfect choice. A little more complicated than my usual stuffie sews . . . suffice it to say there was a monkey before her that just didn't make the cut. 

I topped her off with a matching bow, skirt, and tutu so she would be the perfect compliment to the quilt.

Finally, I completed the set by playing with my newest toys and creating two onesies. 

Not going to lie, the necklace one is my favorite! I may have to make a shirt for my daughter now. 

I am very happy with how this gift set turned out. One of my favorite to work on thus far! 

Until next time . . . happy sewing!

Dog Days of Summer: Another Special Graduation Quilt

My youngest brother graduated from high school last month and I made him a quilt to take to college at Northern Illinois University. To keep the quilt feeling more masculine I kept a simple design with a large focal point. I also made it a twin x-long to fit a dorm bed, which meant I had to clear our living room of all furniture to baste it (please excuse the mess . . . my kids have been busy making memories).

My brother loves their husky logo so I made a 36 inch by 36 inch appliqued block for the center. I also added 2 squares on opposite corners of the block with some paw print appliques just to add some more visual interest.

I did echo quilting around the husky to really make him stand out in the center.

The gray border has simple straight line quilting with just a hint of free motion thrown in on the paw print applique blocks. 

I did some diagonal lines on the red border and some more straight lines on the white and black lines at the top and bottom of the quilt. The finishing touch was some free motion quilting on the licensed Northern Illinois fabric.

The back of the quilt was done using a pieced backing of gray and black. I also added some applique squares that were cut from my son's custom t-shirts that he would wear to my brother's high school football games over the last 3 years. 

I also added a little note to the quilt back.

I am so happy with the way this quilt turned out! It is the first quilt I have worked on in a long time where I actually thoroughly enjoyed every step of the process. Every thing turned out better than I had even pictured in my mind. Hopefully this will get me back into the swing of quilting more regularly.

I hope this quilt will give my brother warm memories of home while he is away at school! Until next time . . . happy sewing!