Rag Quilt for Kat

My Kat was turning 7 so I made her a blanket for her birthday.
There were three reasons for this:
1) I realized I had never made her a blanket,
2) she was seriously outgrowing her little Disney Princess blanket, and
3) I had all this cute fabric I had found at a garage sale last summer (it was even pre-cut!)
Isn’t it cute?  It’s called Free Spirit and cost me $4.
For the backside I simply used fleece – just wanted something soft for her to snuggle up with!  The pink came from scraps that my friend Shirley had given me.  I was able to cut 24 squares from it.  I bought the yellow from Walmart for $12 and . . . love this part –  after I had cut out the 72 squares that I needed, I had exactly none left!!!  Don’t you just love it when things work out perfectly!
I bought three fat quarters – needed a little more fabric, and raided my stash for a little bit more.  So this whole project cost me just over $20 – how awesome is that!!!
Let me mention here that my guy strongly dislikes all this fabric – the colours and the patterns.  I’d show him things and gush over how cute it was and he’d just roll his eyes and say things like “Looks like the 60’s”, or “Our house is in earth tones, why are you doing this?”  He was a little better once he realized it was for Kat’s room – he thought it was going in the living room!
My squares were 6 1/4 inch and I had 96 of them.  12 rows with 8 in each row.
I arranged them all on the floor to make sure the colours and patterns were evenly spaced apart.  This photo was very handy to refer back to once I started sewing – just to make sure I was putting things in the right places.
Let me mention that Kat got very good at averting her eyes whenever she would come into the room and see me working on her quilt.  With her being home-schooled, she’s always here, so there was no way I could keep it a secret from her.  So while she did see bits and pieces of the production (even picked her Top 10 favourite squares!) she never did see the completed quilt til her birthday.
Before the sewing began though, I had to create my little sewing oasis.  I put this desk in the closet in the office.  During construction I had a light and outlet installed in this non-closet closet just for this purpose.  Now all I need are some shelves on the walls.
It’s sew nice to be able to have a spot where the sewing machine does not have to be put away!  (sorry, couldn’t resist the pun!)
That paper and pencil was the little pattern I made of how to space my pink squares evenly throughout the yellow.  How would you mix 24 pink among 72 yellow?  I’ll show you how I did it in a minute!
This is the easiest quilt ever – which is why I make it!
After cutting out all your fabric, just sew a top piece to a bottom piece by sewing an X through it.  If you want it thicker you could put some batting between the layers (like a sandwich).  But cut your batting a little smaller than these squares so the edges don’t show in the rag part – unless you want them to!
I just eyeballed my lines, going from one corner to another – and didn’t even need to worry about backstitching.
Do a continuous strip from one square to the next – no stopping or backstitching needed.
Then you’ll get a nice a long strip (thanks for holding it Jen!).  I cut these apart and then sewed them again, doing the other side of the X.  Then I cut them apart again and now had a nice pile of 8 squares that needed to be sewn into a strip.  Be sure to keep them in the right order – I referred to my picture a few times!
I forgot to take pictures of the next part.  I sewed my 8 squares together (5/8 seam allowance) into one long piece – with all the raw edges showing on the top side (totally opposite of what you usually do!).  Don’t forget to backstitch for this part – you need to secure these seams!
Then sew your strips of 8 to each other (that photo came in really handy here to make sure I wasn’t sewing anything backwards!).
When it’s all sewed together, put on a good movie and start clipping all your edges – be sure not to clip any of your stitching!!!  That would be bad.
This kind of quilt is great for novice sewers like me because if your squares don’t line up properly, no one can tell!  It only shows on the bottom side, which is fine because – it’s the bottom!
I only had time to wash and dry it once before her birthday – it’ll get shaggier with more washing.  I just used my own washer – it didn’t make too much of a mess because the fleece doesn’t really fray.  I shook it outside though until my arms were going to fall off to shake off excess threads.
The outside edge is simply stitched around (5/8) and then clipped as well.
Okay – I think it’s totally adorable!!!  Love all the colours.
Can you see my pattern with the pink/yellow fleece?
Here’s the back view.
I did three yellow between each pink, with staggered starts.  It looks like my corners matched up pretty well for the most part – phew!!!
And what did the birthday girl think of her new quilt . . .
. . . well, she was hugging it before she even opened it up to see how it looked.  She was actually very excited about it – which was nice for me because, face it, a blanket isn’t the most exciting thing for a seven year old to get on their birthday!
And as for my guy . . .
. . . he tolerated the colours and patterns to have a snuggle with Kat for a birthday picture.
There she is in bed – g’night Kat!
Isn’t it fun to make things for your family?  Although, my oldest daughter will soon be Maid of Honour for one of her friends and needs to sew a dress – eek!!!  That’s a little out of my league!  Hope she does a good job!  She’ll be calling gramma for advice.
Back to the rag quilt, the size I made fits the top of a twin size mattress – doesn’t hang much over the edges.  She’s on a top bunk so we didn’t need edge hanging, but if you’re copying my sizes, you might need to add some extra rows.
Signature Overlay 1

 

Cards for All Occasions

Every once in a while, I go on a little card-making spree.  I mass produce about a dozen cards that I store away to use for whatever occasion arises.  These ones were super easy because it was only stamping – no extra papers or layers or bling.
This Stampin’ Up flower set is called Paint Prints, and the word set is called Sincere Salutations.  I’ve used these two stamp sets way more than anything else I have.
So it just required some quick stamping (because I was going to a wedding reception soon) and a punched tag that I attached with a brad fastener.  I stamped a few Best Wishes cards because I seem to need more wedding cards than anything else.  But the rest are blank so I can easily stamp them with whatever message I need.
And just for variety, I did two different colour combinations!
It always feels good to know that I have a little stash of cards tucked away in a drawer . . . just waiting for the next occasion!
Signature Overlay 1

 

 

Magnetic Family Picture Frame

I love this family magnetic frame, but it needed an update.
For one thing, see the part of the star that’s bent and lost its paint?(Thanks to our dog who got under the bed to eat all the chocolate that was all ready to go in everyone’s Christmas stockings.  In her chocolate frenzy she broke the star that Santa was so thoughtfully planning for my stocking.  And yes, the dog lived.)
So first I spray painted the star and sanded the edges so some of the beige could show through.
Then I glued some black buttons onto my plain magnets.
Better, but still needing something.
(Isn’t that a great picture?  It’s in our new back yard, just days before we broke ground to build our house.)
That’s what it needed – scrapbook paper for the background!
Mac came by and we had to go through the lineup of who everyone was.Much better!  Family loves you for who you are.
Signature Overlay 1

 

 

Pencil Caddy Makeover

I’ve had this pencil caddy for years – think I got it for about a quarter at our band garage sale.  It quietly sits there on the ledge above my computer, never complaining, just doing it’s job, and getting all dusty (yes, that is indeed dust!)
But it’s not very pretty is it?
Actually, when I first got it it had all these stickers along its sides and ends.  So you see that I was thinking about doing something to it, just hadn’t gotten around to it yet.
But then . . .  I follow this crafting group called . . .
Their project for this month is toolbox/caddy type things.  So after seeing all these other cute ideas, it gave me inspiration to give my little green pencil caddy a long overdue makeover.
Check it out here.
The first step was to sand it down.  Alas, where is a sander?  When you’re living in transition you don’t always have what you need nearby.  My guy kindly brought me home a Black & Decker sander which really gets the job done, but my hands felt like they were about ready to fall off!!!
I didn’t get rid of all the colour because that would have been pretty much impossible!  But I sure smoothed it down and got rid of all the sticker glue residue.  It looked so much better already – why didn’t I at least do this much years ago?
Then I painted it – just with a craft paint called Tan (how original!).  It took two coats to completely cover the green.  On the inside I only painted the very top edge, for two reasons actually:  1) the pencils don’t care what colour the inside is, and 2) I’m too lazy!
Then I sanded it again.  Some of the green still showed through but I really liked the way that looked – phew!!!
Then I stained it with a Minwax wood finish stain called Provincial.  I always love this step – the way the stain makes it look and feel so good (but not smell so good!)
Then I antiqued it – another favourite step of mine.  Next picture shows the only tube I’ve ever used to antique and it works great.  I put a small dollop on the newspaper and then rub a smidgen into my rag and then rub it on, lightly at first, where I want it to look aged.  (See my rubbings on the newspaper?)
Burnt Umber – you can see the tube is hardly dented – you use such a little bit.
Then I wanted to cover up the handle because honestly, I don’t really like the handle!
The thought came to me to wrap it!!!  I wanted to use a hemp type twine but all I had on hand was this string.  I don’t have time to run to town for things.  So I got this much done and realized that I didn’t like it so I pulled it off.  Now what to do?
I decided to wrap it in fabric.  The piece on the right is the one I used – sorry the colours aren’t showing up too well.  That worked out much better – and now the handle matches . . .
. . . one of the little fabric flowers I made to decorate the front.  They are just made from a long strip of fabric rolled up and glued once in a while.  The green leaves blend with the original green paint peeking through.
And it’s finished!!!  And I’m lovin’ it!!!
Jen purged our pen/pencil collection – isn’t it amazing how many pens we keep that don’t work?  Or is that just me?
So little pencil caddy is now back at work and doing a marvellous job!!!
Now, I look up from the computer and see something so much cuter – yay!!!  Maybe it won’t even be a pencil caddy in my new house.  Wouldn’t it look cute in the bathroom with wash clothes in the slots? and greenery around it? or in it?
And always the perfectionist, I’m still looking at it wondering what else I could do to make it even better.  I think I’m gonna tie some fabric on each each end of the handle – just short and knotted.  It’ll hide the ends better.  I think after that it will be about perfect!!!

Twig Vase

Daisies are the best!!!  I’ve always loved them, so when I saw these cute daisies at Walmart, they literally jumped into my shopping cart!  I bought 3 of them at $1 each, but I think I want to go and get a few more, because they’re nice – they look real!  I want a bigger cluster in my vase.
Now the job was to find the perfect thing to put them in.
I wanted a natural looking vase to house my daisies.  So my mind started wandering to what I’ve seen around lately.  Since the snow melted, the backyard has been loaded with little twigs from the winds of autumn, winter and spring. I’ve had my girls gather them into piles, and they play “camping” in the yard with their “campfire”.
Anyway, I have a birthday coming up and I told Kat that I had got her a present that she could give me for my birthday, but first she had to help me make it.  She was all excited about this, and so was I, because it meant I could stay inside while she went out and brought me in some twigs!!!
Perfect!  Thanks Kat, now go and play while I play with the sticks!!!
There’s my $2 dollar store vase that will soon be covered in twigs.  I just broke the twigs to approximately the right height.  If they were thick twigs, I scored them with scissors first where I wanted the break to be, and then snapped them easily.
I used my hot glue gun to glue the thicker twigs on first – and I only burned my thumb twice (both times in the same spot of course!).
Then I filled in the gaps with the smaller twigs.  I kept going around the vase until all the glass was covered.
I saved a few skinny forked twigs to put between my daisy stems.  Then in went the daisies!  Now it just needed a ribbon tied around the twigs to finish it off – and help hold any loose twigs in place!  Went to my ribbon stash and decided on this sagey green coloured one.
And there we have it – didn’t Kat do a fabulous job on my birthday gift!!!
Ahh, beautiful daisies – they always make me smile!!!  As Meg Ryan said in “You’ve Got Mail”, “Daisies are the friendliest flower.  Don’t you think daisies are the friendliest flower?”
(And my family knows that when I pass away, I want a casket spray full of daisies – with eight red roses among them to represent my guy and my seven daughters!!! lol)

Countdown Blocks

We made Countdown Blocks a few years ago at a Super Saturday.  I decided that I wanted to be able to display my blocks year-round, and not just for Christmas.  So I used non-themed paper.  My kids like to countdown to lots of things, like school starting and ending, birthdays, all holidays, gramma and grampa coming home from their mission, and so on.
So, what’s in 11 days?
My birthday!!!  The big 42 is creeping up in May!
These blocks are just mod podged paper and die cut numbers/letters on wooden blocks.  The base is a 2×4.  Pretty easy!  And actually, a third block would be handy just to have extra numbers for counting down from high numbers.  For example, I can’t make the numbers 33-35, but I can make 36-39.  Just something to think about if you wanted to make some!
And what is coming up in 13 days?
Why, Mothers’ Day of course!!!

Napkin Holder

I made myself an apple napkin holder quite a few years back – it’s just two pieces of wood cut the same, with another small rectangular piece nailed between – you can see the three nail holes at the base of the apple.
It’s a very handy apple to have around – just holding those napkins for whenever you need them.
But alas, the red apple just didn’t look right in my new house.  I was still using it because I still needed napkins, but it was bugging me!
Until one day, I had a light bulb moment!  I realized that apples can be green too!  And since I originally painted the red one, I could repaint it green!And so I did!
Did a little sanding of the edges to shabby it up a little.
And then rubbed on some Burnt Umber Oil Paint to antique it a little.
And there it is – a very useful apple in colours that work with my kitchen (or at least it will someday when my kitchen is finished!).
I love giving things a new look!

 

Beautifying a Wooden Crate

I found this wooden crate at a thrift store quite a few months ago, and it’s been sitting in my bathtub waiting for me to do something with it.  (Yes, the bathtub!  You know, the jetted tub that you want to use but don’t have time for.  And since I don’t have any closets or shelves anywhere yet, the bathtub seems like a pretty good storage spot!)

First step was painting it inside and out.  I was lucky enough to have leftover paint from my laundry room (Grey Evening by Behr).
Now my plan for this crate was to sit in the living room and look pretty, while serving the very important duty of holding our scriptures.  So when we all gather in the morning for family scripture study, our books are right there!  Brilliant!!!
Since it was going to always be in plain sight, I wanted to put a special message on the side of the crate.  I chose our family motto which comes from Mosiah 4:15  “Love one another and serve one another.”
I used the carbon paper method to get the letters on the crate.  Print the words you want, put a piece of carbon paper between the crate and your paper and then trace the letters.   Then comes the fun part of hand painting the letters.  Use a fine tip brush and have a steady hand!  Oh, and I lightly sanded first before tracing the letters.
I wanted my message to be visible, but not overpowering, which is why I used a light paint colour.  Using a sanding sponge I sanded the rest of the crate, being sure to let wood show through on the edges.  Then I went and hid out in the mechanical room and stained the whole thing (garage was too cold and I didn’t want to stink up the house with the delightful smell of stain).  I used Minwax Dark Walnut because that’s what I had on hand.  I would stain one side and then rub it off – didn’t want it getting too dark.
Recently I did something I’d never done before . . . bought coffee filters!  Apparently they’re a pretty handy crafting material.  My seven year old thought they were large muffin wrappers!  So I played around making flowers today in home school while doing math with her.
And this is what I ended up with . . .

Close up of burlap bow, coffee filter flowers and babies breath.

I glued a strip of burlap all around the crate.  I used a glue gun to quickly hold the burlap in place and then craft glue to secure it all over.  This burlap has a wide weave so it frays easily and it has too many holes to deal with hot wax!  (I know what you’re wondering, and yes, I burned my fingers!)
  I made the dark shadows (or antiquing) by rubbing Burnt Umber oil paint in strategic places.  It’s one of my favourite ways to distress things.
Lacie’s pretty impressed! (the dog)
This is the backside – with just a cute little strip of burlap all the way around.
This is where it goes, and there’s four of my girls in the background playing “Sorry” (no my two-year can’t actually play “Sorry”, which makes me wonder how she managed to win!).
Just think what the world would be like it everyone lived by this creed.  I can’t teach the world, but I can teach my family!
There it sits, doing its job holding our scriptures and quietly sending out a marvellous message.  Sure loving my crate!

All-Season Frame

Having a craft hanging around that works for all seasons is a great plan!
I made this one at Shauna’s craft class and my daughter made the blue one.  I stenciled some words onto mine, inspired by something similar I’d seen in a Country Sampler magazine a few years back.
You can get these wooden frames and insert pieces from Micheals.
Anyway, to make an all-season frame, I decided to attach my snowflake with velcro.
Then I chose a few other shapes to use for the rest of the year.  The flower covers spring and summer.  Simply attach a piece of velcro to each backside.  I suggest doing the snowflake first as it’s the most awkward shape to fit.

I especially love it when it’s time to take out the snowflake and insert the flower! Oh happy day, the long winter is over!

Isn’t that just so “happy”?
After painting these inserts, I sanded them and etched them with a blade before staining them.
And Autumn is pretty cute too – this one always seems to be on display for the shortest amount of time.
The biggest problem with this craft is remembering where I stored the out-of-season pieces.  If I was smart, I’d velcro them to the back of the frame!

Love/Home/Joy Blocks

I made these LOVE blocks a few years ago, but I only unpacked them last week – just in time for Valentine’s Day!  They’d been boxed up for almost two years as we lived in transition while building our new home.  I was serving in Relief Society at the time and we actually ended up making these at our RS Super Saturday.
They’re very easy – the hardest part was choosing the paper (it always is!).  My blocks are 3 1/2″ squares, but you can make them any size you want.  Once you have your blocks, paint or stain them if you desire.  Then it’s simply mod podging the paper on, and then the letters and words, and adding any embellishments.  I don’t have any fancy machines to cut out letters for me, so I simply printed letters from the computer and cut them out – yup, by hand, with an exacto knife!
 “Where love is, there God is also.”
Because they’re blocks, they stack nicely lots of different ways, depending on what works best in your space.
On the other side of my LOVE blocks are . . .. . . my HOME blocks.
It’s so nice to be able to easily reverse something when it’s time for a new look!
“Where they love you most.”
Okay – I look at these now and cringe!  I’ve gotten so much better at mod podging now – I never get bumps and bulges like that any more.  Just might need to redo these (although they look worse here than in real life – must be the flash!).  I used way too much mod podge for thin paper, and probably didn’t wait for it to dry completely between layers.  And now I love the finished look you get when you press a piece of fabric over your top layer of wet mod podge and immediately pull if off again.  Makes it look rather like canvas!
I also made a set of JOY blocks.“Find Joy in the journey.”
I have Joy decorations for Christmas, but I wanted something that could be out year round to remind me about JOY.  I painted these blocks black before adding the paper – matches the letters nicely.
The paper was fancy enough that I didn’t think it needed any other embellishments.
And I know you’re wondering about that fabulous background – it’s the black paper and wire mesh that will someday be hidden inside our beautiful stone fireplace!