Wednesday, January 10, 2018

One Up

My daughter's kindergarten teacher loves Super Mario. She wore a gray hat with this green one up mushroom on the playground all last year. I really wanted to make something for her for the last day of school, so I thought something Mario related would be perfect.

I did a little hunting and found exactly what I wanted on Pinterest. (I tried to post the link to the original post but it no longer exists...)


After fiddling with the math, I figured out that I could make my life so much easer by cutting out strips of fabric instead of individual squares. So that's what I did. Each square is equal to 1" so it translated perfectly. 4 squares = 4" + .5" seam allowance so it was 4.5" cut. Etc. etc.

The hardest part was just making sure you iron the right direction so your seams nest and you get those crisp lines.

All the fabric is from the Waverly line at...shhh...Walmart. They have a suprising range of solids and I  actually think the quality is great! Don't tell anyone I get fabric at Walmart. 

I quilted it very simply (in the ditch around each color so as not to take away from the design). Finished it with an easy envelope backing. 

Her teacher loved it. She literally shrieked when she saw it. And we love her. I love making homemade gifts for people who really appreciate it. 

Tuesday, January 2, 2018

Garland Tree Skirt

I love this tree skirt so much. I hesitated giving it away. 

I found the pattern for this in a Missouri Quilt Company book my aunt gifted me a while ago. It came together super fast and was really straight forward. I would say it's a good beginner-ish project. The binding was the most tedious part (12 corners to turn!)

This fabric is super funky. I couldn't find any charms, so I just ordered fat eighths and cut them myself. I love the 70's vibe. You kind of have to love how crazy it is. I think it's fun for little kids. (We don't do formal at my house)

 Bias binding. I could not find red striped so I went with green and I actually like the contrast. 

 I die over those little reindeer. Definitely my favorite print. I haven't done star quilting in ages. It was fun to try again.

The back is a dainty red and green print. I guess it could be reversible if you really wanted it to be.

 It was nice to be back at my sewing machine again. I haven't had a ton of time with a newborn in the house.

Goal for 2018: more quilting!