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. 

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!

Ride Em Cowboy

If this quilt had a twin, this would be it. With a new baby and the adjustment that comes with it, I haven't had much time for quilting lately. But I was in the mood and decided to whip out this one in a couple of days. 

I made this for a friend who is expecting her first baby boy. I wasn't planning on doing anything for her baby shower because I was going to be out of town. But this pattern comes together so quickly and I had all the fabric on hand. I just had to.

I’ve been saving this fabric in case we had a boy. That ship sailed so I thought I might as well send it to a good home.

 Simple straight line quilting in charcoal gray. 

 I love this stripe. I snagged it on sale from fabric.com and I'm so glad I did. I have tons.

I wasn't at the party to see her open it, but I hope she liked it. 

Gingham Baby

I can't take credit for this quilt. It's basically an exact replica of one I saw on Cluck Cluck Sew over a year ago. I received an invitation for a baby shower about 10 days in advance, so I thought it would be fun to whip out a simple baby quilt for the sweetest first time mom. And I had every piece of fabric on hand, including binding, so I had to do it.

Baby quilts are so satisfying. I think I had this one done, start to finish, in two days. PS, I'm listening to Les Miserables on audiobook while I sew. I'm loving it. Even though it's sooooo long. I'm 42 hours into it so far.

 I was going to try something less girly for the back, but I couldn't help myself with those hearts. 

 I love those little cats and pandas. 

Girls are so easy to quilt for.

Striped machine binding. Again. I'm getting better at binding, using the Elmer's glue method. It's so quick and clean. 

This makes me excited to get going on my baby girl's quilt! Less than three months until my due date and I haven't started a thing. Must be the third child. 

Witchy Way

This baby has been in the works for at least a year. I found a pattern for bird houses in this book, so I just used the idea and made it wonky. I pushed and finished it for the county fair in September. 

It ended up winning judges' choice, which was a shock. I guess they liked the cute witches. I preferred the other quilt I entered, but I'll take it! It's always fun entering.

 Those sugar skulls are so awesome. Love them. And I found them at Walmart, believe it or not.

 Steve likes it.

I debated and debated on the quilting. I ended up throwing it back and doing some swirly stars. I thought it fit the Halloween theme. 

 This might be my favorite block. 

I just don't get it when people say they hate Halloween. I mean, look at that face.

Candy Corn

Our little county fair was a few weeks ago. I decided to enter this so last minute. As in, it was in my mind on Thursday and I finished binding it on Tuesday (not sewing on Sunday, of course). I thought another triangle quilt would be fun, but I did some color play with this one. I love how it turned out.  

I used a ton of halloween prints. I like the vintage stuff more than the cutesy stuff. 

My little local quilt shop had these panels and I couldn't say no! I love the back so much. 

That skeleton is my favorite. 

I was stressing about the binding. I really wanted an orange stripe. I even made a special trip to the store to look, but no luck. One day I was organizing my sewing room and I came across tons of this striped binding. I forgot I made like 80 yards of it ages ago. It was like the quilting gods smiling on me and plopping it into my lap. It totally makes the quilt. 

I mailed this one to my sister, who is equally obsessed as I am with Halloween. One year she dressed up as a taxidermic mounted moose head and took her kids trick-or-treating.

I could only gift it to someone who loves Halloween as much as I do. Glad it went to a good home. 

Gnome for Christmas

I went to unpack my Christmas decorations this year, and I found this! I totally forgot I finished it this summer and packed it away.

This is the very popular Scrappy Trip Around the World block. I started these blocks almost three years ago (!) and I finally forced myself to finish this summer so I could enter it into my local county fair. It looks so much harder than it really is. I would highly recommend it. It's a fun way to change things up.

I ordered this Michael Miller fabric special for the back. I planned on the direction of the print running the opposite way, so I ended up having to line up the pattern and piecing it the best I could. I love it. 

(You can see on the very edge of this picture that the little elf is pieced.)

I love this figure 8 quilting. Something new and fun. 

The judges' best comment was on my binding: "Best binding we've seen all day!" That's a huge complement, especially remembering what a hot mess my binding used to be. 

I love snuggling under it by the Christmas tree.