The Picnic Quilt

I finished a quilt! I'm calling this one the picnic quilt because that's what it reminds me of with the gingham patchwork and dandelion print backing. This quilt was intended to be sold in my Etsy shop, but I love it too much and it now belongs to baby #2. That keeps happening for some reason....

If you're interested in this quilt I did put up a made to order option in my Etsy shop. Nora told me she wants a purple quilt for her birthday and Madison had the idea to remake this quilt in shades of purple, so that might be in our future. My "to quilt" list just keeps getting longer. I'm glad to finally have this one checked off the list!

A Blanket for Baby #2: Easiest Patchwork Baby Blanket

I finished by first project for baby #2. It is a simple patchwork blanket with a flannel backing. I made a bunch of these for Nora before she was born. They were the perfect size for tummy time, and I have so many pictures of her laying on these before she could crawl. 

I didn't make anything super girly for Nora, so I definitely wanted to sew msomething pink for the new baby. I used Ann Kelle Girlfriends in blue Mermaids and blue and pink dot remix, plus some old fabrics I had in my stash (which should make my husband happy). The finished size of the blanket is 36" x 36", which makes it a great little blanket to have on hand, as well as a quick project to finish.  

Supplies

1/3 yard of 6 different fabrics

1 yard backing fabric (I used flannel)

coordination thread

scissors

pins

cutting mat

acrylic ruler

rotary cutter

Step One: Cut your fabric to size. You will need 6 6.5" squares of each of your 6 fabrics, so 36 squares total.   

I chose my fabrics based off the Ann Kelle mermaids fabric. I pulled colors for that, and played with scale for each of my accent fabrics. The pink and blue polka dot fabrics are a medium scale, the scallop fabric (which I thought looked a little like scales) is a larger print, and the white on white dot, along with the yellow stripe are very small, subtle patterns. Varying scale in your design will help to prevent the entire piece from looking too visually cluttered. 

Step Two: Lay your squares out and decide on placement. To help my blanket feel "random" I made sure that the same fabric wasn't represented more than once in any given column or row, which is effectively not random at all. Patchwork is funny like that. 

Step Three: Forget to take any more pictures! I was in the zone. 

Step Four: Sew each row together with a 1/4 inch seam allowance. To keep from getting confused, it helps to have a photo of the finish layout so you can reference it as your are sewing. I chose to also write the row numbers on post it notes and pin them to the first square in each row. Iron your seam allowances flat.

Step Five: Once each row is complete, sew the rows to each other with a 1/4 inch seam allowance. I stared with row one, and sewed each consecutive row to the bottom. I know some people choose to sew two rows together, then combine them. Use which ever makes the most sense for you. Pay close attention to match seams. My seams are 100% matched up, but they are pretty close which is fine for me. Part of the beauty of handmade items is that it is not perfect, and you can tell that someone put time and effort into making it. Once all of your rows are together, iron the seams flat.

Step Six: Cut your backing fabric into a 36" x 36" square. Place your patchwork top over your backing fabric with right sides together. Pin all the way around, leaving a 6" opening on one side. 

Step Seven: Sew all the way around the blanket, skipping the 6" opening.

Step Eight: Turn the blanket inside out, pushing the corners out, and iron the sides flat. 

Step Nine: Top stitch 1/4 inch all the way around your blanket. This will enclose your opening. If you want to go to ensure that you closed your opening, go back and use a blind stitch to completely finish it off.

And you're done! 

This blanket is for the new baby, but since her crib is in pieces in our room I laid it out on Nora's new bed so you can see the finished product. 

I love the colors used in this blanket. It is definitely a girly blanket but its not overwhelmingly pink.

I chose to use a light blue flannel for the back of this blanket. It doesn't match completely, but it goes nicely with the colors and I had a left over piece that was just big enough for this project. Again, making the husband happy that I didn't buy something new. 

I showed Nora the blanket and she loved it!

So much so, that when I told her it wasn't for her she got really upset and started to cry. 

I was forced to pull the blanket that I made for her out of closet so she didn't think I was neglecting her. Poor baby. Luckily she liked hers just as much.

What do you think of this quick patchwork blanket? I think this makes a perfect gift for a new baby. Let me know if you try this out!

Black and White Triangle Quilt

I finished a project! I've been bit by the sewing bug lately and have been wanting to complete all of the projects I started last year. Also the ones I haven't started but bought fabric for... which is most of them.

I made this quilt with left over black and white Kona from Nora's quilt. I really like the graphic quality and scale of the design. I am still just starting to get into quilting so my inclination is to go for simple patterns, such as half square triangle designs, until I really get the hang of it.

For the backing, I used the same fabric as Nora's quilt, just in black and white. I wanted a gender neutral version but with the same feel. The quilting runs diagonally on the long sides of each triangle.

Nora didn't want to miss out on a photo-op, so she crashed me shoot. 

Then this happened and we were done with that! I have a lot of quilt designs that I want to try out, this is a really fun hobby and I'm glad that I decided to try it out.

I Made a Quilt!

When I was in college, I took a class that focused on all different kinds of hand sewing techniques. One of the things we studies was quilting. Ever since I have wanted to make a quilt of my own, but never made the time for it. Until now! Here is my first ever finished quilt. I think it's super cute and glad I finally took the time to do this. 

I decided recently that I was going to add some new products to my shop, Foxglo. Quilts, blankets and pillows were on my mind. Like the rest of my items, these are going to be modern, bold pieces that are meant to bring some fun to your home. I love black and white so a modern herringbone quilt seems like the perfect first try for me. This exact one I'm giving to Nora, because I can't possibly sell my first ever quilt. I made it a toddler size so it will be perfect for her now and for years to come. 

 

The backing of this quilt is a pretty pink arrow print. The edges are hand-bound with black fabric, and the whole thing is 100% cotton.

If you are interested in placing an order for this quilt, I have it listed in my shop here. It is available in toddler size [36"x44"] and throw size [60"x44"]

I hope you like it as much as I do!

How To: Modern Quilt Hanging

When Nora was a teensy baby, my parents' next door neighbor (formally my next door neighbor) gifted her a beautiful handmade quilt. I was so surprised when we received it because it was just so thoughtful and perfect. Handmade gifts are my favorite regardless but I could just tell there was a lot of love put into this one. 

We used the quilt as a play mat for months until she was too big to lay on it anymore. I really love it so I didn't want to pack it away when she stopped using it. When we moved to Connecticut we were in need of more wall art for the nursery, so I decided the quilt would become a wall hanging.  

The reason for this post is simply to show you how we decided to hang the quilt. I searched the internet for modern ways to hang a quilt and came up pretty empty. Then one day as we were perusing the maze of our local Ikea, we saw a quilt hanging in one of the display rooms. They had simply used a curtain rod and clips to hang the quilt, but I loved the way that it looked! 

Here is the quilt and the hanging supplies we bought. We bought two of these brackets, one rod, a package of finials and a package of clip rings. Everything came to around $20, which I think is pretty good considering it is reusable if we  actually wanted to hang a curtain. We also only used half of the clip rings so we can save those for another project. The only other thing needed was 4 screws, which we had already. 

Here is the finished project after Madison hung it up for me. Still need to practice using that electric drill. I love the look of this, I think it's super cute and it fits nicely with the rest of the nursery decor. 

Isn't this the cutest thing? We went for a woodland critter theme with lots of brown and green so this fits in perfectly.

If you have a special quilt that your babe has gotten too big for, don't pack it away- hang it up! I am so happy that we have this piece on display now. I hope this has inspired you to take a non-convention approach to decorating! Let me know what you have been hanging on your walls lately. 

DIY Knotted Fabric Headbands

Who doesn't love headbands? They are a quick and easy way to wrangle your unruly hair and can add a fun pop of color or print to an outfit. Today I'm going to teach you how to make these cute knotted headbands. They are super quick and easy to make. If you can sew a straight line, you can make these. 

Supplies:

plain weave cotton fabric

matching thread

fabric scissors

pencil

ruler (these wide acrylic rulers are super handy) 

1. Iron your fabric so there are no wrinkles. Locate the crosswise grain of the fabric (it will give a little when pulled, whereas the lengthwise grain will not) and fold the edge of the fabric up 6 inches, with right sides together. 

2. Draw a 3" x !!!!! " rectangular on your fabric. This line will get cut off, so you will not see it in the finished product. 

3. At either end of the rectangle, draw a triangle by measuring 2.5" from the long ends of the rectangle, and 1.5" across the short end, and connecting the dots. 

4. Pin your two layers of fabric together, than cut the shape out. 

5. Pin the edges of your headband, leaving a 4" space along one of the long edges open. I like to put two pins perpendicular to the fabric so I remember not to sew it closed. 

6. Sew the edges of your headband with a 1/4" seam allowance. 

7. Back stitch at the ends of your 4" opening so this won't come unraveled when turning your headband. 

8. Once you can sewn around all edges, cut off the corners and trim your seems down. 

9. Turn your headband right side out by pulling the ends through your 4" opening.

10. Iron your headband flat. 

11. Pin the open section of your headband closed, then top stitch all edges. 

12. Tie a knot, and voila! One cute and unique headband that no one else will have. 

I love how simple these headbands are to make. You could whip out a bunch in one sitting. I made two for myself. On my second headband, I used a print on one side and a coordinating solid on the other. I also made it a little narrower. For a narrower headband, use a 1/2" seam allowance instead of 1/4". 

I love to wear these headbands with a little front pouf and a messy bun. I used to wear my hair like this with bandannas rolled up and tied, which is where I got the idea to make my own knotted headbands. Let me know if you try this out! I'd love to see what you make!