Another Chalkboard Project

I have hung several things on Maddie's door in the past couple of years - a large M made from wire, an embroidery hoop with her name hand-stitched inside, and a large fabric M.  But all of these things have been removed quickly (leaving nice big holes in the door) after getting tired of the object falling or clanging as I quietly try to close her door at 10pm.  This time, I took blue painters tape and chalkboard paint and created a small plaque on the door and finished it off writing Maddie's name with a chalk pen for a smooth look

Color-study Log Cabin Quilt

Its been forever since I have posted to this blog, and its not because I haven't been working on things.   I think I get overwhelmed with all the beautiful, professional blogs that I see, and hesitate to even attempt to keep one myself.  But I have created so many things in the last year that I didn't take pictures of and now I wish that I had a record of those projects, and links to my inspirations.  So I'm starting back up.  

I made this quilt a few months back.  Maddie had a stomach virus that kept her on the couch for a week, and I wanted to start playing with solid color quilts.  I found the idea and free pattern here.  The colors are a little vintage - I wanted to incorporate mustard and navy and then hang it on a large blank wall in Maddie's bathroom.  It was also my first time to make a quilt sleeve, and I got some help from here.

Bench Class at Spruce

Today my friend Megan and I took a class at a great little upholstery store called Spruce.  I actually used Spruce to upholster my gray and white accent chairs a few years back.  They have an amazing selection of fabrics and now offer classes - make your own bench, lampshade, headboard, etc.  The class was from 10-4, and I left at 4:30 with a bench and a much deeper appreciation for upholstered furniture!

The base of the bench.  Basically a wood platform.

Drilling holes after calculating where I wanted to place my buttons.

Next we added 2" pink foam with a spray adhesive and then stapled Dacron over the foam.

Laying the fabric over the bench before cutting.

Pulling fabric very tight and half-stapling before going back, pulling out half-staples, and stapling for real.

A view of the bottom of the bench after stapling but before cord was added.  No pics of the buttons but this is when we attached them.

Last, the dust cover is attached to the bottom, and the legs are screwed on.  

The final product!  I am really pleased.  I plan to stain the legs or look on ebay for some vintage legs, and then put the bench in the guest room.

And here is a photo of Megan's finished bench.

Charm Squares Baby Quilt

In my last post, I mentioned that M is now in a toddler bed.  We are still working on that transition ;), but the crib is officially put away, as well as her crib bedding.  This past weekend I finally finished a quilt for her new "big girl" bed.  I followed the same pattern that I used for my first quilt (from Oh, Fransson) and my friend Megan and I had fun selecting the combination of fabrics at Stitch Lab for the quilt top.

Butterfly Art

I am slowly trying to transform Maddie's room from a nursery to a little girl's room.  I love bold colors and wanted to tie in her new bedding with some art on the walls.  I found 3 canvas - 20 x 20, and created 3 different butterfly stencils by just folding a large piece of freezer paper in half, and tracing one side of a butterfly image, and then cutting it out and tracing.  I then painted the canvas with pink, orange, and yellow acrylic paint, and finished by painting the butterfly silhouette a white/cream color.

Mini Zipper Pouches

I haven't posted in forever, but not because I haven't been sewing.  I am currently working on 4 projects at one time - one project being a quilt for Maddie's new bed, and it is taking so much longer that I thought it would.

These mini zipper pouches are for the 6th grade girls in my ACF small group.  My good friend Sharon and I have been leading a 6th grade girls small group since September and tomorrow is the last Sunday of the year for groups.  I don't have a tutorial for the pouches, but I made them a size that easily holds an id and some cash (3.5" x 5") and a coordinating little tag that can be used to attach a key ring.  The tag fabric is repeated in the lining of the pouch.  An easy and fun project!

I hope to be posting a photo of Maddie's quilt very soon...   :)

quilted sunglasses cases

Quilted sunglasses cases - a great gift this spring, and a perfect nap time project.  I found the tutorial on the blog Sweet Verbena via Pinterest.