Sweaters and Swaddle Blanket Finishes

I finished up my two main projects just in time for a fun Friday post. I made two sweaters testing for Grits and Giggles' latest pattern - LOVE! I also made four flannel swaddle blankets with six matching burp cloths each! The latter was a lot of work and I'm so glad to have them finished and crossed off my Q2FAL list.

I'm currently running a giveaway for surpassing 50,000 views. You can find it at the bottom of this post. It will close on Wednesday when I put up my next WiP post.

Let's start with the sweaters...

Can you believe the cuteness of this!? My adorable girl combined with this super-cute sweater is just so fun. The gray stripes on the fabric are quite sparkly and perfect for her personality. The sweater is called the Jennifer Sue Cardigan and will be available soon from Grits and Giggles.

Here's a closeup of my favorite details - the gathered sleeve and the ruffle with top stitching. The fabric is knit, which is always a challenge, but the pattern is really really easy to follow and fits true to size. There are only three pattern pieces to cut out. The first one took me a few hours because of various unrelated disasters but the second was a breeze and I flew threw it in less than two hours!

Here's the other one I made for my smaller but equally adorable girl. Having now made it twice I can certainly recommend the pattern to anyone. I'm a total beginner with garment sewing but I think it turned out great with Jenilyn's awesome instructions and pictures to guide you.

While sewing the first sweater I made the totally avoidable mistake of running over a pin. It got bent and stuck into the hole where the bobbin thread comes out. So I stopped sewing and tried to get the pin. Well, it fell into my machine - forty-five minutes, some disassembling, and lots of shaking later I did manage to get the pin back from the depths of my month-old Juki. Phew! That was a close one!

I went on to finish the last of the blankets for my Q2FAL goal. They were a lot of work with four blankets and 24 burp cloths. I probably should have made them count for more than one thing but it is what it is. Two of these are going to my friends' babies and two will go into my shop later today.

This one is for one of my friends. She's naming her little guy Decker and I put it all around the blanket in my fun alphabet stitch. The k turned out a little funky but it looks pretty great anyway and I love that my machine has upper and lower case letters.

This is for another friend's baby Colin - a cute but frustrating name to try to sew. In all caps or lower case you couldn't tell the L from the I. I keep tilling myself it's cute anyway and she'll love it.

The is one of the ones for my shop. I seriously adore these foxes! Since I don't know who they are going to I just did a zigzag around the edge of the blanket.

The other one for the shop and my last blanket. It feels so nice to have these done now I'm going to make something for me!!

This is my next project and to finish it is my May ALYoF goal. This pile of lovelies is going to turn into the Honey Honey Layer Cake Quilt found at the Moda Bake Shop. It will be for me and I can't wait! It is also on my Q2 FAL list.

I'm linking up with Finish It Up Friday and TGIFF.

WiP Wednesday: Giveaway and Organization

Over the weekend I hit over 50,000 views!! When I started my blog I thought it would be mostly for me to keep track of the things I've created. Then I fell in love with the quilting community and have since made several online friends and found so much inspiration. I know I've grown and become better just from associating with all of you. As a bit of a thank you there is a charm pack at the end of this post that I will be giving away to one lucky reader.

One of the things I've learned from all of this is that I can create fun things that people will pay money for! Before I'd always just given them away and smiled at people telling me to sell things. Now I have an Etsy shop and this is my latest completed order for a Sleepy Fox Hat.

Also in my journey I've become a pattern tester for a few people. I just adore testing patterns. With my Bachelors in English it's nice to use those skills combined with my sewing ability. These lovely fabrics are destined to become the latest from Grits and Giggles, which I better get on because it's due on Friday. She says it's super fast and I'm counting on that.

While I have the fabric cut for several quilts I try to not get overwhelmed and work on too many things at once. I have a three things rule - only three projects going at once - and I'm at my limit. Next week though I plan on getting going on a fun quilt for me with the newest line from V. and Co. These are burp cloths that I'm making with matching swaddle blankets for my friends with upcoming babies.

As I've progressed with my sewing I've found I need a ton more thread. This isn't a lot but compared to the three colors I used to stock I'm pretty happy with my selection and it's growing with nearly every project. This awesome thread organizer I found on Amazon here. I love that it was only $15 and it can close and be stored even vertically so it doesn't have to sit there on my wall/desk. Heaven knows I have enough clutter.

I also got these bobbin holders from Amazon. I love them! The foam keeps the bobbins in place even when my munchkins flip them upside-down and shake!! They come in a two pack.

I've been in love with many things I've found on various quilty blogs. One of them is the idea of quilt storage on a antique ladder. My hubby and I found one at our local antique mall and I had to have it! It's so sturdy and lovely. My kids recently used many of my quilts in a fort/picnic adventure so they're in the laundry pile but only two on there really shows off the ladder. The best part was the price at $45. I've also been in love with the idea of a pie safe for storing quilts but those are several hundred dollars a piece.

I also got this fabulous red rocker! I can't get over how perfect it is! I may not keep it red. The paint job leaves a lot to be desired so it needs to be repainted anyway. Maybe an aqua or something would be fun. The red does look awesome with my Ruby's quilt though. My hubby and I were talking about how my house doesn't really reflect my style and we were wondering why that was. As it turns out in our entire house - including shelving and storage - we only purchased 10 pieces. The two in this blog are included in that ten. The rest of everything in my house was given to us or inherited. No wonder it doesn't feel like me! The chair and the ladder are baby steps toward house greatness.

Finally, the giveaway! You deserve it after reading all of that. This is a charm pack of La Belle Fleur by French General for Moda. The package is a little beat up, it actually came to me that way, but the charms are all intact.

To enter the giveaway just leave a comment, anything will do but if you'd like a topic how about what color you think I should paint my new rocker?

One entry per person. While I do love my followers I don't want people following just for the giveaway. I will pick a winner on Wednesday and email you so please please make sure I have a way to contact you. If I can't reach you then you can't win. I'll post the winner in my next WiP post so you can check back that way too.

I'm linking up with WiP Wednesday. Thanks for stopping by!

I Spy a Quilt Finish!

I had so much fun collecting and then sewing my I Spy squares together! It took me over six months to collect the squares but only one week to sew them all together. I really love how it turned out! As an added bonus at the bottom of this post there is an adorable crochet diaper cover too. Without further ado...

The I Spy quilt!!! Love! This is my second finish off my Q2 FAL list. I put it together in a truly random way. All the squares were tossed into a bowl, mixed around, and then I picked them out without looking. If you like my fabrics and would like to make one of your own I have three packs still available in my shop. They are going pretty fast so if you'd like them then hurry over.

Here's a closeup of some of my favorite squares and the binding . I love this blue color!! The binding I, as usual, did a zigzag stitch. I really like the way it looks and how secure it is. Of course it's also way faster and easier on my fingers than hand sewing.

Here's more of the back and a bit of the quilting. I did a straight line a 1/4" from the seam on either side. I love the way it looks and how fast it was. It's seems I'm all about the speed today.

Here's a fun artsy picture of it. Please ignore my water meter in the background.

Each of my five kids love it for different reasons. The baby is the cutest though, mostly because she's the smallest, so I decided to take her pictures admiring it. It was hard to get her attention for the picture because there was so much fabulousness to look at. I will be making a much larger one as a picnic quilt for us and this one is now listed in the shop.

Speaking of shop, check out my latest creation! Isn't it adorable?!?! I'm so in love with this I can't stand it. The little pocks and the belt are so so cute. It's also available in my shop here.

Well, those are my finishes for the week. Thanks for stopping by! I'm linking up with TGIFF, Finish It Up Friday and Fabric Frenzy Friday.

WiP Wednesday: Working it Up

I've been crazy busy making crochet things for the shop this week but I've also made time for a bit of sewing. I managed to finish my first project on my Q2 FAL list too! I'm linking up with WiP Wednesday.

First up is my finish! This adorable stuffed sheep is for my baby's Easter present. I love it! The pattern is free and can be found here. This is the first project off my Q2 FAL list.

I also managed to sew my I Spy squares together. This finish from my Q2 FAL list will be shared later this week. I love how it all worked up! If you'd like to make one of your own I have the squares listed in my Etsy Shop.

I made my boys these fun crochet bow ties. Aren't they just adorable?! If you'd like one for your little man you can find them here.

My tiny girl didn't have a diaper cover for under her Easter Dress. I thought that was silly so I whipped this one up really fast. The pattern can be found here or it is listed in my shop as a custom order here.

I also got a custom order for this adorable baby formal wear set. I just love it even if the sparkle yarn is a bit unconventional it's totally fun.

I have a lot of friends having babies and have become known for my flannel swaddle blankets with matching burp cloths. I make them huge at 38" square so even the biggest baby can be snug. I make the six burp cloths double sided to match and they are about 9" by 19". You can get all of that out of two yards of each print. This is also on my Q2 FAL list and I hope to get it done this week.

I got my fabric this week for the Michael Miller Modern Quilt Guild Challenge!! I'm so excited. I have no idea what I'm going to do with it yet but it's going to be good. I also got a bit of extra from the Intrepid Thread to match so I have more fabric to work with.

Finally I'm working up one last crochet thing for my shop. It's going to be an adorable denim diaper cover made to look like a pair of jeans. I seriously can't wait to see how this one comes out and it may even be finished today!

Well, that's my craziness. I prefer not to be quite this busy but I love when orders come in, especially custom orders and I get to try new things! Thanks for stopping by!

Second Quarter Finish Along Goals

Once again it is time to make goals for another quarter. I love doing this! It's fun for me to pick through my fabric and decide which projects I'd like to focus on. There are 22 in my list but I plan on only finishing about half of them. The trouble is I don't know which half so I included them all just to be safe. I'm linking up with the Second Quarter FAL post. I'm also linking up with WiP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced because all of this certainly qualifies as a WiP. Without further ado here are my projects...

#1 - These 324 I spy squares that I've been collecting are going to be made into a giant picnic quilt for me. I think it's going to be so fun watching parades and fireworks on it and it will give us something to do while we wait for the festivities to start.

#2 - These 81 charms squares are going to be turned into an i-spy baby quilt. I had a ton extra from the fabric I bought to make mine so I'm going to make a small quilt and then sell the rest. You can find the listing for these squares here.

#3 - I'm going to make these leftover 2.5" by 5" rectangles into a baby quilt, probably for charity.

#4 - This is going to turn into the Twists and Turns quilt found on the Moda Bakeshop. I've had this fabric for well over a year now and even had a pattern I bought it all for. Well, I fell out of love with the pattern but still love the fabric so we're going to try again and see what happens.

#5 and #6 - Quilts for my Etsy shop. These two are going to be the Jelly Roll Jam pattern (you can make two with one jelly roll) using the Apple Jack line.

#7 - This one is going to be a queen size using the Simply Woven tutorial from the Moda Bakeshop. I started it well over a year ago and was so discouraged with how the first block turned out I put it away and never picked it back up. Look at it now it doesn't look so bad. It's a little bit off but not as horrible as I remember. Pregnancy hormones may have had a hand in this one.

#8 - This Scrumptious is going to be the Pinwheel Baby quilt from the Moda Bakeshop. The pattern for this one is so adorable complete with tiny prairie points.

#9 - This pile of lovelies is going to turn into the Honey Honey Layer Cake Quilt found at the Moda Bake Shop. It will be for me and I can't wait!

#10 - I'm a little late to the game but I'm going to use this layer cake and the yardage to join in the Layer Cake Sampler over at Material Girl Quilts.

#11 - This Bluebird Park fabric is going to be a Line Dance baby quilt and the pattern can be found at the Moda Bake Shop.

#12 - This cute charm packs are destined to be a Carm Pack Cherry quilt. I saw the free pattern from the fat quarter shop around a lot of my favorite blogs and want to give it a whirl.

#13 - I'm going to turn this cute little candy pack into the Contact Print Pillow found over at Crazy Mom Quilts. It should be a fun pop of color for my couch.

#14 - These will be another Happy Weekender quilt but this one will be for me. I recently made this pattern and then I fell in love with this fabric and just had to have a quilt out of it for me.

#15 - This flannel yardage will be four blankets with matching burp cloths for my friends with upcoming babies.

#16 - These bits of fleece and fur are going to be a stuffed sheep. It's going to be a fun Easter toy for my tiny girl.

#17 - These adorable fat quarters are going to turn into a baby quilt using the Starburst Pattern from Melissa at Happy Quilting.

#18 - I just adore every single thing about this quilt top. I really don't want to mess it up with bad quilting so I have been waiting. I think I just need to bite the bullet and get it done.

#19 - I made this quilt top around 18months ago and even quilted it a little bit but then my machine freaked out and I never picked it up again. Now I have a glorious new machine and I think it's time to tackle this one again.

#20 - The center squares were orphans from my husbands great-grandmother. He wanted me to put them into a quilt but make what I added on pretty plain. So I went with a giant border. It needs to be quilted and bound.

#21 - This one needs a couple of quick repairs and then to be quilted and bound. This is the second quilt I ever made and it has been hiding in the garage ever since. It's huge at around 112" square, which is also why it's not been quilted yet.

#22 - This crochet blanket just really needs to be finished. It's for my baby who is now 8 months old. I've never gone past a birth on one of their blankets but I guess that's what happens when you get to baby number five. I only have about 20 more rows to do  or five colors so it shouldn't take that long.