Quilt Success

I call it imperfect perfection. This quilt was a labor of love. It definitely has flaws, but the fact that I stuck to it and it's finally complete is a miraculous feeling. I got my information on how to do each step from a variety of sources. In crafting, you have to be resourceful. There are a lot of steps in quilting, but I have always been one to change gears, so quilting was a great project to embark on. First is the piecing together, which is fun because you get to cut out a variety of squares in cool colors and use your creativity. Then comes the putting it together with the backing and the batting. Then, you have to quilt it together, which I found to be the most challenging step. I had a hard time not getting it to wrinkle and scrunch up. And while I hand quilted the middle yellow square, I resorted to machine quilting for the rest to save time. Then, I had to trim the quilt. All the shifting and wrinkling that occurred made it a little tough, but I improvised and made it work. Then, I had to bind the edge to make it look finished. And, this is where the fun came in. I learned the invisible ladder stitch from a blog and was so giddy with excitement, I couldn't stop smiling the entire 4 hours I finished the quilt. I ended up finishing the quilt at 7 a.m. this morning (couldn't sleep). It's done a whole 8 weeks before my little girl is predicted to arrive. That just means, I can do a few more craft projects in the meantime.

Big crafting plans

I have big crafting plans for Christmas break. I am thinking...finish my baby quilt and make some more onsies. I think the list is longer, but I can't recall it right now. I have a lot of other projects in the nursery, but that will wait until the new year when my crafty mother comes to help me.
Oh, I also want to stock up on homemade cards so as I get really, really busy with the new baby, I still have a stockpile of cards to send for birthdays and other occasions. Hopefully, I can set aside a chunk of time to really dig into these projects and not dabble in them. I am really ready to finish. Let's hope that I do and post pictures to chronicle my adventures in quilting.

Another homemade onsie

I was so inspired by the camo onsie that I posted on, that I used the same technique to gussy up a blue onsie that was handed down to me. Not too shabby. It was pretty tedious with the small parts, but I am proud of the outcome. I didn't attempt to sew this one in place, so let's hope the Heat N. Bond works well. I love birds for my baby (it's the nursery theme), so it was easy to get inspired.

Cute and personalized onsies

I wanted to get Nate a camouflage outfit for the baby so he would be at ease that I wasn't going to frill up this little lady. It was way too hard to find something cute, but not cheesy. So, I decided to make it myself. The first photo shows what I came up with. It took only about 10 minutes to make, and I have to admit it's cuter than anything I saw online.

Materials:

White onsie

Camo T-shirt ($2 at Salvation Army)

Pellon fusible interfacing

Heat N' Bond Iron-On Adhesive

Embroidery floss

Here is what I did:

I cut the sleeve off the camp T-shirt and ironed it to the Pellon. Pellon makes the stretchy T-shirt material easier to work with. I used a heart stencil and cut out a heart from the camo material. Then, I followed the directions on the Heat N' Bond. The purpose of the Heat N' Bond is to adhere the material to the onsie without sewing. Once I applied the heart to the onsie, I used a running stitch with embroidery floss. Voila, it's done. The hat is homemade, but not by me. It's from Etsy, I believe the store is called Little Lids. This will be wrapped.

Grand plans for sewing

My sewing machine has been getting a lot of love lately. Since I abandoned the T-shirt quilt for a bit, I focused on the baby quilt. I had to do a lot of reading in various places to feel confident enough to tackle the little thing. I even experienced ripping out hundreds of stitches. You never understand the power of a sewing machine until you have to rip out it's work.

I think all I have to do is bind the edges of the quilt, which is a little scary. However, I have my trusty books to guide me along the way. I also recommend YouTube, if you are a visual learner.

Once this little thing is finished, I am going to try to sew some onsies. I was having a hard time finding cute, girly camo. Nate wants our baby girl to wear something other than pink. So, I decided to make some onsies with camo shapes on them. I just have to get to the sewing machine. I bought a worm camo tee at the Salvation Army for $2 and plan to cut some shapes out. I will fuse them to some backing that makes it more sturdy (have you ever tried to sew straight on T-shirt material?) We will see how it comes out. I want to have it done in time to wrap it up for Nate as a surprise.

And, I still have high hopes of making some personalized touches for my nursery. I didn't want the cookie cutter nursery, and tried to steer clear of all things commercial. That, my friends, is pretty much impossible. Look at all of the packaging and plastic. I hope to spend Christmas break getting some more things organized and put in its place. I have a long way to go. I need a dresser, first. However, I have to remember how far I have come.

For now, the nursery is a playground for my cats who love the tissue paper and baby-smelling items.