Alex's twin size quilt

I finished the quilt top for my son's twin size quilt. It turned out way more busy than I originally anticipated.

Even though it's very busy, I love all the fabrics in this. I have quite a bit of the older Sarah Jane fabrics, along with some Sweetwater, scraps from Joseph's quilt and other odds and ends. My son helped pick out quite a few of the fabrics and I filled in the rest. I think if I were to do it over, I would make the smaller squares more consistent. Instead of using low volume fabrics, I would use a solid white to break it up and give your eye somewhere to rest. Or just follow the pattern and use a color solid and a white solid. Just a thought.

I'm having trouble finding the perfect backing fabric so this one may be a while until it's quilted. But I'm hoping not too long.

Quilt Stats:
Pattern: Scrappy Summer by Cluck Cluck Sew
Size: 64" x 88"
Fabrics: Mix of Sarah Jane, Sweetwater, DS Quilts, and others

More pictures can be found on my Flickr with some close ups of my favorite fabrics.

Big Boy Underwear

My son is two and half, and he's getting to that age where people start to ask if he's potty trained. And it certainly doesn't help that he has the build of a 4 year old (thanks to some tall genes from both Mama AND Daddy!).

I decided long ago that our next baby would be in cloth diapers and that whenever Alex was ready to potty train, he'd be in cloth trainers. I absolutely refuse to buy Pull-ups or any other related 'generic' brand of this glorified diaper. I honestly can't justify spending that much money on it, I'd rather do more laundry (which wouldn't cost me much anyways since I make my own laundry soap).

But I digress, so when looking for cloth trainers I wanted something that was padded. Didn't have to be super duper padded, but enough extra layers to hold a little accident.

I came across this tutorial on Pinterest:

For full tutorial click here

And I thought to myself that this option could work for my son. Now Heather from It's a Long Story has used cloth diapers with her daughter, so she has a one up on us. From what I understand this a pretty good advantage when transitioning to potty training, hence why we're doing this next baby. But I figured it was worth a shot and I'm hoping that Alex will learn pretty quick.

Anyways, I went to Joanns and bought my fabrics. You only need 1/4 yard of the PUL which is roughly $3.75 (a full yard is $14.99) and then I found two remnants of 100% cotton flannel, and if you shop at Joann's then you know that all their remnants are 50% off. So in the end the fabric didn't cost me much.

I found the training pants at Walmart and Target, and they both had the same price. I think $7.69 for 3 pairs of the white, and they come in 2T and 3T. I ended up buying 6 pairs so my overall cost jumped up a bit but I wanted to make sure to have several pairs ready to go in case of emergency changes. If these work out I plan to buy more, I have plenty of PUL and flannel leftover to make at least 6 more pairs if not more.

So anyways, without further ado here's my boy version of Heather's DIY training pants:

I think they came out pretty cute. But don't look too too close at the stitching, it didn't exactly line up in several pairs. Oops. Oh well, not like it matters it's underwear after all.

Heather used white flannel but I found this solid green and a green stripe in the remnant bin so that's what I used. Personally, I think it matches the dinosaur PUL perfectly. So cute! :)

Now here's hoping that my son will learn to use the potty by age 3! :)


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Quick Blanket and a Happy Accident

My poor little boy was sick most of this week. In an effort to make him more comfortable I fished this remnant from my stash and finished the edges.

This remnant is actually a full yard and I found it in the remnant bins at Joann's. It's the 'cuddle' version (aka the super duper soft stuff!) of my favorite dog print that I've found at Joann's to date.

The cuddle version: Buy it here

The cotton version: Buy it here

Anyways, I was originally was going to hem the edges but that would've taken too long. So I did a quick zig zag around the edges to prevent fraying. In the process I accidentally created a lettuce trim on the two longest edges which made it just that much cuter.

See the waves? That's called a lettuce trim

A happy and cute accident!

Like I said, I didn't originally intend to create a lettuce trim but months ago I did find a tutorial for it on Pinterest. If you have a serger click here to learn how to do it and if you don't have a serger then click here. For the record, I don't have a serger (although I'd love one) and it was super simple to do on a regular machine with a zig zag stitch.

The two shortest sides (the selvage ends) didn't get the lettuce treatment for some reason, I probably didn't stretch it like I did on the longer sides. I may end up going back and redoing those sides later, we'll see. For now I can't tear this blanket away from my son, and it's so soft I like snuggling in it too. :)

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Whipping up a 2nd birthday

My son turned 2 this past Sunday and I was busy the entire week prior whipping up some birthday goodness just for his special day.

I made him a shirt just for the day. I couldn't find any cute train shirts that had a number 2 on them so what's a crafty mama to do? Make one herself of course! lol The train is actually a clipart from Microsoft Word and I just used a font that sorta looked good with it for the 2. The clouds I free-handed and the stitching was hand done. My machine couldn't get into those curves and it was too late at night to even attempt it. lol

I also made the cupcakes and some cute little cupcake flags from train scrapbook paper. I wrote some cute little train phrases along with the typical 'happy birthday' on them with a fine point Sharpie. The cupcakes were healthy, made from a yellow cake mix along with pumpkin puree and organic banana yogurt. The recipe came from the Deceptively Delicious cookbook and it tasted awesome!

But my biggest accomplishment was the present I made Alex. I was working all week on this cute little kitty just for him on his special day. The face was hand embroidered and I embroidered a special message on its collar, "For Alex on your 2nd birthday. Love, Mom". Truly a labor of love and I love that he loves it too! :)

For those interested, the kitty pattern came from this link: http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/party-cat-plush
It only gives you the pattern for body and the head, the rest is pretty simple. For the arms and legs I cut out rectangles that were 1.5 inches wide by 4 inches long (2 for each leg) and then shortened them where necessary. The ears are simple triangles except I cut one side longer than the other so it would stand up more like a cat's ear. Also to made the kitty stand up, I simply cut 2 more ovals from the base pattern out of muslin and filled with a bean filler (it's in the stuffing aisle in craft stores). Put that at the bottom and then stuff with Poly-fil on top of it.

If you're interested, I'll scan my pattern pieces for the legs, ears and belly for you to use. And I'll show you exactly how where I inserted the arms and ears (the bottom legs and tail were simply sewn into the seam).

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Hanging Wooden Letters Tutorial, Part 2

For the first part of the tutorial click here

Sorry for the delay but recovery took longer than normal when my son got sick too. Anyways, here's the second and final part of the tutorial for the hanging letters. Ok, so by now the glossy coat has completely dried on your letters. Now you need to attach your animals.

Figure out where you want to place your animal before applying the glue to the letter.
Only use a small amount glue to avoid having some spill out onto the letter once you press down.
After you have glued the animal, place the clamps on it and let dry overnight. Repeat for all letters and animals.
This part took me a couple of days since I didn't have enough clamps to do all 4 animals at once. Here's the result after a few days of waiting:

After all the animals have been placed onto your letters it's time to add the ribbon. Here is where you can be creative. For me personally, I wanted a simple ribbon loop with no frills (this is for a little boy after all). But you can add a bow or a simple knot at the top of the loop, where it would hang from the hook. It's completely up to you.

If you plan on following my example, I cut my ribbon into 10 inch long pieces. Then I placed a small dot of glue on the back of the letter at the widest part.
Don't put them too close together, it will help balance the letter if the ribbon ends are a bit away from each other. Let the glue set for the required time before hanging. Repeat for each letter.

Hang in the nursery, or wherever, and enjoy.
Just don't hang too low, or else little babies will grab at it and pull down. Case in point, my taller than average 2 year old! :)


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Hanging Wooden Letters Tutorial, Part 1

I've always loved the look of having my son's name somewhere in his nursery, you see it all over home decor magazines and catalogs. I've been wanting to do this hanging letter project since my son was born but never got around to it. Plus, I was never able to find the perfect letters for his name or find all the letters in the same font. A few months back I found the perfect letters and bonus, I was able to find ALL the letters I needed. So needless to say I snatched them up and hoarded stored them away until recently when I found the time to paint. So here's a little tutorial on how I did this project:

Gather all your supplies:

• Wooden/MDF letters (mine were $1.99 each at Michaels)
• Craft acrylic paint (I bought Apple Barrel in Gloss, $1.29 each at Michaels)
• Wooden animals ($0.59 each at Michaels)
• Brushes, newspaper, etc.

Not pictured, but still needed:

• Ribbon
  
• Clear gloss spray paint
• Gorilla glue or some other glue or epoxy
  
• Clamps
• Fine grain sandpaper (use the one that specifically mentions it's for in between paint coats)
• Wax paper (I placed a sheet of wax paper underneath my painted letters to prevent the newspaper from getting stuck in the paint)

Just a quick note: My son's nursery is a jungle theme, but you can add any shapes you want to your letters. The instructions are the same regardless of whether you add flowers or lions. You can also choose to not add any other elements and simply paint the letters and add ribbon. It's completely up to you.
Paint your letters in whatever color(s) you choose. If you got MDF letters (like mine) or a darker wood then you may want to prime it first to prevent adding extra steps. Acrylic paint dries really fast so you'll be able to get a few coats done in under an hour. Don't forget to paint the sides!

After you paint a few coats, let dry completely before you use a fine grain sandpaper. Lightly sand each letter until smooth. Don't forget to sand the sides too. After you sand, paint one more coat (or in my case, two) to get the color you want. Let dry completely.
To get the polka dots, I used the tip of an unused pencil eraser, dipped it into my second paint color, and wiped off the excess before putting it on the letter. I didn't use a pattern, just placed my dots sporadically. Don't forget to place dots on the edges of the letter, edges need love too. :) And don't worry about getting the perfect dot the first time around. I placed all my dots on the letter first then went back a second time and filled in where needed.
I did polka dots for all the letters and this was my end result. But you can do other designs as well, experiment and see what you come up with. Let your polka dots dry completely overnight before going on to the next step.
After letting the letters dry overnight take them outside or to a well ventilated room and spray with a coat or two of clear glaze. Give them another night to dry completely before moving to the next step.

Unfortunately, this is where I must leave you. In the midst of this project I got sick and I've been holed up in my bedroom for the last few days. Give me another day or two and I will return with the second part of this tutorial. I hope you like the tutorial thus far, next up is adding the animals and ribbon. :)

edit// Here's the link to part 2

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My son's Christmas gift

I figured out my son's Christmas gift the moment I saw this fabric panel:

Source: Clothworks' Choo Choo You collection

Isn't that so cute? My son is 20 months and he loves cars. I've been wanting to get one of those rugs with the roads on it for his Christmas gift but I have yet to see one in stores. So I stumbled upon Clothworks website last night and I found this panel -- it was a sign from God! He is so good, isn't He? :) Anyways, I plan on making it into a quilt/playmat and just having some simple blocks or a solid piece of fabric for the other side. Nothing fancy since he'll mostly be playing on the roads. I am so excited!

Alexander's Quilt

My son turned one in February and I wanted to give him something special for his very first birthday. I decided to make him a quilt when I found this adorable sailor puppy fabric and a matching anchor fabric at Joann's Fabrics. My husband was in the Navy and I was able to talk him into letting me use a few of his patches and cut up one of his old uniform shirts. This particular shirt was very sentimental to him, as it's been with him since boot camp and to him it represents his time in the military. The other fabrics I used were either fat quarters I found that fit the theme and some adorable sailboats I found on eBay along with a NWU top I bought at a thrift store. All in all, it turned out great for my first quilt but the best part is that my son loves to snuggle in it. Can't ask for anything more.

The fabric I used on the back is called "Rain Spots" and I believe it's from Alexander Henry. I got really lucky the day I found it, it has all the colors of the quilt in it and I haven't seen it in store since.

Update // You can see the quilt label I added here