Christmas Wreath

I took my sewing machine in for some maintenance this week. That means NO SEWING for a week and a half! What is a girl to do? Well, look at Pinterest of course and tackle some projects I'd been saving for later. I saw this wreath, and knew I had to make one like it for my door this Christmas. I made it today during Little O's nap time.

I bought most of my supplies at Hobby Lobby. Some of the ribbon is from last year in my stash, and the peppermint ornaments were donated by my mom (not sure where they came from).

First, I painted the letter white. After it dried I added the red and green dots using craft paint. When it was totally dry, I sprayed it with clear acrylic to keep it nice and make it a little bit glossy.

I made bows out of wired ribbon. I learned how to do this when I was a gift wrapper at a department store in grad school. I can't tell you how, but I could SHOW you... (note to self: create ribbon bow demo video).

I used floral wire to attach the bows and the ornaments to the wreath. And then I used hot glue to secure them and keep them from wiggling. I stuck the ornamental sprays in through the back of the wreath, and adjusted them until I liked how they looked. (They are on floral wire and are pretty flexible).

To attach the T to the other side of the wreath, I used floral wire and hot glue. First I put a dob of glue on the back of the top part of the T and pressed the wire into it. I held it until it dried. Most boring part of the whole project. Then I repeated that step on the back of the bottom of the T. I attached the wire to the wreath and secured the T to the wreath with hot glue anywhere it was touching.

I'm really pleased with how it turned out. And now I have all these visions in my head of creating wreaths for EVERY holiday. Who knew making a wreath could be so much fun!

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Felt Christmas Tree

Earlier this week I found a really cute felt Christmas tree on Pinterest. And I knew I just HAD to make it for Little O. I thought it would be a great way to allow Olivia to play with ornaments and leave our real tree alone. Speaking of which, we put up our real tree today!

I went to Hobby Lobby and bought everything I needed to make Little O her very own felt tree. I bought green felt off the bolt, and several colors of felt squares from the crafting section. I also bought some trim (ric rack, sequins, and glitter glue) to make it fancy.

Here's how it turned out.

She's been playing with it nonstop since she got up from her nap. She has barely even looked at the real tree. I'd call that success!!

Note: I hung it on the wall using that gummy adhesive that teachers use to hang posters. It stuck to the wall, but it didn't stick to the felt. So I hot glued some green card stock to the back of the tree in various places (the top, the bottom, and several of the branches). That did the trick. The gummy adhesive is sticking great now.

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Modern Quilt Guild Potholder Exchange

Last night I attended the monthly meeting for our local chapter of the Modern Quilt Guild. For this month's exchange we made potholders using fabric from our stash, a little batting, and thermoline (a heat-resistant product).

For the trade, we each drew a card from a pile, and when a matching card was drawn from another deck, you got to go pick your favorite potholder from the pile.

Here's the one I made (just in case you missed it). It was first to go! (Yes, I'm a little proud--it was my first exchange after all).

Here's the one I received.

I love the colors she chose. She said this project was good practice for her and free-motion quilting. I wish that I had felt more confident with my new machine, because it would have been good practice for me too!

It's a Pinterest Christmas

So today Little O went to school for her Thanksgiving class party. It's Tuesday. I know! Bonus! (She usually only goes to school on Thursday). I was supposed to spend the morning finishing the quilt top for my cousin's baby (who will probably be in college by the time I get it finished). But instead I started researching teacher gift ideas on Pinterest. Little O's teachers are awesome! They work really hard (change lots of nasty diapers too!). And they deserve a little something special for Christmas.

Well, I got distracted. I was on Pinterest after all. Although I think I have some ideas for them as well. But I saw THIS gem, and I just knew I had to make it for Little O. It's so CUTE!

So, I think I'm going to spend the rest of the morning at the craft store getting the supplies I need for this. I think I'll also pick up a bin to keep all the felt pieces in.

I'll post pictures after it's done.

Update: Here's our version of the Felt Christmas Tree.

Bird Checkbook Cover

This month's service project for our local Modern Quilt Guild was to make checkbook covers. We will be donating them to a local women's shelter.

We were supposed to use up a leftover or lonely 8-inch block that we already had on hand. I actually don't have any, so I used up some fabric that I got for free. I really like the bird print. It is kind of retro.

First, I made an 8-inch block. The first one I attempted to make wound up in the trash. It was just too complicated. I like the simplicity of this design. I also had 9 1/2-inch iron-on batting and 10-inch backing. I ironed the batting onto the backing (with right side facing out) and layered the 8-inch block on top. Then I basted all the way around.

I chose to quilt using straight lines rather than random loops and swirls because I have a new machine, and I need to practice to feel confident. Plus, I didn't want the quilting to make the checkbook cover too stiff. I quilted diagonally across the block from corner to corner and I also quilted around the bird block in the center.

Once I finished quilting, I cut the checkbook cover down to the right size (7 1/4 by 6 3/4). The directions said I didn't have to center my block, but that would have REALLY bothered me! So I centered mine.

After I cut it down, I placed the pockets on the inside and basted all the way around. To make the pockets, I just cut two rectangles (6 1/4 by 6 3/4) and pressed them in half with wrong sides together.

Then I sewed the binding on to the inside of the checkbook cover, using my new knowledge of beveling the corners! (I learned how to do this while making a quilted potholder a few weeks ago).

The directions said to sew the binding onto the front of the checkbook cover using a decorative stitch on my machine. And I think it would have looked pretty, but I chose to hand stitch it for the same reason I chose straight-line quilting--I just wasn't confident with my machine yet.

Quilted Potholder

This week, I took a break from quilt making to focus on a project for our local Modern Quilt Guild. We are making potholders to trade with each other this month. The guild supplied us with a 9x9" square of themaline (a heat-resistant product) to get us started.

First, I chose my fabrics (you'll also need the thermaline and a square of batting).

Since this is for the Modern Quilt Guild, I decided to go with a simple, streamlined design. I wanted to focus on the owl print (because I think it's so darn cute!). I used the green as a border, and the pink as the binding. The owl is leftover from the baby girl quilt I made a few months ago.

Once, the square was done, I layered the thermaline, batting, and fabric together and quilted a quarter inch around the owl square. I told you this was a simple design!

Next I based the edges to keep them from slipping before I attached the binding.

The binding only took me two tries. I FINALLY learned how to bevel the corners. It looks so much nicer and less bulky that way.

And here is the finished project.

I'm taking it to the Modern Quilt Guild on Tuesday night for our trade. I hope I get a cute one!