Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Disappearing 9 Patch

So, even though I have not finished my Christmas Quilt, I am looking at my daughter's birthday coming up in March and thinking I want to make her a new quilt for her bed. I decided I really like the look of the Disappearing 9 patch.  Basicly to make this you sew 9 patch blocks, then cut each block into 4 pieces. Allowing you to rearrange the pieces and sewing them back together, making it look a lot more complicated. There are different ways to place the blocks to get different looks, but I like making it look like there is sashing around each square.  Here is a good Tutorial  by Amy Gibson, on how the blocks are made for this quilt.
I picked the fabric Curiosities by Nancy Halvorsen for Benartex fabrics.  I bought 3 charm packs. With each charm pack you get 3 florals,  6 green, 8 blue, 10 pink, 8 purple, 3 yellow, and 2 orange prints. Each color has up to 4 different prints (polka dots, swirls, diagonal stripes,etc.)

Some of my calculations come from this posting on the Riley Blake Blog. The orientation of the blocks will be just like that posting as well.According to this and other blogs and information I have found on the Disappearing 9 Patch (D9P), I have figured I will need to start with 24- 9 patches. I am using a white for 4 squares, purple for all my centers, and the other colors in the charm packs for the 4 corner squares.


 Which means I will need: TWIN size

  • 96 colored squares (I'm using charm squares)
  • 96 white squares
  • 24 colored squares (for the center square)
Which means I need: (these measurements are rounded up)
  • 3 charm packs
  • 2 yards of white 
  • 1 1/4 yards border fabric (5.5 inch strips)
  • 7/8 yards binding fabric 
  • 5 1/2 yards backing fabric

After doing the math and planning on how I want to arrange my blocks, I have found that I am short some colors due to the amounts of each color in the charm packs. ( I am combining the yellows, oranges, and florals as one color. I will refer to it as yellow from here on.)I need 6 more green. Well, I am just going to substitute some fabric from my stash. 

Apparently some of the colors used in this year's fabrics are popular among different designers. I found 2 other fabrics that go perfectly with the Curiosities charms.  

Riley Blake Designs - Small Chevron Girl
Urban Zoologie - Birds in Spring
There are multiple prints from each of these lines that have colors that match. The chevron comes in each of the colors that are in the multi-colored print that I have, plus many more options. 
These are just the prints that I had on hand, I am sure there are other prints that go well with Curiosities also. 

So back to missing some Green squares.  I will cut 6 charms from either the birds or the chevron, or Both.. I haven't decided.  
I will keep you posted on the progress. Now it's time for breakfast before the girls wake up.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

new Christmas Stockings

Finally whipped together some new Christmas stockings.  We didn't really have any for the kids.
I added felt monograms to them.  It is attached with Hean'n Bond. The font is 200 pt. Deutsch-Gothic. It can be found at http://www.fontsquirrel.com/ for free.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Christmas Quilt


Well, I have decided to learn how to quilt better.  I need something else to spend my time sewing.
I found a fun 20 block quilt on Craftsy.com It is their 2012 Block of the Month Quilt. It is a free class on their website.  So I have been watching all the lessons as I have been working on getting all my fabric together. I have most of my patterns.  I'll have the rest and my background fabric on monday. So I'll be able to finally get some blocks sewn. I have a few of them cut out and planned. 
As you can see it is a Christmas quilt.  I don't know if I can get it done in time.  I may be able to get the quilt top done.  We shall see. Some of the blocks are going to take some time.

Update: Finished Blocks



Tuesday, October 23, 2012

The Baby Shopper

As some of you know I recently published my first sewing pattern.  I figured if I was going to take the time to redesign something that I didn't have the pattern to, I might as well create a pattern for it as I go.
This is what I call the Baby Shopper.  My mother used a similar  thing when we were little. She let me have hers when N was born. I liked it, but wanted mo make some improvements and make it more functional.  The one she had used Velcro and had long straps that I ended up just wrapping around then tying around N's waist.  I shortened the waist straps and added nylon webbing and d-rings. I wanted it to be easily adjustable to whatever shopping cart I was using.
This is the one I use with baby N.  I loved Michael Miller's Forrest Life print.  I originally wanted the print in another color, but my local quilt shop didn't have it in stock. So I went with the orchid color and ended up liking it better. I used a avocado colored duck canvas on the undersides.  You might recognize it from the diaper bag I made in a previous blog. I like the weight of the canvas.  It makes it feel more durable and not just like a pillow. If you look closely, I used gross grain ribbon, not nylon webbing on this one.  I am not totally sold on the ribbon.  It tends to slip a little.  It works, but when N was dependent on it to keep her upright, it would slowly slip out and she would be sideways.  If the ribbon was less silky it might work better.  

I have been selling the pattern on etsy.com and craftsy.com
Originally I was planning on just selling patterns in my Etsy shop, but as I was just setting up my shop, I started getting requests for custom made Baby Shoppers.  I was new to Etsy and didn't realize that many of the patrons don't sew. So now I sell both the pattern and ready made ones.

Before too much longer, I will no longer have a model.

As you can see from the above pictures, It also works well as a portable high chair.

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Sorbet Recipe


I know my sister has a garden full of cantaloupe and honeydew melons   And the kids are already sick of eating them.  So one way to use them would be to make sorbet.  Sorbet is super easy.

First thing you need is simple syrup.
1 part sugar : 1 part water
allow it to dissolve completely
(when you combine 2 cups water and 2 cups sugar you will yield about 3 cups Simple Syrup, 2+2=3!)

For Fruit Puree Sorbet

2 parts Simple Syrup : 3 parts Fruit Puree

For Fruit Juice Sorbet

1 part Simple Syrup : 1 part juice

Cantaloupe Sorbet

Step 1) combine 2 cups water and 2 cups sugar, allow these to dissolve completely, or simmer on the stove then let it cool

Step 2) puree cantaloupe in food processor to yield 4 1/2 cups (1 large cantaloupe)

Step 3: add the simple syrup to the cantaloupe, mix

Step 4) Chill

Step 5) process in your ice cream maker











Thursday, May 10, 2012

The Search for THE Diaper Bag

Well, I have been looking for THE diaper bag for me the last few weeks.  I came up with some options that were well out of what I considered a realistic price.  So I went on the search for a pattern so I could make my own,  I found a pattern on etsy and will be altering the inner pockets to make it more functional as a diaper bag,
 Added a zipper pocket for my stuff
 Allyson "helping"out

All I need to do is find some cool buttons to attach to the base of the handles