Saving Blankie

This is Blankie. Blankie was made when D was about 7 months old. It is a strip of fabric sewn onto a burp cloth. There were about 8 of Blankie but this one became the favorite. It became the Red Sox Blankie. Blankie goes everywhere. It goes to the doctor, to the market, it hangs out on the floor of the garage. Blankie plays baseball and spends time keeping me company in the car while D goes to school. School is the only place Blankie is not allowed to go. D cannot go to sleep without Blankie. D also needs Blankie to take any medicine, have his nails clipped, and watch Star Wars movies. So Blankie became very very dirty, and torn. Today I convinced D that it was time to save Blankie.

I saved the most important part and threw away the dirty, torn, shreds.

Old Blankie was sewn onto a new, clean, never been used burp cloth. After a slight hesitation new Blankie was accepted.

Thank goodness!

(P.S. Umm, don't every take your 4 year olds blankie and try and fix it. The first night he cried for almost an hour and wouldn't touch Blankie. I had to go through every blankie in the house and then make a makeshift one for him to sleep. The second night he said he wasn't going to cry but would not use Blankie. Blankie has now been permanently rejected. And I am so sorry I ever started this.)

Sewing Space

This is where I do all my sewing. This great little table folds up and the machine hides inside so you can put everything away when you have company. This table sits out in the unfurnished living room.

This is my craft closet in the guest room. You will notice the cricut on the third shelf from the bottom. I keep all my fabric supplies in the pull out drawers. The fabric is organized by color. I have a thread holder but have not put any thread on it yet. I also have an idea board stuck on the back wall of the closet.

This is in the same room as the craft closet. It is a guest bed where I do all my cutting and pattern layout. The kids also like to sit on the bed and watch me cut.

And this is what it looks like when everyone is at play.

Ahh quilting again.

This past week was so busy I barely had time to sit down at my sewing machine. I felt like I wasn't breathing. Quilting is such a part of my life then when I go too long without it I feel like I am missing air. So today I made sure to schedule some time in. The new quilt I am working on is so pretty that I may just have to keep it for myself. It is coming together very nicely and I am hoping I have the base put together before hubby gets home so I can take it to the fabric store to pick out the border and backing.

I recently purchases a Criciut. I have been coveting this machine for over a year. Every time the infomercial came on I watched it. Even the kids knew what the Cricut was. I am not a scrapbooker so I was having a hard time justifying the purchase. I tried out the Cricut at a friends home and even thought I loved it and it was so much fun to use I just couldn't figure out why I actually needed one. Then it went on sale. And the sale was too good to pass up. So I bought one. I cleared out a shelf in my craft closet and there it sits. I wasn't sure when or for what I would use it next. The other night I saw the infomercial was on and thought I would watch it to get some ideas. Well when I flicked to the channel I couldn't believe my eyes. They were cutting fabric appliques with it. Fabric!! For a Quilt! I never knew the Cricut could do that. Now my purchase is justified.

Charm Quilts

I already laid out my next quilt. I am using the most beautiful fabric called Aviary by 3 Sisters for Moda. I bought my first charm packs a while back and I have been waiting to start using them. I laid out all the squares last night and set up the pattern. Each 5 x 5 square is more beautiful then the next. Working with the pre cut squares will be such a nice break for me since I don't have to do any cutting. And after the chain piecing technique I learned making the pirate quilt the whole thing should come together rather quickly. I didn't buy any border or backing fabric yet. I figure when I get the top piece done I can take it to the fabric store and match it up. I bought tons of these charms packs at the last quilt fair. I already have two more quilts planned after this one. Then I saw the most beautiful tote pattern on the You Can Make This website. I have never made a bag before but it is so pretty I think I may have to try. It is called Weekender-Tote. Of course I would make mine pink. When you have two boys you can never get enough pink.

http://www.youcanmakethis.com/info/featured-products/Weekender-Tote.htm

Space Quilt

D's space quilt is finished. It took me far less time then the pirate quilt. It has removable planets, a space ship, and astronauts. I debated on putting the planets in order or just doing it random. But I worried that he might think back on this quilt during some test in school and I wanted the planets to be in the proper order. The astronauts are movable and can play in the sun. The circles are little pockets.

This is the back. I let D pick out the fabric at the store himself. It was not the fabric I would have chosen. But since it was his quilt I went with it. When I put the back on and completed the binding I realized that the fabric was the perfect choice. The binding really brings out the yellow of the planets.

The pattern called for some movable space ships. But those didn't work out so I found a pattern on line and made this rocket ship. I think it works just fine.

Here are the planets in order. Obviously I could not do the entire solar system. Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.

I added this moon because it was too cute to leave out. I free quilted the starts, comets, and constellations. The sun, planets, and the astronauts were all made with scraps. This quilt pattern came from a book called Play Quilts by Kristin Kolstad Addison.