Christmas Kiddie Quilts ~ WIP

 A while back, some time over the summer, I think, I thought it would be a great idea to make the kids their own little Christmas quilts. I bought the fabric (and had a lot of fun choosing the prints), got the yardage in the mail (and had a lot of fun running my hands across the the fabrics when they arrived), and then stashed them in drawers. Until November. When I decided I needed to get crackin.'

I have a boy and a girl, so I started cutting up the fabric and making 9x9" blocks with one or the other in mind. Can you guess which blocks are for my son and which are for my daughter?? Ok, I'll just tell ya.

For my space-lovin' little guy.

 For my brown-haired little girl who really does love to swing.

 For my puppy-lovin' princess.

 And some blocks were just a toss-up. But this one is going to my daughter.

 And this one for my son.

 My son looooves Rudolph. It's a four-year-old thing, you know.

 And another for my doggy-lovin' daughter.

I've made 19 out of 24 blocks so far, but these are some of my favorites. Tonight, I started putting together my daughter's quilt top. It's fun seeing it all come together. I just hope I can get both quilts done by Christmas Eve!!

Linking up here today:

Mommy By Day...Crafter By Night
Funky Polka Dot Giraffe

WIP ~ Finishing Touches

Well, the quilt is quilted and bound, but is it really done-done?

I don't think so. Not until I put my finishing touches on it. Namely, a label.

I want to include the quilt's name, my name, the city where I quilted it, and the date. But how do I go about making my own label? I have a couple packages (above), but am not sure if they're really right for this job. Previously, I bought little labels. I'd like to try to do something really neat and professional looking and then iron and/or sew it onto a back-corner of the quilt. Does anyone have any ideas how to go about doing this? And sites that offer free templates? Do I need to buy different label-making material?? I'm at a loss. Any help is appreciated!

On a side note, if anyone wants to see the quilt in "action," I took it outside with my kids on Monday for a photo shoot.

I'm linking up here today:

Work in Progress...yay, progress!

This is the third "big" quilt that I've basted and I have definitely learned as I've gone along. I didn't like the ripples I kept finding and figured the problem stemmed from the initial smoothing part on the floor.

Even though there are a lot of different methods, this is what worked for me.

1. Tape the backing fabric to the floor, working left to right. Previously, I'd start at the bottom corner, then do the bottom edge, the side, the top, and lastly the other long side.

I ended up getting ripples and getting very frustrated.

This time, I taped the bottom left corner, then went up. Then I simultaneously did the top and bottom sides, jumping back and forth, smoothing as I taped. Then I did the other long side, readjusting only a little to make it all perfectly flat. 

Ooo, I felt pleased with myself!

2. Next, I sprayed the backing fabric and smoothed the batting as I went top to bottom. I knelt on the batting as I went and that didn't seem to be a problem.

 3. Then, I went UP with the top fabric. I would spray and smooth, spray and smooth. I'd do it about two rows of blocks at a time.

 When I got it all done, I was happy! I don't think it's perfectly perfect, but I think it's close, considering I was using some cheap spray that I had. (Elmer's, yes. It works, but I've never compared it to anything else and I'm sure I'd have better success with something that holds it all a little better.)

 4. I love this part. Cutting away the extra stuff.

I did everything above in maybe a half hour?? I didn't look at the clock too much because it was my daughter's nap time and I had to hurry before picking up my son from pre-school. Anyway, it didn't take too long.

Later on, I did put some pins in the sandwich just because my living space is small and I didn't want a little one pulling too hard at my hard work and messing things up!

Later that night, I started quilting the sandwich! Woo-hoo! After doing my practice quilt, I felt confident enough to start stippling. I didn't begin this, however, until after 10pm (by the time I changed the needle, wound the bobbin, etc.), but it was so much fun. So much more interesting than straight-line stitching. I really like the "imperfect" and "close-enough" aspect of free-motion quilting. I kept at it for about twenty minutes before I was too tired and too worried I was going to stipple my hand.

Want to see my scarily small sewing space??? Usually, for big projects like this, I move my machine to the kitchen table...but like I said, it was after 10. And I was tired...

Anyway, it's progress! And I'm happy to be linking up here today:

PS: And, once again, I got this quilt idea HERE. Thanks Crazy Mom Quilts!

Work-in-Progress ~ Easy as Pie Quilt

I finally got the itch to make another quilt after reading about this one on Crazy Mom Quilts. I loved the look of hers and how easy it seemed to be. (And so far so good! Just imagine it without the wrinkles...)

 I used a lot of fabrics that I had in my stash, but did make a fabric run for a few more, since I didn't have enough in this color scheme.

Below is what I started with. The first picture shows the fabrics I definitely wanted/had to use.

 These pieces were ones I wasn't too sure about...but ended up using anyway.

I still needed more. So I bought these, which I think 

are really pretty.

 I threw in a couple Mickey Mouse squares for my kids.

 And now that the top is done, I need to get to work basting the quilt sandwich. I am not sure when I'm going to get to it because we have a busy couple weeks ahead of us here, but I'm hoping to do it soon. Trust me, I'll be thinking about it! I actually go to bed thinking about my projects-in-progress.  Like, Will this fabric go well with this one? And I also imagine myself doing things like piecing and basting - like actually going through the motions. Do other people do this too??

I'm happy to be linking up here today!