Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Crochet Appliqués!


I found these adorable appliques in Michael's this summer.
I don't think many people saw them because they were tucked away in the back of the store.
I waited till they were on clearance and then bought my favorites!
It was hard not to buy them all.


They also had crocheted hats, gloves, headbands, booties, etc.
I decided on a baby hat and headband. They are so precious:)
I sewed the appliques on using invisible thread.

I am very happy with the way they turned out. I did feel like I was cheating though, all I did was take two pre-made projects and put them together. Not very imaginative!

I have already used a few of the other appliques, so I will try to get pictures of them and post them.

Until then next time~Anna

Monday, October 15, 2012

Little Girl clothes!

This Little jumper was a complete expirament! I was folding some baby clothes to give away when I came across an adorable little jumper(not pictured). I was looking at it and decided that it probably wasn't that hard to make one. And...off I went to the sewing room. I made the pattern myself, and recycled a pair of jeans for the denim. Add lining, ric-rac(around the bottom), buttons, a cute turtle applique, and I had a blue ribbon at the fair!

This is a dress that won blue last year.
Happy sewing! Anna

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Quilt spotlight!

This spring when our peach tree was blooming, I was able to take some pictures spotlighting this quilt I made last year.
Mom's daffodils were in full bloom so I also headed over there to shoot this
jelly roll friendly quilt.
All you need to make this quilt top are twenty 2-1/2 inch strips and 1/2 yard coordinating fabric.
I like making lap quilts! They are the perfect size to snuggle up with.
They are also easy to make because of their small size, and can be finished up quickly!!!

~Anna

Baby boy quilt

Before I left the country this spring, I was working on a baby boy quilt for a missionary family expecting their fifth child (their forth boy!). After I heard about the opportunity to go to Africa, I only had two weeks before I left. With all that was going on, the quilt was put on hold. I knew I wasn't going to be able to finish the quilt I was working on for them before I left, but I still wanted to give them a quilt.
The Answer?
I dug through the quilts that I had made for myself and found one I could part with:)
I put together this quilt last year when I wanted to try using ribbon as a binding.
I used my own pattern design showcasing some baby boy flannel prints. I used two different embroidery threads and tied the quilt for an easy finish.
My ribbon binding.
The main reason I made this quilt was to try using ribbon as binding. I love the idea, but it was a little harder then I thought it would be. Anyone have any tips for doing this?
When I got home in June, I was able to see their precious baby snuggled in it when they stopped by our church before heading back to Mexico.
I was so glad to be able to give them a quilt to show my appreciation of what their doing in Mexico.

Right now I am working on another baby boy quilt that should be posted about next week. I deliver it on Wednesday. I will be glad to have that done. I am currently handsewing the binding, and working on the embroidered name tag for the back.

After thats done, I can finish two more baby quilts. One for a friend, and one for my dads coworker.
Both are very simple flannel quilts that are tied and finished with machine attached binding. I don't have a lot of time so both quilts are basic. Hopefully they will appreciate my effort!
Thanks for stopping by.
-Anna

Monday, August 6, 2012

Quilts for Twins

I just finished these two quilts for a set of twins.
The one on the left is for the girl, the one on the right is for the boy.
The room colors their aunt gave me were green and brown. She wanted the quilts to be similair, but different. I made them with the same fabric, but went with different patterns.
The quilt on the left is a "fair in square" pattern with a small sashing between the blocks. I have been wanting to make the quilt on the right for a while. It is a rail fence variation. This version normally only has two colors, but I have seen it done the way I did it with three.

Of course they also wanted elephants to go along with the quilts!!
I still love making these little guys.

I taught my sister Maggie how two make one a while ago, she did a great job and donated it to a silent auction at a autism awareness day. It sold for $50! Wow! I normally sell mine for $10 
I outline quilted both quilts. Outline quilting is my favorite way to quilt, and my favorite quilting look.
I only outline quilt baby quilts because they are small and easy. Any quilt bigger then a lap quilt, I do on my long arm machine.
I also made a set of blocks to go with the quilts. No ribbons this time. Instead, to add interest I used different fabrics for texture. My favorite to use was a thick brown corderoy with lots of "bumps"
I also added a lot more color into the blocks. And used more themed prints e.i. the monkey print, jungle print, and fussy cut animals. 

Both aunt (who ordered them) and parents liked the quilts!
One of their favorite parts was the hand embrodered name tags on the back(not pictured).

After their aunt saw these quilts, she orderend another one for her nephew.
All I have to do is put the border on and the top with be finished.
Until next time
Anna 

Friday, July 6, 2012

I'm back!

I have returned from Africa! I have too many pictures I could post right now, so it was a hard decision to pick which one to put first. I finally decided on the one above which shows me and five of the Winkler children in front of the beautiful Lake Victoria. (the largest lake in the world)

I had a great trip! Worked hard, and had fun living in Uganda for over two months.
I did get homesick though:(
I miss my family terribly when I'm gone.

I came back with tons of ideas for sewing and quilting! I am already working on two elephants, and two matching quilts for a set of twins! I learned the hard way that you shouldn't rush back into your quilting business with jet lag : )
I still have a lot of pictures to post about projects that were finished before I left. Hopefullly I will get them on the blog soon. My "blog" folder of pictures is getting very full! 
This is a picture of Christi Winkler(age five).
I made the skirt she is wearing for her. I think it turned out nicely considering I had no pattern, and limited sewing supplies.
I was going to get a picture of the skirt laid out so you could see how I made it, but I was so busy, I never got around to it.

That has been all the sewing I've gotten to do in the past few months and I miss it.
I've been cleaning the sewing room since I've been home (only two weeks!) and I am slowly making progress.  I should be able to actually start sewing soon!

Until next time,
Anna

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Homemade coupon organizer!


One-Yard Wonders is another one of my favorite books (did I mention that already?) I have a list of projects that I want to make from it.
This past Christmas I asked for a coupon organizer to put my recipes in. I am just a beginner cook, so I didn't need something big, but somewhere I could keep everything together.
I received a blue plastic one that is perfect!

Right after Christmas I saw the pattern for a coupon organizer in this book and just had to make one!

It has ten pockets to keep your coupons in.
I love the accordion pleats to make the pockets!
The pattern is easy, but takes a little time. I made all the different parts one afternoon, and then put it all together the next day.


I know these aren't good pics but I wanted to show you the label holders. (I haven't labeled mine yet)
You can either label the pockets by month, or by category, cleaning products, frozen food, beverages etc...
I found a lot of online labels you can print for free. So it is customizable.

The organizer in the book was made from one color. I wanted to make one out of the green fabric, but I didn't have enough of it for the whole thing. I fixed the problem by adding some cream, and I like the look of the two colors!

I googled homemade coupon organizers in google image and found some really neat ones. My favorite ones were the Isewblog quilted coupon organizers. check them out if you want more ideas.
-Anna