Salvation Army!

Here's a pic of the baby in her homemade Halloween costume. It was a rough day due to an unexpected funeral... but she still got to wear it. My pretty pink crayon!

I got a great haul from Salvation Army today. Three full sheets, one twin sheet, and three pillowcases for $11!!! All awaiting some great craftiness! Mostly, they will become grocery bags via this tutorial. I made six bags with one sheet earlier this week! More homemade Christmas gifts to come from this purchase!

Why fabric?

The question comes to me sometimes as I spend too many minutes that turn to hours looking at gorgeous fabrics, quilts, and handcrafted items online: why does fabric draw me in?

I figured it out (for right now). I love fabric because it takes what I love about doodling and sketching and pairing beautiful colors together, and makes something useful. I'm not about to display my doodling from last month's calendar on my wall. But I do love how it looks. I love how pleasing to the eye an all black on white swirly doodle looks. Fabric does that. It solidifies that beauty, and then I can make a purse, or a dress, or shirt, or quilt... whatever I might want or need, in those pretty colors and patterns.

Now if I only had the money to buy some (more) of these fabrics!

The Coolest Thing I've Ever Made:

Just turned one today!

Giveaway at P.S. I Quilt!

http://rachel-griffith.blogspot.com/2009/07/how-about-giveaway.html

Head over there to check it out!

Quilt-Along

I've decided to join AmandaJean's 9 Patch Quilt-Along at Crazy Mom Quilts. I started early, since I wanted to test it out to see if I could proficiently do a 9 patch block without going crazy. Yep I can! lol. I have done 21 of them already! All cut from the 4" charm squares given to me by Wally's Aunt Bobbie. SO- I'll only actually have to purchase the border fabrics and the backing. So far so good!

Happy Father's Day!

For some reason I can't figure out how to rotate today....

SMS Sewing Machine Month

What brand and model do you have? Singer 57815FS 2 Stitch 15 Stitch Function.
How long have you had it? About 4 years
How much does that machine cost (approximately)? It was $90 on sale... so maybe originally in the $120 range?
What types of things do you sew (i.e. quilting, clothing, handbags, home dec projects, etc.)? I make all sorts of things, mostly clothes for my baby now, but I've made everything on the list there.
How much do you sew? How much wear and tear does the machine get? Recently I've been sewing a little bit every day or so. Several times a week.
Do you like/love/hate your machine? I love my machine I think mostly because it's what I could afford. There are some things I'd rather have in a machine though. Are you ambivalent? Passionate? Does she have a name? no.
What features does your machine have that work well for you? It's pretty simple, strait stitch and zigzag. Nothing fancy. It does both of those things well.
Is there anything that drives you nuts about your machine? I have recently been frustrated because "supposedly" (according to the handbook) the machine came with a feed cover to do free motion quilting. Mine did not and I have yet to find a properly fitting one. Ditto the "darning foot" that they suggest for free motion. Thus I have yet to do any free motion on it. Sad.
Do you have a great story to share about your machine (i.e., Found it under the Christmas tree? Dropped it on the kitchen floor? Sewed your fingernail to your zipper?, Got it from your Great Grandma?, etc.!)? We want to hear it! My sister and I have the same exact machine. We raced through the store on the day after thanksgiving to get them. It was/is the most fun when we're together with out machines sewing various projects side by side. The same machine means between the two of us we know how to fix nearly everything that goes wrong.
Would you recommend the machine to others? Why? Sure. It's a great machine for a beginner (though I am not). It's reasonably priced and not bad especially for someone who likes sewing odd things - thus not needing a specialized machine.
What factors do you think are important to consider when looking for a new machine? I always consider price, but being that I sew a lot more than I'd intended to when I got the machine, I'd say there are various things. I really liked my White that I had before this. It was really old but I loved it. The singer is pretty nice, I would maybe consider things like free motion quilting, different stitches, etc.
Do you have a dream machine? No. I do drool over some of them that I see from time to time though. I would like a fancier machine but I don't see one coming in the near future!

Spring Top Week

Here's my Spring Ruffle Shirt from the tutorial at SewMamaSew by Rae (madebyrae.blogspot.com). I finished it in just a couple hours. It is amazing! I am in love!

AMAZING!

I just finished making the Spring Ruffle Top by Made By Rae that was posted on Sew Mama Sew. I love it!!!!

I learned something though, (thankfully not the hard way - since the tutorial was simply that good) --- I learned that since having the baby and breastfeeding I now fall into the "those with larger bust" catagory! lol. NEVER did I think that would happen!

Pictures tomorrow - or whenever I have someone to take it. The baby just is not that talented yet.

Thrifted sheets?

I wonder where I can get some...

Ok I live in a big city... and have a little baby - so I'm slightly afraid of the thrift stores here. Maybe I'll check out the goodwill at home when I'm there next.

I see some fabulous thrifted sheet turned into beautiful clothes on flickr... so jealous always of their skill and creativity!

I wish I had the money...

(or would let myself spend the money)

to buy that "Weekend Sewing" book everyone is so hyped up about! And that bunny pattern from mmmcrafts... and... an Oliver + S pattern or two... and some Anna Maria Horner fabric....

LOL

I got the cheep gene.

Isn't this the sweetest thing?

Check out this. It's a quilt a woman made for her neice. She had the top printed at www.spoonflower.com. The top is a letter she wrote to her neice. So wonderful, wrapped up in some love! I have to make one of these for someone, someday! But... at $18 a yard I might have to think a bit about who I'd make it for and what I'd write. I love sentimental gifts!

Happy Easter! (a couple days early).
Here's allie in her easter dress... and the cute little easter hat I made for her.

I was busy yesterday!

So here's a bunny I made last week. It's cute but a little funny. I can't remember the link where I got the pattern.

Here's the kid sleepily playing with the tag blanket I made for her. It has a bit of quilting on the front - which was the dry-run for her real quilt. It has minky dots on the back.

Here is the blanket with the tag elephant from homemadebyjill, and the bunny is made from this pattern here.

I would like to make something else so rewarding... but I just don't know what that will be.

wordle.com

This site is addictive. I love words.

The eddie cap

I just made one of these... it is too floppy since I made it out of flannel (since that's what I had). I should trim the bill of the hat a bit shorter next time. It was fun and pretty simple. I enjoyed it. Pictures to come shortly.

I just ordered fabric...

for the first time online! Thanks to homemade by Jill who posted a coupon code for $5 off at fabric.com. I can't wait until I get that fabric in the mail!!

The baby quilt is finished!!!

Here it is! Embroidered top and all! the blue is the top and the purple the bottom. This is my first real quilted quilt and I think it turned out great! There are a couple things I'd do differently next time, but overall it's great!

Smocket...

So yesterday I went to the fabric store for some fabric to bind the baby quilt. While I was there I got a bit of baby girl fabric. Last night I decided to try to alter the pattern for the Smocket (check out the link here). It worked well! I'd say the girl in the picture of the tutoial looks to be maybe a year, year and a half? Allie's almost 7 months... I just took her measurements and guessed. Here is the finished product! It's too cute! I can imagine making one for her a bit bigger for this summer, a bit longer too, to wear as a dress with a onesie. I can see a lot of potential in altering it to make it into a pretty dress.

Etc...

So the other day I went out in search of a new fabric store... they must have been sold to some other company. Now the location still has the sign on the front, but it's a dry cleaner/seamstress place with very very very little fabric for sale. What's worse is it was ugly fabric, and expensive. So, I went to JoAnn's again. I got my fat quarters for the swap and need to mail them today (I'm already running a bit late on that). I have thus far recieved four of the eight that should be coming for me. There are a couple cute fabrics in there! I'm excited to have more random stuff in my stash of fabric.

On that trip I also got fabric in purple to piece the back of Allie's quilt. I finished the back, and it looks great! We played with fabric paint last week and I was successful at gettin Allie's stamped feet in the corner of the front of her quilt (without ruining it!). Now all I need to do is finish up some of the embroidery then I'll be ready to quilt it together. Still not sure how I'm going to bind it though. I may use pre-made binding tape, or I may buy some fabric and make my own. I'm not sure how much fabric that would take, which is why I didn't buy the fabric for that part yet. It's looking good! I'll post pictures of it soon I promise!

Fat quarter swap, quilting machine parts, new fabric store

I just got my email with my names for the Fat Quarter Swap from Sew mamma sew's blog... now I get to go shopping for fat quarters for 8 fun people. I've never done anything like this so it should be fun.

So, tomorrow we venture out to find the new fabric store I've been looking for. (I've only ever shopped at JoAnn's which is fine, but the locations near me are all so small) I asked around (since I'm new to the city), and there's a Hancock Fabrics nearby. Allie and I will check it out tomorrow - hopefully I can find the attachment for my machine which will allow me to quilt. The machine supposedly came with it - according to the instruction booklet, yet it has been years since I got it... no recollection of it coming with extra parts!

I will post soon with pictures of my spoils... providing I find the place, and find pretty fabric!

1. Here's the dress I made for Allie. Too cute if you ask me... It's not perfect though... I would make some alterations if I were to make another. It is based on this tutorial.
   

There's the cute baby... Happy to be awake... crazy hair and all.

Here's a close up of the embroidery on Allie's quilt. I'm not done yet... more when it's finished.

Here's the purse I made last night using this tutorial. It really did only take an hour, and it looks great. Once again I made a couple alterations... and it needs a snap. Don't mind my ugly couch.

Baby size quilt... in progress!

Today Allie napped for about 3 hours strait!!! lol It works sometimes. I pieced together and sewed the top of her baby size quilt. I worked on some of the embroidery on it too. It's turning out super cute. I can't wait. I have decided against using the fabric I had purchased for the backing - it just doesn't seem right. So I'll return to the fabric store soon. I also need to buy some fabric paint and start practicing baby feet stamping (as I intend to print her feet on the corner of the blanket, along with her birth date.

After the nap we got out the stroller and walked down the way to the dollar store for some valentine's day goodness. No, not for the husband, but for his mom. Sweet as she is - babysitting for us whenever we need her, and being back up for when her dear son doesn't make it home from work in time for me to leave for work... she deserves a nice surprise at work tomorrow. Which will come in the form of Allie in her pretty dress delivering the pretty purse (that I made this afternoon using this tutorial) and some goodies. The purse turned out great... it could be a bit deeper, but being as I used only two fat quarters to make it, I'm pretty satisfied.

Again, photos to come soon.

Toys.

Proverbs 31:13 (descriptioin of a worthy woman)
She looks for wool and flax, and works with her hands in delight.

I made this tiny quilt for Allie today. It clips onto her stroller or car seat, and so far she has drooled on it just a little. I'm trying to think of ways to creatively use the hundreds of 4inch squares my husband's aunt gave me. They are in various colors. That's my project for tomorrow. Any ideas?

LOL I don't think I have any readers yet.

Here I am! I finally started my very own craft blog. I'm a lurker, and I have been reading other beautiful crafty blogs for a while not. I think I'm ready to join in.

Let me introduce myself. I am 24, married, and have a beautiful 5 month old daughter. I have been crafty all my life. My nickname emedoodle (pronounced Emmy Doodle) was given to me by my dad when I was around 5 years old. I started sewing when I was around 8 or 9, and got my first machine at age 12 (a hand-me-down White from my aunt Kathy). I also have dabbled in knitting, polymer clay, papercraft/altered books, scrapbooking, and bookbinding. I love my "stuff" container which has all the essentials for nearly every craft project imaginable. I have recently decided to make things easier I'm going to focus on sewing as a past time for now. Too many things at once means none of them get done well (and I seem to want to buy the whole craft store). I'm cheap. I hesitate to buy too much fabric at once and well... I need to ease into it. I don't think I've ever really "quilted" a whole quilt. Not as far as piecing it and fabric coordination etc. I'm working on starting and my first major project will (hopefully) be a full size quilt for my daughter. I like making usable things. I'd like to get involved in a couple quilt related swaps. I should be asleep. Why am I writing this at 1:47am?