Hi 5...er 25...to making my 1st quilt.

I hate December! For us, it is a very busy time of year. Not just because of Christmas and all the jazz that accompanies it but because of the birthdays we also have in December. We have the birthday of my niece, MIL, BIL and SIL...all in laws! Anyways, this year instead of spending a gazillion dollars on presents, I am going to make them. My previous 2 posts here and here are about what I made for my niece's 1st birthday last weekend. Today we had a party (afternoon tea) for my Mother-in-law who turns 60 tomorrow.

Her gift from us, that I made, was a quilt. Not just any quilt though....my FIRST ever quilt. Special eh? I was originally going to make it wall hanging size but then decided to make it lap size instead. So this is what I did and how it turned out.

****Warning: Lots of photos ahead ******

I have mentioned in previous posts that a while ago I bought a FQ 10 pack of spotty negative in various colours, well I used 6 of them in the quilt I made. Orange, Black, Light blue, Green, Grey and Pink.

I didn't really have a plan or pattern for this quilt, I was just going to go with my gut and see what happens. I got an idea in my head to somehow put all our hand prints on the quilt in a square for each. I wasn't 100% sure of the best way to do so whether it be fabric marker, applique or embroidery. I went with embroidery and matched the same coloured thread with the fabric. I drew around our hands, each onto a different coloured square, using with my erasable marker and then used a back stitch to go around the outline.

1 hand down, 4 to go and an extra square to fill....

Since I had 6 squares and only 5 of us, I needed to put something cool in the extra one. I appliqued the word LOVE. I interfaced some matching fabric to 'stiffen' it up a bit and cut out the letters L, V and E. I had a heart mofit that I ironed on as the 'o'. I then did a rough applique stitch around the lettering.

This is how the panel of my 6 squares turned out. I added our initials in black thread and also added some sashing in between each square to make them stand out a little more.

I cut 3 1/2inch squares out of the spotty fabric - 4 of each colour and made 2 panels to run along the top and bottom of the quilt.

This is the quilt top finished. I used a beautiful yellow fabric for the sashing, borders and other panels.

For the backing, I used a gorgeous vintage blue floral fabric that I found at spotlight. I was excited that it was only $8/metre so took it up to the counter and the sales lady told me it was on special at $4/metre....Bargain!

So this is how it turned out....BRILLIANT! I am very happy with my 1st quilt. There were a few things that I will do differently and change up for my next one though but I couldn't be happier with the final result. I used a black binding which is a little hard to see in this photo but it framed the quilt well :)

I made some cupcakes also to take along to the party, wrapped up the quilt with some tissue paper and a pretty pink ribbon and the headed out the door - Nick and kids in tow.

The afternoon was lovely. The party was held at my MIL's parents pool area (they live in a big retirement village) and as it was a nice morning, we were all looking forward to a swim. The weather decided to pack in and a storm crept in. Luckily there was a big undercover area :)

And my favourite part of today....

My mint chocolate cupcakes with vienna cream icing....YUMMMMM!!!!

Hope you all had a lovely Sunday as well...

Party Progress...

OK, I have been slack, I know!! I am trying to get all prepared for my boys Cowboy party which is next week. I must say, I have a lot to do before then but for some reason or another, I seem to lack the energy to get the tasks ticked off my list. Oh well, I'm sure it will all come together before the big day :)

As you know, I am trying to make most of the costumes myself (especially the kids ones) so I have been excited about getting some of that done. I have already made Cowboy vests for the boys.

To make these, I got a t-shirt that fitted them well and used that as a pattern. I made a few adjustments...shortened it by 2 inches for a shorter vest, made a big V neck and cut the front down the middle. I used suede fabric that I picked up from a local fabric store in the remnants bin, score! I could have left the edges raw since it won't fray but I overlocked all the edges for a different look. The boys love them and wear them often already :)

Next on the list was an outfit for Miss Chelsea. I wasn't 100% sure on what to make her. I had been to the fabric store to find something but nothing really appealed to me for her. Shock I know!! Anyways, while I was there, I needed to get some red checkered fabric to make the table clothes from but they only had a small red check fabric. I bought it anyways. When looking at it at home, It just didn't look like the right sort of check so I decided to cut it up and create a cute country dress for Chels out of it.

To make this dress I used a self made bodice pattern that fits Chelsea well and a Circle skirt pattern (Pattern: New Look #6688) that I purchased a while ago. You can also find lots of circle skirt tutorials on the web like here and here.

I adjusted the bodice pattern slightly by giving it more of a boat neck and a thinner shoulder seem. I also fully lined the bodice and made it button up at the back.

I then made the circle skirt and sewed the bodice and the skirt together. I added a thin blue belt and a big flower that I made out of scrap blue fabric and a big red button to add a pop to the dress.

It looks amazing on her so I am happy at how it turned out :)

Next on my list is my outfit. I have changed my mind a hundred times as to what I want to wear so far. I think I have finally settled on an idea though, fingers crossed that I can make it look like the plan in my head!

Find out soon (I promise it will be soon) what else I have made....

Until then, take care!