Quilting!

I have finally begun work on my Dad's quilt.  I bought the fabric for him (that he picked out) in February.  This is your introduction to my procrastination.  I have put it off for a long time because I can't just start the process at the part I love, sewing, and quilting.  No, first I have to cut out 1.6 million tiny squares.  I'm exaggerating, I only have to cut out 875 squares.  But I finally started the cutting of the squares!  Which means I can finally start the part I love and having some non-food related crafting to write about.

First I cut long strips 2.5 inches wide off the fabric: 

This is why I hate cutting the squares:

 My cutting mat and ruler aren't long enough to cut the strip in one continuous motion so I have to shift everything to finish the cut and it doesn't always go smoothly.

2. Cut squares 2.5 inches wide off of the long strip:

 

I cut a bunch of squares out of the star fabric and dark blue fabric.  The medium blue fabric is also the border fabric so I want to cut the border pieces before I start cutting squares out of it.  I'll do that tomorrow.  The dark blue is also the fabric for the backing of the quilt.

 

The quilt is an Irish Chain quilt.  I have made one before on a smaller scale for my nephew when he turned 1 and then for my niece when she turned 1.  The dark squares in this sketch that criss cross across the quilt are the star fabric.  The medium squares are the medium blue and the light squares are the dark blue.

Patterns!

My patterns came!  This one is the dress I am making for my niece:

Isn't it an adorable pattern?  And I'll be using this fabric:

 

She picked out the fabric, so it makes the project even more fun for the both of us.

I need an accent pattern and I think I'm going to go with this darker pink:

 

The only thing that I am fairly upset about is that the "pattern" did not come with tissue paper!  I thought that was the point of paying for a pattern!  (And it did cost a fair bit of money.)  It just came with this tiny booklet with bad diagrams:

Therefore, I'll have to do this project with my mom so I don't screw up royally and then waste the money I spent on fabric.  She has made clothes before and will be a big help!

The other pattern I won't be using for awhile, but will eventually be used to make a dress for me!  And thankfully, it does have the tissue paper to help you cut your fabric to the right size.

Making an item of clothing for myself and for my two nephews and my niece are all on my 25 Before 25 List.  It will be fun to be able to cross another thing off soon!

Things I Want to Learn How to Make

I have crocheted scarves, but now I want to crochet a cute little bat:

I want to make my own Star Wars toys:

Oh my gosh!  Tiny Turtles!

And finally, a stuffed hedgehog!

Non Food-Related Crafting! A Tooth Pillow

 
My nephew D- is in first grade now which means he could lose a tooth any day now.  Or he could be like me and not lose a single tooth until second grade.  When I was little we had a little pillow that looked like a hippo and the hippo's teeth were pockets.  When I lost a tooth I put my tooth in the hippo's tooth pocket for the Tooth Fairy.  So I wanted to make a tooth pillow for my nephew.  He said he wanted his pillow to look like an actual tooth.

I went to the fabric store with him and he picked out a light pink cotton flannel fabric (my favorite quilting fabric).  Then I found a tooth template.  I sketched out a tooth while looking at that as a reference.  I cut the first piece around my original outline so I would have a seam allowance.  Then I flipped it upside down and used it as a template for the second piece of the pillow.

I decided to challenge myself and make the pocket for his teeth look like another tiny tooth instead of just a square or a semi-circle. 

It took me awhile to decide how to attach it, but I ended up deciding to simply sew it on with a straight stitch and then embroider it later to hide the ugly stiches.

Those scissors are my favorite sewing scissors.  They are sharp, tiny, & pointy and also serve as my seam ripper.

Then I pinned & sewed the two pieces together (pretty sides facing each other) while following my sketched outline.