Handmade Christmas: Moda Love Quilt

 

A couple of years ago when the Moda Love Quilt was super-popular on Instagram, I decided that I needed a quick quilt to play with.  It was during the school year, which always means I don't want to start a new, complicated project, but I needed some quilting therapy.  I grabbed this Bonnie and Camille layer cake that was sitting on the shelf (I don't remember which collection) and dug in.

Then sometime this past summer my son and his wife mentioned that they didn't have a quilt or bedspread for their guest bedroom in their new home.  Naturally, my first thought was, "I can fix this."  I had two large quilt tops already made, and let them choose.  They chose the B&C top.  I added some borders to make it 100" x 100" and sent it off to Sterling Quilt Co. to get it quilted.  I do most of my own quilting, but I was not about to attempt a king size quilt on my domestic machine.  That way lies madness!

Photo credit:  Sterling Quilt Co.

 Sterling got it back to me a couple of weeks before Christmas, and it is perfect.  I love the design we chose.  Every month, she does a penny design, and I really loved how this one almost echoed the design of the quilt.  I've had other quilts long-armed before, but none were as well done as this one.  The others had puckers at the edges and threads hanging.  Sterling buried all the threads and even trimmed the edges before she sent it back.  I was impressed.

Best of all, my son and his wife seemed to like their gift, even though it wasn't a great surprise. 

Handmade Christmas: Tilda 9-blade Fan Quilt

 

The source for this photo is unknown.  If you message me, I will be glad to credit it to you.

Sometime last spring - in the middle of the mask-making madness - youngest daughter sent me this picture and asked if I could make this quilt.  I consulted my expert (oldest daughter) and she said it was a fan quilt and that she was pretty sure the fabric was Tilda.

The source for this photo is unknown.  If you message me, I will be glad to credit it to you.

As it happened, I had a F8 bundle of Tilda Lazy Days sitting on my shelf just waiting for its opportunity, so I set about planning this quilt.  I couldn't find a pattern I liked anywhere.  I knew exactly what I wanted it to look like, but I couldn't find anything even close.  Finally,  I headed to my LQS and bought a 10* fan template and a circle template, and set about constructing a quilt.  Even the instructions on the template were for a Christmas tree skirt, not a quilt block.  And although this sounds like it was a fairly quick, linear decision, this process took several months.  

 

I think one of the hardest things about using a pretty bundle of fabric all tied up with a label is just untying the ribbon.  But, eventually, I managed that task and set about using my template on all these fat eighths. I had j*u*s*t enough fabric to make the number of fan blades I needed.  Each F8 yielded 9 blades, which was just what I needed.  I alternated the fabrics - 5 in one block and 4 in another - so that each block was different from all the others.  

 

Once I got the blocks made, I set them on point and sewed them together.  I think I had 2 blocks left over. I cut filler blocks for the sides, top and bottom and sewed the rows together.

 And then a cool little miracle occurred.  I knew that I wanted a scalloped edge all the way around, but I had never done one before.  One day, I sat down with a couple of pieces of printer paper taped together and sketched the curve I wanted.  I cut it out with scissors, and then measured the length of the quilt sides and the top and bottom.  The curved piece I drew was exactly the right length to put 4 scallops top and bottom and 5 on each side.  I was crowing about this amazing success to my expert when she said, "Oh, I don't cut the scallops until I have the quilt quilted.  Otherwise, the edges get wonky."  

Oops.  Mine were already cut.  Then she said, "But I can tell you how to keep them from getting wonky," and she told me to zig-zag the edges before I did the rest of the quilting.  I always do zig-zag the edges of the quilt before I quilt it, but I was glad she told me.  

As it was, they were a bit wonky and I had to take out some of the zig-zag and a couple of seams, but I managed to get the scallops to lie flat in the end.  

For quilting, I stippled the negative space and outline-quilted the fan blades.  I echo quilted the scallops around the curves and along the straight edge until the two sets of stitching met, with only a bit of open space in the middle.  

Backed with minky, this is the coziest of quilts, perfect for snuggling on cold winter evenings.

Handmade Christmas: DIY Sleeping Bags for the Dollies

 

We are, apparently, an American Girl family.  All of the kiddos who are old enough have American Girl dolls.  While I was perusing the interwebs before Christmas, I saw a blog post by Kim Brancato where she showed how to make a dolly sleeping bag.  Since I had a lot of fleece scraps from the mermaid tails and the whale's tail, I thought it would be fun to make sleeping bags for each of the dollies.  

There are a number of patterns for dolly sleeping bags out there, but I liked this one especially because Kim used an elastic loop sewn into the bottom seam to roll up the bag.  Genius!  Some of my littles are not old enough yet to tie a bow - or even a knot, really - and the elastic loop allows them to roll up the bag all by themselves, and not have to continually pester a parent or older sibling.

 

Kim's measurement for the 18" American Girl doll sleeping bag was 23" x 27", and it was perfect.  But two of my littles have Wellie Wishers dollies, and I knew that size sleeping bag would be too big for these 14-1/2" dolls.  I cut these dolly sleeping bags 18" x 24" and they were perfect.

 

The only change I made from Kim's tutorial was to attach the pillow to the sleeping bag.  This way, the pillow won't get lost, and dolly can always find her pillow, leading to fewer meltdowns from dolly's human friends.  The pillow then rolls up inside the sleeping bag and the elastic goes around the whole thing, making a nice, tidy bundle.  You may want to cut your elastic just a tad longer to allow for the pillow if you use this method

I tried several methods to attach the pillow, but I found that the easiest way (after making 3, I finally figured it out!) was to cut it with a 1" seam allowance at the bottom.  Sew a seam at 1" with an opening for the stuffing.  Then sew it closed.  Then sew the pillow inside the top seam of the sleeping bag at 1/2". This way, the stuffing doesn't get in the way while you're trying to stitch the bag together.  

Handmade Christmas: Three Mermaid Tails and A Whale's Tail

 

One of the biggest hits of Christmas for each of the kiddos were these mermaid tail/whale's tail blankets I made for each of the kiddos.  They seem to absolutely love them.  Apparently, they even sleep inside them in their beds under the blankets.  Who knew?

I saw the tutorial a few weeks before Christmas on the See Kate Sew blog.  I've been poking around her site at least since the Great Masking began in March, and I've made dozens of masks from her origami mask pattern.  I actually think I first saw the pattern for the mermaid tails on the SewCanShe blog but I couldn't find it again when I went looking.  

Kate's post said she made her pattern to fit her 5-year old, and since I have a 5-year old and a 4-year old in the family, I started there.  Joann's had fleece on sale 50% off, and I even found a number of remnants that were an additional 50% off.  For the 8-year old, I added an additional row of fleece, or about another 8 inches.

For the 11-year old, I added two additional rows, as she is quite tall.  

I added zippers to all of them because I didn't want any of them to have difficulty getting themselves out of their tails if the need arose, but honestly, I don't think any of the children ever used them.

Kate even had a baby size mermaid tail sleeper on her site that I just had to make for the littlest, although I didn't get it done until a couple of days after Christmas.  As you can tell, this was made from scraps from the other tails.  I made the 12-18 month size for my 2-month old granddaughter as she is so very long, but I might have overdone it just a touch.  She seems to be enjoying it, regardless.

And here are most of the kiddos watching a movie in their tails with their Squishimals (a gift from the other grandma) as pillows.  

As you can see, even the dollies got in the act.  More on the dolly sleeping bags tomorrow.

#givethanks - day 10

 

 Yesterday I was able to go to church.  I've always been glad that in our country we have the right to worship as we please, and I never really thought that there would be circumstances that would prevent me being able to go to church.  I always thought it would be my choice.

Home worship is wonderful, and I was grateful that we had the opportunity to do that when we were not able to join together as a congregation, but yesterday I really felt what a blessing it is to be able to come and worship together.

#givethanks

#givethanks - day 9

This is my space.  It's often messy.  It's not perfect.  But it is my space, and I am grateful for it.  I do pretty much everything here.  I sew, of course, but I also grade papers, read novels, crochet, and simply relax here.  Occasionally I even watch TV or movies.

I have been so fortunate that for most of our 44 years of marriage, in most of the places we've lived, I've been able to have a space.  For many years, while our children were growing, it was a tiny little nook off the kitchen with 4 doorways and only 7 feet of usable wall space.  I made the most of it.

THIS space is bigger - much bigger - than that little corner I had for so many years.  And its use has evolved.  I love it.  I can be more organized and see more of what I have.  I can have two machines (and sometimes even 3) out at the same time without feeling claustrophobic.  

I am also grateful for this skill that has enabled me to help so many people this year.  I've lost count, but I've made somewhere around 800 masks I think.  

Many of them went to help our medical community at the beginning of the Covid crisis.  

I made a few hospital gowns and scrub caps too.  I'm very grateful I was able to do help in some small way.

I've also been able to make doll clothes and other items to make my grandchildren and others I love happy.  The doll clothes (and the techniques that changed it from a terrible chore to a pleasure) was shared with me by a friend of a friend that I've never met except through Instagram.

When I was around 8 or 9, my mom sat me down at the sewing machine and taught me to sew.  I'm sure I made a thing, although I don't remember what it was.  What I do remember was being at my grandmother's and noticing that my swimming suit needed mending and sitting down at her treadle machine and completing the repair like I knew what I was doing.  I remember my {male} cousins being impressed.

As I grew up, my mom would give me $100 to buy school clothes at the beginning of the school year.  In those days, it was a hefty sum, but still didn't go far if you had to buy shoes, a winter coat, underwear, and gym clothes.  I learned quickly though that Mom would buy me all the fabric, notions, and sewing supplies I wanted.  The message was clear - if you want a wardrobe, make it yourself.

I sewed for my kids when they were small, but when the youngest was 4 I went back to work and the husband went to work for an airline.  After that, if we were lucky, he spent maybe 2 days out of 7 at home.  This was a very busy and chaotic period of our lives, and for about 15 years, I rarely sewed anything but Halloween costumes and prom dresses.

And then things quieted down, grandchildren came, and I discovered modern quilting.  And I was hooked!

And now I am able to share my love of sewing with my grandkids.  They come for a month every summer and I always plan a project.  The first year, it was tote bags.  The next year, pajamas.  This year it was shorts.  But then the oldest asked if she could make a quilt for her Granny.  She went shopping in my stash and made the most wonderful quilt.

And she did everything except the quilting by herself.

And this space is where we hang out...

Where they help Grandma create...

Where we get a little bit silly...

Where we play...

Where we get a leeetle bit goofy...

Where we can relax together...

And maybe get a little bit silly sometimes.

And I love it.  And I am so very grateful.  And I hope I get the chance to share these things with my other two granddaughters - one who lives far away and one who is still a newborn - someday soon.

#givethanks

#givethanks - day 8

Today, I am feeling so grateful for the change in my social media feeds.  I have absolutely LOVED reading what everyone is grateful for.  I have gained insights into the lives of friends I have known for years, and some that I only know through social media.  It has improved my mood, and turned my attitude around.

 

I guess it just proves that it is difficult (I won't go so far as to say "impossible") to have a positive outlook and be surrounded by negativity.  

This year has been difficult - no question - but there have been many bright spots.  Dwelling on the things we're missing or the things that are going wrong just makes us more miserable.  Looking for the things that are going well, or the blessings hidden in the changes - and they're there if we look - helps us enjoy what we have.

I'm going to try to do better.

#givethanks