Pocket Wall Organizer

I desperately needed a better system for putting important mail, checks, gift cards, coupons, etc. so I would remember them going out the door. Piling everything into a basket just wasn't working (shocker, lol). There was always a mad rush to sift through the basket before going shopping to find a certain store coupon, but where was it? Where was that birthday party invitation with the address?Where was the check I needed to deposit?

Then one day I saw the pocket board tutorial in my Better Homes & Gardens magazine and knew I had the answer. I even had the perfect place in mind for the board where I could have all these items nearby on my way out the door!!

The instructions in the magazine called for a big piece of plywood, but I came up with a lighter, simpler solution: a cork board on clearance after the back-to-school sales. The rest of the materials I already had on hand.

I followed the instructions per the BHG tutorial with a few minor exceptions. Since I used cork board, I didn't feel the need to put foam on top. I also chose to create different sized pockets to suit my particular needs -- I left the first row as one large pocket, the second row as two pockets, the third row as three pockets, and the fourth row as four pockets.

I have used the pocket board for several months now and it works great!! I have room for my gift cards and coupons (I put them there right away after they come in the mail), outgoing mail (to take outside to the mailbox), invitations (parties, weddings, baby showers), and more. Now I feel more organized and less scatter-brained about finding things when I need them. I'm so glad I took the time to make this for myself. It was really simple to make (about 1 hour), and cheap considering I only had to buy the $4 cork board. :O)

This is a very versatile board and could easily be used to organize other items. Get creative and utilize your wall space to organize your stuff!!

Disappearing Nine Patch Baby Quilt

 Today I'm happy to share with you the bright quilt I made for my newest nephew. Now at the time I picked out fabric I didn't know if I was getting a niece or nephew, and my sister-in-law just asked for bright colors. This wasn't what I intended on getting when I left for the fabric store, but if you know me it's not a big surprise I came home with something completely different, LOL. I picked out some bright colors with a pop of animal print to coordinate with the zoo animals on the backing fabric.

I used the Disappearing Nine Patch pattern for the top. It's an easy pattern I found a while back on one of my favorite sewing blogs, Cluck Cluck Sew. The gist of the pattern is to make a basic nine patch out of 5-inch squares, then cut the nine patch into fourths, and piece the resulting blocks together to make the quilt top.



For this quilt I made five nine patches. Then I cut into fourths for the "disappearing" effect and stitched together four across and five down. I also added a solid border with orange circles fabric around the finished nine patches and then a border of rectangles outside that. Next up was to make a nice "quilt sandwich" with the top, batting, and bottom in preparation to quilt everything together. It's hard to tell in the pictures, but I used orange thread to quilt inside and outside the border of each nine patch and the border pieces.

Then I grabbed my bias tape maker to make my own bias out of the orange circles fabric to give a nice coordinating finished look for the binding. If you've never made your own bias, all it takes is a bias tape maker (about $5), your fabric, and an iron. I also like to use a starch spray (Mary Ellen's Best Press is my favorite) for a better result after ironing. Then you have a bias tape that perfectly matches your quilt -- yay!!




My nephew is four months old now and already has gotten lots of use out of his blanket. I hear he loves it for tummy time and playing, and also loves looking at the bright colors!!

Online Quilt Block Sewing Bee

I just wanted to take a minute to say how excited I am about a quilt that a fellow quilt block bee-er finished recently. Linda made a purple and pink "I Spy" quilt for her granddaughter. Isn't it lovely?!

My "Care Bear" block is second row, first block. :O)

At Linda's Chirp blog you can find a tutorial of her modified quilt-as-you-go method and more pictures of her beautiful quilt. Here's what Linda said about using this method:

The point of this technique is that with a full size backing, I could work on a section of quilting at a time without manipulating three heavy, bulky layers all the time, and there are no awkward joins that have to be covered, hand-stitched, or disguised in any way. No shoulder pain, no sewing machine getting pushed around on the table!

After reading her tutorial, it's something I definitely want to try out!!

In case you are wondering, an online quilt block bee is where sewers from all over the world come together and make blocks for each other. The bee I recently was part of is housed at Flickr. This particular group was a "mini bee" with six hive members and two months to complete the blocks. It's a fun way to discover and try new color combinations and see what other people have going on in their sewing rooms. Online bees come in all shapes and sizes -- it's all about finding one that fits your mood!!

At the beginning of the bee each person tells what particular colors or patterns they would like to have in their block. Then each sewer makes one block for each fellow hive member in the colors they requested, but uses the same pattern for each block. You mail your block to the right person and blocks come in the mail to you. Happy mail for once. :O)

I ended up making six unique blocks for my bee hive:

Here's the center of my Care Bear-themed pink and purple block for the I Spy quilt:

The goal in the end is to get enough quilt blocks from bees to make your own quilt. I love the idea of having a quilt full of blocks made just for me by fellow sewers all over the world!!

Baby Blankets 3 Ways {#3}

Here's the last of three baby blankets I made for some sweet new babies in our neighborhood!! This one is a "faux chenille" style and is so soft on the back. It even would be great in a grownup size for snuggling on the couch. :O)

To make this I used a yard of a cotton print for the blanket top, and three yards of flannel (1 yard each of three colors for variety) for the faux chenille on the bottom. You could use just one color of flannel, or three different ones to get some color variation. Either way is fine. I also used satin ribbon for the trim and two spools of thread. Yes, all that stitching takes lots of thread -- make sure you have enough so you don't run out before you're finished!!

Putting this blanket together is easy -- all you need to know how to do is make a straight stitch. But be prepared to stitch for a loooong time!! I worked on it for a half hour or so at a time so I wouldn't get tired of all the long straight lines.

The first step is to lay out your three layers of flannel, then lay your cotton fabric on top. Pin together. Now make a diagonal straight line from one corner to the opposite corner. Make sure your bobbin is full and you have lots of thread and get ready to sew!!

Stitch the layers together. Stitch on top of the diagonal line (you might want to increase your stitch length here -- it looks nicer and will make the sewing go faster). Using that line as a guide, keep stitching diagonal lines about 1/2 inch apart over the entire top. Use your presser foot as a guide -- no need to mark lines on the fabric.

Stitching on the top and bottom.

Now you are ready to cut the faux chenille. Turn the blanket over to the back (flannel facing you). Using a very good pair of fabric scissors or a chenille cutter, cut through ONLY the three layers of flannel. Be careful not to cut through the cotton or poke a hole, or you will cry and have to repair the hole.

 Flannel layers after they are cut.

Then square up the sides and bind with whatever you like and you're all done with the construction. Wash the blanket once and the cut flannel will turn into a lovely faux chenille. Every time it is washed it will get softer!!

Satin ribbon for binding with a mitered corner.

Time for a spin in the washing machine and dryer!!

Now you have a soft and textured "faux chenille"!!

This blanket has lots of texture on the top with all the close stitching, and of course on the bottom with the soft faux chenille effect. Perfect for baby to play or sleep on. You'll just want to rub your hands on it all the time; it will be hard to turn over at the baby shower!!

So pretty and soft all over. :O)

Well folks, that's all for the Baby Blankets 3 Ways series. See Blanket #1 and Blanket #2 for peeks at the other blankets I made for the sweet new additions to our neighborhood. Next up will be a baby quilt I made for my newest little nephew (yes, something for a boy!!).

Baby Blankets 3 Ways {#2}

Here's the second blanket of three for the newest addition to our neighborhood. The top is a "race" or "jelly roll 1600" type of design. Here's some more about those along with pictures of other beautiful full-size race quilts.

I was lucky enough to find a jelly roll that used the same colors from baby's room. The parents wanted baby's gender to be a surprise, so they decorated the nursery in pretty muted blues, greens and grays. It's really a stunning room and a great concept for a gender-neutral color scheme!!

To make this blanket I used one half of a jelly roll (20 strips), backing fabric and matching fabric for the binding. Its finished size is 31" x 41".

First I sewed together all the strips with a diagonal seam. To do this you lay two strips together, right sides facing, in what I fancily like to call an "upside down L" (LOL). Then you sew a straight diagonal line from corner to corner, and when you open it up you have nice diagonal line. Do this over and over, joining all the strips together into one big strip.

Sew the strips together with a diagonal line.

When finished it will look like this, with a diagonal seam.

Sew all the strips together and you'll get a nice pile of one long strip. :O)

After you have one long strip, find the midpoint, move up a little and cut so that you now have two long strips. You don't want to cut it exactly in half or the diagonals will line up and that's not what you want. Now sew these two strips together. Again, find the midpoint and cut. Repeat this process until you have your blanket top. Easy peasy. Time consuming, yes, but also easy.

After cutting and sewing the strip together once, then cutting in half and getting ready to sew together again.

The finished top with all the pieces sewn together.

Next I made bias tape for the binding that was from the same fabric as the backing. If you have never done this, it's easy and much more economical than purchasing ready-made bias tape. Plus you know you have a finished binding that matches just right. Bias tape makers come in a variety of sizes. To make the bias tape, simply cut your fabric to the right width and length, run it through the bias tape maker tool and press with an iron and you're done. I also like to spray with starch before ironing so the binding folds stay neat and clean. Mary Ellen's Best Press starch spray in lavendar is my favorite!!

Making the bias tape for binding is easy!!

My 1" finished bias tape (and my handy dandy bias tape maker).

Next I pinned together the top and bottom pieces of fabric, wrong sides together, and stitched-in-the-ditch up every other row of strips. This gives a nice quilted look and also helps the blanket hold together. There is not any batting in the middle -- you certainly could do this if you wanted. But for this blanket I chose to keep it simple. I personally like blankets that are not too thick -- I find they are great for simple cover-ups when a thick blanket would just be too much, are easy to transport and great for baby to sit on and play.

The last step was to put on the binding, and I used a mitered corner (if you need help with this, do a quick search on YouTube for some great tutorials).

Binding with mitered corners; top and bottom of blanket.

Back of blanket.

This blanket is fairly easy to put together and just requires a little time to get done. The design makes a lot of impact for minimal effort compared to other piecing techniques and patterns. Add some matching burp cloths or other baby essentials and you have yourself a great shower gift!!

A pretty blanket ready for a beautiful new baby!!

So now you've seen Blanket #1 and #2 -- next week will finish this neighborhood Baby Blanket triparte!! But no worries -- if you like baby blankets there are more to come. :O)

Baby Blankets 3 Ways {#1}

Our neighborhood has been blessed with three baby girls right in a row. That means I had an excuse to sew up three baby blankets -- yay!! I absolutely love fabric shopping (yes Mom, you heard that right) and had lots of fun picking it out especially for each baby's blanket.

For Baby Blanket #1 I chose a bright pink and green color pallete to match baby's room. This blanket is a simple 36"x36" square. I simply cut the front and back fabric to size, sewed right sides together, then turned out and finished the seam. On top I sewed on some white and sparkly silver ric-rac about 4" inside. Then I finished the edges with a pretty embroidery stitch on my machine.

I also made some coordinating burp rags out of cloth diapers and flannel fabric. On one of them I got a little crazy and added some green ruffles to the pink flannel to match the blanket. Someday I will get one of those weird-looking ruffler contraptions that actually fits my machine and ruffles will take less time. Someday.

I like these types of blankets because I think they're great for baby to sit and play on or for easy cover when it's not cold enough for a thick blanket. Add in the useful (pretty) burp rags and you have a great shower gift.

Alltogether this was an easy project. The hardest part was waiting on my sewing machine to do all its lovely embroidery stitching around the edge. Lucky for me I have a wonderful chiropractor to realign my neck and back after a long stretch of using bad sewing posture. :O)

Stay tuned for Baby Blankets 2 & 3!!

Boo Boo Packs -- Save the Band-Aids!!

All kids inevitably get owies, ouchies and boo boo's, and these Boo Boo Packs are an easy, cheap, quick way to make the little ones feel better in a flash.

All you have to do is take some scrap fabric and sew up three sides, fill partially with rice (regular, NOT instant) and sew up the fourth side. I added a ribbon loop to these just for fun. Then put them in the freezer and use it next time there's a boo boo.

And for the husbands bigger kids, make large ones to use for muscle aches. They're even great relief when warmed up in the microwave. You can make these as fancy or plain as you like, but either way they work just the same. And believe me, we've saved lots of money skipping the Band-Aids. :O)

Scrappy Nap Mat

Baby Girl needed a nap mat for naptime at preschool, and instead of tracking down an old-school Kindermat I decided to make her one. Of course I remembered this on the day before preschool started, LOL.

I found this tutorial on a blog I love and went through my fabric stash and happened to have enough of everything to make the mat. The big pieces came from remnants I bought a year or two ago with nothing particular in mind (see honey, I finally used them) and the smaller pieces were from a dress I made Baby Girl a couple of years ago.

I followed instructions on the tutorial almost exactly, with the exception that I stitched small pieces to the top to make the pillow since my big pieces of fabric weren't long enough, used Velcro instead of buttons on the tabs to make it easier for my toddler to handle by herself, and used cotton quilt batting instead of 1" foam (because I don't happen to have big pieces of foam laying around). The batting was twin-sized and I just folded it all up evenly to insert into the mat.

The beauty of this style nap mat is that A) it's easy to make, B) has a great strap for transporting and C) is easily washable by removing the batting or foam insert.

There's even an attached blanket! I used scrap flannel pieces.

The back. Didn't I get lucky to have enough scraps that coordinated?!

Rolling it up.

All done! Now just throw it over your shoulder so you have free hands to lug all the other stuff!!