My First Quilt: IT'S DONE!

I have learned many things both, about sewing and about myself, with this project. Quilting isn't as easy as it looks, I'm kind of lazy, and I don't have all the tools for sewing. I learned how to whip-stitch, although not well. And although the quilt isn't the most beautiful, I love it.

What was the toughest part? Learning to read instructions and not letting my ego take over. I kept thinking, I've sewing before, this is a piece of cake. Well, my amateur sewing skills quickly showed in this piece. I apparently find it hard to sew in a straight line without guides. I also forget simple, yet essential, sewing steps such as ironing out the fabric. I believe I stretched the binding when sewing it and perhaps that's what made it bunch up.

Overall, I love it and love the fabric. It's made of 100% cotton fabric in greens, pinks, and mustard tones. The floral fabric is lovely and I'm glad I made the strips as wide as I did to show off the design.

My 2 year old daughter likes the quilt but mostly I keep it away from fear that she'll put chocolate or some other sticky substance on it. It's not perfect but I love my first quilt!

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~Yasmine

Friday Favorites: Baby projects, found blogs, and a no-sew project!

It's Friday! I can now sit down and finish my quilt, hopefully. All I have left to do is the binding and although the overall quilt didn't come out as amazing as I had first imagined, I love it anyway. I'll be glad to have that checked off my to-do list soon! And you guys will be able to see it in all it's glory!

I also placed a little announcement this past Father's Day on Facebook. I'm expecting! We had just found out and my husband was so excited he told everyone! So I told our Facebook followers. I won't bombard you with too much about the baby only to post great DIY projects that I plan on doing, or that look just so darn cute and interesting. I hope you guys don't get too tired of it?

Being so busy that I can't sit down to sew makes me sad, but I did find this lovely project that requires no sewing at all! CreateCraftLove brings us this DIY tutorial for a coffee cozy where you'll never have to pick up a needle and thread! All you need to do is find an old dress shirt of a man in your life, cut off the cuff, and then slip it on your coffee cup. Done!

I also found a really great blog called Domestic Deficit Disorder, which is a name that describes my life, perfectly. The link will send you to a lovely table runner. I just adore those colors and kind of wish I had thought to make that. She's having trouble with the corners though, so maybe you guys can give her some tips?

I also found a way to easily personalize a burp cloth. The tutorial, from the site Make Baby Stuff, would be great if I knew whether I was expecting a girl or a boy! I love it though and will definitely be putting this easy DIY on my list of things-I-hope-to-get-done-before-baby-comes!

I also found this lovely tote pattern on the Fabriclovers.com site. I'd love to create one of these to go to the grocery store. I'd look chic and like I was being thoughtful about the environment! They really do look heavt duty and the wider than usual straps would likely hold up to the amount of stuff I stick in my bags.

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~Yasmine

My First Quilt: What not to do when binding

So I was following the wrong tutorial, maybe? The tutorial called for 2" strips of fabric that would be used to create the edge of the quilt. I cut them and sewed them together.

Finally I sewed them onto the quilt. After finishing, one part I curiously took a break and check other tutorials on the topic. These other tutorials ask for a wider strip and instead of sewing it like I did (one edge first at 1/4" seam). They sewed it at 1/4" seam while folded.

Did I do it wrong?  I'll keep going because although it might take longer, I think I'll get the same result.

I just want to know if there's anyone out there that has done it the way I'm doing it. That tutorial and some others call for a whip stitch (which I have to remember what it is).