Special gift for a special baby

I am excited to say that I have, for the very first time, dabbled in quilting!! And, I loved it!!! I made a little floor rug/baby blanket for a precious little girl born to a friend of mine in my Mother's Group. Now, I didn't do any fabric piecing, but, in my mind I used a number of 'quilting' type techniques... so... I'm calling it a quilt. :)

Here it is...

I used this tutorial for the binding. I really enjoyed hand sewing the binding, it was quite therapeutic. :)

I wish I'd given the quilt a good iron before taking this pic. I've quilted little hearts all over the quilt. It took FOREVER!! I cut out paper hearts and placed them on the quilt then drew around them all with fabric marker and then machine quilted with a regular machine foot. I don't have a free motion foot (is that what it's called??).

Close up of the hearts

The backing was a really fine corduroy. Totally gorgeous. :)

So, for all you amazing quilters out there... please be kind!! I'm super happy with it! My friend loved it to... Yay!! :)

Ok... till next time...

K

Gift - Butterfly Cushion Cover

I have a bit of a theory about taking gifts from the idea phase to the making phase. You've got to wait for the idea to go from your head to your heart. I know that might sound a little corny but, as someone who gets carried away with a gazillion gift ideas, I need a way to cull my ideas. As a Christian I also believe that Jesus knows who needs some extra love and so I place my ideas in his hands and wait for him to place them back in my heart. Only then do I run to my fabric, thread and machine and get going. :) I find that when I wait on Him the gifts I make really touch the people who receive them.

Anyway... blah blah blah...

Yesterday I was able to give a gift to a special friend. I was super excited about it!! So, here it is...



Felt butterfly cushion cover. In real life the fabric is much richer and deeper and more delicious. ;)



The butterflies were cut out using my Big shot die cutting machine. :)

I love a good fabric covered button

some of the felt was glittery... which was perfect for my friend. :)

I love to take a bit of extra effort when I gift wrap.

So, that's it!!

Kerryn

A dress... for me!

Last Sunday we had some family photos done with all of Tim's side of the family. Our dress colour scheme for the photos was blue/pink/purple/neutrals. I bought a really gorgeous blue top from portmans but when I got it home I realised that it didn't sit very well with my jeans (yes, I had kids with me and I bought it in a massive rush). So... I decided to make it into a dress...

I had a dress that I bought last year that I loved but didn't wear a lot because the top buttons always popped open (no, it wasn't too small ;) I had previously cut the skirt part out of the dress and put some pleats in the top so that it fit me around the waist.

the original dress... can you tell that I hate ironing??

Below is a pic of the skirt and the top from Portmans. Sorry for the crap pic. :)



Here's the completed dress... :)

I wore it with a belt around the waist. I would show you a photo with me in it but when I looked at the pic Tim took I couldn't put it up... exercise and diet coming my way!

 Ok... that's all...

K

Mini Gift Buckets with Pennants - Tutorial

I was super excited when I found online (with the help of my little sister) these super cute little tin buckets. They are only about 10cm tall... so cute!! :) As soon as I saw them I knew they'd be perfect for little gifts at Adele's party. So, here's what I did with them...

The theme for Adele's party was pinwheels and pennants so I decided to add some pennants to the buckets.

 Ok, If you want to make some or make something similar then here's a quick tutorial...

Supplies...

- Buckets or similar
- scrap fabric
- craft glue
- disposable lid to put glue on
- white card stock (I used Stampin' Up, whisper white)
- alphabet stamps (I used a Stampin' Up set)
- ink (I used Stampin' Up, Crumb Cake)
- linen thread
- scissors
- hole punch


Supplies

Step 1 - cut out a pennant template and then cut multiple pennants using your fabric scraps. I used 6 pennants per bucket.

 Step 2 - Dip the end of the pennant into the craft glue and slide it under the gap in the top of the bucket.

Step 3 - Now it's time for the tags. Get out your cardstock, ink and stamps. Stamp the name of the recipient onto the cardstock.

Step 4 - Cut around the name leaving room at the end to punch a hole. Now run the edges of the tag through the ink pad. This gives the tag a little extra definition especially if you're using white cardstock on a white bucket like i am.

Step 5 - Punch a hole in the end of your tags.



 Step 6 - Use the linen thread (or similar) to tie the tag to the bucket. You can use a glue dot to secure the bottom edge to the bucket if you don't want the tag swinging around.

TADA!!!

I filled my buckets with chocolates in cellophane bags. :) They were a real hit with the ladies. The men just got the chocolates. I knew they wouldn't appreciate the buckets (and they were a bit girly anyway).

ok, happy creating!!

Kerryn

Wedding Chair Cover... only miniature!!!

I just had to share this little project with you, I am so happy with the result! My sister is doing an assessment at the moment that requires her to setup a wedding themed display. The main part of the display will be the flowers. She wanted to be able to display her flowers on a miniature round wedding table, so my brother went to work making her a little table. At the same time he also made her a matching miniature chair... what could be cuter?!?!? Anyway, he contacted me and asked me to make a table cloth and wedding style chair cover for our sisters display. "How exciting", I thought... "yes, I'll do my best!!"

It took 2 attempts to make and was pretty easy to do once I worked out the measurements and best sequence of steps to take. The most important part was taking really accurate measurements. I wanted it to fit really well.

Ok, so here it is...

Oh so cute!!

Here it is with a spool of thread for perspective. It's pretty tiny!!

Without the ribbon tie

Isn't my brother clever!!

I'm going to get some pics of the table and the whole display to show you. I can't wait to see it all together. :)

That's all for today...

Kerryn

Gifts gifts gifts... handbag for a special friend

I went away this last weekend with a group of lovely ladies. After the week I'd had it was a very welcome getaway. We celebrated the birthday of a friend who is becoming quite dear. She is quite precious and needed a special gift to match.

Here's her gift...

The fabric is a really thick weave linen. It's totally gorgeous!!

This is the lining fabric

So... happy birthday Faff!! You're one in a trillion!! Love you!! :)

Kerryn

helium balloons and felt teeth and ice packs... oh my!!

Today's 'just because' gift is one that makes me giggle. My brother has just had some of his wisdom teeth removed, poor guy!! I absolutely HATE the dentist (sorry to any dentists reading this, I'm sure you really are nice people... ;). My brother has been dreading these few appointments so I thought I'd make something special for him to come home to. My brother has a terribly funny sense of humour so I was really able to go all out on his gift. I decided to make him a cover for a ice pack with felt teeth and blood drops dripping off one of the roots of the teeth. Hee hee hee...

Here it is...

I've put some snaps on the end so that the cover can be removed

Sorry to my mother-in-law and all you expert embroiderers out there. I've only had one lesson in embroidery and I couldn't be bothered doing it properly... so... it's a bit 'rustic' ;)

with the ice pack

I also bought him a set of replacement teeth

Here it is on his doorstep with a helium balloon chosen by Lachie. This is actually the second balloon that we bought. The first one got popped 15 minutes after we got home from a very stressful trip to the balloon shop. And yep... I cried!! Not sure if it's better or worse to cry over a popped balloon as opposed to spilt milk?!?!? Hmmm... lots of child related stress at our place at the moment. Anyway, blah blah blah...

Ok, hope you like this random little project. Know someone who needs to be cheered up?? Why not go out and buy a helium balloon?? I am a firm believer that anyone can be cheered up with a helium balloon. ;) Who cares their (or your) age... you're never too old for a helium balloon!!

See ya,

Kerryn