Sew-vivor

Remember my zig zag quilt? (Which is now permanently resides on Hailey’s bed. I just couldn’t wait for her to use it. What if she was satisfied in her crib until she’s really too big for it, and then we just move her up to a twin bed and then she never gets to use the quilt I put so much time and love into…)

My friend, Kathryn, at Destination Craft, suggested I enter my quilt into a sewing competition called Sew-vivor being hosted at Family Ever After. So, after some hesitation, I did.

Entering my quilt was just applying to be a contestant. By entering, if chosen, I would be participating in a crafty-blogland version of Survivor. Where each week is a new sewing challenge and each week a couple of participants are voted off. Until three are left and first, second, and third place prizes are awarded.

I’ve never done anything like it. I sew because it’s fun. It makes me happy. Usually. It just feels good to finish something that you love. But the thought of sewing to compete was scary, and overwhelming and… then the more I thought about it I realized, what does it matter. It’s just for fun. I don’t have to go anywhere, do anything scary or dangerous. If I were chosen, I’d just have to sew. And I like to do that. Plus, what are the chances anyway?

Ha.

Well… I was selected to be one of the 10 participants! Out of 188 entries, my quilt was selected, along with 9 other fabulous projects. 

Wowsers. What are the chances… famous last words, eh?

Anyway, I’m definitely excited. It’ll be fun. It’ll force me to be creative and sew. And it’ll give me a deadline.

I’ll let you know when the time comes, and you can vote for me!

Toddler Apron

My valentine’s gift to Hailey: her very own apron.

I used a combination of tutorials from here and here (both links, I of course found on Pinterest.) I love how it turned it out, I think it’s so cute. And I want one for me.

Ruffles

Ruffles! A new trick I learned today.

Fabric

Oh, I love fabric. 

I have projects to work on. Things I want to make, that have been sitting on the shelf for months. I just don’t have the motivation to start. Maybe tomorrow…

Color in a Bag

Color in a Bag

I. Love. Pinterest. I’ve seen a few variations of this activity floating around there lately. I used the recipe from Family Fun to make this squishy-squashy bag of fun. Hailey played with it for a few minutes and then quickly moved on to her favorite activity: reading books. It wasn’t as big of a hit with her as I hoped it would be. But I had fun with it!

Zig Zag Quilt

I started this quilt back in August, before we moved back to Utah. I actually had the whole top pieced together before we moved. Last week I finally finished it up.

I wanted to make a quilt and decided I’d make one for Hailey. I made it for when we transition Hailey into a toddler bed. I thought it might be fun and exciting for her to have a new blanket on her new bed. We don’t have any plans to move Hailey anytime soon, but it gave me a fun project to work on for a little while.

front

back

To quilt it I just followed the zig zag pattern. I sewed about 1/4” outside of the seam along the zig zag in either direction (top and bottom). I sewed a total of 3 zig zagging lines on either side of the seam. I also chose to match my thread to whatever color of fabric I was sewing on. So, I did do quite a bit of rethreading on my sewing machine, but I love the colorful pattern it made on the back. The different colors are pretty subtle, so it’s hard to see in the picture, sorry.

A few months ago I picked up some pillows from IKEA with the intention of covering them and using them in the living room. One of them is a tiny 14x14 inch pillow. Hailey latched onto one of them and we quickly began calling it baby pillow. I ended up having to get another one the next trip we made to IKEA because she ended up laying claim to one of mine.

Hailey sleeps with this pillow every night, so I decided to make a pillow cover for it to match her quilt. I used left over material for the quilt top and made her a striped pillow. I even put a zipper on one end of it so I can easily take the cover off to wash it.

Coincidentally, the table and chairs Hailey was given for her birthday from her Papa and Rara Hill perfectly match the quilt. I think it was meant to be.

I really love this quilt. I don’t know if I’ll be able to wait for Hailey to move into a toddler bed. It may end up on her bed sooner than that. :)

Pipe Cleaners and a Colander

Pipe cleaners and a colander. 10-15 minutes of toddler fun.

I can’t take all the credit. I saw this idea a few months ago on pinterest. I guess I didn’t pin it though, because I can’t find it again to link back to.