Sleeping Baby and Then Some

I used to post pictures of Benjamin sleeping all the time and now I have a small collection of Levi. These boys are so precious to me and I love seeing them sleep, looking so peaceful.

 Levi started to grab his own feet and put them in his mouth three months ago.

 We started feeding Levi solids almost two months ago.

Benjamin is still adorable when he sleeps. Below are some more of Levi.

Circle Jean Quilt - The Picnic Quilt

I was so happy to make a quilt that used a lot of scraps. This wouldn't have been possible if my cousin, Ingrid, didn't give me a basket full of old jeans. I immediately went to work researching different jean quilts when I got the basket. 

When I determined the quilts I wanted to make I set out to sort and cut the jeans into the different sizes and made my piles. I think I'll get four quilts out of the stack.

I chose to make the circle jean quilt first. The jeans had to be starched before I cut the circles to help prevent stretching.

Once cut out, I drew lines to mark where I needed to sew. Then pinned the circles together.

Sewing the circles together went fairly quick.

In each circle I placed  a square of batting...

and then a square of fabric.

The layers were then sewn together along the circular flap.

Once completed the strips were sewn together.

I love how the jeans and the scraps of fabric turned out random.

This quilt will be used as our family picnic quilt...sturdy on the bottom and comfy on the top with the splash of vibrant colors.

Puffy Quilt - Baby Boy

Here is a baby boy puffy quilt I made for a friend. Another fun quilt to make.  However, it was a battle between me, the quilt and the sewing machine. My hands were a little thrashed after making this one, but I won since I finished this on time.

I'm planning on using a different technique the next time I make this style of quilt. This quilt (as the previous one also) was stuffed after each strip was sewn together. The other technique is to sew all squares and strips together and then making a slit in the backing to stuff the blocks. After stuffing, the squares would be stitched closed. It would be a bit more time consuming, but it might be easier on my hands.

Compression Quilt Hanger

The compression hanger to display my quilts is finished! I love finishing projects! I found the tutorial on Pintrest to make it myself. In the amount it would have cost me to buy the hanger somewhere else completed, I was able to do it in less than half.

Here are some pictures of the supplies I used: decorative trim, cabinet knobs with screws, sand paper, wood stain and polyurethane (thanks to Donna for lending me). Not shown is my drill and paint brushes used. I did have to buy countersink drill bits so that I could sink the screws into the wood so they would stick out and make holes in the wall. I made sure to use gloves when staining; even then I got stain on my fingers that took a day to completely wash off.

Below is the test run to make sure the hanger would hold the quilt and the screws matched up in the right place.

The final part was sandwiching the quilt into the hanger and leveling it on the wall. I used 3M command strips instead of picture hooks because it gives me the flexibility to place the hanger higher or lower on the wall depending on the quilt size. I'm excited to get holiday themed quilts made so I can display them for each season!

Acacia "Raccoon" Quilt

I love this collection of fabric, Tula Pink's Acacia. The colors and the patterns are bright and happy! Can you find the raccoons? Details are pictured below. I had my machine quilter sew a simple pattern so it wouldn't distract from the busy fabric. I will be snuggling into this quilt for the winter.

Patriotic Cathedral Quilt

This is my new favorite quilt to use fabric scraps. I used the red, white and blue patriotic colors on a previous quilt (currently at my machine quilters) and had leftover scraps. I read up on how to make these cathedral quilts and it looked simple enough. It is a time consuming process, but when it comes to quilts there's always one part or another that will be time consuming. This ended up as a mini-quilt, about 30" x 30", for a game prize at our family reunion. Congrats to Ingrid in her rock, paper, scissor game skills! Details are in the pictures below.

(The white background all sewn together before the color squares are appliqued.)

Simple Apple Cake

Here is a simple apple cake recipe when you want to throw something together quick.

Apple Cake

3 apples, pealed and sliced
3 eggs
1 c sugar
1 c flour
cinnamon and sugar mixture (1/4 c sugar plus 1 tsp cinnamon)

Preheat oven to 350° and grease and flour round pan. Beat eggs until fluffy, add sugar and then flour. Pour into pan. Then layer apple slices on top. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake 35-40 minutes and check to see if it is done. Serve warm or chilled with whipped cream.

Puffy (Biscuit) Baby Quilt

I made this puffy baby quilt for a friend's baby shower. I had so much fun making this quilt. I got to use the design wall Mike got me for my birthday. It makes it easy to place and design the pattern. This quilt is very forgiving if you don't sew the lines straight.

 So, step by step, I laid the squares out.

 Next I sewed the pockets. The pockets have a backing so that the pleats can be made.

 Here the pockets are sewn in rows. The tops are open.

Next, they are stuffed with filling. Then they are sewn shut and the rows are sewn together. For this quilt, I decided to tie the backing to the quilt and machine sew the binding.

The final product is a super comfy puffy quilt. The yellow squares are minky which adds a different texture that babies love.