Friends, Babies, and Quilts! Oh My!

     Last month was a month to be reckoned with.  I finished pediatrics, which I loved but the class did not love me, one of the hardest classes I have ever taken in my entire academic career.  I managed to finish with a B, so I was very pleased with myself.
     I had about one week to finish (and start mind you) a baby quilt for my friend Amy, as well as a baby ring sling for my other friend Amalie.  Well, wouldn't you know that my sewing machine would break the day before I was to leave for the baby shower!!  Thankfully my mom had her sewing machine with her at the lake, so I had a nifty excuse to pack up and head to our vacation house to finish quilting and sewing.  Here are the results!!

{This is right before leaving for the baby shower, don't mind my face, I dont know what I'm doing}

{The back, there's a "B" on the bottom}

{Me and  the mom to be!}

{Amalie and baby Caleb, in his new baby ring sling!}

It was great to see everyone at the baby shower and I'm glad I was able to finish everything on time.  Now baby Bryce needs to get here to enjoy his new quilt and his awesome mommy!

Patterns Used:
Swoon quilt by Thimble Blossoms

Ring Sling Tutorial

School's Out For Summer!... well, 3 weeks.

So I just finished this last semester and it feels FANTASTIC! I don't have the entire summer off, but I do have 3 weeks to myself.  Here's some things I've been working on!

I've taken up crocheting and I love it!  I'm making a granny square afghan.  I have a feeling this is going to be a long, ongoing project.  I need 45 squares and only have about 15 done.

It's been a rainy day here so I decided to make a little caddy for my sewing machine with some scrap fabric.

Well, that's about it- nothing too special but I loved getting back to my sewing machine. More to come soon!

A Very Special Baby Quilt

One of my best friend's is having a baby at the end of the month and I recently went up to the DC area for her baby shower!  Before she was pregnant she had asked me if whenever she was pregnant if I'd make a baby quilt for her... OF COURSE I would!  Well, the time has come and I'd been planning on what type of quilt I would make for her baby boy!  After may deliberations and admiring star quilts for a wile, here's what I made...

{Done with the quilt top.  Spray basted the sandwich.}

{The quilt backing, my friend's theme is Elephants.  They are keeping the baby's name a secret, but she divulged to me what letter is starts with.  "C"}

{Ready to quilt!}

{All done! The lighting is terrible, but still looks good!}

{I had a brilliant idea to use the left over fabric from the quilt to make a diaper bag! Turned out great!}

{Little perspective on the size.}

{Turns out, she loved it! And it looks great on her crib!}

Designs Used:

    Saw Tooth Star By Sew Mama Sew

    Baby On The Go Diaper Bag by Moda Bake Shop

I'm not the crafty type but...

When it comes to fabric, I get really inspired... Here are some other things I've made recently.

Last Halloween I watched Marie Antoinette and was determined to make my own costume. I thought it turned out well, and I won first place at the costume party. Not too shabby.

 (Used about $3 worth of lace and ribbon and some old shoes)

(Me and the bottle of wine I won!)

My best friend, Anna, wanted to be Florence Welch for Halloween, so I made this lovely dress for her, I used a pattern for a gown and altered it to mach what she was looking for (below).

Lastly... I saw a great idea on Pintrest for a doggie car seat cover. Voila!

Well that does it for now.  Hopefully there will be more to come VERY soon!  I can never saw away from sewing for too long. 

Quilting endeavors...

My first quilt... had NO IDEA what I was doing.  I never even pressed the seams until the quilt top was done.  Also notice my old singer. :)

My second quilt, this was for a baby boy, but it was the same design.  I did much better this time.

Jumping straight in from baby quilts that are very beginner right to the DWR (Double Wedding Ring) quilt for one of my best friend's wedding.  I was under a 3 week timline, so needless to say, I hauled ass making this one.  

Before this quilt, I had never used a rotary cutter, so I decided to go ahead and splurge for this quilt.  Thank goodness too because I think there was around 500 pieces!!

Here's my next: A T-Shirt quilt I helped my sister-in-law make for our family.

After finishing this quilt Ryan (my DH) and I spent a few days with my parents for Christmas and I received this WONDERFUL AMAZING gift from my parents:

Wait for it.....YES! A brand new, fantastic sewing machine... and an awesome one at that!  My old one was a Singer I bought from a pawn shop for $30 and ran into the GROUND!

I decided to step things up a bit with the new sewing machine and make small investments to hopefully pay off in better quilts.  My next project was to be a quilt for my mother's 50th birthday party.

(I look super rough in this picture, good thing you can't see my face)

I spent about $50 total and got myself a few crucial tools:

1. New sewing gloves (for gripping the quilt sandwich)

2. A custom built sewing table (made by yours truly)

3. A darning foot.

(First time trying some embroidery)

She loved it!!

More to come soon!!

Some of the designs I used for these quilts and projects:

Far Far Away Quilt- Made by Rae

Lark Quilt- Amy Butler

Custom Quilt Table Tutorial