Apple of My Eye Minky Blanket

           This fabric was recieved in the mail today and I couldn't help but want to use it NOW! :) I washed it and dried it and have been doing nothing since. My house is a mess and SHOULD be cleaning, but who wants to clean when you can create something?! I purchased the fabric from http://www.etsy.com/shop/BaileyGirlsFabric?ref=seller_info She is wonderful to work with and the fabric exceded my expectations! The quality of the minky is definitly better than any i've ever purchased from joanns. yes, you pay a little bit more, but it's worth it!!!!!


          I used a few tutorials SORTOF. Which means, I read them over and just go off on my own. http://www.mamastellato.com/2010/05/simple-baby-blanket-tutorial.html  This tutorial and blog are excelent!

             I am new to working with minky, and boy do I know it. It's stretchy and lets just say this blanket didn't turn out perfect. none of my stuff ever is, that's the fun in it! :) I used pure and natural batting in the middle of cotton and minky so it added some thickness and warmth. because it wasn't exactly lined up perfect, there was some twisting and bagging in the two layers. I made it a bigger blanket too (45" square) so the blanket probably needed to be tied or something anyway. I ended up machine stitching around the striped apples. It took me all day I think.  In the end, it turned out just great!

  This is a HORRIBLE fold job, but my camera was acting up so I can't get another picture. I LOVE all the pretty bright colors!! :) I can't wait to snuggle my baby in it!!!

Christmas Cookie Countdown Calendar

   I made this calendar for my kids to count down the days till christmas with! It was so cute I couldn't resist! I remember the fun one my mom had for us as kids with a mouse that moves from day to day and above was Santa sitting in his house. I loved it and looked forward to moving it each day! This one is a little different. You start out with the cookies in each pocket and each day you take a cookie out and put it in the bowl.

     So cute!

    I purchased this pannel from http://www.etsy.com/shop/cjscraftcorner .  She is a very nice and helpful person and has such cute stuff she makes to sell and often has fabric as well.

         These cookies were fun to make! The instructions say to use paper backed fusible web- iron the fabric to felt. I took it a step further and used fusible interfacing to iron onto the fabric, then fusible web to the felt. I then stitched a decorative stitch around the edges and finally used a lighter to get rid of freyed edges. The freyed edges probably wouldn't be there if it weren't for the interfacing, but I like the extra stability it gave them. I think they turned out perfect!

         I wanted to have this hang on my fridge for now and if later we move or have a place on the wall fo rit, I will sew on some plastic loops to hang on the wall with or something. I glued magnets to the inside layer of fabric before I sewed it together. two problems with this method: 1- the magnets stuck to the table and my machine while I tried to quilt the top and I couldn't stitch over certain parts. 2- they don't stick as well to the fridge. I noticed there was a big gap between magnets because I only used  4 on the corners and it was saggy, so after it was finished, I glued 4 more on the back in between the others. now, it works great.

machine quilting around shapes. I also quilted around each day square on the bottom.

         I decided to do the pillowcase method to sew this together rather than the binding. I like the way it turned out! I also used interfacing behind the bowl piece rather than just a single layer of fabric flopping around, and I also put interfacing behind the whole top. I like the stuff and It makes for a longer lasting, more durable item. I look forward to my kids using this each year!!!