Quilts in the kid's rooms

I love creating things for my children; unfortunately I don't think I create enough. I do think it is really sweet when the kids ask me to sew something for them. Hannah asks for new dresses all the time, and Hunter has asked for things on occasion. I loved decorating/sewing things for their rooms especially. Creating quilts is one of the most rewarding sewing endeavors I can think of. You start out with scraps(or large pieces you painstakingly cut) and you end up with this beautiful durable quilt.

Hannah's quilt was designed and finished before we moved into our current house, and before she had even came out of her crib. I fell in love with a swatch of fabric I wanted to make her window treatments out of. It was full of so many colors. I brought the swatch with me to the fabric store and picked out the fabrics in the quilt. This is one of my mother's pieces of advice. Choose a piece of fabric that you love all the colors in. You don't even have to use it in the room, but if you match all fabrics and accessories to it, you will have a pulled together room. I had an amazing time putting this quilt together on the floor of our old tiny house. This was before she was old enough to have an opinion. About a month ago, my almost 7 year old just figured out that I actually made the quilt that has resided on her bed for the past 4 years. That small pillow in a funny position, is made from the fabric of her window treatments, with that cute bally trim around it.

Hunter's quilt is totally boyish. I originally decorated his room with a fireman theme. His window treatments even have embroidered fire trucks driving along the bottom of them(sadly they are now covered up by his bed). He has kind of grown out of the firemen now. I wanted a quilt that wasn't a theme, but had different boy colors that could last him a while. I think blues, reds and tans are classic colors that will last him forever. We can always change out the other accessories in his room, but I would love for this to stay as long as possible. His quilt was done in less than a day, since it is really just large chunks of fabric sewn together, and I quilted it more to give it some interest. It was exactly the look I was going for. It totally matches these painted stripes that are below a chair rail on one wall of his room.

I have sewn many more quilts, but they will come in a separate post. Teaser: baby quilts, photo quilts, throw quilts, even a quilt made out of 3 generations of men's shirts.

kitchen window treatments

My kitchen has gone through two different looks since we have been in our current home. This first one here is the more recent look. I have always loved the look of roman shades. I researched and learned how to make and install them. The look is even more different currently because we have painted august and actually installed a new back door. Notice the picture with them up and then notice the picture with them down. I love me some roman shades. This fabric is really the perfect fabric for our current wall colors and kitchen. Here is one place that I did use a monogram in our house. I love this treatment.

These window treatments are the first ones I did when we moved into the house. I didn't fully think about the look I wanted in the kitchen. These just match the ones in the family room. So I just have these treatments folded up in a drawer. I loved making them and enjoyed them while they were up.

The cutest towels ever... the perfect gift

For teacher gifts this past Holiday season, I made these super cute towels. The fabric ruffles are tiny abstract Christmas trees. What person wouldn't want these hanging in their home. I made teacher appreciation week towels as well. My daughter changed schools, so I had all new teachers to make gifts for. This time, I used the cutest tea cup fabric ruffles(sadly I forgot to take pics).

Maybe it is becoming obvious that I have my own embroidery machine. Everyone loves personalized gifts. This has been one of my favorite investments. I love to personalize everything. Sadly, I rarely personalize things in our own home, however, I do personalize all kinds of gifts.

Matching American Girl Dresses

For my daughter's birthday one year, we bought her an American Girl doll knock off. She loved this one so much, we bought her another real American Girl doll for Christmas. I always thought the matching girl and doll dresses were so cute, but expensive. I decided hey, I can definately make these myself. These are two of the matching dresses I have made so far.

I loved this cute summery dress for the girls. Check out this close up of the monogram on my daughter's dress.
The next year for her birthday, I made a new dress for my daughter and her doll Haley.

Another shot of the 2 of them together "wearing" their dresses. This is by far my favorite dress pattern. I have made a ton of dresses out of this particular pattern. Sometimes in the same fabric. It twirls really nicely, which you must admit is a bonus for any little girl.

A new Blog

For those of you that know anything about me, you know I love to do crafty things. My mother sewed many things for us when we were growing up. When I became an adult and got married, I decided to try my hand. Once I started, I never stopped. I began by making purses to recreate something I saw at a home party. It has continued to window treatments, pillows, nursery sets, quilts, matching Christmas pajamas, etc. I am going to try to go back and show pictures of things I have already created. I hope you enjoy.