Will and Ellie are playing together. I hear her giggles turn into hard core laughter. I turn around to watch, and Will is letting her draw on his face with a ball point pen.
Needles and a Pen » Knitting, Sewing, and Nursing School
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I’ve been seeing these little bottle/sippy leashes on strollers everywhere, but when I looked at BabysRUs for one it was something like $7, and since that will buy me a churro at Disneyland I decided to skip it. But I couldn’t get the idea of how nice one would be out of my head, so I used a 2″ scrap and some leftover elastic from Ellie’s minnie mouse skirt waistband and made my own.
This is her “I’m suspicious because you chained up my baba” face. After the first cheater blanket with fleece backing and serged edges, I turned this one into the real deal with a top, batting, backing, and hand-stitched binding! I managed to cut, piece, baste (using basting aerosol spray) and quilt a second stroller blanket all in one morning and afternoon!
The binding is on it now and I’m saving it to hand stitch it to the backing (red with white polka dots–same as Ellie’s minnie skirt) the night before we leave.
(I’ve been getting a bunch of questions about quilting on Edna, and so here’s the skinny on this straightline quilting effort–I quilted it on the Singer 15-91 with the normal foot (I don’t have a walking foot for her yet). I didn’t have any trouble and didn’t really miss the IDF that my pfaff has (the ‘integrated dual feed’–basically a built in walking foot). I think the puckering you see in the lower left was due to basting issues more so than quilting problems. (It was my first time with the glue basting method, and I wasn’t as careful as I could have been.) I didn’t mark my lines (since I desperately trying to finish it before picking up Will from school). If you look for it, you’ll definitely find some wavering, but I’m not worried about it. To me, that’s like ‘eyelash counting’ on a big print. You CAN be like that, but most people won’t! I found a little trick that seemed to be the most successful for me–if I put my right thumb over the next point that I was aiming toward, as I guided the quilt, it was easy to steer that point right into the needle. The quilting design really came to me on a whim as I was walking the quilt over to the machine and I’m excited about the energy it adds! Super cute! :o) You ROCK!! 🙂 I am in awe of your creative greatness. Awe. Love it! Chris x These blankets are just incredible. I know they must seem so simple to you, but I’m honestly just awestruck. 🙂 I think they are sooo pretty! My niece is expecting a little girl and feel in love with your quilt! Do you recall the fabric line(s) used? I can find the standard polka dots but I’m struggling to find the stars/flowers, aqua floral, blue geometric and white with aqua/blue dots. If you can recall the make or models and wouldn’t mind sharing I would really appreciate it! My niece has asked me to make the crib bedding and has her heart on this quilt exactly as is! In addition to working on the stroller cover (yes I’m insane and yes I’m super lucky that my children play together so nicely as to entertain themselves for hours) I made Ellie’s Disneyland skirt this morning. I made up the pattern as I went along and am very happy with it. In the future I would sew each layer individually before attaching them together at the waistband (they are sewn together down the side seam with limits the amount that the top layer pulls away from the bottom layer).
Fabrics are both from the ‘basics’ line from Robert Kaufman. The bottom layer is about two inches longer than the top layer, and I serged the layers together at the top and then just folded down the fabric to make the elastic casing.
I had planned to make a matching but in reverse skirt for me, but I’ve decided that it might be a little TOO much Disney, even for me!
And the one who made it all possible–my serger. Oh how I love it. Since getting it I seem to use it at least three times a week, and I am totally addicted to sewing clothing. It is crazy easy to use, I love the rolled hem feature with contrasting thread, and I’m excited to figure out how to use the blind hem foot. I love it, I love it, I love it! Best Craistlist find ever!
Soooooo adorable!!! Mickey and Minnie are gonna love it! You guys are going to have a blast! Now I am headed to craigslist to see what I can find for myself 🙂 That is one dadgum adorable skirt! I want 3. 🙂 That is a SUPER cute skirt. I finished Ellie’s stroller blanket last night (gotta love a project that comes together in a day)! It wasn’t without its fair share of trouble, though. The serged hole in the center was supposed to be just a slit. However, I learned that it is INCREDIBLY hard to serge something that’s not on the edge of the item being sewed, and as I learned this the hole got bigger and bigger and bigger. As I stared at the gaping hole in the middle of my previously beautiful blanket, I decided that there was no way in hell that I was going to spend the energy on binding something I’d sort of destroyed. So I settled for serged edges. I had a feeling that once I got it on the stroller and in use, I wouldn’t mind the hole or serged edges. And the good news is that I don’t!
For the pattern, I settled on a smaller version of a quilt that I haven’t been able to get out of my head. It’s in Fresh Quilting and I find it totally stunning. My book is currently at a friend’s house, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to do pieces as large as she used, anyway, so I made 16 8″ blocks to create the 32″x32″ stroller quilt.
The sad gaping hole in the middle (and the ribbons that tie the bottom edges to the stroller legs).
As I played around with it (thinking that I would need to revisit it as a small quilt WITHOUT a hole), I realized that it was the perfect size for a shade for when she’s napping. So I’m spending the morning alternating between loads of laundry and creating a second quilt without a hole for a stroller cover and lighter weight blanket.
Wish me luck! Huh, I kind of like the serged edges. Maybe you’ll start a new trend! It came out super cute regardless. Totally cute and what a great idea! I’m sorry the hole didn’t work out the way you planned, but it works! Maybe a big “button hole” would make a smaller (finished) hole. Love the navy, pink and red! Awesome. Have a great time in DL. I’m totally jealous. : ) and my inner Valley girl comes out. Totally! Totally! Ugh. Oh well, hopefully you know what I meant. ; ) That little smile behind the nookie–remind you of anybody?? Does she carry a spare around yet? 😉 And of course the quilt is gorgeous, too! I think it looks great with the hole–looks like it was on purpose, and not by accident! I’m totally distracted anyway, by all those gorgeous fabrics. 🙂 This is so cute! I have never made a blanket before and a friend asked me to make her one for her stroller. I have what is probably a dumb question. When you join the two sides of fabric (I’m using cotton and fleece), do you have to sew them together in any spots other than on the edges with the binding, serger, or whatever method I decide on? I know for a regular quilt, you would join all of the pieces together with stippling or whatever design you want, but for this, I don’t really want the quilted look especially on the fleece side. Also, are you using batting in between or just butting the two pieces together? I was also trying to think of a way to add the ties but make them temporary since she didn’t ask for it. Do you think these suspender clips would hold? I was thinking of attaching twill tape to the suspender clip. Let her clip it to the blanket and tie the ends to the stroller where ever she sees fit. I’m just not sure if they’re strong enough to hold or if it will lose its grip the first time the child kicks at it. […] this was a quilt from four years ago so I don’t remember the details, but looking at the stroller blanket I’d made previously that I based this quilt on, the blocks are 8″ finished. They are based on a larger pattern from Fresh Quilting and I […] I’m doing dishes. This evening has been a whopper thanks to the screaching demanding baby, and Nic and I are feeling drained. Will comes in and stands up on tiptoes to whisper in my ear “Mom—can I tell you a secret?” “Yes” I say, bending down to him. “I” he whispers, stabbing me in my eye. “Love” he says, pointing to his chest. “YOU!” he says, jumping forward to squeeze me. “Oh thank you, Willie.” I say. “I really needed that.” “We BOTH needed that,” he says over his shoulder as he skips out of the kitchen. |
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Katie - You smart girl, you just bought yourself two churros at Disneyland! Yup, they are *only* $3.50, or they were last year. Could be up to $10 by now….