Dress and Bonnet

I wanted to sew a little baby dress for my soon to come grand daughter.  I looked for patterns at the craft store, but there weren't many to choose from.  I went through my old patterns and found this one that I thought would work up nicely.  I chose fabrics that matched the quilts so everything would match.  If the baby is lying on the quilt wearing the dress, she will blend in and be camouflaged!  LOL  

Here is the back of the dress.  I added little buttons to finish it off.  Of course there's a matching bonnet.  I know babies don't wear bonnets that much anymore, but if she's outside, she may need a little hat to shield her head from the sun.  

Here's my daughter opening her gifts. I can't wait to dress and wrap up our new little baby in her quilts.

Little Dollies

One day when I was looking at Pinterest, I found a pic of these cute little dollies. I thought they were so cute and I especially love the headbands that they have!  I bought the pattern and made up some dolls in matching colors to the quilts.  The pattern is from Nata Patterns and also includes little animal dolls that I will someday make.

I found some pretty gauze fabric and made some receiving blankets to match, too.  

Here are the dollies getting ready to go into the pretty box that I bought to wrap the gifts in.  Cute, right?  

 

Dresdan Baby Quilt #3

For the next quilt, yes #3 (I wanted to make some items that all matched), I wanted to make a quilt with one block.  This quilt is smaller than the second one and I chose the Dresdan block.  I went out to buy a Dresdan ruler, but ended up with the wrong one.  The one that I bought is a wedge ruler, but I was determined to make it work.

I started cutting the wedges and hoped that somehow they would form a large flower.  I added some more purples to the colors I was using and love the look of it!  Eventually it did come together as a circle, but I had to adjust the angles on some of the pieces.

For the center, I added a large circle that I cut out with one of my dinner plates.  I cut out a piece of circular cardboard a little smaller so that I was able to make a perfect circle.  It's "different," but I love the look of it.  This little quilt can be used as a play mat for the floor, a table topper or a wall hanging.  

Here's a pic of all three quilts, each a different size.  I hope she likes them!

The Dresdan quilt finished at about 36" square.  I would definitely make this again.  Perhaps using yellows or bright colors.  I could see it hanging on a wall in my home.  :)

 

Purple Baby Quilt #2

Of course, I didn't just make one quilt for my soon-coming grand daughter!  Here is a photo of Quilt #2.  I wanted a quilt that was a bit smaller for snuggling a little baby in.  You can also see the pretty backing that I used on the first quilt.  It's also part of the Wilmington fabric collection.

This quilt is a simple 4-patch quilt with border strips.  Sometimes I love making simple quilts that are easy to finish!  I love how these colors came together.  I chose a white fabric with a soft gray print on it for the borders.  Then I added the paisley print for the outer border.

For the quilting, I quilted in rows along the edges of the borders.  I love the simplicity of it and think it makes a nice baby quilt.  I do have to admit that I had to make a second trip to the quilt shop to buy more fabrics!  :)

 

Purple Baby Quilt #1 and Dolly

For the past few months I have been sewing some things for my daughter, who will be soon having a baby girl.  We went shopping at some local quilt stores and she picked out these pretty purple fabrics for me to make her a quilt.  They are a collection called Wild Blush from Wilmington Prints.

One of my favorite things to match the quilts is this little "Dolly."  I got the pattern from Joann's.  It's a Simplicity pattern, #1900.  The pattern had embroidered eyes, but I didn't like them so I added some felt circles and I think she has a cuter face.  

Here's a photo of Dolly posing on one of the quilts that I made.  I sewed some 3" strips together and cut the rows into rectangles.  

I added the baby's name on the bottom so that she can hang the quilt over the side of the crib to decorate the baby's room.  I found the letters online and sewed them down with a zig-zag stitch.  I did an all-over free motion stitch on the quilt.  

You see the rows close up here.  I love the fabrics, especially the ones with paisley patterns.  The collection had a lot of nice coordinating fabrics in the line.

I love how Dolly matches the quilt.  What do you think so far?  (Hint: there's more to come)

 

Peony Garden Paper

The Peony Garden Papers can be used in so many ways.  I never got the stamp set to go with it, but I like using the colors in other things.  

Here's another card using Fancy Phrases.  I'm sad to see this pretty flower retire.  I used the Ornate Layer dies for the frame.  I stamped the flower twice and added it with a dimensional to give the card some color.  

I love the little umbrellas and flowers in this set - Under My Umbrella.  I used the Peony Garden papers for the background and the umbrellas, although the darker one is from another collection.  I thought the card needed a bit more"pop" so I added the darker shade.  Because this set has an easy to use punch, I love making things with it.  It definitely needed to stay longer in our catalogs.  

For my final card, I used a strip of the Peony Garden across the front of the card to ground it.  The flowers are cut outs from Poppy Moments dies.  The idea is from Kathy Penner.  I love the vellum look to the flowers in this card.  

In what ways have you used the Peony papers?

 

Birds and Curvy Dies

I saw the idea for this card from Vicki Boucher and just had to make it!  I used the Bird Ballad set and Fancy Phrases for the flowers.  The designer paper is from the Peony collection.  The background of the card is Gray Granite.  It's hard to tell in the photo, but the card is more colorful in person.  I just love this card.  :)

I took out the Quite Curvy to make this card.  I love the sweet scapped edge that the dies make.  And the little birds are so sweet.  I got the idea for this card from Deana Leonard.  It's made with Mint Macaron cardstock.

On this variation, I used the Brick embossing folder to make it look more like a wall for the bottom section.  I can't wait to use this set again!  I hope it doesn't retire.  

 

Welcoming Window #2

This card also uses the Welcoming Window, only this time I stamped the window.  This card was in the January mini catalog when the stamp set came out.  I haven't had the opportunity to use the Mothers Day stamp in a while, but this year I gave a card to my daughter, who will be a mom in just a few weeks.  :)

Here's the same card with a different saying.  The colors are Mint Macaron and Shaded Spruce.  I love how they go together.  

For my next cards, I wanted to just an image or two from the stamp set in case you wanted to make a quick easy card using this set.  I had a piece of Sweet Sugarplum check on my desk and wanted to pair it with the Shaded Spruce.  I love how it came out.  

I added some pottery to the card and some butterfly embellishments.  Easy, breezy and wonderful!  :)

 

Welcoming Window

I knew that I would like this set when I first saw it in the Mini catalog.  I finally got a chance to take it out this week and try it out.  I got this card idea from Taffy Crafting.  I made some modifications and love how it turned out.  

I love the brick stamp!  If you stamp off a few times instead of using the full strength ink, it looks very realistic.  I even put some bricks on the inside of the card.  

Both of the these sayings fit well inside of a small square die cut.  I then mounted them on a piece of brown cardstock and then onto a Sugarplum scalloped square.  

I love how the pitcher and the pots have a watercolor look to them. And don't the little black hinges just made the shutters look realistic?  I will definitely use them for many more projects.  :)