Car Seat Cover

I love reading crafting blogs and learning about new sewing projects.  This one is from Cluck Cluck Sew and is such a great idea.  Not only do I enjoy the cute pattern, but the cover allows my son to be protected from wind and rain as well as strangers at the store.  Check out the cluck cluck sew blog for the pattern instructions.

Zipper Wallets

I wanted to make some homemade gifts for my family and so I decided to make cute wallets.  Adding zippers to wallets and finishing off the inside seams makes the project it look more professional. These were from a pattern from Atkinson Designs and a lot of fun to make.

Cell Phone Sleeping Bags

I just got a new sewing machine for Christmas which I'm really excited about.  It has 60 stitch patterns and a control to regulate the sewing machine.  Since I was excited to test out my new machine, my brother asked me to make a cover for his iPhone and the only fabric we had lying around were old t-shirts.  So I used parts of t-shirts for the outside design and inside lining and made them into protective covers for cell phones.  I'm excited about this project because I didn't get it from a pattern but just played around with my machine until I got it to be the right fit for the phone.

Footprint Ornament

For our son's first Christmas, I thought it would be a nice gift for the grandmothers to have a footprint ornament.  Of course, I made one for our tree as well.  I just bought glass ornaments for $1 at Ben Franklin and used red paint for the footprints.  Besides the ornaments, I had the other supplies already making this a very cost effective project.

Name Plate

In order to dress up the baby's room, I made a name plate for to hang over the crib.  The letters and animals are made from wood and glued on the white wood background.

Burp Cloths

A friend of mine had the cutest burp cloths for her baby.  They are actually cloth diapers with a piece of fabric sewn on one side so that you know which side was the clean side to keep against your clothes when burping.  Such a brilliant idea! So I had to try and make some of my own.  It turns out this was a very fast and easy project.

Christmas Stocking

Quilting Adventures in Richmond is an awesome store.  I've taken multiple classes there and I made this Christmas stocking at the most recent class. I learned a new technique called texture magic which causes the cuff to be ruffled as a result of holding a steaming iron over the fabric and texture magic material.  This stocking will be for our baby boy's first Christmas!

 

Baby Blanket with Ribbons

I bought the supplies and instructions for this cute little baby blanket at Quilting Adventures in Richmond.  It was simple to make and has different textures with the ribbons.  Also one side has the minky fabric which is very soft and perfect for a baby.

Fabric Painting

Crafting with other people is definitely a lot of fun.  Thanks to the Craft Co-Op that I'm in, I learned a new project involving fabric paint.  I traced a pattern onto freezer paper and cut it out with an exacto knife.  It makes a great home made stencil.

Wallet & Handbag

I learned a new project which turned out to be pretty easy.  It's a cash and carry wallet from Atkinson Designs.  I wanted to have it match a hand bag. Now that I've learned this design, I'll be making a lot more little wallets.

New Pillow Covers

Our mischievous and slightly destructive puppy motivated me to recover our couch pillows.  After she had chewed a hole in the blue patterned pillows, I decided to recover them with fabric.

Pictured below is the before and after view of the pillow. Notice the hole in the bottom corner compliments our puppy.

I really like the stripped pattern and how it matches our already existing pillows.

Panthers Drawstring Bag

I made this drawstring bag from a pattern by Valori Wells Designs which I purchased at Quilting Adventures in Richmond.  It's a multifunctional little bag to store projects or gifts.  Since I had left over Panthers fabric from Evan's Panthers quilts, I thought this would be a cute project to make for him.

Kindle Covers

I wanted to make a cover for Evan's new kindle so I searched the internet for ideas.  I found a great pattern by 4 girls designs at their etsy site 4girlsdesigns.etsy.com.  It was a really cute pattern and I've made two so far.  It's a great kindle cover because there are pockets on the inside cover and a pocket on the back.

Coffee Cup Cozy

I saw someone with a really cute knit cozy for their travel coffee cup and so I just had to make one.  I crocheted this one pictured below by just crocheting in a round.  I would like to try to make one with a knit pattern using circular needles. I plan to make more with a variety of buttons.

Flower Bag

Check out the new flower frill template.  I learned how to make cute flowers to attach to my bags.

Hand Bags

I took a sewing class in December 2010 and learned how to make quick and easy hand bags.  

 

These bags were fun and easy to make.  I also made a bag for my sister-in-law to carry her dog in.  There's also a matching pillow with the dog's name.

 

Knitting Projects

My great grandmother taught me how to crochet when I was in elementary school.  I crocheted a few coat hangers and in college I learned how to knit a few scarves.  About a year ago, my friend Ally motivated me to start knitting again.  Thanks to her, I've learned new techniques such as cables and knitting with circular needles.  With her encouragement, I attempted my first blanket with a cable pattern and then another blanket with a checkered pattern.  I forgot how much fun and relaxing knitting can be!

 

Photo & Patterned Quilts

While making t-shirt quilts are a great gift to make for others, not everyone has a stash of old t-shirts.  So a few years ago, I decided to make photo and patterned quilts.  For Mother's Day in 2004, I made my mother a photo quilt of her three children growing up and sentimental old family pictures.

 In 2007, I made my husband a quilt of his favorite NLF team, the Carolina Panthers.

In 2010, I made my father a golf patterned quilt.

More T-shirt Quilts

Over the past years, I've made more t-shirt quilts.  In 2003, I made one for my sister and then in 2007, I helped my sister make one for her husband.

My friend Chelsey requested that I make her a quilt out of her t-shirts and I was excited to make that for her.  I sewed this quilt in March 2010.

In the Spring of 2010, I made my father-in-law a quilt with all of his running t-shirts.