My NON Quilt projects

I've been a busy girl lately!!!

Not just with QUILTS, but with lots of other goody goodies too!. .
The following photos are projects I have finished that are not in the QUILT category ;c)

A memorial pillow made of a shirt, and an embroidered label.  

Big shout-out to my AWESOME neighbor Sandy for doing the embroidery block for me!  I don't have an embroidery machine . . yet ;c)   

In a last-minute Mommy Panic, I realized I didn't have a SINGLE valentines day outfit for my daughter!  

So I took this outfit that was too big for her last summer, and altered it.    

I made a patch with a big "M" for Mira, and FMQ'd or free-hand embroidered it with funky thread.

I lightly basted the heart patch over the OLD logo so that I could remove it later if I wanted to.

But I'm not sure if that will ever happen ;c) 

Here's my sweet girl modeling her outfit.  

Okay, ALSO. .  I am TOTALLY OBSESSED with this :  

It's a Free dress pattern from "The Cottage Mama"
It's free simply by joining her mailing list or FACEBOOK group!
It's so versatile and very easy and user friendly!
I have made SIX dresses total in the very short time since I have found this pattern ;c)

Below is the very first dress I made using this pattern.  I just pulled scraps from my stash for "practice."   Look how ADORABLE???  I of course, was hooked! 

 And here is the "practice" dress featuring my model ;c) 

After so much success with the practice piece, I decided to make another one.   

I went to Joanns  to find fabric with the intention of trying to recreate THIS dress.

They had a new line of fabrics called "in the navy". . .
Doesn't she look so beautiful in that pale blue fabric??    It matches her eyes perfectly!
And do you see her looking at herself in the mirror??  Boyyyy she thinks she looks CUTE! hahaha

You would think after 2 dresses in a row I would have had enough. . . but nOOOOOOOOO  LOl

My friend just had a new baby girl, and she also has a 2 year old!
Usually I make new babies a quilt, but how cute would matching dresses be??

Front? 

 Back? 

 And since these were in different sizes, quite a bit larger and quite a bit smaller, I decided to once again make a "practice" run.    So I found these fabrics in my stash - This pink floral with black accents.   This was my practice run and the above fabrics I picked out specifically for the dresses.   I like them both, but couldnt' decide which one to give the new momma.   So I let her choose.  Guess which one she chose??  hahaha.    I guess I need to do MORE "practice" stuff hahah

Ps, I can make one of these dresses for You in size 6month to size 10 

Total =  $50 which includes materials.  

(Taxes and Fees may apply)  

Shoot me an email (KatiesQuiltsandCrafts@gmail.com)

or message me on FACEBOOK 

I can send you a paypal invoice 

or, 

I can set up a custom listing on etsy.

Both options offer buyer protection.  

Fun Baby Blanket REDO challenge!

My Mom's cousin Joyce asked if I could take her SON's baby blankets (from when he was a baby) and turn them into something NEW. ...
 SURE I said!  I will be happy to give it a shot!!  ;c)
He is getting married soon,  and Joyce gave this finished quilt to her son at his wedding shower.

The blankets have been washed many many times, stains, giant holes, weak and shredding fabric.  Also, the colors in the blankets don't exactly MATCH, so to say this was a challenge, would be an understatement.  . . a FUN challenge though!   Take a look at these 4 baby blankets and think . .what would YOU do ?  How would YOU fit them together?   How would you go about it?  
I am really happy with how this quilt turned out - and I feel that I breathed NEW LIFE into these blankets, and now they will last another 3 decades!  (at least!)

 I decided that I would make a RAG-style quilt.  
The troll doll blanket is actually a quilt.   The back of this blanket is a panel that is made up of large troll dolls.  The original quilt maker cut out the trolls from that fabric, and hand-appliqued them onto brightly colored solid background fabrics.  The hand applique is gorgeous!  She also hand-quilted the 3 layers.  I wanted this blanket to be the "star"  So I started with the troll blocks, and then worked around them.
I noticed that the polka dot blanket had similar colors.  So I made similar size blocks with that blanket.  I took the remaining two blankets and made 4-patch units.    And a large center block because Joyce's son loves elephants.

 I measured the troll blocks from the original quilt, and they varied in size, but averaged 7.5"
I typically want at least a 1" seam allowance for a rag quilt. . but I decided that for this quilt that I would do a 0.75" seam allowance and use a 6" finished block  (7.5" UNfinished).  
 HOWEVER, If I cut the blocks out exactly as they were in the original blanket, some of the trolls head and feet would be gobbled up by the seam allowance. So I utilized the blankets borders, and cut into the center blocks so that I could keep most of the troll in tact!    That's why you see more than one color in some of the troll blocks.

The back of the quilt is NOT so pretty ;c)  But you can see the awesome original troll doll fabric on the back. 

Here's a closeup of the center of the finished quilt.    This photo shows off the strong diagonal movement with the lights and darks.  

Side-by-Side of the blankets and the finished quilt.  

So...

What would YOU do??  

I would love to know!

My handmade Halloween Costume

For this pattern, I used Simplicity Renaissance pattern 3809.

Simplicity Sewing Pattern 3809 Misses Costumes, U (16-18-20)


   I am horrible at garments, but I did make it through!  Some of the things I learned when making this pattern:   Grommets/eyelets, Boning, adding Lace accents, and bustling an overskirt.   
I'm most excited about the boning and grommets though.  I really think this will come in handy in the future.  

My mom things we look like the characters from Les Miserables that sing "Master of The House" - Monsieur and Madame Thenardier. 

 I didn't make my husband's costume  - we just used a dracula store-bought costume for him.  we ditched the cape that came with teh costume and instead used a midieval looking jacket that we found at our local flea market for $5.

MY FRIEND IS HOSTING A GIVEAWAY!!!!

I want EVERYONE to go check out my friend, J Rachel Besnard's blog RIGHT NOW!!! =cD

A little bit about Jonua ~

Jonua and I were friends when we were both children, and we are now reconnecting as adults. She is one of the most amazingly creative people I know. Jonua makes GORGEOUS jewelry. When you see it I just know you'll agree - her pieces are so intricate and just stunning. She has an amazing eye for color and design and utilizes that gift when making her beautiful pieces of jewelry.

Jonua lived very close to me, in a small town in West Virginia, until she found the love of her life, got married, and moved to Paris. Yes, her husband is French!

So go check out her stuff right now at her ArtFire Store:

When you're done with that, make sure to go to her BLOG, "follow" her, so you'll be entered into the giveaway drawing.

Again, click HERE to go to her BLOG!!!