Morgan's Quilt

I specialize in baby quilts for a reason.  They are small, they are cute, there are lots of options for design plus my imagination just seems to always be geared toward creating these smaller quilts.  Although I love making them - I am kinda picky about who I give them away to.  I mean, even though I love making them - they can be a lot of work, and any artist wants their work to be appreciated.  I'm just sayin'.  So I was glad to have an opportunity to make one for a lovely couple and their new baby girl. Winnie and Vince are teachers at my school and are a very likeable pair.  Miss Winnie is one of my daughter's favorite people so I was glad to have the chance to  make her a quilt for her own little girl. I asked Winnie what she wanted and she was no help what so ever but I tend to be ok with people like that - that way I can do what I want! LOL!.  Some fellow co-workers told me that their house is very "beige" so I took matters in my own hands and decided to incorporate some color.  I actually finished it while I was on maternity leave and had a friend bring it to them, so I haven't had a chance to meet her yet, but know Miss Morgan is cute as can be cause she has a pretty momma! 


Here is Morgan's quilt. Sorry for the not so great pic - I remembered to photograph it right before it was to be delivered!

Its a very simple pattern that I got from a blog but unfortunately - I can't remember which one!  If I remember I will add the link.  But it is a pretty simple sashed square that I used two charm packs from Moda's Amelia line from last summer to complete.  It is simply sashed with 1 1/2 inch strips of Kona White.  The back was a white on white vine print from my stash.  I bought a third charm pack (I think I only used 8 out of the second one) and will put it with the leftover squares and make one soon for my Etsy shop.  This would make a great scrap quilt or another theme (vintage 30's prints, all one color etc.).  Next time I may even set it on point and see how that turns out.  The possibilities are endless.  Here is the special label I added to the back.  The quilt label police in my quilt guild would be proud.

I have quite a few baby quilts planned - now to find the time.  Summer is coming!

Be blessed,

Corynne



Making Room For Baby (Part 4) The Quilt and the Kid

I said I wouldn't be one of those moms who is constantly shoving pictures and anecdotes about her children down people's throats.  I am probably failing miserably.  But I do want to take a moment to introduce you to my inspiration for all the things I have posted lately.  Meet Trenton and his quilt..

Around here he is also known as Trent Trent, Mr. T, Man Man, Fella, Booby and Sugabutt (his auntie's name for him). I was able to add these cute graphics on the pics with my new fave photo editing website PicMonkey. It was easy to use and navigate.

About the quilt.  These fabrics are mostly purchased from various shops on Etsy including  Sisters and Quilters and Raspberry Creek Fabric.   I was also able to find some of the fabrics at Jackman's Fabrics here in St. Louis where I do a lot of my shopping for fabrics. The pattern is Turning 20 Again and only used 9 fabrics.  It is a very forgiving pattern. I picked the cars and brown and orange argyles first and the rest just fell into place.  They are by Anne Kelle for Robert Kaufman Fabrics, in case you are looking for them still.  They are supposed to be organic, hence the slightly higher price per yard.  The back is Soft and Comfy fabric in orange from Hobby Lobby (40% off coupon baby).  This fabric is great on the back but can be a bear to work with if you have to piece it.  It has a definite nap so make sure you look at it from all angles before sewing it together.  I speak from experience.

The quilt dimensions are 60 x 60. I am going to use it as a background for the pics I take of him every month.  Otherwise it is draped on the side of his crib and we snuggle beneath it during our middle of the night feedings, which (thank God) are becoming few and far between.

The dog in the pics is our Great Dane, Nahla.  She is a year old and she and Trent almost share a birthday.  Everytime a quilt hits the floor she thinks it is for her and whenever Trent is in reach she is licking and sniffing him.  Unfortunately, I can't leave her on the floor with him yet cause she is just too big and doesn't know her own strength and I am afraid those paws will do damage.  But I think she is over the trauma of his arrival and likes Trent a lot. 

You can also catch him modeling my quilts on Etsy now.  More about this quilt soon in a separate post.

Yes, he is a thumb sucker!

He has such great expressions!

So there you have it - my other inspiration. I just love him and his sister to pieces. Here they are together on his quilt. Would love to hear from you - I love comments!

Be blessed y'all - I am.

 Corynne
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Making Room For Baby - Part 3 Diaper Strap and Car Seat Cover

Happy New Year!  The holidays are over but I am still rolling through the baby posts!  I will tackle my goals for the new year in a separate post soon - I have a few! God was good in 2011 and I can't wait to see what He has in store for us in 2012!

Car Seat Cover
Our little guy is seven weeks old now and has been riding in style with his car seat cover. We used the car seat we had for his sister (it was very neutral) and just gave it his own flair with this fabric from Michael Miller...

The peek-a-boo hole!

The underside - nice and dark, perfect for promoting sleep!

The fabric is Zoology in Sea which I loved but for some reason, didn't want the whole nusery in it.  I did buy some extra fabric to make a quilt later.  The lining is Kona cotton in Slate. This cover has worked out well and despite the cold and Trent being so young, I don't mind taking him out because it is a great deterrent to strangers breathing on him unless I want them to! Not to mention it just keeps the light out so he can sleep while we are out and about.

I used the tutorial for the cover found over at Wannabe Crafty HERE.  I was very pleased with how easy it was to follow.  I chose it because of the peek-a-boo window, which everyone gets a kick out of.  This tutorial made Nicole's Best of 2011 list and she has the cutest tie tute that I plan to tackle for Trent's Easter outfit!


Diaper Strap
The diaper strap was insanely easy and took all of 45 minutes to make.  I found this cute fat quarter at a quilt shop I stumbled upon in California last summer.  The little dump trucks were perfect for a boy and I loved the orange and red.

the back

 The orange botton came from my extensive button collection that I inherited from my mom when she downsized last year.  The strap easily holds 4-5 diapers and the wipes case.  The tutorial is HERE so you can make one yourself!  I will be adding this to my arsenal of potential baby shower gifts.

So these are just a few of the many projects I tackled for my little guy.  In my next baby post - I'll introduce you to Mr. Trent himself!

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Be blessed,
Corynne

Making Room for Baby - Part 2 The Progress and Diaper Bag

Things are coming along with Trent's room.  Babe started painting the room, I finished his quilt and it is ready to be bound and I finally got the diaper bag done.  So here are the pics:

The Cars fabric is an Anne Kelle by Riley Blake as are the argyle prints and a couple of others.  The pattern is Turning Twenty Again and backing is a minky type soft and comfy plush fabric.  Just a sneak peak here, more to come.

Front pocket view with the flap up.

The diaper bag fabric is Dandy Damask by Michael Miller. I love it.  I was a little leery about having so much white on the bag, especially the lining, but it is made from PUL (stands for polyurethane laminated fabric) and is waterproof which makes it a popular fabric for cloth diapers.  Plus I wanted something that I liked so I could continue to carry the bag even after he didn't need one anymore.  This bag is for me thank you very much - it just has his stuff in it!  Don't worry - the hubs has a different bag that he will carry!

Inside shot of side with 2 pockets.

Inside shot of side w/ 3 pockets

Back of bag, zippered pocket.

See the strap around the diapers in the middle pic above?  That is my cute little diapers strap that I will post about later.

Despite my excitement about the way the bag turned out - there were a few snags along the way.  First, my good ole Singer broke down as a I neared the end of the bag construction.  I was beside myself.  I've had this sewing machine since college and had never had any problems with it until recently. So the plan was while in the hospital with the baby, hubs was going to drop it off at the shop for a tune up.  I have two other machines that I inherited that need to be tuned up and repaired so that will be on my list to do in early 2012 - so if this ever happens again I have a back up and I need to upgrade to a new machine anyway.  I spend a lot of time sewing so I need something of quality with more bells and whistles.  I think my pedal went out so between replacing that and a tune-up, hopefully my problem will be solved.  The problem is when am I going to get my machine back and how much is it going to cost me? 

So what did I do?  My mom is a quilter as well so I just borrowed one of her machines.  She has a fairly new Brother that she hasn't been using (she prefers her older machine as well), At first I broke a few needles until I finally got it threaded right.  The PUL fabric was also thick which made going over double layers difficult where seams met but I got through them after doubling back.

The tutorial for this bag can be found here.  It is pretty easy to follow - even if you are not really a visual learner - like me. I prefer my instructions in words with pictures to clarify.  At times I wasn't sure I was doing it right but I kept going and everything turned out great.  The only thing I would do differently is add some interfacing to the flap.  Its a little floppy but it probably won't make much difference once I start putting stuff in it!  I put a couple of layers of Scotch Guard on it so it is good to go!  Thanks for stopping by!

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Be blessed,
Corynne

Making Room for Baby Part 1 - Before and the Plans

Well, time got away from me and our little bundle of joy is here!  Trenton Anthony arrived on Thursday, Nov. 17 at 5:20 p.m.  He weighed 7 lbs. 2 oz.  I will post more about his arrival later and tell you how I went to work anyway even though I knew I was in labor!    Three weeks prior to his arrival, I had done absolutely nothing to the nursery since my daughter last occupied it 3 years ago - she has been in her big girl room since she was two.  So here is what we were dealing with:

As you can see this was pretty much a catch all of sorts over the last three years.  So besides clearing out the clutter I have to revamp for a boy.


I did quite a lot with her room.  She had a little wall art, an accent wall and I had some basic decorations including her own bedding set and quilt that I made for her.  So, what to do for this baby? I must say - boys are harder to decorate for.  My hubby is the first boy I have ever lived with so to say I don't know anything about boys is an understatement.  I do have three nephews but I'm still somewhat clueless.  So this will be my first effort in decorating a room for a boy's taste.  So here are the fabrics I have chosen so far for his quilt and crib bedding.

I saw the car fabric on Etsy in various shops but when I saw it in a grouping with the chocolate argyle - I was sold.  My hubby loves argyle so I thought that would be a neat accent for the room.  So here is a list of things I plan to do for the nursery:

• make crib quilt
• 5 more receiving blankets (I have a few from Laila that were gender neutral that will reuse) - done
• recover that hideous tan glider
• Paint the room (leaning toward ice/turquoise blue and chocolate - hubs job!) - done
• Make a new diaper bag for me - done
• make a diaper clutch - done
• make a nursing cover - done
• make a little box pleated bag to hold diaper bag essentials
• make buy a window treatment for the nursey
• make a tummy time quilt (basketball fabric or blue and brown polka dots)
• Make a car seat cover (Michael Miller Fabric) - done
• Curtains for Laila's room - ok so this is not baby related but I really want to get them done soon 

And this is simply a list of stuff I want to make.  I'm not even talking about washing all the hand me down clothes we have been blessed with, reorganizing the closet and the other nesting things that need to be done still.  But I am feeling motivated and have been knocking stuff off the list.  So even though he has arrived, some of these projects will simply turn into maternity leave projects.  I will update as I get things done and post pics of completed projects and tell you where I got my inspiration. Stay tuned...


Be blessed,
Corynne

First Furniture Redo - Desk Chair

I bought this sad looking little chair from a fave thirft store near where I grew up.  (sorry I didn't get a true "before" pic) I remember going there regularly as a child with my dad to buy "play clothes" - clothes we could wear when we weren't going anywhere to just bum around the house in.  Play clothes usually consisted of sweats and t-shirts and shorts.  I think Dad was trying to help us avoid Mom's wrath and messing up our school clothes.  But I digress...

Anyway, I was taking a class at University of MO - St. Louis in the summer of 2009, which is right down the street and decided to pop in Value Village before heading home one day.  I got the chair for $4 and planned to refinish it for my sewing room.  Well, my daughter started kindergarten this year, and all during preschool we worked with her at home, at the dining room table, on her writing.  After one too many scratches on my table, I was on a mission to get her a desk for her room.  We found this desk for $30 at Goodwill and just repainted it a different shade of white and changed the knobs.  Not too happy with the knobs but I just wanted to get it functional.  Sorry - no before pics on that one but you will see it completed in a sec.


But for this chair I wanted to do something a little more eye popping.  So after scoring this great fabric from Discount Decorating Outlet for only $2.99 a yard,  (I had never really done a happy dance in a store until that day. )   I bought 13 yards, planning to use it for curtains (post coming soon on those).  It was also great to meet a fellow Etsian who was cutting and checking me out! Then I decided to give Laila my chair instead of searching for another one - I just really want to get her room finished.  Using the green paint left over from her accent wall, gave it a fresh coat then recovered the seat with this fabric.  I am very pleased with the result and feel inspired to get cracking on the 4 or 5 other pieces I have waiting in the basement for their makeover!

The little one hard at work!

Be Blessed, Corynne

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Happy 8th Anniversary

I was a romantic at heart when I was a teenager.  Read romance novels constantly. Couldn't stand a movie unless it had some element of romance.  Didn't get my first REAL boyfriend til college and still had no real clue of what love was until the last 10 years. 

Happy Anniversary to my husband Barry.  We met in middle school, were great friends through high school, lost touch during college but recomnnected because of our 10 year high school reunion in 2001 and married on this day in 2003. Best decision, after accepting Jesus,  I ever made.  Although I know the Lord brought us to each other - I am so glad I had the sense to see he was the one for me and say yes.

Thank you for my daughter and sons.
Thank for you for being a great provider.
Thank you for keeping God first in our home.
Thank you for being a great brother, brother-in-law, son, son-in-law, uncle and grandson
Thank you for being my best friend and showing me what love really is. 

My fave wedding pic!

Our Wedding Party

Love your wife,
Corynne