Teacher Retirement Quilts

This year we have two teachers retiring and I wanted to do something special for them. I was inspired by this quilt. I used the fabric pastels and so far they seem to be holding up. Once I ironed them they stopped smudging and seem set. I'll know for sure after I was them.Do not buy them on line. Your local craft store most likely carries them. I found them at Hobby Lobby with the t-shirts and fabric markers. They were $3.99 for the 15 ct and I used a 40% coupon.

My original idea was to have each student do 2-6" blocks with a garden theme (flower, butterfly, bird, tree etc.) Then I got to thinking about how much sewing that would mean for me. 137 blocks x 2. I only had a week to get the blocks done and the quilts made. I know that with 4 kids there was no way for me to get it done. So I opted for large panels. The first one I did 14x70 and had two classes share the panels and sashed them with "grass" in a green batik. On the bottom panel I made a large label of sorts.

For the second quilt I had more of a raised bed garden idea. The smaller panels I did one for each class (12x25). I like the way they turned out. The backings are simple white with a pieced strip. I'll post the finished product when I get them back this week.

I've sent them to a friend to quilt for me. I have never done that before and there is a sense of giving something up by not actually doing the quilting myself. I know they we be great but it was an interesting feeling I had not expected.

Pillows, Apron, Babies

Finally decorated the newly covered couch with a fun throw pillow. I've made another one since in the same colors but wavy lines. Maybe I'll get a picture of them when I make more throws. I took on the invisible zipper for this pillow using these directions. If you want to see the whole couch you can see it at our family blog.

Yet another apron. You will see many of these this year. Last year our birthday gift was a pillowcase and this year it's aprons. We chose lizards for the birthday boy. Maybe I should make one for Ian whose 7th birthday is Wednesday....Hmm. Yep, probably should do that.

Also this past weekend there was a baby shower for a girl. I have done a lot of boy gifts lately so it was a nice and welcome change to make something girly. A diaper clutch. Two reversible bibs. A bird (link is on the left) to chew on and a ribbon ball. The kids want me to make many more balls for them to play with. This was a quick toy to make. I was just doing a test run but next time I will add more ribbons and maybe in all the seams.

Two More

I just finished two more aprons. One for my nephew who just turned 7. He asked me last fall to make him a pirate quilt! I am too far behind to oblige that request and came up with this solution instead. Pirate ships on one side and cute pirates on the other. You can't see it in detail but the button is an old brass one. Very fitting.
The second apron got a bit of an overhaul in production. I mean I made the ties for the waist the full 45" width so the kids can tie and untie it themselves. I think this will be used all the future aprons. It was a last minute gift that worked out perfectly. The birthday boy loves frogs!
These take about one hour to make if I don't have machine troubles or get interrupted by any of the 4 kiddos.

You may ask: Do your kids love their aprons? I will have to say I haven't yet made any for my own kids! Maybe I'll make them for the kids for Mother's Day.

School Lunch Napkins

Inspired by SMS. Here is the link to a cute snack set pdf. I don’t know about you but I get tired of my kids clothes (shirts especially) coming home a disaster. So these napkins will be used at school. The goal is to make 5 for each of them, one for each day. They have to bring home the dirty one in order to get a clean one!

This is a fast project. It took me longer to pick out the fabric than it did to sew them up.

I made my napkins double-sided. The square ones started out 10x10 and finished at about 9 1/2” square. The rectangular ones are cut from a fat quarter divided into fourths (about 9x11). I think next time I will cut them 9 ½” square to start and end up a little smaller but square. The look of a rectangular napkin is throwing me off!

Then in the middle of this quick craft session I had to make a mini pressing board. My 4 year old bumped into the iron and burned his hand. I am think this board will help in keeping it more out of reach. I think I might have to make some more of these fabric boards and hang them! This a made with a scrap of Michael Miller fabric layered over two layers of flannel and a layer of polyester batting. I hot glued the two cork boards together. I wasn’t sure about using a spray adhesive on a something that would get hot. This was inspired by Oh, Fransson TV tray revamp.

Crochet Hook Storage Bag Tutorial

I did this thinking it would be easy and quick. It was but I see now writing this out that I should have taken more pictures. More step-by-step would have been good. Though not many people will see this so I guess my deficiency at this first attempt will be okay.

I started this project with 2 fat quarters. With the right sides together sew using a 1/4" seam allowance leaving a 3" opening. Trim the corners and flip right side out. Press making sure the opening is nicely lined up. Top stitch around the outside edge. I had my needle set to the far right and ran the edge of the fabric along the inside edge of the presser foot.

Here it is flipped and top-stitched. Next you will need to fold up the bottom 1/3 to accommodate your hooks. Sew pockets about 1" apart all along the width of the fabric. I left the last two wider to accommodate scissors etc.

Next you will fold down the top part to cover the hooks. This will keep them from falling out. Fold it down and pin. Then top-stitch the whole side shut.

Finally you will need to add a ribbon or yarn to tie the whole case closed. At first I put tie right in the middle of the case. That didn't work. It has to be almost all the way to one end. I think it was about 3" from the end. Secure it down with some stitching. Roll it up and tie it with a bow!

Newest projects

It has taken me way to long to finish this little baby quilt. I had the top finished in November but I was out of town and then the funerals. I finally got the backing and the binding on and a label! The recipient loved it (well his mom did!) It is a wee quilt. I forgot to measure but it was probably 30x40.

I was inspired by a blog to make a needle book. I think it was SMS a couple of months ago. I love this dainty little creation. It was quick which is about all I have time for right now.

Marching On

While I haven't done much in the way of crafting in the past month we have been busy with school projects. This is IA's submission (1st grade). He picked the dot by Peter H. Reynolds. We love this book and it's sequel ish. He has written and illustrated many books. We also love the Judy Moody and Stink books by Megan MacDonald. We spent about a week working on art. Each making our own dots or "no dots". These are all his own work.

This is EJ's book fair submission (3rd grade). She chose heartbeat by Sharon Creech. We love this book and every other one we have read by her. We love her imagery and lyrical style. Bloomability is one that I really enjoyed but EJ hasn't read yet. She had a lot of fun leaving her footprints and painting this apple.

The other obsession is Box Tops for Education. I am the school coordinator and each month I am coming up with new ideas for rewards and challenges to keep the students excited. February was the Love Your School Challenge.

Here is my one sewing craft for the whole month! My sewing room is train wreck but it is on the mend, the machine is serviced and I just might get back on track.
I made this apron for a 1st grade party my son went to. Here is WH modeling it for me. Brown cordoroy with guitar fabric. The birthday boy is taking guitar lessons. This will be the gift for this year. Aprons. A mother at the party asked if I make them to sell. No. But I might. She said "Call me!"

So my question is how much do you charge for a custom child-size apron? I like the idea but there are so many things that stop me from doing business. Thoughts?