Born to Sew

 I made this quilt for my sister's wedding gift.  It was my hardest one yet, and that border proved to be a nightmare - mainly b/c I hate measuring.  This pic is before I quilted it.  I love how the kids helped me.  They pressed out the wrinkles and helped me pin the binding to the backing.  They also helped hand me pieces I needed, and Little Missy stayed with me almost the entire time I was sewing.

 I pieced the backing together with scraps left over from the front adding red to this LOVE quilt.  The kids are quite proud of their work.

 It was by far the biggest quilt I think I could make doing the quilting at home without sending it out.  It fits a double bed...the kids are laying on it to show you the size.

 It is LONG too.  I had to cram this into the neck of the sewing machine to make it all fit.

 And here are the 3 quilts I've made so far:

 This one was for a dear friend I've known since 7th grade.  She just had a baby girl.  I'm in love with these colors, and I think they worked perfectly together.  I quilted this one in a zig zag pattern - that was HARD and took forever.

 I had this backing in mind, but I gave it a little flare by adding left over pieces from the front to incorporate the colors to the back.  I can't believe it turned out straight.  This was my first every quilt.

 I have another friend that I have known since she was teeny tiny.  This friend just had a baby boy so I thought I'd make another quilt for her son.  I added flannel to this quilt, and it is so incredibly soft.  I love how this one could be fore a boy or a girl with the reds and blues.

 I quilted this one in tiny squares, and it was much easier than the first quilt.

 Here is the completed, quilted and freshly washed Paris Love Quilt for my sisters wedding gift.  I didn't want to give it away, and many of my friends who saw it wanted to keep this one too.  The picture doesn't do it justice.  It is just beautiful!

 Notice the binding on this one.  It is pieces of leftover scraps that I sewed together.  I think it adds a lot of character in such a simple way - plus I love using up my scraps instead of throwing them away.

 Here is a close up pic so you can see the material I used better, and you can see how I quilted this one with X's.  It was difficult b/c the quilt was so large, but I think it was the easiest way I could have quilted it.  It also looks amazing.  I think I used gray thread.  Below is the back where you can see the criss-cross quilting better.

 I have always wanted to make dresses for my little girl.  I bought 2 shirts a while back on clearance with this dress in mind.  My daughter has a dress with an embroidered cupcake on the front, and she used to wear it to every single birthday party.  She has outgrown that dress, and I needed to make her a new "birthday party dress."  This is what I had in mind.

 I had a goal to finish this dress by a certain little girl's birthday, and I did it.  I made the dress for the birthday girl first, and my daughter nearly cried b/c she wanted it.  I had already planned to make them matching dresses, and my daughter was estatic to have her own.

 I used the bottom scrap of the shirt to make a pinwheel bow for the shoulder.

Little Missy couldn't stand it.  She had to wear it today, and she looks darlin!