Floor Cushions

Sorry for the blurry pictures!  I'm not that great with a camera but I also have some wild and crazy grandchildren!  Sometimes they just can't sit still!  I should show the "bloopers".....nothing but blur in most of the pictures of these cuties!

A pattern was introduced several months ago at my local quilt shop for a child's floor cushion.  I thought it was very cute but did not want to pay the $12 for the pattern.  You would be or not be surprised as to what you can find online!  I did a search for a floor cushion and found a great tutorial here.  So many people have made these that this girl started a flickr page to show off their creations.  You can see that page here.
There is also another pattern here.  I like the patchwork top on this one.

One thing I did change with the cushions I made was that I filled them with bean bag pellets.  You can find them at Wal-Mart.  I was told that some of the pellets stick together and go all over if you buy the cheap brand.  Mine were pellets from Bag of Beans.  Surprisingly enough, they played nice as we (it's a 2 man operation filling these things) poured them into the cushions.


I was a bit afraid of sewing with piping but it really wasn't hard to sew on.  I made my own piping by using Nancy Zimmerman's Wrap n' Fuse Piping.  Can I say I LOVE that stuff?!!!!  It can be hard to find but so worth it if you make your own piping.

I also used just regular cotton fabric.  Directions said to use upholstery or other canvas but I decided to use what I had.  I also made the pattern as big as I could so the kids could hopefully grow into them.  The original pattern I saw is quite small compared to what I made!  I plan on making a couple more but maybe a bit higher so I can use them for footstools.

The kids seem to like them.  Another success on Christmas Day from Grammie!

What I've Been Up To...

Couldn't show a lot of things I have been doing before Christmas.  I know it is already the middle of January but having been gone so long from the blog I had to really decide if I wanted to come back.

Christmas was the year of the grandchildren.  I bought the Ellie Doll Bed pattern (Kwik Sew) several months ago but it just sat in the pile of "maybe I will get around to making that one day".  Finally at the first of December I decided to open the pattern and see if I could follow the directions.  It was actually quite easy.   Especially since I didn't put the zipper into the bottom of the bed so it could be taken off to wash.  It was easy enough that I made 3 of them for our little granddaughters for Christmas.

I really loved finding the fabric for each bed.  This one was made for our 3 year old in Denver (soon to be Iowa).


We visited her a couple of weeks before Christmas.  I couldn't stand not being able to watch her open up her gifts we gave her so I let her open a few while we were there.  She loved the bed.

In fact, she loved the bed so much she wanted to sleep in it!

When I got home from our trip to Colorado I knew I needed to get going on the other two so they would be ready by Christmas.  It was hard not sharing with the mommy's what I was making.

 

So happy I was able to capture this one's face!  

This baby is a bit too young yet but she loved throwing the pillows around!  I knew if I didn't make it now along with the other two, I wouldn't ever make it so her mommy has it on a shelf until baby is a bit older.

 

All in all a successful project for 3 cute lil' girls!

LOVE the quilting!

Got my baby quilt back from my quilter and am so SO happy with the quilting she did on it!


As you can see, she quilted every inch on it.  Just what I love. 

Here's the front.  Baby Boy will be here December 29th.  I can hardly wait to hold him!  One of my favorite blocks in this quilt is the little suit in the middle.  My oldest sons wore similar suits one year for Easter Sunday.  

Here is a picture of my little ones with my mom wearing their suits.  She was battling cancer at the time and we had flown back and forth from Texas to California to visit with her as much as we could that year.  She would lose her battle early the next year in February.  The boys are 3 1/2 and 1 1/2 in this picture.  I love these little suits!  It's funny to look at this picture and notice a bean bag chair....I certainly don't remember growing up with that and am now wondering why in the world my parents would have one!

Have to also mention that the daddy of this newest grandbaby is my oldest son in this picture!  Yes...they do grow up!

The pattern is Benji's Pockets by Acorn Quilt & Gift Company.  You can find it here.  It's on sale!

Great Granny Quilt

This quilt pattern can be found on Lori Holt's Great Granny Quilt Along page.  I love when designers are happy to freely share their talents with others!


I used up every bit of fabric I had left over from my Dresden Quilt that is hanging on the wall for the Great Granny quilt.  I wish I had had more of it, I think it is called Maypole.  I was hoping to make the quilt into a queen for my own bed but had just enough jelly roll strips to make 24 blocks.

So nice to make a quilt out of scraps from my stash!

More Halloween!

I have been down and out for several weeks so haven't felt like doing much of anything but laying around.  I will never take for granted good health again!  I do have a few more pictures to share from our LQS.

Those of you who guessed "it's all about the boots" win!

A pretty Fall quilt with easy applique.
 

I loved this cute little wall hanging.  The witch's nose is is wooden ball.  She is also wearing her wire glasses.  So clever!
 

If you haven't made a trick or treat bag yet, this would be a fast, cute bag to whip up!
 

I bought this pattern with the hopes of getting it made before Halloween but with most of October being a fog to me I couldn't get it done.  The mummy is wrapped in torn pieces of cloth.  The witch's hat to darling with it's feather accents.  The pattern is called "Home is Where the Haunt is" and is made by Kimberbell.  You can find the pattern here.  This is designed by one of the girls that own the cutest quilt shop in Logan, Utah, http://www.mygirlfriendsquiltshoppe.com/.  They have the most darling BOM's!
 

Every day is a bit better for me so I hope to be back at the sewing machine soon!  Have a wonderful week!

Halloween at our LQS

Yesterday was our monthly BOM at the LQS.  The shop is getting ready for next week's big Fall party and had several items hanging out in the classroom.  I got a few pictures to show but no names or patterns yet.

This is a darling quilt.


I should have peeked to see what the witch's leg table topper said.  "It's all about the....."   Going to be bugging me now!  The owl is a panel and made into a table runner.

Very cute small wall hanging with lots of fun details!


Another table runner.

 And darling placemats!


I know the shop is working on a few other pieces so will be fun to see what they come up with next week!

Goodbye Summer!

Summer has gone by way too fast....as it does every year in this part of the country!  Seems like my body just defrosts from the cold winter and then it is back again in full force!  This weekend has been full of heavy rain so I guess I have to say goodbye to another quick summer and give a big hello to fall!

Youngest son came home safe and sound from his internship in San Antonio in August.  He had a great time interning with USAA.  They really know how to "wine and dine" their interns with lots of fun activities to keep them busy.  Joel has already been asked to intern again with them next year but I think he wants to try something new in his field just to see what else is available to him before he has to make a career choice.  

Last week, we said goodbye to him as he headed to BYU.  He was accepted into their Information Systems Managment Master's program (computers) so he has another two years before he is finished.   I will miss not having him around but we are season ticket holders for BYU football so we will see him alot at the games this fall.

New mommy started school too this past week!  She is in 3rd grade.  I have been helping take care of lil' princess while mommy is off to her inservice meetings and now school.  Kinsley is now 4 months old.  She is such a joy to have in our lives!  I'm a bit rusty in what to do with such a young baby but I think Kinsley took pity on grammie and was on her best behavior! 

In my spare time I have been working on this applique quilt for our newest addition coming in December!  It is called Benji's Pockets and can be found here.  I hope my eyes will work like they use to when I have to add the embroidery to each block!  I tried getting prescription glasses last week but they caused all sorts of problems for me so I am back to using my dollar reading glasses.  The quilt needs to be at the quilter's in October so I hope I can finish it easily. 

That's it for now!