Baby Shower

I threw a baby shower on Saturday and used these items as the theme for our decor. I saw the thank you notes first and I fell in love. Everything came together from there!

I used the wrapping paper as a table cover. Instead of a normal baby shower game or activity, we continued with the flowers and butterflies theme by planting flowers that attract butterflies!

(You wouldn't know it by the photos, but I have NOT been compensated/sponsored by Miracle-Gro).

We used TMJ's new Silhouette to make seed envelopes to divvy up the seeds. We then made, you guessed it, butterflies and flowers to embellish the envelopes. This picture is blurry but it is the only one we got!

Here is the beautiful mommy with her rag quilt.

 Here I am apologizing for the seed packets spilling everywhere because they wouldn't close. :)

**I got both picture frames at Target but the flower shaped one got a little make-over. I was so tired that I didn't take any pictures at all.

Rag Quilt Tutorial

*Caution: This post is long. I wanted all the info in one post so you could easily refer back to it at a later date. 

Step One: Pick the fabric

I like to find one really cute patterned flannel as my base. I use that pattern to inspire two coordinating solid color flannels. I buy a yard of each fabric. You won’t use the full yard for all of them but I like it because then my strips are automatically the same length.

Step Two: Cut the fabric

I cut my fabric into strips for a typical baby quilt. I always use my trusty rotary cutter. When you get really gutsy you can tear flannel. If you tear in the right direction it is a breeze, if not...it's no good. So I cut because I am a coward. :)

-I cut the patterned fabric into 7 inch wide sections. It gives me six strips that are 7” x 36”.

-I pick one of the solids and cut it into 5 inch strips. I cut six strips that are 5” x 36”.

-Finally, the last solid (generally the darkest) is cut into 3 inch strips. I cut eight strips that are 3” x 36”.

**Note: You can cut as many strips as you want but make sure you cut an even number.

If you decide to make multiple blankets you can save time by doing all the cutting at one time and all the sewing at one time.

Step Three: Lay the strips together

Grab two of each of your strips. The solids don’t really have a right and wrong side, which is lovely, so place them on top of one another. Now take your two patterned strips and place them WRONG sides together. You should now be looking at three double thick strips. Make sense? I hope so. Do that again for all your strips. (From now on when I say strip I mean the double thick one you are looking at now.)

I didn't take pictures of the cutting process because I did that before I decided to write a tutorial. He he. But in the next step you can see how I sew the double thick layers.

Step Four: Sew!

Check to see if your pattern has a visible up or down. For example, see my birds? I don’t want them upside down so I make sure they all face the same way. 

(I didn’t do this carefully enough so my birds were upside down here. I’m using TMJ’s “seam ripper” aka box cutter. It is quite efficient but you need to be careful and gutsy.)

Pick two of your strips and sew them together using a wide seam allowance. I actually take the edge of the fabric to the very largest seam allowance visible on my machine. 

HUGE seam allowance:

Two layers of brown, two of green. See? (remember two layers=1 strip)

Once you have sewn the strips together one side will look like a proper quilt. 

The other side of the quilt has visible raw edges. It is completely counter intuitive! Your gut says to hide the raw edges. Your gut is wrong! J

 I generally sew the smallest strip to the middle strip then the middle to the largest. (This seems nitpicky but it will make sure your pattern doesn’t get messed up.) I’ll put that set of three strips to the side and do that whole process again with my remaining strips. I do that because smaller chunks are more manageable. It isn’t totally necessary.

Now sew your groups of three together. (You’ll have one extra of the small strip. I like it this way because it means I have one on each end of the blanket, like a frame of sorts.) At this point you should be like, “Dude! It looks like a blanket!”

Last but not least, sew around the edges. I lay open the edges of the strips as I sew over them. I don’t think it’s totally necessary but it makes life easier on your sewing machine. I also use the large seam allowance here because you’ll be cutting everywhere!

Did you notice that I NEVER used the word PIN? Bwah ha ha. That’s right; I don’t pin. Also, your lines don’t have to be perfectly straight. No one will know if you mess up a little! Heck, your cuts don’t even have to be totally straight! It’s awesome!

Step Five: Cut

Now you are going to clip the raw edges about every half inch or so.

(For this picture I held the scissors with my foot. That's how much I love you guys.)

I bought scissors specifically for rag quilts. They have short blades and are spring loaded to save your hand from cramping. I bought mine with a coupon from Joann’s. I think I spent $10 but it was totally worth it for me. I have made a ton of these blankets.

Most scissors are strong enough to go through 4 layers of flannel so I will cut two at once. It just makes sense. (My words don't make as much sense here as the picture.) 

Step Six: Wash/Dry

Place your beautiful blanket in the washer. To avoid an unbalanced load I wash it with a hand towel. Don’t wash it with anything else! This bad boy is going to generate a ton of lint and loose thread. Since the majority of the blankets I make are for babies I like to make sure I use dye-free, fragrance-free detergent. I bought a bottle of All Free and Clear that I use for these quilts.

For drying: Make sure your lint trap is empty! Dry it alone or with that one little hand towel.

Step Seven: Shake it like a Polaroid picture

I take it out of the dryer and shake the crap out of it. Lint and thread will be everywhere. Your lint trap might be fuller than you have ever seen it.

The floor after the shaking step: And my lint trap.

Oh. You want more lint? Okay! 

If it doesn’t look like a hot mess then you are smarter than I am.

Step Eight: Repeat Steps 6 and 7

This is optional. However, washing and drying it multiple times will make it easier for your gift recipient. This blanket will soften and fray with every wash. I find that after two washes the amount of lint generated is much more manageable.

Step Nine: Lint Roll

I lay the blanket on the floor and use my lint roller to clean it up. I actually received a sweater shaver for Christmas. I use this too. I LOVE it. Now your blanket will have the nice, clean look you have been hoping for. 

Frayed side:

Flat side:

I have also typed up a “Rag Quilt Care Sheet” for my gift recipients. It lets them know what to expect when washing and it reassures them that I have washed their blanket with baby in mind!

Step Ten: Comment

Come back here and share your success! I seriously can’t wait to see your projects. I would flip out to learn I actually inspired/taught someone to make a blanket! 

Rag Quilt Care Sheet

This obviously has a lot of our own flair but you can feel free to copy as much as you like! This is corresponding to the next post, my Rag Quilt Tutorial.

Me working on a rag quilt...

Congratulations!

Apparently you have done something to merit a gift! Perhaps you are now a parent? Maybe you’re another year older? Is it Christmas/Hanukkah? In any event, the Hammocks have given you a rag quilt for some reason. Yahoo! There are a couple of things you might want to know about the care of your treasured gift.

1. It has been washed and dried twice. We used All Free and Clear Detergent just in case you have an allergy or you are using this on a baby. We did not use liquid fabric softener but we did use a mildly scented dryer sheet (Bounce Brand).

2. Both times it was dried it filled up our lint trap. This is not uncommon. Since the edges are frayed it can take a few washes before it stops shedding and creating lint balls the size of small animals.

3. To clean it up after its second washing we used a lint roller and a sweater shaver. You probably won’t need to do this since it looks fine after being washed, but we wanted it to look brand new for you!

**TIP: When you wash it for the first time: wash it alone. If you suspect it will create a balance problem in your washer try washing it with a hand towel of a similar color. After you have washed and dried it you can determine if you will need to repeat this process. Hopefully not!

We hope you enjoy your gift. It was made especially for you!

You're my inspiration! Live 2 Craft

For my final installment of the "You're my Inspiration" series I would like to highlight my friend Erin at Live 2 Craft.

She is always trying something new and sharing her ideas. We've been friends since high school and I feel so lucky to have known her for so long.

Thanks to her, and her incredible blog, I am a rag quilt sewing maniac! Take a look at some of my most recent creations that she helped inspire.

A rag quilt for our nephew. He hasn't been born yet but he's already got plenty of people hunched over sewing machines on his behalf!

A fun one for our friends J & J (actually for their new little miracle CJ.) I had never done the rectangle pattern before and I loved it. I have two more quilts in the works that are using my newly discovered style.

Finally, a quilt for our friends. Their last name is Little and the pattern of this fabric says, "Little Buddy." So cute!!

I will include instructions on how to complete your own rag quilt in an upcoming post. I'll even include pictures of the process! Stay tuned.

Rag Quilts

So I have at least three friends who make rag quilts. Claire, Erin, and Chrissa. Over the course of the last couple of years these ladies have inspired me to try my hand at it.

First, Claire convinced me that they are a good thing to sew because they don't have to be perfect. That tempted me because I have been working on a regular quilt for Chance for years and it's imperfections are driving me mad.

Second, Erin showed on her blog how to do it step-by-step. She even included pictures and advice on how much fabric to buy.

So I went for it! Here is a picture of my first ever rag quilt. A baby quilt for our friends Jozef, Hollie and baby Sadie.

I didn't quite set out with the perfect plan. I cut the pieces and then started arranging them. I did Pink, Stripe, Blue, Stripe and that is how this pattern was born. When I had it laid out I loved it. I didn't think about the fact that I was using twice as many striped pieces. So when I got to the back I had to develop a new plan.

I still love it. It looks very beachy to me. Because of all the sewing you lose a lot of the size. This blanket is the perfect size for a car seat blanket. While she's still little it will be great for throwing on the floor to set her down but it isn't nearly as big as I expected.

Also, I put batting in between the layers. A lot of my friends don't. But I live in Northern Virginia and I wanted this blanket to keep baby warm. If you don't use batting the blanket has a flimsier look and feel which is great for warmer climates or summer babies. Because I used batting this project took on a new level of difficulty.

I had the front, back, and batting section of each square. Then I sewed an X across each one. Then I sewed the squares together to form rows. Then the rows together. It took forever! I got so discouraged. I was sure I wouldn't finish before the baby came. If it hadn't been for my church sewing group I may never have finished.

Now we come to motivator #3. Chrissa. She showed me how to make rag quilts without doing tons and tons of squares!

STRIPES!! Brilliant!

Here's a close up so you can appreciate the cuteness of the fabric.

This one is for Danny and Emily. They decided not to find out the gender of their baby but she loves monkeys. If you look closely the yellow of the bananas is much more bold than the pastel yellow I chose. If I went with the bright yellow it looked kind of like an ode to the potty. :)

Anyway, the stripes were a lot less cutting and a lot less sewing. I actually feel like you also get to appreciate the pattern of the fabric a little more too. In case you're wondering. It takes a yard of each fabric. The stripes are 3", 5", and 7" wide. Unlike my first quilt it is the same front and back. I had about 6" of yellow left over and I also had some brown left. So really you need 1 yard of pattern, 3/4 yard of secondary color, and 1/2 yard of the third. I would still buy extra if it is your first time (or second or third, hehehe) just so you have wiggle room to mess up. Plus I bought the fabric on sale and got the yellow and brown at 50% off or $2.49 a yard. So even though I bought a full yard of each it was only $5 total. I buy the crib sized cotton batting and I open it all the way. So one package of batting lasts me 2+ quilts. I either buy that with my 40% coupon or wait until batting is on sale. I don't pay full price unless I am desperate to finish on a deadline and I didn't plan ahead.