Hiccup

About the costume that I made for the little man... This has a story... Every year that the little man has been alive, I have borrowed a costume for him from my sweet neighbor at the last minute. They are always cute, and just on Monday I talked to her about coming over to get another one for him.

Now, last week I spent 5 days focusing on nothing but potty training. He even missed preschool on Monday. He was fine to go on Wednesday, but when I showed up, I realized that it was his first preschool Halloween party. And I didn't have a costume for him. What kind of mother am I?!? I felt so bad!!! Luckily, his teacher had a spare spider costume that he wore.


But I still felt bad! So, to make up for it - I decided not to borrow a costume for him (for the 4th time) but to make him one. I knew he would want to be a Monstrous Nightmare (a dragon from How to Train Your Dragon), but I really didn't have time for a decent dragon costume. So, we compromised... I made him a Hiccup costume.

Here's Hiccup from the movie. Without any patterns, I managed to copy the costume pretty well. What do you think?


I think it turned out really well. And he LOVES it!!

Halloween. It's my favorite!

So, Halloween is my favorite holiday! Why? Costumes. Candy. Do I really need any other reason? I think not.

So, I didn't get around to making myself an awesome Halloween costume this year (sad face), but I have a fun one planned. It'll rely more on my mad hair and makeup skills (snort), so hopefully it'll work out! I'll post pictures later, but for now I want to take a look back at some of my favorite costumes made by me, for me.

This was two years ago. I was Elizabeth Bennett. You know that's right!

This was last year. I was an elf (think Lord of the Rings, maybe...). I won a costume contest for this (thanks Val!) and won AWESOME monster cocoa mugs. They are my favorite! I even use them during Christmastime. lol!

Here is a few of the little princesses costumes that I have made.

Tinkerbell. It was the first costume I ever made. The tulle was a nightmare, but it turned out cute! The shoes were originally black. Spray paint. Hey, it worked!

My cute little witch! I can't believe I gave that cape to charity this year. What was I thinking?? I'll have to make another one sometime!

So, this year I am only making one costume. For my little man. Story and pictures to come!!

Freebird

It's done! And... um, yeah - I'm totally keeping it! :) So, with no further delays, I (proudly) present Freebird Window Quilt...


Having an off centered strip down the back is sort of becoming my signature thing. I don't usually plan for it, but for some reason I keep messing up the measurements for the back fabric and have to widen it up. Oops. But I always love the outcome, so... no harm, no foul, right?

I absolutely love the orange fabrics in this line! I think they were the real reason I want to keep this one!

I think the absolute best decision I made on this quilt was to create windows - framing the blocks with white. As I mentioned, I have seen several other quilts with this fabric and they were really - really - busy. I think separating the colors with just an inch of white really made all of the difference. I love the blocks - each with a contrast - but the white frames created a showcase for each block, rather than ending up with a holy nightmare of colors trying to compete right next to each other. Wow, that was a long explanation. ;)

The quilt is a twin size quilt - 66 x 78. Great size for snuggling! I am so excited to have a beautiful quilt just for me!! Yea!

Halloween fun!

On a whim yesterday, I chopped up an old Halloween table runner that I had made (for a long rectangular table) along with some leftovers from a witch dress from years gone by, added in a wee bit of leftover from my free bird quilt and ...TADA!!


A new and DARLING Halloween table runner! I love it! I quilted in orange loop-tee-loos (is that a word?) and, while not perfect, is really fun! The ghost are pins.

The back

I love Halloween!

For me? Maybe!

When I first started with this quilting kick, I went through a "buy every bit of fabric in sight" phase. I got over it, but I'm still working through the fabric that I bought.

One jelly roll that I bought was this line:

Freebird, by MoMo for Moda (click to see, obviously...)

When I got it, I thought - fun, but... loud. But I cut out the pieces for my planned squares... and then put it away. For quite a while. Then I finally got it out again and did a few more. Theeeeen - put it away.

You know the old saying, "absence makes the heart grow fonder"? Not so with this fabric. The longer it sat in my drawer, the longer I wanted to ignore it.

But, I finally pulled it out and started working on it again. I got the squares done, and then put it away while I mulled over what how to pull it all together. I had seen a few other quilts made with this line and I'll be honest. I wasn't really liking them. So finishing this was a trial for me. But, I decided what to do and got busy putting the top together. And...

I fell in love. Really. I finished quilting it today, so I have only the binding left to do, and I can honestly say - this is my favorite. By a lot.

It's funny - I haven't made a quilt for myself yet. I have a hard time picking fabric for me. So I said that I would just keep making quilts and when I made "the one" I would know it.

I was SURE this one would not be it.

But I think it might be!! I'll post pictures when the binding is done. And that point, I'll decide if it's mine - or if it goes in the shop. But I'm thinking it's mine!! :) Stay tuned!

A Quilt for Mom

I made this quilt for my mom! It turned out so cute! It is my second free-motion project! I love doing free motion now! Of course, I managed to make my mistakes on the dark fabric, just so everyone could see (haha!). No, but really - I love how it turned out, and best of all - Mom loves it too!!

A Bag for Sam

So, my sweet Beehive, Sam, finished her bag. I have been helping her with it for a Personal Progress project. She has worked hard and today finished this adorable bag!! Way to go Sam!!