Quilty Fun Birthday Cake Banners

I've been baking so many cakes, that I've become a little distracted..

I showed these two quilty fun birthday cakes to 4 of my friends, including my husband, and no one ever noticed.  
I noticed when I was just about done with the machine quilting.

Can you see anything wrong with these cakes?

I take such great care, choosing colors and prints that will match the personality and likes of the recipient.

Kennedy wanted a lemon cake, and I added strawberry icing.

Lindsay just wanted a pretty cake, I really love these colors!

I know that Lindsay loves Jadeite cake pedestals, so voila!!!

Have you noticed anything wrong yet?

I told Kennedy and Lindsay that I would bake some more cakes, but they said no, they liked them just the way they are :)

I'm not done yet, still have more cakes to bake :)

...and another!

I'm losing my head with these cakes, I forgot to take a photo of these cake banners, quilted and bound.

I love Lucy Jane's name, so I tried really hard to fit her whole name on the banner.

I don't know which border I like better, a colorful one, or a "sprinkles" one.

Benjamin wil be 3 years old this week.

I made him a blueberry cake, and the bow on the pedestal, has cars on it.

I hope you've enjoyed all the cakes I've been baking.

I still have many more to go :)

Originally, I was making the cakes just for my grandchildren, but all my daughters and daughters in law want one too.

That's okay, because I love making them things.
We live a day's drive from each other, so I think a lot about them when I sew for them :)

Have a great week!

Farm Girl Vintage - Weeks 13 and 14

I've been trying to keep up with my Farm Girl Vintage blocks.

When I make the 6" block, I try to use mostly Lori Holt fabrics.

This is a 6" Old Red Barn block.

Old Glory, I made one in both 6" and 12" sizes, but as you can see, I didn't use Lori's fabrics, there weren't really enough blues in the shades that I wanted.

Both blocks are really similar, but they'll be in separate quilts, so it really doesn't matter :)

Mama Hen with a Simple Star.

I love the brilliance of the aqua fabric, and I also love pink and orange together!

I'm really proud of her little pink beak too :)

This is a 6" block.
You can tell, because I used most of Lori's fabrics.

I'm not crazy about sewing 6" blocks though, because they are more difficult, with all the little pieces.

I love the Milking Day block, I think it's the first one I made out of the book.

My daughter belongs to a milking coop.  

Fourteen people have a share in a cow (her name is Patience) and each of them has a designated morning or evening to milk it every week.
There's a photo of me milking Patience here.

A genuine milking can is pretty expensive too!

My daughter now has chickens....

 ...and goats for milking.

I'm going to make her one of the Farm Girl Vintage quilts, I think she'll appreciate it :)

By the way, that's Maisie, aka Queen Elsa, who I made the dress for in last week's blog.

Elsa's dress

I made my granddaughter Maisie who was turning 5 years old, an Elsa dress.

The dress itself is Michael Miller satin and is so soft and flowy.

I found a beautiful broach that looked like a snowflake, and sewed it onto the front of the dress.

I found a little button for the back, and sewed a loop out of thread.

I also had to buy an Elsa crown :)

Here she is, Queen Elsa!

 Maisie loves her new dress and when she goes outside, she hikes the hem up so it doesn't touch the ground, just like a real queen :)

Sew Together Bag - Millie's Closet

I made another Sew Together Bag in one of Lori Holt's fabric lines by Riley Blake, called "Millie's Closet". 

It's a birthday gift for one of my quilty friends, so I love the sayings "Just take one stitch at a time" and "Eat Cake"!

Each side of the bag is a different color.

There are so many color combinations in this line, I couldn't choose just one :)

This bag is a little difficult to sew, but once you've made one or two, they get easier.
The bag is so roomy on the inside with all the different compartments. 

I love this label, "You make me Happy"!

I centered it on the dress, and I love the look.

I color coordinated the pockets with matching zippers.

You can't see it very well, but the center two sections have purse designs.  One is green and the other is red.

I finished it off with a red zipper and a cute zipper pull.

You can see the last sew together bag that I made here.
The color combinations for these bags are endless.
Even though they are very time intensive, I see a lot more of the bags in my future!

Sew together bag - modern minis

I've seen Sew Together Bags all over Pinterest and Instagram.

I always thought they were really cute and wanted to make one for myself.

I used fabric from Lori Holt's Modern Minis collection by Riley Blake, and I tried not to use "girlie" colors.

I tend to use a lot of pinks and aquas in my projects and I wanted this bag to be more neutral.

Modern Mini has lots of cute quotes.

I chose Bee Happy.

I chose Happiness is Homemade for the opposite side.

I used red mason jars on the sides.

I wanted the zipper color to pop from the binding.

Look how adorable the inside is!!!  

The 3 pocket linings are the bubble quote prints in orange, white and blue.

Each of the four inside pockets have a different print, and the side pieces both have a different print on the lining as well.

I embellished the inside with a cute label.

On the opposite side, I sewed a piece of spring green felt and scalloped the edges.

The inside of the bag can hold lots of goodies, including a large chocolate bar!

Most of the bag was easy and straightforward.

Sewing the pockets into the side seam was a little tricky, and sewing the tabs around the zipper ends was hard for me.

I found a tutorial that helped me, you can see it here.

The bag has so much room!

It can store sewing supplies, school supplies, makeup, or anything else you can dream up.

I'm going to make a lot of these Sew Together Bags for Christmas gifts, I just need more time :)

It looks especially cute with a little "scissors" zipper pull.

You can purchase this pattern as a pdf, at Craftsy.

You can also look at all the different sew together bags I've pinned on Pinterest.

If you want to see the bags on Instagram, search the hashtag #sewtogetherbag

Ayumi's Lunch Bag, a new use!

I made a tutorial in photos for this lunch bag here.

We also sewed this bag at a Girl's Night Out, here.

This bag was designed by Ayumi from Pink Penguin,and her tutorial can be found here.

I made this bag for my granddaughter Kennedy, who will be turning 8 years old on July 19.

The bag is intended to hold her new scriptures :)

Kennedy's favorite colors are green and blue, and she loves anything fancy!

I love this bag so much, I want to keep it!

I know Kennedy will take really good care of it and she'll also treasure it.

There are a lot of cute scripture totes available, but she asked me if I would make one for her myself :)

Precious!!!

I chose the lining to match the outside, it's Amy Butler fabric, as well as the upper part of the bag.

The horse and lightning bug fabric are by Sarah Jane, her "Wee Wander" line.

I'm quite confident that Kennedy will like it, it's fancy!

Sometimes Kennedy may not want to use the upper drawstring part of the bag, and that would be perfectly fine....

How sweet is this little girl on her horse?

She reminds me of Kennedy and will remind her that she is capable of anything if she puts her mind to it.

I also made Kennedy a little folder to put some of her important church books in, a photo of the temple, some scripture highlighters,  a pad of paper and some gel pens.

I know that Kennedy can't join the Young Women organization until she turns 12.

The envelope fabric has the young women values which are, Faith, Divine Nature, Individual Worth, Knowledge, Choice and Accountability, Good Works, Integrity and Virtue.

You're never too young to learn uplifting values :)

Kennedy was baptized last Saturday and looked like a princess.

 
I will show you photos next Saturday :)

Farm Girl Vintage QAL, weeks 11 and 12

Grandma's Quilt block was so much fun to make! 

I used fabric from Lori's "Aunt Millie's" line and fussy cut all the pieces. 

The outer corners are from "Vintage Happy".

Isn't it pretty?

I've been making Haystack blocks for a couple of years now.

I purchased my clear acrylic container at TJ Maxx, one of my favorite stores!

 I think it was meant to hold makeup.

 It's been perfect for my 2" blocks a

nd 11/2" strips. 

This method is called Leaders and Enders. 

When you're sewing a block, instead of cutting the thread each time you sew two pieces together, you just run two pieces of haystack block through your machine, then the block you're sewing, then the haystack block, etc.

 Not only does this allow you to sew two quilts at a time, but it also saves a lot of thread. 

I have enough Haystack blocks for the Scrappy Haystack Sampler quilt. 

Yay!!!

Here's my haystack block. 

I would love to have a kettle this color in my kitchen :)

Finally, the Kitchen Window block, the fastest one yet! 

Did you notice how I fussy cut the window panes out of "Modern Minis"? 

This was a very simple block to sew too.  

Did I mention that I plan on making the Farm Girl Sampler quilt with these 6" blocks. 

There are 45 of them.

 Do you have the Farm a Girl Vintage book yet?

 If you don't, I suggest you jump in the bandwagon and join all the fun :)