Quilty Fun Birthday Cake banner

My youngest grandson is Jacob, he will be 2 years old on April 8, and this quilty fun birthday cake banner is for him!

Then I'll be all caught up with my banners :)

I wasn't able to use my "M" and "N" pieces, because I cut them a l/2" shorter than they should have been!

I like the look of this cake though.

I used Lori Holt's fabric with dessert recipes, for the border.

I quilted with a stipple stitch, but tried something different with the cake and cake stand and bow.

In the past, I have used my walking foot and outlined the pieces, using stitch in the ditch method.

This time, I used my free motion foot and just traced around the pieces.

I think I prefer the look using the walking foot.

I pieced the back, using a cute fairy tale fabric.

Unfortunately, I don't remember the name of it!

I outlined each letter with the free motion foot too.

I'm not crazy that some of the stitching runs into the letters.

I used a machine blanket stitch to attach the letters.

I have a tutorial with measurements for the banner that you can view here.

Thanks for reading my posts!

Retro Mama's Notions Pouch

I think that Kim from Retro Mama designs the cutest things!

The moment I saw her little notions pouches, I was in love.

I bought her pattern and set to work, even though I had so many other things I should be doing!

I'm a sucker for cute things, including grandchildren :)

It's a funny thing, but when I use my scraps, the piles never get any smaller!

Weird!!!

Notice all the delectable little strips of prettiness?

I cannot lie, I love fabric!

 I adore my little pouch!

I don't know what I'll use it for or who I'll gift it to, but I love it!

Here's another one, the possibilities of each little pouch are endless!

I bought the metal zippers just for this project.

Zipits is a great shop to purchase zippers, on Etsy.

Here's the inside of the pouch.

By the way, the zipper isn't difficult at all, and believe it or not, it's handsewn.

I highly recommend this pattern!

It's cute, fun, functional and feminine.

 I've got 3 others in the works, although I still have so many other things to do :)

Be My Neighbor

I have some friends whom I became acquainted with, over 3 years ago, on Instagram.

We had an Instagram quilt retreat a couple of years ago, and are going to  have another one this summer.

For our birthdays last year, we decided to make this quilt.

There are 8 of us, and someone drew our names, and we were each given 2 blocks to make for each person on their birthday.

I was assigned these two blocks.

Another rule was that we used only Fig Tree fabric, that way no matter which colors or prints we chose, we knew they would match.

We also purchased the same color for the background.

There's a little bird appliqued onto a rooftop on every row.

As each block arrived, I pinned my friends names onto them.

Tazzie lives in Tasmania, Australia, so does Leanne.

Kristie lives in Utah, Nessa lives in Wyoming, Joanna lives in Oklahoma, Lynette lives in Idaho and Annette lives in Chili right now, but she lived in Utah when we were having our birthdays :)

When I saw Joanna's finished quilt on Instagram, I knew I had to get mine done!

Here's my finished quilt top, with my friends' names still pinned to their blocks!

I thought of them as I sewed their blocks into the quilt.

I'm on a self imposed fabric fast this year, because I have way too much fabric :)

I found this Amy Butler fabric in my stash, and it looks just like Fig Tree colors!

Here is the link to "Be My Neighbor" quilt, it's free!

The Cute Book

I looked after my four oldest grandchildren for about 8 days, while their parents went to Spain with some friends :)

I cherished the time I was able to spend with them!

This is Kennedy, she's 10 years old, in 5th grade.

I was able to go to school and see her at her science fair, and go to her Valentine's party too!

This is Charlotte, she's 7 and is in the 2nd grade.

I went to Charlotte's Valentine party at school also :)

This is Bridger, he's 12 and in the 7th grade at middle school.

I went to parent/teacher conference with him.

His teachers sang high praises of him the whole time!

Why are these kids concentrating so hard?

The "Cute" book!!!

They loved the Cute book!

I taught them all my magic way of knotting a thread.

Bridger made the "kidnapper".  His job is to steal kids.

(That's what it says in the book, lol!)

Bridger made the Kidnapper, Lorenzo the lizard, and the Sprite.

He did all the sewing himself, I just did the embroidered faces :)

He takes a sewing class at school.

Kennedy made a bear and a bunny.

She kept disappearing, because she couldn't keep away from the little magnetic paper doll set that I brought!

She loves paper dolls more than anything!!!

Charlotte made 5 little cuties!

Pinkie, bird and bunny.

She did a lot of stitching herself :)

She stitched the monkey entirely by herself, I think she did a great job!!!

Charlotte couldn't stop laughing, because the instructions said to glue the panda's tail to it's "butt", lol.

Lucy made the bear and the liar.

Well, maybe I made them :)

This photo shows how small the little animals are.

The children has a wonderful time choosing the colors of felt for each little animal.

Lucy is 4, and she loved these little animals.

She wanted to make the liar, the kidnapper and the bad guy!

The Kidnapper was really hard to make, so she had to settle for the bear :)

Lucy is getting into character :)

Part of the fun was decorating altoid tins for their little homes, and sewing a pillow to put under their heads.

A fun time was had by all, our dining room table was a mess for a few days.

Making these animals was so much fun and helped the children keep their minds from missing their parents.

Their next project might be a bag or a mini quilt :)

Bubblegum Kisses quilt

I subscribe to the Sew Sampler box from Fat Quarter Shop.

It's such an adventure every month, opening the box!

I love the fabric, and surprise notions, it's like Christmas!

I love Lori Holt and everything she does!!!

Naturally, I was dying to make this little quilt, Bubblegum Kisses.

This Cute Cuts designed by Lori, was included in the box.

It took quite a while to cut all the little pieces, especially the background!

It's pretty easy to square trim these blocks, especially if you have a rotating mat.

Voila!

I love Lori's Bee Basics line, it's one of my all time favorites.

One of my favorite parts about arranging the blocks on a quilt, are the colors!

I thought about arranging the colors in an hombre style, but realized that I didn't have enough blocks to create the look.

I just enjoyed arranging the blocks in a way that was pleasing to my eye.

I machine quilted in a circular motif, a little off center.
I sewed the binding on, but haven't hand stitched it to the back yet.
Whoops, I captured my toes in the photo, and my nail polish is the same color as the binding, lol!!!

This circular pattern is very easy to do!
I just use my walking foot as a guide.

I'll show you the finished little table topper when I have it all hand stitched.  

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