Crafting Quilts

When I was back in Indianapolis last fall for the ASHE (association for the study of higher education) conference, my friend Candice announced her pregnancy. This was a time of much rejoicing for us as we had been praying together for the Lord's blessing of a baby for her and Collin, among other things. So although it meant that Candice could not drink with us, she was an excellent chaperone, and we raised many toasts to her, Collin, and baby (for now called Jabar).

I love making baby crafts. For some of my friends I make burb rags and bibs. For others, I make baby quilts. I expect that for others, someday, I'll be making stuffed animals or baby clothes.

Candice and Collin live in England, and will be living there for at least another year, maybe longer. This poses a huge problem for all of us, because we want to be able to meet the baby and love on him... alas, who knows when that will happen. And so I decided that for the Bullards I would make a special gift of a baby quilt so that at least when they wrap up Jabar, its sort of like I'm there.

I found this quilt kit at my favorite JoAnn Fabrics Super Store... which is like 25 miles north of me, in the valley. I thought the colors were great, but the patterns on the top were kind of classic and grown up - which I loved, but it didn't feel very "baby", so I was nervous. The backing fabric was a flannel brown gingham, not unattractive, but not baby at all! As I was wandering around the store, I found the perfect backing fabric..... bright green to coordinate with the colors/patterns on top, and monkeys all over it. For some reason, any baby of Collin's screams "MONKEY!" to me.

Ultimately, I decided that this blanket would be perfect - the front is classic and classy - like Candice, the back is whimsical and funny - like Collin (actually both descriptions fit them both, but that is what I was thinking as I made it). I machine quilted the batting into the middle (previously, I had not included batting in the baby quilts, but since Jabar will be living in England, where it's cold a lot, I decided it needed the batting), and then cut and sewed on the blanket binding.

This was also the first time I made blanket binding on my own. I was going to use premade binding, but because I was anxious to get it finished and I didn't have it on hand, I went ahead and made it... I was pretty proud of myself, actually, that I was able to figure out how to do it. Now I think that I might just be willing to make binding again in the future!

Well, enough about me and the process. Here is the quilt! I'm so excited to be able to share it with you (It just arrived in Cambridge on Tuesday)!

Drawstring Ipod bag

As I mentioned in an earlier post, over Christmas break I decided to get crafty. I wanted to make a small drawstring bag that had an interior pocket, so that I could store my headphones and the little attachment pieces that came with them in a place where they wouldn't get messed up or lost, and that was portable. Initially, I thought about making a little zipper case like I used to have. Then I thought, "you're crazy." So I settled on the drawstring bag and set about making a pattern.

I picked out two really cute fabrics (one was a remnant). The exterior fabric is this really cute black fabric with music notes in rainbow colors. I know - super cutesy - but I thought it was kind of fun, since it was for my music player. The remnant fabric was a yellow calico with a small white pattern. I also purchased some lightweight cotton batting, and a spool of cord which coordinated with the exterior fabric. You need less than 1/2 yard of each of the fabrics for this project.

I used 8 1/2 x 11 paper to make my pattern. Seriously. I'm a goof, but its what I had. I used a straight edge to make sure my pieces were as close to square as possible. I cut the three fabrics first into rectangles that were 6" wide and 11" tall. I also cut two pieces (one each of interior and exterior) into a 6"x 3" rectangle, to use for the pocket.


First, I sewed the two pocket pieces together, just along the long sides and the flipped it right side out and ironed it flat. I stitched along one long end (which would become the top of the pocket), then put it aside. I decided to sew the batting to the interior fabric to make it easier to work with. So next, I sewed the large interior fabric to the batting (right side out), next I pinned the pocket fabric (with interior fabric facing together) about halfway down the long piece of the interior fabric. I stitched along the edges (matching seams) and across the bottoms. Then, I made two vertical seams to create dividers in the pockets.

I folded the interior fabric, right sides together ("hamburger way"), and sewed along each side (leaving the top open and the bottom unsewn). After trimming the fabric, I mitered the corners so that the bag would stand flat (see below) - then trimmed the corners, too.

After flipping it inside out, this is how it looked below. (this will eventually be the interior of the bag). Next I folded the exterior fabric together (right sides facing each other) like I did with the interior, and sewed up the sides, trimming the seams.

I mitered the corners on the exterior fabric as well. Once done, I put the bag together - with right sides facing each other (below). I really pressed it together, to make sure that the bags were as closely fitted as possible before I stitched around the top. Initially, I was really struggling to figure out how to assemble the bag so that there wouldn't be any exposed seams inside the bag. This blog entry really helped me figure it out.
I pinned a 2" gap in the top edges and sewed around the top (trying to match the line where I had previously sewn the batting to the interior (see teal line in above photo). I left the 2" gap at the side seam - had I thought about it, I wouldn't have done it that way, as the seam is weaker so it split a little and needed some triage later.

Anyway, after sewing around the top, I pulled both bags through the hole and then pushed the interior bag into the exterior (see below).

To do the drawstring, I went back to one of the side seams and using a seam ripper I opened a 1/2" gap, 1" from the top of the bag (I chose an inside seam because it looked cuter to have the drawstring on the inside). After marking the top and bottom of the gap, I sewed around the outside of the bag, one row at the bottom mark, one at the top. (Sewing the rows around works as a "stop" so that the side seam won't unravel further) Then, after putting a safety pin in the cord, I pulled it through the drawstring channel and VOILA! See below!

The finished project below. Later I realized that I could put my Nano in one of the pockets and put the camera into the body of the bag. Because its padded, I worry less about dropping it, and seriously, its as cute as a button.

If you were going to make one for yourself, you should make sure that if you have a larger Ipod (i.e. Ipod touch or regular Ipod) that you add vertical inches to the pattern. Additionally, put the Ipod into the bag before you measure and sew the drawstring channel so that you can make sure its above the height of your ipod.

Finally, I liked the drawstring tutorial blog so much that I modified my pattern for one prototype and included a small oval bottom. I decided that ultimately, it was too much work for the small nature of the bag - the oval was like 3" across and so it was really hard to measure the right amount of fabric and to sew it onto the oval. But I think that her pattern is a pretty great one and I could see myself using it for a variety of other little purposes.

Crafting and Prayer

In February my friends, John and Karen, had their fifth baby, a little girl named Brooklin Dorothy. Brookie has a strong will and knows what she wants - and she has a smile that will make you want to give her anything. Well, for a long time she was not gaining weight as she should, her eating was not great, and she wasn't sleeping well. There were even a few crises in the first number of months. The Lord has continued to be faithful and give the family help and peace, and actually, when I was in Texas, Brooklin was doing a little better. She is so small that we call her "Pixie" - because she just looks like a little fairy or pixie, with her tininess and her full head of dark hair that sort of frames her face and ears. Here is a picture from when she was about 5 months old.

I recently picked up some gifts for the oldest 4 of the Ferg kids. There wasn't a toy at that store that was appropriate for an infant, so I was just not getting Brook a gift. Until I was at JoAnn's the other day and saw this adorable little quilt project. It had all the fabric and the directions -I just needed to cut, sew, and quilt. AND.... it had pixies on it - for real!! I thought it was the most adorable pattern with really sweet colors (see pixies below).


As I cut the fabric, stitched it together and as I started the quilting, I was thinking about Brooklin and her family. And I found myself praying for her as I sewed. Below is the (almost) finished product.
Its just a really lightweight blanket (no batting in between) that can work as a blankie or whatever. But, I loved that as I worked on it the Lord continued to allow it to be a time of worship and prayer for me. I am hoping that I can continue to do craft- and artwork as gifts to people that I can also use as a prayer tool, and then as a blessing in my giving it to them. I'm again thankful for the Lord's reminder that He is in these moments of creativity and work.

"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." Colossians 3:17

Creativity and Worship

When I was in TX in June, Sarah Martin-Werntz, Sarah Rice (one of Sarah's bridesmaids) and I spent a few hours out at Homestead Heritage. Sarah R and I had conspired to get Sarah away from everything for a little while, to reduce stress and to enjoy each other's company. It was a great time, and if you are in Waco, you should check it out! (see the link for more info)

After eating a delicious lunch, we headed into the store to look around. I had been wanting to start Andi Fergason on a new craft and so was looking for something she and I might enjoy. I found these cute, small cross-stitch projects - and I got her one of a little butterfly. I also saw this great "Names of God" sampler for me to work on.

I have loved doing cross-stitch over the years, but have not done much of it in the last few. What I found in this case was that as I was stitching the different names of God, as I looked at the pattern and changed the colors or little bits of the fonts, etc., I found myself worshipping.

As I stitched "Name Above All Names," I could hear the song "Jesus, Name above all names" running through my head. As I stitched "The Way," I thought about the verses in scripture where Jesus says he is the way, the truth, and the life. It was almost as though each stitch was a prayer.

I was pleased with how it turned out, and I'll look forward to framing it and putting it up somewhere. And I'm excited that I have a TON of embroidery floss left over and can just buy some more aida cloth and make it as a gift.

Ultimately, the project reminded me that the Lord wants to use the works of our hands to bring glory to Him, and that I can worship through art and creativity. I feel a little bit like Eric Liddel who said, "When I run, I feel God's pleasure" - when I do crafts and artwork, I feel God's pleasure.

I'm glad for the reminder. In the next post, you'll see what I did, most recently, with that reminder!

*** Where do you feel God's pleasure in your life? What are your creative pursuits? ****

Crafty Sunday

Hey Everyone,

Sunday was a fantastic day! I loved church - I attended the 9:01 service, worked with Growing Kids, and then the 11 o'clock service. The band had a bluegrass flair today and even played one of my favorite Crowder Band songs: "I Saw the Light." What a great start to the morning!

After church, I headed up to Porter Ranch to the Joann Fabrics Superstore to pick up some crafting supplies for a few things I am in the mood of making. Since school starts one month from today, and since 2 of those four intervening weeks are filled with people visiting, I figured I'd better get some crafting done!

Waaaaaay back in December/January, my parents hosted a Christmas party at their house. Each of the four of us (my parents, brother, and I) all invited guests to attend. I had planned to make these really cute cocktail aprons for us to wear - but since we also planned to make about a million different types of appetizers, I just ran out of time. Well, I pinned the aprons a few weeks ago, and FINALLY yesterday got them all sewed together and I have to be honest...... THEY ARE ADORABLE!! See picture!

I am also working on a gift for my friends' baby, Brooklyn - so no picture yet - its not quite finished. AND working on making some coffee cozies, too. My friend Kristen made one for me for my birthday and I thought it was a really fun gift! So I figured I'd try my hand at making a couple.

Finally (and unrelated to yesterday), I had been working on a cross stitch sampler this summer. I finished it a few weeks ago, but haven't had time to post a picture - one will come soon!