Bookshelf Wall Hanging

I saw this idea on Pinterest quite a while ago, and the project really appealed to me. Combining two of my favorite hobbies - reading and sewing. Count me in! Then, I decided to take it up a nerdy notch and decided to find fabrics that in some way represent my favorite books. So, I spent way too much time in fabric stores and online looking for the perfect fabrics for my books. This was really hard. We have had a ton of snow days in January, so I decided it was time to get it done. The strips for the books had been cut months ago.

I'm really proud of this project for a few reasons:
1. It's something I made just for me, and I really enjoyed every step. Especially choosing the fabrics.
2. It's the most technical project I've ever done, and I think it came out pretty darn good. All those straight lines killed me. Perfect? Not even close. But I'm proud.
3. I took some "me time" to get it done. I didn't worry about cleaning and stuff for a few days, but it was worth it to get my creativity fix.

Can you guess the books? I'll put a picture of the real books at the end of the post. I found the tutorial for the project HERE. I didn't want to do my quilting this way, so I looked on Pinterest again and found an idea HERE.

First attempt at adding the shelf - too thin and crooked.

Found a quicker way to do the quilting via pinterest!

Finished project - It looks more crooked than it really is, I swear!

Finished back - I put a wooden dowel in the pockets to hang it.

The books - in order.

I Spy Quilt

This quilt has been a thorn in my side for about a year. I loved gathering fabrics for it. I loved piecing it together. I loved when the top was done. This was the first quilt I took to a shop to have it quilted. And they MESSED IT UP! I was heartbroken. So much time and money. I thought about ripping it all out and doing it over. I thought about trying to fix it. They did some hand quilting to try to fix the spots. I just didn't know what to do. I was so upset that I didn't care about finishing the quilt. So it sat in the bag, without binding, for a year. I finally decided to bind it, and then decide what to do about the quilting. The binding gave me a hard time, much harder than Susie's quilt from this summer. But I got it done.Emmett knew the blanket was for him, and when I finally pulled it out of the machine he said "It's done, mommy? My blanket?" He was so excited. We took it to his bed and he just started pointing out all the things he saw. I loved watching him get excited.

And then I took it to a friend, and we decided that because of all the fabrics you couldn't notice the mistakes easily. And then the boys played on it and loved it. I realized that I don't need to stress about the imperfections. It's been sitting in the closet when he could have been enjoying it. So I'm calling it done.

Finished Quilt

I've had this quilt ready to bind for over a month. I just haven't had time and I've been really sick. So, yesterday I decided to finish it. I used the binding tutorial  here and it was PERFECT. I finished it in no time and now I have one more thing done for the nursery!

Quilt in progress

Here is the baby quilt so far. I'm probably not going to get around to binding it for a few weeks, and I'm really proud of the progress so I have to share.

Here is the top. I followed the instructions found here:

My friend has a long arm machine and graciously let me come take time on Saturday to quilt it. I was scared to death, because I'm a bit of an OCD perfectionist, and there is very little control of the machine. But we finished it and it turned out FANTASTIC. I stand back and look at it and it's perfect. Now I just have to find time to bind it!

Sewing for Baby Girl

I have been in a sewing frenzy to get things ready for baby girl's nursery. I have gotten so much done, but I haven't completely finished a thing! I have a quilt top done, a valance done but not hung, a changing pad cover 1/2 done, a crib skirt cut and ready to sew, and a bumper pad bought and ready to be altered. I'm also planning a pillow with my fabric scraps, and some decorations to hang in the room. It's all coming together SO well, and I can't wait to get it put together. It's been so much fun to gather ideas, find fabric, and really make this nursery come to life!

Wall Quilt

I've had this done forever, it just needed to get on the wall. I had a space in the kitchen and I just wanted a simple quilt square to hang there. I love the colors, they match the kitchen well!