Another Works-in-Progress Day

Well, I feel like I've just been slapped in the face with a big dose of Monday! Hope that you all are definitely not feeling that way. This morning I just walked around my house and snapped a few quick pictures of works-in-progress that I have going on! Don't misunderstand, this is definitely not all of them, but I'm trying to whittle down the projects so I only have a couple going on at a time. (Roll your eyes, I know you want to!) There are just so many things that I want to be able to do and make, that I get distracted. Here, have a laugh at some of the things laying around my house.

This is one of the superhero quilts that I'm making for my nephews, Brycen and Cooper. When we went to SeaWorld with them we had so much fun and I wanted to make them a little something. The LOVE all things superhero, so I grabbed some fabric and whipped up the tops pretty quickly. Then I got the bright idea to embroider the names of each superhero in the quilt borders. Needless to say, that took some time. They are both finished now though, this one is just waiting to be bound. I quilted it last night and need to quilt the second one today. Sorry for the sneaky picture, I want them to be surprised when they see them, so no details!

This is my stash of Once Upon a Time fabric by Alexander Henry. And my stash of fabric to make a cute quilt pattern that I actually bought one time. And then my stash of black & white fabrics for the background of the applique quilt that I designed and really want to make... sometime. Here is the Once Upon a Time fabric, I am in love with it!

 

Okay, next up we have Briar Rose by Heather Ross.

I haven't hoarded enough of this to make anything yet, but last night while I was staying up too late, I used my graph paper and made the quilt that I want to make with this when I have enough. This is a really crummy set of pictures, so I apologize!

 

This is the little stack of 40's reproduction fabrics that I'm also hoarding. I have a plan in mind for these too, just don't have enough colors yet!

 

Imagine this, another stack of fabrics! The top with all the polka dots is for a Happy Birthday tablecloth I want to make sometime, but I'm just not sure what size table I need to make it for because we are debating selling our table and using a different one that will be where we move. Decisions, decisions. The bottom fabric in this bag is being used, it is the grey and aqua that I'm using for my Lucky Stars block of the month club!

 

The top is my postage stamp quilts progress and the bottom is a vintage quilt top from my husband's side of the family. I'm contemplating finishing it and giving it to one of his family members for Christmas this year. We'll see if it really happens!

 

I've posted sneak peeks of this one before, I love love love it! This is my cousin Latha's graduation present. I'm hand quilting it, and it's really big, so it's taking a while, but it is definitely progressing. I keep it by the couch, so when I watch a movie I'm being productive at the same time!

 

This is a hideous picture, but these are the fabrics I'm contemplating for an Amy Butler Weekender Bag, I have everything else cut out, I just can't make up my mind about the way I want to patchwork it.

 

Even under my cutting table there is a little quilt that is needing to be pieced. When I ordered the fabric for Mandy's nautical quilts, I bought extra because I thought it was all so cute. Now I have some of it here and not really sure when I'll get to putting it together!

 

That's a good way to start a Monday, no? With lots of good projects and a whole house to sort through and pack up. I like it! Anyway, I would be showing you some finished projects today, but I have to wait till the baby shower on Saturday is over before I can post them online. So, next week, I should have some good stuff to show you all! Ta ta for now!

~Rachel

 

 

 

 

 

Weekly Wrap & Pinned it Friday- Rachel

This week has been full of catching up from my Tennessee trip! I think that will continue into next week too! My husband's birthday is this month, and tomorrow we are going to San Diego to see the Yankees play. It's like my nightmare, but his dream, so at least one of us will be happy (and it is his birthday after all). So here is the weekly wrap and Pinned it Friday for you all! Enjoy and have a fun weekend!

On Monday I posted about Ethan's Dresser and Tennessee.

On Tuesday, Haley posted an update about how her back yard is progressing. It will be so fun to have that all finished so the kids can play out there!

Wednesday was a day with a cedar chest full of quilts that I got to browse through on my trip.

 

Thurday was Haley with a quilt that she made for Wenday, the designer of our blog, and Haley's good friend. Here is the quilt!



 

Now it's Friday, so here is the weekly haul from Pinterest!
Riley Blake always has cute fabric and patterns, and I saw this little cutie while I was browsing. Check out how to make it on the design blog! Check it out HERE for part one and HERE for part two.

Next up is the cutest kids room decor ever! I love the vintage windows used, as well as the bunting! Look at the emboridery hoops and the pillows too. Forget a kids room, I want it in my room. This is from the blog "the boo and the boy" you can find it here. Be sure to check out all the awesome room ideas that she has posted!

This post is about the top ten tips for packing luggage. I only saw this after I cam home from Tennessee with quite a lot of lotion NOT in it's bottle, but outside. My shaving cream too. That stuff is like gold to me too, so here is a link if you want to use the best shaving cream ever. Haley led to to try it and I'm just saying, you might as well go ahead and buy in bulk. Needless to say, I don't like my products leaking in my bad all over my lovely stack of fresh undies. Who would?! Try this awesome tip and stop wasting gallon bags. With this one, you won't lose product! The tip was from Select Study abroad and can be found here with others!

 

I love this door. I mean, just look at it! It is  #12 on this page. I love fancy doors, they can totally make a room look better and more classy. This one reminds me of a door in the movie Cinderella. I need this one in my dream home one day. This can be the back door and I want a circular hobbit door in the front. Seems legit, right? See more cool doors.

 

Lastly, I want to share this lovely reclaimed wood sign. My husband and I were married in the Mesa temple, not the Salt Lake, but I love this all the same. I think I may eventually make one of these with the San Diego temple because we go there a lot. And I'm so glad that I get to be with my best friend to infinity and beyond! Check out the Boone Creek Loft Etsy shop here.

 

That's it, hope your weekend is happier than the Yankees baseball game is going to be!

~Rachel

Weekly Wrap and Pinned it Friday by Rachel

Hello everyone! It's Friday so I get to show you our weekly wrap up and the best pins of the week! I'm enjoying my trip to Tennessee and i hope you have all been having fun too! Here is what we did this week:

Patriotic Wall Quilt

Beatrice Makeover

Favorites By Rachel

Favorites By Haley

Now for the pins!
I love this star by Rita at Red Pepper Quilts! She always has amazing things going on over there and is one of my favorite quilty bloggers! Go see her work and check our her Etsy shop, she is really amazing!

Vintage Star Block

 

Next, we have this awesome car kit that would be handy whenever you really need a kleenex but don't want to carry around those and everything else in your purse. If you keep them in your car, you'll always have them when you need! What a handy idea! Go see it and many other ideas at Pink Polka Dot Creations. There are so many ideas, crafts, and tutorials!

Handy Car Kit

 

This idea is such a classy way to hide your ugly router or cable box! When I move, there may be one of these in my near future. Sewing Barefoot is the blog, click the link to find other DIY, sewing, and recipes!

Classy Router Box

 

Dwellings by Devore is a blog that has been mentioned here several times in our blog. She always makes things and places beautifyl, you MUST go take a look around there! This is just another example of the lovelyness that happens over there. I'm a sucker for a good monogram too...

Monogramed Pillows

 

Lastly, we have just an image that I can't find where I should link it back to! It really is too pretty not to share, check out that nail head upholstry job! Don't you just love how light and airy this room is?! I know I do. Here it is, the last pin of the week.

See you next week!
~Rachel

Red, White, & Blue

Since I am posting today instead of on the actual 4th, Happy 4th of July from me! I hope you all have a great time with your cookouts and fireworks and all of that goodness! I know that I am definitely thankful for our freedoms and love our country. While I feel blessed to live in this country, I feel that our freedom is starting to mean less to us because we have never had to fight hard for it. This of course doesn't mean that none of us/you have. Both of my grandfathers served in the armed forces, and I have a brother who is currently a Marine. I'm grateful that there are people willing and able to fight for our rights. I won't use this blog as a political platform or a soap box, so that's that!

These past couple of days, I've still been working on the nautical quilts. Nearly there now, the first one is bound, tagged, and washed... Now just for the second one! I started quilting it this evening and should have it finished sometime tomorrow after I come home from the bakery. Then I need to figure out what I'm going to bind that one with. So for today's posts, I found little bits of red, white, and blue in my house to share with you. I'm definitely no decorator, but I'll share my mantle too. I hope you all enjoy!

A scrappy banner of my extra red, white and blues!

 

I think one day I'll learn how to decorate properly, but for now, this will have to do!

 

This quilt just happens to be the festive 4th of July colors! Hand quilted for my cousin.

 

Making tags for quilts for my Etsy shop and checking out the coupons at JoAnn Fabrics!

 

Extra pile of fabric. I wanted to make a scrappy flag wall hanging, but I ran out of time. Maybe one day? Hopefully!

 

Well, have a fun time tomorrow, and light a sparkler for me!

~Rachel

 

Homemade Soaps and Such!

A couple of weeks ago, I had the chance to go over to my friend's house and see how she works her soapy magic! I have known for a while that she makes lotions, body butter, lip gloss, roll-on perfume, massage candles, bath bombs, and my favorite, soaps! (Important note: all of the ingredients in these products are natural, like, ya know, no sulfates and all that garbage!) Britt's craftiness does not stop there, she can do glass mosaics and refinish furniture too. She is also talented at finding cute ways to package her products! The most amazing part is that she does all this while being an amazingly patient stay at home mom to two very energetic and cute little girls. I knew I had to share some of the awesomeness with you all, so go check out Britt's blog- Dewey's Bath & Beauty Products.

 

We made candles that day, and by "we," I mean that I watched and stirred some wax, all while sniffing copious amounts of scented oils! There were so many that were great, and so many that were weird, but smelled good when you mixed them with other things. I learned about notes... top, middle, and base. These are the way the fragrances work together and how you smell them! Here are the cute Mason jars that we used for the candles. We packaged them by stamping letters on circles of chalkboard contact paper and then sticking that on the lids. Later they will get a charm tied on with jute string.

 

Read more about the candles here!

 

Next topic, lip gloss/balm. These have a nice consistency, smell great, taste pretty good, and moisturize your lips. I have one sitting on my kitchen counter that I have been loving to use while I'm downstairs. I love how Britt saves bottle caps  to fill and uses them around her own home and for testers. Perfect way to reuse, yes?!

 

Read more about lip balm here!

 

 

Last, but not least, there was soap. Oh, I can't even tell you how gorgeous this soap is. Like...

I washed forty-two(ish) times with it during one shower!

I'm partial to the lemongrass so far, but it's the only one I've used. My husband even approves, and that is saying something if we are talking "scents."

Read more about the soaps here.

 

Look how lovely! See the lemongrass pressed into the bottom of the bar?!

 

 

Chunks of rose, so nice!

 

I need to try this one, I'm thinking I love it already!

 

This is a good exfoliating "man soap," but I love exfoliation, so this one is definitely on my list too!

 

 

We used a Crock Pot, a blender stick, and a cool wooden mold lined with wax paper to make a new batch of soap.

 

Isn't this cool!? Contact Brit via her blog info if you want to know more! She is very friendly and makes awesome products! So, after my fun day with her, look at the awesomeness that I brought home! Definitely got more out of that day than I put into it, but it was so fun. Thanks again, Britt!

~Rachel

 

Summery Table Runner

It's summer in Yuma! What better way to get you table ready for summer foods (like watermelon!!!) than a new table runner?! This one is a simple one, made out of 3/4 yard of fabric and sewn together with no measuring and no pinning. Gasp! Don't tell my mother ;)

Anyway, look at the wee little ants! Don't they just remind you of a little picnic around the 4th of July? Not in Arizona maybe because its way too hot for that nonsense, but in other places maybe, like Tennessee, where I will be in July, woohoo! A while ago I got a Janome Quilters Edition that has several cute stitches that I haven't gotten to use yet, so I seized the opportunity to try the heavy border of Xs on this one. I love how simple little designs can make things look so much better!

 

Now the only problem is that I need to find some good ideas to decorate my table! This just isn't cutting it for me right now!

 

Since we are on the subject, I've decided to find a few little things to share with you guys to make your 4th parties a little more festive! I hope you go check out these and find something that you like.
~Rachel

Oh Sew Crafty Life has a post showing ten different 4th of July desserts!

 

Red Bird Banners has a picnic garland/banner that is so cute!

 

A to Zebra Celebrations shares some 4th of July party ideas. Even one for when you are on a tighter budget!

 

Want more 4th ideas? Here is a pinterest board with some cute ideas!

 

 

 

Minecraft Steve Quilt

This is the quilt I've been giving sneak peeks of! A few months ago, my husband and I went out with another couple to eat sushi, and of course, we talked about our jobs and what we like to do. My friend asked if I'd be willing to make a quilt for her 10 year-old son. Of course, I said I'd be happy to, and we worked out all the details later. This is another commissioned quilt and it came with a small TNT pillow, a regular sham, and she eventually wants curtains. Now, I had NO idea what Minecraft was, so I had to do some Googling to figure out what to do. She sent some pictures and I knew the basics of what she wanted!
From what I could tell, Minecraft is super pixely and I wanted "Steve" to look that way on the quilt. I got out my graph paper, did some math, and figured out my measurements. The fun part was coloring in the hundreds of squares (seriously, I like to color)! The hard part was how long it took to make, I like to just go and go until a project is finished, but this one took a while because I couldn't take a lot of shortcuts because of my color placement. The background was simple and fast though. The little TNT pillow was fun to do, I cut the letters out with my Silhouette and stitched it all up. The blue cloud sham was made with leftover squares from Steve's shirt. All-in-all, a totally different project than I ever thought I'd do!
So, go search Minecraft if you don't know what it is, and then you can tell me if I captured the pixelated and squarish look I was going for. I tried to quilt this one by myself, but I had to rip out stitches, and I HATE ripping stitches out of quilts, especially when the thread is CLEAR. So, I called up my quilter lady and she happily did it for the standard rate. I'll be happy when I don't have to pay for quilting anymore! She did a fabulous job and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out. Even if it is some computer game that I'd never heard of :) I really just hope they enjoy it because that's what it's all about! Want to learn more about what it is? Go here! Anyway, I had to wait to post it, because she just came and picked it up and I thought she should see it before I plastered it all over the blog. Don't forget to contact me at littlebitsofeverythingqce@gmail.com if you'd like a quilt of your own!
~Rachel

I tried to quilt it on my sewing machine. It took two hours (watching Tomb Raider) to pin the whole thing. Eventually it didn't work out though, like I mentioned above...

 

 

 

 

Pixel clouds!

 

Hope he enjoys this one!