Baby Clothes Quilt Along

Bethany at Vermillion Rules is hosting a new kind of quilt-along: quilts from baby clothes. I've made several basic ones before and am going to participate to possibly learn a new pattern. Here are the ones I've made for friends:

Join me - time to get some quilts made from those sweet baby clothes!

WHOOO are You?

My classroom theme this year is owls. Every year my class t-shirt uses a very studious owl with the phrase "Caution: Curious Minds at Work." Of course, my class had to have their own owl to be our mascot. I think my students have named him "Hooty" which suits me fine. We pass Hooty each morning as we answer our "question of the day." It helps us stay on track and listen to the person who is sharing.

Inspired by PotteryBarn owls in their catalog, I researched free patterns and one night, late at night, I made almost 8 of them - assembly-line style in my dining room. Here are some of my free patterns:

Modern Mind, Vintage Heart

One Red Robin

My Tiny Star

Toad's Treasures

Each owl definitely has their own personality. I made one for a teacher friend for her class and then a few other teachers just HAD to have one for their class. I even sent some to Kate's little kiddos.

I admit, after making 8 of them, I'm a little done with owls for a while. But message me if you simply MUST have them. Each one is different, so you'll have to trust the process.....

Sew-Liberated Jersey Skirt

Jersey skirt
Originally uploaded by sdchimblo

One of my goals this summer was to update my work wardrobe into wearable, but stylish pieces. I teach first grade, which means that my students can be icky at times and in other times, come at me with markers.

This came from Meg McElwee's Sew Liberated book. When this book came in the mail, I immediately chose this project. Knit skirts, or yoga skirts, are super easy to make. Measure your waist, cut the skirt out at a diagonal, sew and you're done.

What makes this skirt go from "drab to fab" is the reverse applique. That takes a bit of a leap of faith for me. i've appliqued, but not like this. In fact, I messed up. Below is what happens when you get in a hurry and don't make sure that your fabric is in the right place BEFORE you sew:

See the holes? Ewww!

So what can you do when there's 2 holes in your skirt? You cover it up with another type of applique! I used heat n'bond lite and then sewed around it to give it a more finished look.

I think it's wearable-to-work..