Monday, March 24, 2014

30 years ago

30 years ago I was 5 years old. I was in half-day kindergarten and making new friends that I would still be friends with today.   My memories aren’t the best but I do remember the sand table and nap mats.  And I think there was a stuffed animal bee that each child was able to take home for a week.  Becky, Jenny, do you remember this?  Someone also got to be the line leader when we went outside the classroom.  Our teacher was Mrs. Plum.  What a great name for a kindergarten teacher.

I heard that 30 years ago on this day The Breakfast Club was serving detention.  I can’t believe that movie took place in 1984.  It was and still is one of my favorite movies.  It’s one of those that I have to stop and watch if I catch it on tv. 

The Breakfast Club–Trailer

I also saw online that Footloose was released 30 years ago as well.  Another great movie that I have to stop and watch.  Kevin Bacon was on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon last Friday and did a little dance before his interview.

Kevin Bacon’s Footloose Entrance

I just checked, and Dirty Dancing came out in 1987, phew!

Saturday, March 15, 2014

Baby Shower Cheater Quilt

I love quilts, but I do not know how to quilt.  I was told it was methodical and fun but that it takes time and patience.  I like my sewing projects to be quick and easy so I was excited when I found a blog for a cheater quilt.  It uses a alternative down comfortable with squares already sewn in and you just sew a smaller square of fabric inside each square.

DSC_0090Picture from blog Cheaty Mc-Cheats-A-Lot

I thought this would be the perfect activity for my sister-in-laws baby shower and would provide her with a unique and personalized gift for the baby.  The first thing I needed to find was the comforter.  I couldn’t find one small enough for a baby crib, so I bought a twin size one and cut it in half and sewed up the cut edge.

cut comforter in half

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This gave me a comforter that had 24 squares which was just about the number of guests we were expecting.  The next thing to do was cut all the squares of fabric that would eventually be sewn onto the comforter.

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I cut the squares about the same size as the comforter squares, then washed and dried the squares (wish I had done that before cutting all the squares), ironed them, and sewed all four sides about a 1/4” to keep them from fraying after they were sewed on.  This took a bit of time but I think it makes it look 100 times better.  This picture above is before washing, drying, ironing, and sewing the sides.

I knew she was having a boy, so I used a gingham blue and green and a polka dot blue and green for the fabric just so it had some design ahead of time.  Next up was taking the comforter and squares to the shower.

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I hung up the comforter on a clothes line with the squares attached with stick pins.  Each guest could take one square and design it using fabric markers and stencils.  The stencils were “boy” themed with trucks, cars, dinosaurs, animals, sports, trains, and robots.

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After guests were done with their square they hung it back up on the comforter.  The fabric markers were great because they dried so quickly.  But one word of advice is that the markers will bleed through the fabric, so you MUST have a backing in place when they are drawing/coloring.  I pre-cut cardboard squares to go under each square when guests were using the markers.

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The last task was sewing on all the squares which was a bit cumbersome.  I sewed each square on one-by-one and the fabric of the comforter was a bit slippery and I had to remove more stitches that I sewed on it seemed.  But in the end it turned out great! 

My sister-in-law gave me her square after the baby was born so she could put in his measurements and name which she kept quiet from everyone. We had two squares without any designs so I kept them in the corners.

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I think it turned out great and is something Mom, Dad, and Baby can treasure for years.