Look! I Made a Quilt!

At the beginning of the year I had attempted to share the Pinterest Projects I did each month, buuuuut after three months I gave up. So this post is my attempt at getting back to sharing my Pinterest inspired projects, but instead of it being "look what I did each month" since that hasn't happened since March, this is really "look! I did ONE thing in the last five months!"

But I am super proud of this as it was my first quilt and am really sharing to brag because holy crap, quilts are really tedious and take a long time to make! As I made this quilt for my new nephew I couldn't help but be humbled by all the lovely quilts and blankets Cale and Finn have received. They really are a labors of love and while I did love making this, it also makes me appreciate buying things for people too. Because sometimes that's just as special and twenty million times more practical.

When it came to making this quilt I had a few patterns in mind, and knew that my colors would be the colors my sister-in-law decorated the nursery in: mint, gray and white. I ended up going with this pattern and followed the tutorial (as well as the links she shared), only sized mine for a baby whereas she made two twin blankets. My little bitty baby blanket was even smaller than I had intended and I cannot fathom making something bigger.

I first searched for some graph paper to sketch out my design:

And where did I find this paper you didn't ask? Well, we happened to have some left over from the late 90's when my husband saved all these:

 Yes, those are hand made cheat sheets to whatever video game he was playing at the time. Who knew I'd marry such a hunky nerd??

But back to the quilt. My biggest piece of advice is to just buy the pre-cut squares if you are working with something that involves squares/triangles. Since I was going to make a herringbone pattern, it involved cutting out a bunch of half square triangles, but I had to first cut out a bunch of squares from my gray and white fabric that was placed together:

Then I drew a line down the middle, and stitched 1/4 inch on either side to make my square into two triangles (there is a gray piece of fabric under the white):

Then I cut along the line, and folded the triangles over, ironing them in the process to flatten them out, and cut off the little extra ensuring that each gray/white square was the exact same size:

Then I was finally ready to piece together my quilt which just required turning each square in the appropriate direction to make my pattern:

Then came the sewing - first sewing one square to the next until I had a full row done, then doing the same to the next row, and eventually sewing all the rows together:

After each row was sewn together, I ironed them all nice and flat and laid it all out on the batting and the backing of the quilt that all got pinned together:

Then I sewed along each line in the quilt and 1/4 inch above and below - I wanted it to have a "quilted" look without having to do anything other than sew in a straight line because that is challenging enough! After all the quilting was done, I gave up on doing anything fancy for the binding and instead just took the mint backing and folded it over to the front for binding and I like how there's a little bit of color on the front:

There are some definite (and noticeable) mistakes, especially in the binding. But whatever. It's done and I'm pleased with the end result:

And most importantly, I think Wyatt is too:

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March Pinterest Projects

Pretend like I posted this yesterday when it was still March. Only it was Easter and as much as I love Pinterest, well, Jesus wins.

Anyway, here are the few things I've managed to document this month:

Container Vegetable Garden:
I really had several pins that helps me figure out what I wanted to plant and when. I'm a little worried that the size of the containers, but we'll see how it goes. I'd love a great big garden some day in a raised bed, but being in a rented house (that we might want to move from after our year contract is up),  means it's just easiest to do something that's portable. We have red and yellow bell peppers, squash, zucchini (the one thing planted in the ground), cilantro, rosemary, and two kinds of basil. The herbs are already delicious and the veggies have continued to grow well.

Hem Jeans with Original Edging:
This was one of those things I've been putting off doing and then kicked myself when I finally took the TEN MINUTES to do it.

 Shower Cleaner:
 This was kinda a flop for me. See the difference in the before and after? Yeah, neither do I. Several showers and scrubs later and I still don't really notice a difference.

Recap:
January
February

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February Pinterest Projects

Here's the my roll  up of February Pinterest Projects, or at least the ones I remembered to document:

Long Distance Hug Valentines
I thought these were super cute and simple and best of all, I actually got them mailed in time to both sets of Finn's grandparents. We traced Finn's little hands and then cut ribbon the length of his arms.

Roasted Brussels Sprout Side Dish
I pinned this because it looked delicious, but when it came to making it, I actually just winged it and threw in whatever I thought would be good which ended up being the roasted brussels sprouts, a cut up and roasted sweet potato, soy beans, feta cheese, craisins, pecans and and avocado all lightly tossed in balsamic vinegar dressing.

Pretzel Buttons
Mmmm. Who doesn't love a salty and sweet combination. The ones shown were made for Valentine's day, but I actually made these a couple days ago so just used regular M&M colors which may or may not have been left over Halloween candy that's been sitting in our garage (because if it sits in the pantry, I will eat it all. Fact.)

Strawberry Basil Sangria
This is one of those dangerous drinks that is so good, you'll find that you've finished off half a pitched in no time. And by half I mean whole.

I made this sangria when we had friends over for dinner, which was another Pinterest Recipe, Chicken Chimichangas. I didn't take a picture of them, but they were pretty delicious.

That's about if for things that I got directly off Pinterest. I did make a few other recipes that I didn't take pictures of, but here are a few other things I made:

Almond Butter
I copied my friend Brandy on this one and followed her tutorial which is pretty much the following - buy almonds, blend them. You're done.

It tastes great with apples, but for some reason both Miles and I keep expecting it to taste like peanut butter. This is a much healthier alternative though and when I made another batch of the No Bake Energy Bites I made last month and used half almond butter, half peanut butter. I think I'll make this more often, especially when I attempt to go Paleo for a month.

Gender Reveal Cake
This wasn't actually a gender reveal cake as my friends had already learned a couple days before that they were having a boy. But, because I was going to see them a few days after they learned the gender, and because I love cake, I decided to make one for the heck of it. The pennant says "Baby Boy" but if it were to be used as a gender reveal cake it could have said something else like "Boy or Girl?"

Furniture Redo
Diane was my biggest furniture project this month, but the set she came with included a nightstand and a tall dresser. I didn't do anything special to these - just painted them a grey color that came out more light blue looking that I thought it would and I replaced the hardware. I'm sort of meh about how they turned out. They are in our guest room now, but will eventually be the furniture Finn uses when he transitions out of his crib (which isn't anytime soon - the boy can rack out in there, so I'm not messing with it, we've got a good thing going).

I had intended to share the quilt I'm working on for Finn, but the month got away from me before I finished it. Maybe next month. Anyone have any good projects from the month that I can copy?


Recap:
January Pinterest Projects

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January Pinterest Projects

Alrighty, here's the round of up Pinterest inspired creations for the month of January. I've got some good ones brewing for February. Some are even drying in my garage right now awaiting final touches.

No Bake Energy Bites
I made these for Miles to take with him when he left for his most recent training out in California. He forgot them. I was kinda glad. My recommendation is to make a double batch. No joke.

 
Envelope Pillow
I re-covered our four couch pillows somewhat recently. For three of those four pillows, it took me forever to complete them as I made them with a zipper. Then I decided to give this method a shot and it was SO much quicker. The envelope portion is on the back, but you could also put it in the middle of the pillow and sew on buttons or something cute. Never bothering with a zipper again for pillows.

Parmesan Roasted Edamame
Pinned via my friend Ashley - great find Ash. Theses were delicious and Finn loved them too. Whenever he eats something green, I'm a happy mama!

Fleece Blanket
A woman my mom works with who has been a family friend for many years had a grandbaby a few months ago. She went to the University of Iowa like my mom and is a huge Hawkeye fan, so I made a little blanket for her grandson to play on when he visits.. I measured it out and sewed two pieces of fleeces together and then cut the edges. Because I sewed it, there was no need to tie the strands in knots like you see on some fleece blankets as I wanted a smooth edge, not a bumpy one.

Hmmm, four projects really doesn't seem like much considering how many more I've pinned this month, but like I said, I have a few others in the works and many others rattling around in my head. I also pinned one of those "do these before every shower" workouts and have been doing that. But there is no way the girl pictured in that pin got that way from a just little pre-shower workout. Stupid Pinterest and its false advertisement.

Next month: Quilts, Furniture re-do, and Valentine's Day Cuteness!

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