Wednesday, November 25, 2015

WIP Wednesday - Busy, busy, busy...

It's pretty much always busy around here, but this week, I managed to be busy in the studio! Yay!
First up, a fun little fabric book. Last week, when DT were at the doctor for the dreaded one year vaccinations, GT was entertained for a good 15 minutes by a little fabric book that she hadn't seen before. Clearly, we need more of these! So when one of my Do Bee mates was cleaning out her magazine stash and I spied a pattern for a colour book, I jumped right in.
 I do love digging through my 2½ inch square collection... even if they are a little dated.
I even found these little lovelies.... ugh. Squares from my first quilt, started in the summer of 1998 under the tutelage of Adrienne @ Chezzetcook Modern Quilts.
I got so carried away with making the pages that I didn't take any pictures. They're nine patches of 2½ inch squares. Some are fussy cut for a bit of I Spy fun down the road.

I only stopped to take pics when I had to rip apart a finished page set. I have trouble thinking in 3D and when I sewed it all together, the pages weren't in rainbow order. Unacceptable. And yes, I seam rip with a rotary cutter #quiltylittlesecrets
Then on to the cover... I opted for something totally different than the magazine version. I thought I'd use this handy little ruler.
Turned out that the triangles were too big for my book cover, but the off cuts were pretty much perfect. I love a little quilty serendipity!
They got a good dose of Heat n' Bond and then I appliquéd them in place.

Et voilà... fabric book! It's hard to resist giving it to the kiddos to play with right now. But I'm saving it for Christmas!
I modified the pattern from the magazine a fair bit. Their version was a 16 patch page. I used batting in the pages and fusible interfacing in the cover. Next time, I'd do the opposite!
 
Now that I've got a handle on how to make them, I'm thinking of making a few more. We've got a road trip coming up! 

And since everyone worries that DT is left out of the sewing treats, I whipped up some Big Butt Baby Pants (insert Anja @ Anja Quilts laughing.. she loves the name). Actually, he was low on pants.... that kid just keeps growing! My trusty Wonder Clips came in handy when it was time to hem them.



And here they are in action! The pants that is. DT are always in action. Unless they're asleep.

Though they aren't as cute without the model, these Ocean themed (in cotton) and astronaut (in flannel) pants are pretty damned cute too. The astronauts and stars glow in the dark!





I even managed some time to work on QPP Project #1. Sorry, no pics. Top secret! ☺

I am, of course, linking up with the lovely Lorna @ Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Bee Social, as well as with WIP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced. Hope you got some sewing in this week... I know I feel sew much better when I do!

J

P.S. In case you weren't around yesterday, click on over to read about the new Le Club gift subscriptions from Fridays Off Fabric and enter the giveaway!

14 comments:

  1. I had a big square of that exact blue swirly sparkles and stars fabric. One Christmas I used it as wrapping paper for a gift for a family member. That wrapping "paper" has been bouncing around in the family now for many years. Hooray for recycling!!

    I've seen these fabric books made with zippers or buttons or velcro flaps or little things tucked in pockets on various pages. HOURS of fun. Yours is super cute!

    Last but not least - a little more time consuming but extra cute - try Anna Maria Horner's Quick Change Trousers (from her All Set pattern or her book Handmade Beginnings). I suck at garment sewing but I made some of these for my kids and it wasn't too hard. They always get compliments. Extra tough since they're reversible too. I just worked from a library copy of the book, but now I have All Set because I wanted to make bigger sizes.

    Your awesome sewing has inspired this comment on steroids :)

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  2. LOL Just like Tracy, I have a lot of the blue swirly sparkles and stars fabric. When I saw it I wondered if I had sent you some of it! :) I bought yards and yards of it in college to pin to my white dorm room walls as "wall paper".

    The fabric book looks great, and I would totally have changed it to be in rainbow order, too. Making and waiting to gift can be really hard, but at least it doesn't have to be part of the QPP... yet...

    And those flannel fabrics at the end are so darn cute. I'd love a pair in that glow in the dark astronaut fabric, too!!

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  3. Big Butt Baby Pants!!!! he he he he I love the name and the pants. I love the fabric book. They would make awesome gifts.

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  4. I like the big butts also and the cloth book is great..I think I'll have to figure out how to make one.

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  5. A quilty fabric I spy book...how clever. I think I'll make one or two too but would like to add some crinkliness to some of the pages. Any suggestions what I can use?

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  6. I love this idea for a soft book. Sometimes we over think things. We need to leave more to a child's imagination. This book certainly does that. You and I have things in common like lots of "dated" fabric, & using a rotary cutter as a seam ripper, except mine is very small.

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  7. Those ocean pants are adorable, I would totally wear them if they fit my bottom! Lol. I love the little book, so many fun colors and prints! The cover is an awesome idea for a mini mini! :) I'll have to remember this book idea for the future, such a cute bit of entertainment for little ones.

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  8. That book will be a Christmas hit with DT, I am sure.
    You like to live on the edge – unpicking with a rotary cutter!
    I see two sets of little legs tearing around your house at top speed. I bet they are into everything!

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  9. before I even got to the shout out I recognized that fabric and was grinning. So funny that you still have some of that. The butterfly fabric was my Moms Kimono I made eons ago... The color book is adorable, as are the bums in those pants!

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  10. The book is a good idea. Have you seen the quiet books that some people make? Full of activities for little hands

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  11. The book is a good idea. Have you seen the quiet books that some people make? Full of activities for little hands

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  12. Those books are great and the pants, too. Looks like you have been getting lots of sewing time lately. How wonderful! I am so happy for you!

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  13. The book is a great idea. I need to create one for my little guy for some upcoming travel.

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  14. Today I posted my little cloth book I made after being inspired by your book. I did link to your post. Hope that was ok? http://joysjotsshots.blogspot.com/2015/12/seek-find-or-i-spy-cloth-book.html

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