Makings by Melody

Baby Gift for Sophia

2012-02-13T18:42:00.000-08:00

In January, my sister-in-law gave birth to my first niece Sophia. I made a play mat for her. I got the idea from Moda Bake Shop. I've never made anything with a Cathedral Window before & this technically isn't how you make a cathedral window, it was a great learning experience for me. I used Bliss (at least I think I did) by Bonnie & Camille for Moda. It's not perfect, but it was a lot easier than I thought it would be.

I think it turned out okay. I hope she likes it.

New Zealand Christmas gifts

2012-02-13T18:30:00.000-08:00

For Christmas, I wanted to come up with something for the Mackereth girls. For Tyler Rose I made a scarf with different textures (that I somehow forgot to take a picture of). For Mackenzie and Keanna I made Drawing books. I used a tutorial from Two Crafty Critters.

For Andrea I made a Christmas table runner from a tutorial at Diary of a Quilter. It was perfect for the Christmas fabric I had.

I really enjoyed making the gifts!

Baby Quilt for MKE

2012-01-29T20:38:00.000-08:00

Earlier this year, I found out that my friend from elementary school, Tracie Moore (now Egelston) was having a baby girl. I needed a distraction from serious things going on in my family, so I decided I'd make her baby quilt. I asked her what colors, etc. She said her husband picked out a pink cowgirl theme. I spent the rest of my summer in Utah trying to find fabric I thought would work. I combined fabric from lots of lines and from my stash. Once I got back to Washington, I got to work. I decided on a disappearing nine-patch. The top came together easily. Then I decided to hand quilt it instead of machine quilting or tying it. I had a brilliant idea to add "brands" to the quilt and special touches. It took two months to quilt it (mostly because I had just started the school year). I loved how it turned out. It arrived just a day or two after Tracie's daughter was born.

finished quilt at my house

If you turn this image counterclockwise you will see Tracie & her Husband's first initials put together like a brand in the quilting

Last initial

turn clockwise and it's big brother's initial

Baby's initials

I used an awesome pink and brown plaid on the back

MKE & her quilt

MKE

Coloring Bags for my younger nephews

2012-01-29T19:55:00.000-08:00

This year I decided to make coloring bags for my younger three nephews. Sawyer got a sophisticated one for his birthday, but these boys needed big crayons, washable crayons - so I adapted a pattern I made a long time ago for Holly's girls. I bought the pattern in a quilt store in La Habra?, but I've seen the pattern other places. Here's how they turned out:

Scarf

2012-01-29T19:38:00.000-08:00

I was trying to come up with something for my friend Holly for Christmas. She mailed her Christmas present to me early, because she was having a baby sometime before Christmas. She didn't want to take her baby out in the cold. That got me thinking of maybe a scarf that would be soft enough to help keep her baby warm, if she was holding her and the blanket slipped, etc. I also had these mini charm squares from Moda when I made star squares for a veteran's quilt project. The squares came from the Buttercup line by Fig Tree for Moda. I bought some soft light blue flannel to make the inside of the scarf and sewed the squares in rows of three and then all together. Then I sewed the squares to the blue flannel, trimmed, turned right side out and stitched all the way around to close the seam. It's probably a little long for a scarf, but it's a bright scarf and would definitely bring a little sunshine on a dreary day. Holly & I were obviously on the same wave length because she sent me a beautiful, ruffly scarf for Christmas:

I wore it to visit Temple Square. That's me and my nephew Sawyer in front of the Maori nativity & I'm wearing the scarf Holly sent me for Christmas.

12 Days of Christmas Tea Towels

2011-12-27T20:06:00.000-08:00

A while back I bought a Pattern from Crabapple Hill. I really like many of their embroidery patterns. It's taken several years, but I finally got all of my tea towels ready and took them all with me to Utah this summer. While my Dad was getting his infusions at the Huntsman Cancer Institute, I sat next to him and stitched. When we watched Midsomer Murders, I stitched. I got them all finished (yes - all 12). When I arrived back in Washington, I made the scalloped borders (lets just say I'm not good at scallops). I decided to send them to my friend Anne for Christmas. She has an antique wash stand - I thought they would be a great thing to hang on the stand. I hope she liked them.

Simply Silly Quilt

2011-09-18T12:55:00.000-07:00

Last summer I saw this quilt on Moda Bake Shop:

Towards the end of the summer I found a kit for this quilt at Keepsake Cottage Fabrics in Bothel, Washington. I finally put it together this summer while at my parents' house. It is now hanging on the wall behind my desk at work:

It used Sweetwater's Make Life & I quilted it with my sewing maching.

Scripture Cover

2011-09-18T12:47:00.000-07:00

I don't have any kind of scripture cover or storage system. I don't remember which blog I read but it led me to BabyBlvd's Etsy site. I purchased her LDS quad scripture cover pattern at the beginning of the year, purchased fabric the first week I was in Utah, and finally made it when I returned to Washington at the end of August. I made it two floors below where my scriptures are & was too lazy to go get them, so the fit isn't exactly perfect, but I like it. The pictures aren't the best:

T-Shirts for Crew & Daniel

2011-07-17T14:53:00.000-07:00

My nephews Crew & Daniel have birthdays almost two months apart. Crew's nickname at home is Crew Bug. Earlier this year he would only answer to Crewbug - not Crew bug Smith, Crew, or bug - only Crewbug - one name only So I decided I'd make him a t-shirt to reflect his one name status:

Danny's obsession is trains - mostly Thomas the Tank Engine, but any train works, so of course I needed to make him a shirt with a train on it. Here he is modeling it:

Headbands

2011-07-17T14:39:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago I bought a couple of patterns from Babyblvd on Etsy. One of them was for reversible headbands. I decided to make a few for Lisa Fuller for her birthday and then some for Dallis for her high school graduation. This is how Lisa's turned out:

Man bibs

2011-06-20T12:39:00.000-07:00

Since Dad's surgery he's had a hard time making sure all the food gets into his mouth and not all over him. I decided to make some Man Bibs - manly bibs he could wear. I picked out some manly fabrics - like spiders and used the top of an apron pattern to shape Man bibs. It was fun to figure out a way to help dad, but have him feel manly.

Julie's Quilt

2011-02-13T11:48:00.000-08:00

When I worked in Northern California I loved to hang out with and help the office ladies! Very few mornings went by when I wouldn't stop in and say Hi to Julie Bingham the attendance clerk. When I left for Southern California Julie & I kept in touch. It was also around that time that her husband was diagnosed again with cancer. For about three years they battled the cancer together. Around the first week of April in 2008 Julie's husband lost his battle with cancer. I knew that the time was coming and had already begun working on a quilt to send her regardless of what happened. This is what I sent her:

The pattern is from the same book as my Jingle all the Way quilt - 11 Laps from Fats.

One of the things I did was go back through Julie's posts on their CaringBridge site and pulled out some of the scriptures that gave her strength thoughout her husband's battle with cancer. Then I embroidered them around the outside of the quilt.

She loved it and I loved making it!

table runner

2011-02-01T18:19:00.000-08:00

I thought I had blogged about a quilt I made for my friend Julie after her husband died, but I guess I haven't yet. I'll do that soon. Anyways - I mention that quilt because I made this table runner from the leftovers of her quilt. I had a lot of tiny triangles that I sewed into tiny squares. Then I made pinwheels and took what I had and made up a table runner. I used the left over binding from the big quilt I made to bind this one. It's very springy!

12 Days of Christmas

2010-12-31T19:35:00.000-08:00

Two years ago I saw a beautiful Christmas wall hanging (that looked way better than the one above) in a magazine in 2008. It was called 12 Days of Christmas and was created by Anni Downs from Hatched and Patched in Australia. I decided I would attempt to make it. I completed most of it by Christmas 2009, but never quite completed it. I decided I had to finish it by this Christmas, and so I did. I didn't get the placement quite right, but it is finished and it hung on my wall for Christmas this year. I really like Anni Downs' patterns!

Thanksgiving Table Top

2010-11-16T18:51:00.000-08:00

Last year Mom & I saw a Thanksgiving Table top at a quilt shop in Utah. The pattern is by Ashby's attic. She's created a whole series of these table tops & a whole bunch more! I've bought several patterns at PineNeedles I found the pattern and finally got around to making it and quilting it myself. Here it is:

I like it and can't wait to finish my Christmas one! Then winter, Then Spring and then I'll need to get the other patterns!

Thanksgiving Countdown

2010-11-16T18:43:00.000-08:00

Last year I saw a post on Moda Bake Shop for a 12 Days of Thanksgiving Advent Calendar designed by Melissa Mortensen . I totally wanted to make one, but couldn't find any Thanksgiving/Fall fabric left. Earlier this year I found some from last year's collection at a quilt shop and scooped it up & here's what I made:

It probably doesn't look the best on this wall because the wall color is similar to the background fabric. I finished it on the 1st day of the 12 days of Thanksgiving - but I didn't put anything in the pockets. I really want to think about it and make it meaningful - so now I'll have a whole year to prepare!

I've been working

2010-11-07T16:09:00.000-08:00

I've been working on things, but I haven't been taking pictures. I made a few more of those pool bags, and making some headway on some block of the month stuff. Right now I'm working on a thanksgiving thing and I will be taking pictures of that when I finish.

Flag Table Runner

2010-07-07T15:41:00.000-07:00

This is the same runner I made for Anne's Mom last year, but with the fabric left over from the Emily's Garden quilt I made a couple of weeks ago. The quilting didn't go that well, but as long as I don't look too closely I like my table runner.

Flag Shirts

2010-07-03T07:00:00.000-07:00

This is what Amy & I are wearing for Independence Day. We couldn't find any shirts we liked, so I made our own.

Daisy Charm

2010-07-02T16:53:00.000-07:00

Last summer on my way through Boise, I stopped at the Quilt Crossing. Mom & I found the Quilt Crossing when we were in McCall and wanted to explore quilt stores in the greater Boise area. They had a kit for this quilt

The pattern is called Daisy Charm by Waltzing with Bears.

I quilted it with my sewing maching. My favorite part - daisies!

Amy's Market Tote

2010-07-02T16:46:00.000-07:00

I made several "tote/ shopping bags" for my sister in laws two years ago. Amy saw them and wanted one. Slacker that I am, I didn't get to it until today. Here you go Amy!

Flag Pillow

2010-07-02T16:44:00.000-07:00

I had a really long pillow form, that I've never used and some honeybun strips from last summer. This is what I did with those two items:

What I've been doing

2010-06-21T19:23:00.000-07:00

This is what I did today:

It's covering a big pile of stuff from work that I have to move myself. The pattern is Emily's Garden In Blossom by Cotton Way, made from Minick & Simpson's Flag Day Farm fabric.

I'm toying with the idea of quilting it myself. Probably madness, but maybe - I've got all summer.

Gift for Anne

2010-05-30T16:35:00.000-07:00

I made this cell phone/iPod case and key ring holder for Anne for her birthday. I don't know what the fabric is but I really like the red. The pattern for the cell phone case is from Moda Bake Shop . I can't remember where I got the pattern for the key ring from, but I know it was one of the craft blogs I read. I also made one for my Mom for her birthday with different fabric.

Floral Tradition Quilt Kit

2010-05-23T10:22:00.000-07:00

Last year I bought a Quilt Kit from Fat Quarter Shop. The kit contained a Layer Cake and a Jelly Roll with Moda's Howard Marcus Collection Tradition and the Pattern Sugar Free by Threaded Pear Studio. Here's how it turned out:

Laura's Quilt

2010-05-15T19:21:00.000-07:00

One of my friends from work, Laura, got married last summer. She married a youth pastor and they are a cute and funky couple. I bought a bunch of black and white fabrics from The Quilt Crossing in Boise Idaho, when I passed through this summer. I decided to use these fabrics to make a quilt. The pattern is Ciopinno by Quilt Soup. I was finally able to hand it over to her in March.

Pool (Beach) Bags

2010-05-15T19:12:00.000-07:00

The summer is almost upon us and I have three girls I need to make birthday gifts for - Holly's two oldest girls and Anne's Emma. I thought I'd send their gifts a little early so they can use it during the summer. The pattern came from Moda Bake Shop .

For Hudson

2010-05-15T19:04:00.000-07:00

I have a new nephew - Hudson. I made these as a gift for him:

Applique Onesies

2009-12-22T16:52:00.000-08:00

I made these appliqued onesies for Holly's youngest for Christmas. I saw a few tie ones on etsy and thought that would be fun to make and dress up those onesies a little. I searched and found directions on how to do make them on the blog: Crap I've Made . She has tutorials on lots of things, and she had a template for tie and octopus. The other images I just printed out clip art and traced them on the Wonder-Under. The edges are intended to fray a bit, but since kids grow fast, I think it will be fine.

Cd Player Bags

2009-12-03T20:56:00.000-08:00

Shh! These are Christmas Presents for Holly's oldest three. She is getting them CD players so she can have some peace in the car. I was tasked to make bags to carry them in. The have velcro along the top and the handle crosses over the bag - attaching at the opposite end from each other. I used the knowledge I gained from making other bags to create these. I even made a practice one first.

Holly's Hanging

2009-11-28T10:58:00.000-08:00

The summer I moved to Washington - 2007. I stopped at Holly's house in Boise on my way to and back from Utah. She has recently moved to her house and was working on decorating her office. I volunteered to make a quilt wall hanging for her office. I used the Picket fence pattern and scaled it down to fit the wall.

Last Weekend's Bags

2009-10-16T19:10:00.000-07:00

The only projects I got done last weekend was creating two bags. the first was a little bag for my friend Holly's youngest Avery. Her birthday is in October and I didn't have any great ideas so I decided to make her a little purse. It's probably a big purse to her, but I think it can hold a lot of great things - I think her favorite dolly will fit in it too!. I used charm Squares and just sewed them together for the outside and handles. Then made a lining out of a coordinating fat quarter.

I also made a bag for Megan Watson, the long-term substitute that is teaching the English class next door. We share students. She also did her student teaching with my students last year. She's been a trooper trying to plan lessons, learn how to be a teacher, and handle all the issues our students seem to have. I chose some fabric with words on it - Authentic by Sweetwater for Moda - to bring in that English teacher thing. I took a pattern from Moda Bake Shop by Nicole from OurCozyNest.blogspot.com and changed it a bit for Megan's bag. I really like it and I hope she will too!

Anne's Queen Size Quilt

2009-10-14T19:03:00.001-07:00

Last winter my mother had a magazine with this quilt on the cover. The quilt is called Frosted Windowpanes. What I liked about it was the fabric from the Coverlet collection and it was Red & white which is a favorite combination of my friend Anne Nicole. I sent her a picture to see if she liked it and offered to make it for her. She did and I made it for her birthday and Christmas. I finished piecing the quilt on Anne's Birthday. I showed it to her when I was in Dillon this summer, left it with mom to be
quilted, brought it home on the plane at Lincoln's baptism, and finished it the binding while watching NASCAR races and movies. I finally got it off this week - about halfway between her birthday and Christmas! It's a queen size quilt and I hope she loves it!

Underground Railroad

2009-09-23T20:42:00.000-07:00

Mom decided to clean out her stash and give away some quilts she didn't really want to finish. She had started this quilt and had two squares done. I took on the challenge of completing this quilt. Mom sent the fabric and the book and off I went. I like the way the quilt turned out and I enjoyed making the different blocks.

Jingle All the Way

2009-09-23T20:28:00.000-07:00

This is a quilt I made in the Fall of 2007 in my first quilt class ever. I took the class at my favorite quilt store in Southern California, Cotton and Chocolate. The sample quilt was beautiful. My classes were during the big fires that surrounded Santa Clarita (and we got three days off school for). The quilt is from the book 11 Laps from Fats and is called Jingle all the Way. I used fabric from the In the Pink line by Buggy Barn. I enjoyed the three other women in the class and my instructor and I really like the quilt.

Anne Nicole's Civil War Blocks

2009-09-22T18:29:00.000-07:00

For the Christmas of 2007 I made my friend Anne Nicole a small quilt to hang in her house in Savannah. She has an old fashioned wash stand and I wanted to make a quilt she could hang there or anywhere else in her house that she wanted. I called her oldest and had her measure so I could make something that would fit. I also wanted to learn how to paper piece, so I decided I'd make her some Civil War blocks from the Civil War Diary book. It's an appropriate choice since she immersered herself in the Civil War when she moved to the South. I like a lot of the blocks and most turned out pretty well. I sashed them with a tea dyed/stained muslin and a blue border and backing.

Courthouse Steps with Terri Nussbaum

2009-09-22T17:54:00.000-07:00

Earlier this year I took a class at my favorite quilt store here in Washington - Carriage Country Quilts in Des Moines, WA. The class was a courthouse steps quilt and it was taught by Terri Nussbaum, the author of Quick-Change Quilts. I used my stash of Civil War and other reproduction fabrics in hopes of taming the huge pile. I had to be really careful and plan out the quilt so that all the blocks would match up with the right block. The quilter did an amazing job quilting it. I wasn't sure I'd love the blocks this way but I really love this quilt and I can't wait for it to get cold so I can use it!!!!

Roger & Andrea's Quilt

2009-08-23T13:58:00.000-07:00

This is the quilt I made for my friend Roger & his wife Andrea. They live in New Zealand. I met Roger working at the Oak Glen Outdoor school when I had to take a semester off from BYU. We've kept in touch all these years and I even met Andrea when they came over for a vacation before they were married (or even engaged I think). I was emailing Roger about their new house they were building and I decided to make a quilt for their new place.

After visiting my favorite quilt store Cotton & Chocolate in Thousand Oaks, CA I knew which quilt I was going to make. The pattern is called Strips 'n Bits by Bloom Creek. The fabric is from the Shangri-la by Three Sisters for Moda. I thought it provided the perfect earthy colors & nature motifs I wanted in the quilt. My only request to the quilter was if a fern could be embroidered in the center of each block. I had a couple of examples of New Zealand ferns. My mom said the quilter's son recognized the fern patterns because he's into rugby.

The quilt turned out beautifully. I was so happy with it and very excited to send it off to New Zealand.

Daughter of the Union - Flag Cradle Quilt

2009-08-17T16:54:00.000-07:00

This quilt is from a pattern and kit I bought at a quilt store in Georgia the second time I visited the Fullers when they lived in Swuanee. Before that trip I had my mom teach me how to piece by hand since at the time Anne didn't have a sewing machine, but wanted to learn how to quilt. We went to the quilt store (I think it was Stitch n'Quilt in Lawrenceville) to pick out some fabric for her project and I picked up this kit. The pattern in the kit was designed by Barbara Brackman and it's titled Daugher of the Union. It has directions for three Union Flag quilts. I chose to make a smaller version of the flag Cradle Quilt. I pieced and quilted it by hand. I probably finished it in either 2005 or 2006. It hung on my classroom wall in Santa Clarita when I was teaching U.S. History.

Quilts for Roger and Andrea's Girls

2009-08-17T16:18:00.000-07:00

After my first year back in Southern California I was sewing up a storm and needed some projects. I spent a lot of money that summer on quilt stuff while visiting my parents in Utah. They had just had their shop hop and I decided to make a bunch of quilts and they had lots of great kits! But who to make them for? Making quilts for my relatives would be weird since my mom makes quilts for them. I had already made gifts for my best two friend's children. I was corresponding with my friend Roger in New Zealand about the new house they were building and decided I'd make quilts for the family. Roger & Andrea's quilt will get a separate post, but they have three girls and so I made three quilts. I've never met their girls, but I always get photos at Christmas, plus the year before I had gotten yummy gifts from New Zealand for Christmas with my card. I didn't really know much about their personalities except Tyler Rose liked horses and Kenna was into Bananas in Pajamas and none of those things made it into the quilts. I had to work quickly since they would need to be quilted and mailed at least a month before Christmas. Somehow I did it. I don't know who got which quilt. Here are the three girls in 2009:

Tyler Rose, Keanna, Mckenzie

Here are the three quilts:

This quilt is the pattern Remember when by Itty Bits & Pieces. I bought this kit at Elaine's in Utah. I can't remember what fabric collection most of the fabric was from, and I was skeptical about it when I took it out of the kit, but the background quieted down some of the crazier prints.

I also bought the kit for this quilt from Elaine's. the pattern is Dots and Daisies by Piece by Design. The fabric came from several collections.

this quilt was made from my stash. I had some charm squares and other fabrics that went with each other so I ended up with a sort of windmill pattern sewing two charm squares to a larger rectangle and then rotating the blocks.

Roger said that the quilts matched the girls perfectly. I hope and those few cold New Zealand nights they help keep them warm or have picnics on those sunny days!

Picket Fence

2009-08-17T16:09:00.000-07:00

This quilt I finished recently. I bought a jelly roll of Daydreams by Deb Strain for Moda a summer or two ago. I haven't done anything with them until I finished a quilt for my friend Holly's office and decided to try the same pattern with the jelly roll. The pattern is called Picket Fence by Stitch Studios. I worked on the blocks during the winter and early spring. I finished the top at our family reunion in April and sent it home with my mom to be quilted. I brought it back home two weeks ago and finished the binding. Here it is:

You'll notice that the quilter put in some butterflies and dragonflies in the quilting.

Quilt for Avery Virginia

2009-08-09T21:21:00.000-07:00

Avery is Holly's daughter. I made a really easy blanket for each of Holly's girls when they were born, but I didn't do one for Avery - so I made one a little later for her.

The fabrics are In the Pink by Buggy Barn and the pattern is one of the Turning Twenty Patterns. I ended up making a different quilt from the same fabric because I liked this quilt so much. If I'm correct I had this finished and quilted in the Fall of 2007.

Holly's Lap Quilt

2009-08-08T19:43:00.000-07:00

This is a quilt I made for my friend Holly for Christmas 2007. She was using a lot of blues in her family room and so I made a quilt to match. This quilt is from one of those what to do with a nine patch - sew it and then cut it into four - rotate and sew together in rows. I believe the fabric is the Chocolat line by 3 Sisters for Moda. Holly is still using the quilt in her family room at her new house! I love it more every time I visit and see it.

Charming Log Cabin

2009-07-09T14:22:00.000-07:00

This quilt is from a pattern by Threaded Pear Studio called Charming Log Cabin. It's basically a very large Log Cabin block. I bought this as a kit at the Fabric Center in West Jordan, UT in the summer of 2007. The fabrics are from the Coverlet Collection by Mary Koval. I finished the quilt before moving to Washington and finally got it quilted last year. Mom brought it out to me at Thanksgiving 2008. It's the first time I have done a scalloped edge - it was not easy. This is one of my favorite quilts!

Kansas Troubles

2009-07-08T09:39:00.000-07:00

This quilt was made out of some Kansas Troubles charm squares. I pieced the quilt by hand. I also quilted it by hand. I completed it during the 2006-2007 school year, when I was living in Santa Clarita, CA.

Satin Purses

2009-07-07T17:27:00.000-07:00

Several years ago I made some purses for my friend Holly's two girls Sadie & Emma. On one side I embroidered their initials and decorated it. Sadie's Purse

Emma's Purse

Holly stashed the purses away and they haven't really been able to use them. I wish I had known more about putting together purses and bags when I made them, but they turned out okay.