Nursing Cover Tutorial

If you have spent much time around young moms in the last couple of years you have seen the classy, fashion forward nursing covers that are so popular now. They go by all sorts of clever names but let's just stick with "nursing cover", okay? My blogging friend, Amy, over at Diary of a Quilter has a superb tutorial for making them and they will cost you a fraction of the price you would pay from a store or on line source.

 
I made a couple for baby shower gifts and the new moms were thrilled. I found everything I needed to make them at the local fabric store. The only thing I did differently was to add a pocket on the inside to hold necessities. Try making one for a new mom in your life!

Blessing to you~ Luci

Organizing Tote Basket

Sometimes, fellow bloggers give the rest of us the generous gift of a free pattern. Such is the case today! I'm excited to bring you this wonderful tutorial from 2littlehooligans. 
Doesn't this look like FUN? There are lots of beautiful pictures and detailed instructions so I have no excuse not to make it, right? Join me and then show me what yours look like. 

 
 
Blessings to you~ Luci

Doily Rag Rug

Knitting was never my obsession. It is tedious and takes so long to have anything to show for your work. That is, until I found this free Doily Rag Rug pattern over at cocoknits.com. Because the "yarn" and needles are so BIG you can quickly see results. *instant gratification*  It is SO much more elegant than the usual rag rug you may be familiar with. And considering it is only the second project I have knitted in the last thirty-five years, I would say it can be a beginner pattern.

I did watch some how-to videos to refresh my memory on knitting basics and asked one question of my knitting friends. The most time consuming part was the preparation of the strips prior to beginning. It took four hours to cut/tear the strips from the sheet and attach them to each other!

A second hand store sheet (washed, of course) makes this an inexpensive, elegant rug. Nice enough for a gift in my opinion. Even if you are a beginner, you should try this project. After all, one can only use SO many scarves! :o)

Blessings to you~ Luci

Planned Disappearing Nine Patch

 I have made a lot of unplanned scrappy disappearing nine patch quilts for charity but this was my first planned one. My middle son is a model train lover so I found some great train fabric for his graduation quilt.

 I have learned that hiring a really good long arm quilter is the best way to make a simple quilt look spectacular. Whenever I hand a quilt to my quilter I say "Make me look good!" She always does too! Can you see all the trains she freehanded? All different kinds! 

One Seam Flying Geese

We have five new babies coming thanks to our nieces and nephews and I think this calls for some quiting! I love to give hand made gifts for new babies and, if I have the time, I prefer to give a quilt. Some day I will show you the precious quilt my SIL made for my first baby. It is SO special because it has fabric from clothing and curtains from my childhood home.

When I found this easy, one seam flying geese pattern I knew I had to try it. Now I wouldn't make them any other way! No little pieces to sew, no bias edges to deal with and very little, if any, squaring up to do. The person who figured this out is brilliant!

Since it is a three-D type method, the short sides of the triangle "geese" can either be left as is or anchored down as you do the quilting like I did.

 I did a large loop design in the borders because I had machine appliquéd airplanes in two corners and I imagined the stunt pilot making loops.

The completed quilt!