A "Rainbow" Baby Quilt

 I made this quilt for a friend's baby. While I am all for full-on rainbows in the brightest shades possible, my friend prefers more muted/earth tones, so I chose a more natural rainbow color scheme for this quilt.

I chose this turquoise spatter fabric for the backing before I knew the baby's name, but it turns out it's perfect! Her name is Robin!

Love and HSTs,

Leah Joy

Quarantine Hobby #2: Cross-Stitch

 When I started to realize quarantine was going to last 'a bit' longer than 2 weeks, I decided to try my hand at cross-stitching. Turns out, I love it. Most people seem to find coloring soothing and relaxing, but it just stresses me out. (Are my marker lines straight? Does this look right? Is this the right color?) My hand ends up clenched around my marker while my shoulders are hunched over so I can focus even harder. Not very relaxing. Cross-stitch is to me what I imagine coloring is to, well, normal people.

Today I'm going to blast you with pictures of the projects I've made since I started (not all of them) because this is my blog and I can. You don't have to look.

I began with several kits from Hobby Lobby, but once I decided that yes, this is the hobby for me, I began purchasing digital patterns from Etsy. This was my first Etsy pattern. (All links to patterns/shops under each picture.)

Pattern by JackTheStitcher

This next one was a Christmas gift for my sister. I chose a blue/teal/green color scheme instead of the original because it fits her taste better.

Pattern by AlitonEmbroidery

This was a gift for my mom. I didn't want to buy new floss, and the colors in the original pattern were a little more fluorescent that my mom prefers, but I think I went too dark. She says she loves it, but then again, she's my mom - what else is she going to say?

Pattern by AlitonEmbroidery

I also decided to give blackwork a try. Blackwork is cross-stitch's fancy cousin, and turns out, I also love blackwork! This was a gift for my sister-in-law. I used DMC 121 - Delft blue variegated floss, avoiding the extremely pale sections of floss.

Pattern by PeppermintPurple

This one was a gift for a Lord of the Rings loving friend. I actually bought all the colors recommended in the pattern for this one, because it was about 20 different shades of green, and I didn't know if I'd get the subtle changes right trying to pick them out myself.

Pattern by AvocadoStitchery

This next one was just for me! I loved doing blackwork so much, I decided to try another pattern from Peppermint Purple.

Pattern by PeppermintPurple

This was a gift for a friend who loves F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Wreath pattern (free) - text is self-drafted

This is another Peppermint Purple blackwork pattern I made just for me. (I'm thinking of a blackwork gallery wall somewhere in my house.)

Pattern by PeppermintPurple

This next one was for my mom and is certainly the most complicated (and maybe also the coolest).

Before backstitching (outlining)

After backstitching

Pattern from MaddisonPatterns

For my sloth-loving friend:

Pattern by StitchingLand

I really need to start remembering to take pictures after I've ironed and framed the projects. Here's another one with my hoop creases all over it. :) This was a gift for my sister-in-law.

Pattern by StitchingLand

For a friend, but I might need to make one for myself, too. :)

Pattern by AlitonEmbroidery

And finally, this beautiful set of blackwork teacups for my sister. (The original pattern had steam coming off the top, but I left that out.)

Pattern by PeppermintPurple

Well, that's certainly not all the projects I've made, but probably just over half. (I forgot to take pictures of the rest!) I really really love cross-stitching - and finding cool patterns on Etsy, although I currently have about 12 I've purchased that I still have to make, so....

Love and Blackwork,

LeahJoy

P.S. Bonus project - not specifically cross-stitch, but cross-stitch's other cousin, chain stitching - I made this pillow for my friends who love Downton Abbey. This is their favorite quote and they said they really wanted a pillow with this quote on it, but for some reason, the Downton Abbey merchandising department didn't want to put this quote on anything.

Self-drafted pattern

Homemade Busy Board

Toddlers are busy people. Emptying boxes, filling boxes. Turning pages. Running, pushing, pulling. They are always going. Sometimes it's hard to find enough things to keep their little hands occupied!

Enter the busy board. You can buy these pre-made, but they'll run you at least $50 for a good-sized one.

I compiled several ideas I liked on Pinterest, and if you're interested, you can check out my Pinterest board to get some more ideas:

I chose to make my own. This can also be really pricey, especially if you buy everything new, but I managed to keep it pretty cheap. (Surprised? I didn't think so.) Here are some pictures of the board, and I'll discuss below each picture where I found all the parts.  I believe anyone could make their own busy board for about $25.

The board is a leftover cupboard door from our old kitchen cabinets. I sanded it and painted it white. Then my mom helped me tape off chevron stripes, which I painted with acrylic craft paints (which we already had). (In case you're following along at home, so far my cost is $0.)

In the top left, I attached a drawer pull I found at Goodwill. On this I hung a bike lock, a lanyard, and a padlock, all from the Dollar Tree. ($4 for all 4 pieces)

In the top right is a little 'door' - this was originally a floating shelf that my parents weren't using. The cute little rose pull was also sitting around waiting to be used. ($0)

I attached the 'door' using a hinge I found at Salvation Army, and put a dollar store compact mirror behind it. For safety, I covered the screw ends and the edges of the mirror in cute duct tape. ($3, including tape)

I checked at our local thrift stores first, but I did end up getting several items new from Lowe's. The slide chain and hook-and-eye latch were each $3. ($6)

I sprung for the nicer swivel casters ($4 for the 2) and found the springy door stoppers on clearance for $0.50. The barrel bolt was $3. ($7.50)

At the bottom, I attached a cute little bucket from Goodwill, and a calculator and pill sorter from Dollar Tree. ($3)

Not pictured: push light from Dollar Tree ($1) - because it doesn't work. (And yes, I still haven't replaced it.)

Total: $24.50

Not bad for a completely customized (and very cute) busy board!

Josephine likes to peek at herself in the mirror (and give her reflection kisses).

It's also fun to hide toys in the bucket.

So far, we've chosen to leave it free-standing, so we can move it around, or put it away for a while to keep it novel.

Love and Rainbow,

Leah Joy

P.S. I also got to learn lots of new hardware terms!

Herringbone Table Runner

This past November, I got a new sister! My brother got married to a wonderful girl, and I wanted to make them something really beautiful as a wedding gift.

I found the instructions for this herringbone table runner over at Laurel Leigh Studios. I highly recommend the tutorial - it was well-written and very easy to understand.

I almost forgot to take pictures of this finished project. I actually had it all wrapped up (perfectly, I might add) and had to undo my wrapping so I could take pictures for you guys.

This project was intense, to say the least. Because of the herringbone pattern, you have to iron down the seam you just sewed before you can add the next strip. I brought my sewing machine into the living room and had the ironing board set up right next to it. Despite making this in October, I did a lot of sweating! :)

Here's the runner after being quilted, but before being bound.

I added this little tag, too.

The batting in this table runner is insulated batting - although I didn't realize that I needed to also add a layer of cotton batting until after I had quilted 100 rows.  So, it's not quite as functional as I wanted it to be, but it is very pretty!

 

Since making this, I've learned a really great technique for machine binding (more on that in a future post), and purchased a walking foot, but since I had neither of those in my repertoire then, I'm still pretty pleased with how the corners turned out. The only less-than-pretty bits are on the back, and no one will see them there anyway.

I'm really proud of this project - and yet I also kind of want to redo it now that I have a walking foot! Though the table runner is still a good size, it's several inches smaller than I had intended to make it. Because I just used my regular presser foot to quilt it, the whole thing went a little wonky, and I had to trim down quite a bit from the edges to even it out.

This project is so versatile. First of all, herringbone never really goes out of style, so this is something you can keep around forever. Secondly, you can use any combination of colors to make this suit any decor or season. Thirdly, you could even make it reversible; what if you made two 'tops' in different seasonal color schemes? I'm picturing a red and green pattern for Christmas on one side, and then a red and white pattern on the other side for the rest of the winter.

I also had fun experimenting with making hot pads, although, again, I still didn't realize that insulated batting requires a layer of cotton batting to be truly heat-proof. So this hot pad is adorable and completely useless. (Well, Jo has adopted it as a toy, so there's that at least.) 

It's pretty clear in this one how much I needed a walking foot - as the rows all sway out!

Have you ever made anything with insulated batting?

Love and Rainbows,

Leah Joy

Hexagon Medallion Rug

Inspired by Pinterest, as always:

There's a link to a free pattern on the pinned page.

I had a lot of fun making this project - it was actually pretty quick, too.

And it's so pretty, and much bigger than I thought it would be, which is actually good.

To avoid purchasing more fabric, I used this weird fabric on the back. I got it for free once in a grab bag.  Since this will be a rug, no one will ever actually have to see it. :)

Right now, it lives in Josephine's room.

Love and Triangles,

Leah Joy