Frozen Costume Number 1!

Finally I finished with the Elsa costume for Piper. She asked me to make her one several months ago and after a shopping trip with Addy and Kendall (my Tampa experts on all things Frozen) for fabric and advice then another few trips with Piper, we finally had all the necessary fabric.  

And here is Piper’s “Elsa” costume.

Elsa

We had planned on putting snowflakes in her braided hair just like Elsa had the day that we visited her in the mall.  

pattern
Elsa has snowflakes in her hair!

And found these snowflake buttons that we attached to elastic thread to put in Piper’s braid.

Snowflake buttons

But while Piper gets up almost every morning pretending to be Elsa, the day I planned her “photo shoot” she decided that she was Belle.  

And Belle has long flowing brown hair with NO snowflakes.  So this is the closest I could get with the snowflake button.

Elsa

She also wanted to wear her Barbie heels.  Hey, she’s three.  Compromises must be made. 

Elsa

Elsa

ElsaElsaAnd here’s the pattern I used…

Pattern
This pattern was approved by Addy and Kendall.

There are several patterns for Frozen costumes now plus princess fabric displays at Jo-annes and Hancock Fabrics.  Fabric.com also has posted their version of the Frozen costumes–including Olaf.   In addition there are hundreds of ideas on Pinterest and if you don’t want to make your own costume, you can check out Etsy.

Addy, Kendall and I bought most of the fabric at Jo-annes.  Piper and I picked up the cape material on clearance at Hancock Fabric.  I think the buttons were from Jo-annes, too.  Then I decided the fabric that we picked for the sleeves and yoke was too itchy and replaced it with some cotton fabric with snowflakes at Hancock Fabrics.  Fortunately the Christmas fabric was already out and on sale.

One last look at the back, the cape goes all the way around.  Just like Elsa!

Frozen Costume Number 1!

Just one more Elsa and an Anna costume to do before Halloween!  

 

A Quilt for Piper

A Quilt for Piper
If it’s on the floor and it’s soft, Maggie must sit on it!

This quilt has been a long time in the making.  I started out with the idea several months ago. Riley and Piper loved the name pillows I made them back in February.  So I decided to make matching quilts starting with one for Piper.

#Heart of my heart #quilt for piper #pink and brown quilt #quilt
A close up of the center of the quilt

Riley and Piper Name Pillows

I found this small quilt on Pinterest:

Heart QuiltAnd made my version of it, just to see how difficult it would be to make all those appliqued hearts.  

Heart of my Heart Quilt

Easy Peasy.  Next step was to make the queen-sized version.  After making the applique hearts then piecing most of it together I found out that Piper was getting a full-sized bed so I breathed a sigh of relief and didn’t put that final border on. 

Most of the fabric came from Hobby Lobby.  But I also picked up a few pieces from our local quilt shop Tomorrow’s Treasures and Jo-annes.  I ordered the quilt backing from fabric.com in 108″ width so I wouldn’t have to piece the back together. 

I have a Bernina Activa 220 and love love love it. When I took it in to get it’s yearly maintenance, the owner of the shop said it was a great machine for “piecing”.  I didn’t quite understand what the reference was about until I actually tried to maneuver that full-sized quilt under the sewing machine’s arm. 

Heart of my Heart Quilt

I tried everything that all the blogs and pins recommended.  Rolling, folding, scrunching.  There was no way I was going to be able to quilt around all those appliqued hearts like I did on the smaller version.  So I quilted around the borders and the outline of the large heart and hand-quilted all the little hearts. 

Hand Quilted the heartsThe quilt blogs recommended a certain type of thread for hand quilting but I just used embroidery floss that I divided into 3 different pieces. And I made big chunky stitches. And some little petite stitches.  I figured it was my own design, might as well make it however I felt like making it!

And the moral of the story is, Riley’s quilt (and all future quilts unless I get a different sewing machine) will be lap size for when he’s watching TV and eating popcorn.  Can’t have too many blankets on the couch in North Dakota.

Label for Piper's Quilt

Heart of my Heart Quilt for Piper

And how did Piper like it?

Piper

 Heart of my Heart Quilt for Piper

 Heart of my Heart Quilt for Piper

 Piper

 

A Quilt for Tyson

 

A Quilt for Tyson with Michael Miller "Out to Sea" fabricI finally got a chance to finish Tyson’s quilt–and he’s not even walking yet!  Just kidding.  Tyson Hugo Green was born in May and I didn’t decide to make him a quilt until right after his birth.  I had several projects to complete before I could get to putting those little nautical pieces together. Plus I knew that he was coming to visit in November so I could possibly give the quilt to him then. But I’m really happy that it’s finished and it’s on it’s way to Tyson!

I decided to make a quilt for Tyson after I saw this adorable pirate fabric online and thought nothing could be better for a newborn swashbuckler living in Seattle.  And his parents just happen to have been married at the Seattle Aquarium.  (Not only did we get the full run of the aquarium, they had an ice cream bar rather than a wedding cake–yum! Riley said “best wedding ever”)

A Quilt for Tyson with Michael Miller "Out to Sea" fabric

I ordered the material from fabric.com and it’s all from Michael Miller “Out to Sea” line.  I started out loving the pirate fabric. 

A quilt for Tyson with Michael Miller "Out to Sea" fabric
How cute are these little guys?

 

The map was supposed to just be for the quilt backing but when it arrived it was my favorite. 

A quilt for Tyson with Michael Miller "Out to Sea" fabric
I love all the little whimsical details on the map.

I wanted to make it in the same style as I did for the Quilt for Willow that I featured back in May.  It requires some “fussy cutting” so I had to change around all my calculations just to put a piece of the map on the front of the quilt.  So worth it.  I should have ordered more of the map fabric but how did I know that I was going to like it so much?  I had to shrink the size of the quilt a bit so it’s 39″ x 43″, which is still an okay size for a baby quilt. 

So here’s the finished project:

A Quilt for Tyson with Michael Miller "Out to Sea" fabric
The front
A Quilt for Tyson with Michael Miller "Out to Sea" fabric
and the back.

The map fabric has longitudinal and latitudinal lines.  I’m a beginner quilter so this was a challenge to get the backing on straight.  All the quilting advice I read is to use a busy pattern on the back with NO OBVIOUS PATTERN so it won’t show any stitching mistakes.  While it’s not perfect, it’s not too bad.  Perfectly imperfect.

I put the quilt on the floor to get one more pic and Maggie decided that she needed in on the action.

A Quilt for Tyson with Michael Miller "Out to Sea" fabric
Maggie’s such a little ham.

One final picture…

A Quilt for Tyson with Michael Miller "Out to Sea" fabricThe quilt is on it’s merry way to Seattle.