My Summer List

I'm making a list of my summer projects. I have some great ideas and am excited to get started! I figured since I'm done with the semester I should have some more free time.

So, here's what I want to do -- and in no particular order.

- Finish my skirt I started. I just have to figure out how.
- Make Landen a quilt for his "big boy bed."
- Make Landen a play mat/rug. I don't know if you remember those, you can buy them and they are like a whole city to drive your cars on and through. I had a creative revelation and have a great idea on what to do!!
- Organize my sewing stuff-- and get my machine here!
- Make a scrap quilt for my bed.
- Make some decor pillows


And that's all I'm determined to do. I guess we'll see if I add some more.

A Car Cozy

I followed homeade by jill's Cozy Car Caddy and made Landen a great new toy! It's great for stashing a few cars for church (I wouldn't recommend taking 6 cars to church) and doubles as a playing mat!

Our JoAnn's didn't have a a great selection of duck cloth (black, red, blue, army green) So, I went with the army green to contrast the denim. I picked up the other few odds and ends I didn't have for under $5! WaHoo!

So, Here's what I did. I followed Jill's directions because I liked the idea of the piping and the heavier cloth. BUT if I was making it again, I'm not sure I'd use duck cloth. My Little Gem's Car Cozie Tutorial used flannel, so I think any fabric would be good. Why? Well, it was really hard to sew the binding into it and then turn it and sew around it again. It was 8 layers of heavy fabric and my machine is a little old. But if your kid is rough on stuff, it might be really good.

But, it worked out great. I used wonder-under on the felt pieces, plus I stitched around the edge of the road. I guess I didn't pay attention to the dimension when I bought the felt because my felt wasn't long enough and I had to use two pieces, you could definitely use flannel or cotton here too. For the "parking" spaces, I went over them divided twice, and decided not to paint the number on. I think it looks cute without it. Landen loves these! He parks all his cars and then reparks them it's very cute!

I loved the idea of denim on the outside. So, I cut my car out of some yellow flannel scraps and used buttons on the wheels to avoid more sewing. (I was getting tired of it) And I think they are really cute! I sewed them on really good, and it's a good thing because Landen sure likes to pull on them!

Black Crocheted Blanket - Repurposed

So, I started this blanket back before I was married and never finished it.  While I pregnant with Landen, I finally had enough of it laying around unfinished and just finished it.  It was crocheted with a half-double, which is a small thick stitch and made the blanket fairly hot.  Looking back, this was probably not the best idea.  I decided I hated it. I'm ashamed to say that it was so poorly done! The edges weren't straight, and I didn't know much about dye-lots. I stopped and started it so many times too!  LOL, So this is what the mess looked like.

I couldn't really stand this blanket and the only function it served was under a sheet on the airbed when company came to stay.  But the yarn is really nice and it was expensive.  So, after much contemplation I decided to re-purpose the yarn into another blanket.

This time around I decided to do a granny square with size K hook. I choose the particular block because,
1. It's easy.
2. It hides flaws in the yarn (from undoing the blanket)
3. It hides mistakes.
4. Since it's blocks it makes it easier to make a square blanket.
5.  I think if I shuffled around the different shades I could get it to look pretty good and not as tacky.

My new goal was to have to blocks completed by the end of January.  I'm proud to announce that 137 blocks later, I finished my last one last night!!  Here they are, stacking against the wall.

So, My next dilemma is this: how to sew them together.  I started out with a full/queen size blanket, and I now I have 137 5-inch blocks.  While I would make a few more to get the exact number I need, I don't want to be crocheting the 123 blocks I would need to make it the same size as before. 

I do have enough to make a smaller twin size blanket, but I'm not sure what purpose that would serve at my house where we have a queen size bed and a crib.  I thought about making a throw, but that would make either 1 really big one or 2 smaller ones.  I was thinking about making one all black, and then maybe getting red or white and making a checkerboard out of the other one.  But my living room color scheme doesn't match, so the next question is who wants one?