So Simply Stephanie

I finished my first quilt ever today!!!  Here is the finished I-Spy quilt: I even made a label with a photo of myself & my son.  This is something my aunt does on many of her quilts and I knew immediately I wanted to add photo label to this: Here is my happy little guy checking out his new quilt: I really enjoyed making this quilt.  It was not nearly as difficult or time consuming as I expected.  I would really like to make more of these, but would need more I-Spy squares.  If I can't find another swap for these, I'm thinking about running a swap here.  Would there be any interest???

I changed my mind about the backing for the quilt.   I found some great fabric at my local fabric store that has glow-in-the-dark stars. My son LOVES it. I was able to pin baste all the layers (yay for a large tile floor in the kitchen) last night. I did all of the quilting today! I did an easy quilt pattern - straight lines along the i-spy blocks.  I decided to use invisible thread.  I like the invisible look of it, but wow was that stuff difficult to use at first.  I finally got it figured out and it was smooth sailing.  The quilting is BY NO MEANS perfect.  The fabric shifted a bit while I was quilting.  I guess next time I need to put in more pins to help with that.  So far, I am very happy with my very first quilt! This evening I plan to sew on the binding to the front.  I doubt I'll have enough time to hand sew the binding on the back of the quilt.  But YAY, it's almost done!

For a friend to give as a gift...

I started my FIRST QUILT EVER a few days go.  I just finished the top!  Here it is: It isn't perfect, but I  LOVE it and think my son will, too. I used ivory for the sashing & black for the little squares mainly because I had them on hand.  The back will be large blocks of solid fabric with prints sprinkled in (I think).  Aside from the I-Spy squares, I'm trying to only use fabric I have at home instead of buying more. Next up - creating the back.  I'm very nervous about the quilting part.  I had originally decided to do free-motion quilting (not knowing how tough it would be for me).  I think now I will do straight line quilting.  I know it will be boring, but easier.  And this is, after all, my first quilt. For any quilters out there, do you have any tips for me? P.S.  A big thank you to Care over at Obsessively Stitching .  Without all of the great help on her blog, I'm not sure I would have been courageous e...

200 little squares of awesome-ness! My squares from the I-Spy Fabric Swap arrived today.  I had a great time looking through all of them.  Here are a few of my favorites: Top to bottom, left to right: Bees, mice in a maze, scissors Japanese (?) dolls, bicycles, caged birds Trucks, vintage clothes, pyramids/camels/etc. I can't wait to get started on some I-Spy Blocks  and an I-Spy quilt like this one from Obsessively Stitching :

I have a few sewing projects in the works right now (mostly items to spice up my kitchen).  I have chosen fabric from the new Early Bird  collection by Cosmo Cricket . I love these prints!  They are so much fun. Want some ideas to spice up your kitchen?  Go check out Spice Up Your Kitchen Link Roundup .

Using this free tutorial , I made a cross-body purse for my mom's birthday.  She normally doesn't carry a purse, but I thought this might come in handy when she goes to Laughlin and Vegas later this year.  And who knows, maybe it'll bring her a bit of luck! I really like the design of the purse.  As seen in this picture, one side has a zipper closure.  The opposite side has an open pocket.  The top zips closed to keep everything safe and secure inside.