Quilt-Along Challenge - Race Car Quilt

One of my fondest memories of my Maternal Grandmother was the vision of her working away at beautiful quilts on a big wooden frame hanging from the ceiling in her den!

 

I was just amazed at the beautiful fabrics and intricate stitching that went into those creations and I never dreamed that one day I would attempt one myself!

But...that is exactly what I did!

Last year in April and May, Two of my favorite bloggers, Jill from Create Craft Love and Sarah from Becoming Martha hosted a "Quilt-Along" online and when I heard about it...I just had to join in as I felt like it was the perfect opportunity for me to learn this craft while having a "support" group around me to help!

At almost exactly the same time, I discovered an old friend of mine (Debbie) who I used to work with was on Facebook and she was an experienced quilter, so I would have local "hands-on" help as well.

How lucky for me!

This quilt-along was "self-paced" and even though the goal was to try and complete a quilt in a month, most in the group didn't finish in a month, so I didn't feel so bad when mine was no where near being finished after 30 days!

There was no real "deadline" but  Jill and Sarah did provide a "link-up" party at the end of May to show off our creations when we completed them.

I must admit...making my first quilt was truly a "labor" of love...(if I may use a play on words here)...it took me 9 months to complete...like giving birth! Not quite as painful though...thankfully!

Here is the fruit of my labor:

I made the quilt as a gift for my precious Grandson Adrian and I was hoping to have it done by Christmas, but alas that didn't happen, so it will get to him in time for his birthday for sure!

The first week consisted of gathering supplies and tools for the project:

When I was planning my quilt, I knew that my Grandson loved cars, but I wanted to be sure the quilt would be something he'd want to use when he was older also 

(he is only 2 now...almost 3).

For that reason, I picked a car design that was a bit more sophisticated rather than a nursery type design.

The main fabric was from Timeless Treasures and the design was called "Michael #C9865"

Rather than make this post unbearably long...I just made a quick collage of some of the steps I did in making this quilt:

The top stitching on the quilt was too big of a job for me to handle on my first quilt as it could not be done on a small machine and if I had tried to "hand" quilt it...well...my poor Grandson would be a grown man before I ever got it done!  LOL!

So...on the recommendation of my good friend Debbie, I took it to a local long-arm quilter in the area, Michael Schultz, Samish Quilting, who is known for his quality work and he did an amazing job!

I am not a great photographer, but I tried to capture some close-up's of his beautiful work.

He used a stitch pattern that had race cars and racing flags and it was just perfect for this project!

I made a personalized tag for the quilt and it was the first time I had tried applique and embroidering on my machine (Singer Superb 2010) so it didn't turn out  perfect by any means and even though I practiced before I made the final tag...I messed up the alignment on my name!

Of course "Grandma" and "Lisa" should have been on the same line, but at that point I was at the very end and did not want to try and make another tag as this one took me forever, so I let it go as I'm sure my sweet Grandboy won't know the difference or care for that matter.
He will just be happy about the cars!

If you need details on how to make this quilt or a similar one, you can go to the original blog posts from the quilt along by starting here or here.

Also, the pattern that was used for this project was from All People Quilt and can be found here along with directions.

I want to say a very big "Thank-you" to my good friend Debbie for being such a tremendous help on this project and letting me use her awesome Janome sewing machine!

Hope you enjoyed seeing my first quilt and I would love for you to visit my blog again soon!

Thanks!

This post/project is linked-up to the following sites/link-parties:

   

Dr. Seuss Birthday Invitation and a GIVEAWAY!!

Our Grandson "A"s Birthday was coming up and when I heard that our daughter "S" was going to do a Dr. Seuss themed party, I was really excited!

I've always loved Dr. Seuss books and couldn't wait to help out with the preparations.

I had been wanting to try my hand at creating a custom invitation and just recently realized that the "My Memories" Software could assist me in this, when I made an invitation for my Granddaughter's Birthday last month.

I asked "S" if she would mind me making up some sample invitations and if she liked them, we could use them and if they were a big fat "Fail"...(LOL!), we could order some digitally from the many sellers on Etsy that have them.

She has a lot of faith in me and let me do it!

I went to work using the My Memories Software Suite and was AMAZED at how easy it was to make the invitations!

In the past, I had attempted projects like this using Photoshop and just went away frustrated and confused!

Here are the two examples I came up with:

(Click on the pictures to enlarge)

To make these, I used the My Memories Software Suite, some digital papers I purchased from Great Graphics on Etsy and a Dr. Seuss inspired Digital Graphics Set I purchased from my bloggie friend Nikki at Melonheadz Illustrating.

I made them 5x7 in size, so that there was room for everything and so that it could be read clearly.

The invitation that "S" chose for the final one to send out was the first one.

I went to Walgreens online and uploaded the jpg file of the invite and ordered all the copies we needed for our guests.

(You can of course do this at any other photo place also, such as Snapfish, Shutterfly etc...the reason I chose Walgreen's is because it is closest to me and we needed them quickly...they will print them in an hour in most cases!)

Just be sure to upload these to the photo site as a stand-alone photo (.jpg format).

It won't work if you go to their "create a card" section, because those are pre-set-up templates that the photo sites have and you can't put your own design in there. 

(At least that is what I found with Walgreens, Snapfish and Shutterfly...I can't speak for any others.)

You can view several different tutorials on the My Memories YouTube Site that can help you make an invitation.

I am thinking about making a tutorial myself on exactly how I made these invites, but I've never attempted a tutorial yet and I'm a bit hesitant to try and compete with all the great ones that are out there! 

If I do decide to make one, I will update this post with a link to it.

Now, for some exciting news...My Memories has graciously agreed to give a FREE copy of this awesome software to one of my loyal followers!

If you would like to be eligible to win a copy of this Digital Scrapbooking Software Program, then here are the requirements:

1. Be or become a follower on my blog.

2. Go visit the My Memories site at: http://www.mymemories.com/ and make note of your favorite template or kit, then come back here and leave a comment stating which is your favorite from the site. (Be sure to include an e-mail address or a way to get in touch with you in case you win!)

3. For a second chance entry, please "Like" their Facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/MyMemories/140359372717593

4. For a third chance at winning, please follow the My Memories Blog at: http://www.mymemoriesblog.com/

5. For a fourth chance at winning, please follow My Memories on twitter at: http://twitter.com/#!/MyMemoriesSuite

(NOTE: After doing steps 3,4 and 5, make sure to leave a comment for each, saying that you completed the step...this is to make sure you get your extra entries!)

Remember to be eligible to win, you MUST do at least steps 1 and 2, all other steps are for extra entries!

This giveaway opportunity will be open through Tuesday May 8, 2012 and I will choose a winner via Random.org on Wednesday May 9, 2012.

Even if you aren't the lucky winner...you can still get a great discount on the software as My Memories has authorized me to offer $10.00 off the software by clicking on the blinkie below and entering the special code.

CODE: STMMMS91285

This awesome software was recently featured on the Lifetime Television show "The Balancing Act", if you'd like to see the clip of the show where they featured the software, you can view it here.

They are also running a *Free* Photo Book Promotion right now and you can get the details of that by clicking here.

Good Luck to All and Thank-you for reading my post!

I have linked this post/project to the following sites/Link-up Party's:

Baby Grandson Layout

We have been so very blessed this year!

Earlier this year I posted about the arrival of our two newest Grand Babies and I posted the first layout I did for our Granddaughter "C" who was born in March and I have been working on a layout for our Grandson "A" who arrived one month later in April and I'm proud to say I finally got it done, despite all of the other projects I've been working on lately (crafty & non-crafty!).

It's a bit late, seeing that he was born in the spring!

I'm not too good on keeping up with my Scrapbooking...I haven't even finished scrapbooks for my children, who are all grown now!

I love to do it, it's just I am so darn particular about planning the layout that it takes me forever to actually get it done on paper.
(I am a tad bit OCD...just ask my Kids!) :)

Here is the layout:

I used a new tool for the first time, the sew easy piercing tool.

It was pretty cool and reminded me of those "lacing" cards I had when I was a very small child.

I know I am dating myself here...most of my young readers will probably have no idea what I'm talking about.

I don't think they make them anymore, at least I haven't seen any in a long time!

Okay, I stand corrected...I just checked eBay and there are LOTS of sewing cards on there, newer ones and old vintage ones like this one:

Anyway...I am getting sidetracked here I know...but doing that little bit of sewing/lacing on this layout really did bring back that memory, so I just had to mention it!

I kept this layout fairly simple, because the paper itself was so darn cute and of course the subject (My Awesome Grandson!) was so cute that the page really didn't need a lot of embellishment.

The paper is from atd/Momenta and the pad didn't really have a descriptive name, it just says "Super Paper Pad" and has a number on the back tag #PA2327, 

so I'm going to include a picture of the pad in case anyone wants to try and find it.

I purchased it at Ross, which is a discounter, so I'm thinking this particular pad might not even be around anymore, but I did check the Momenta website and there is a similar set/pad called:

"Cuddle & Coo" 

#PA-2385

It appears to have some of the same pages in it that my pad does, but there is less pages in the Pad (48 vs. the 90 that was in mine), and does not show the exact page that I used for this layout.

Here is a picture of the pad I purchased at Ross:

After I cut out the font/lettering with my Cricut Expression, I decided it needed a little more "oomph" so I  inked the edges of the letters with Azure Blue Ink to give the font some depth.

It was a little tricky on the inside of the letters, so I used the Loew Cornell Sponge-it Sticks to get the ink in the tiny areas.

Here are the tools/supplies I used to create this layout:

Recipe:

Cricut Expression Machine

Scotch ATG Tape Gun

Ad tech Permanent Bond Glue Runner

Sew Easy Piercer Tool

Loew Cornell Sponge-it Sticks

Cricut Cartridge "Boys will be Boys" (Block Font, 1-1/2")

12 x 12 Paper by atd/Momenta (Super Paper Pad - Pictured Above)

7-1/2" x 5-1/2" Piece of Brick Red Scrap Paper from Stash (Photo Backing/Frame)

Light Blue Cardstock, from Stash (For Font)

Sew Easy Fancy Floss, Sunrise,Variegated

Recollections Foam Adhesive Squares, 1/4" 

Memories Direct Mini Stamp Pad, Azure (Blue)

It's good to be back to posting more often and I promise I'll try to do it even more now that summer is over and the cozy stay-inside weather is coming around!

Keep coming back to visit, I will be having some awesome giveaways soon!!

XOXO

Lisa