Celebrate the BoyPart 2

His Birthday Finally Arrived!!

The Mat All Finished!!

This is the second part of the Car Mat/Blanket Tutorial, and I am as excited as you are to have it done for the boy's birthday!!

The biggest problem I had researching for this was I just needed closer and lots more pictures of what these wonderful moms had done already.  I found this place that was good, but here are mine so you have more to look at and get those creative juices flowing!

USAF Fire Station 1 complete with flag and dalmatian.

Farm where Grandma C grew up complete with apple tree, corn field, and a chicken.
The corn I hand embroidered into the striped field.  It really made it POP.

Who doesn't like their local ice cream store?
The roads are black felt heat-n-bonded on then just straight stitched with yellow along the edges.
I only used the applique stitch in black on seams where two roads met.  There is a smaller applique stitch in yellow down the middle of the roads.  This was my last sewing step and it felt good to have it down.

A downtown Chicago building.

John Hancock Building.  This one has the iron cross sections and radio  rods on top of it.
The cross sections are just straight stitching diagonally across.

'Da Bears play at Soldier Field.

My Hubby is a South-sider (White Sox) and I bleed blue (Cubs).  I tried to find some icons for it, but didn't succeed.
I will add patches later if I can find them.

School house with swings, flag, and ringing bell.

All-Star Gasoline the pumps are the ends of one shoelace. 

Train station with tracks and sign.  The sign has a train button; the tracks are black ribbon sewn
down the middle to stabilize and grey piping sewn over the ends about 1.5 inches wide.

Camping in the mountains.  The tent has red stitching to show lines in the tent, applique around,
and white lines out and to the the stakes.  The fire and trees are appliqued on wood then leaves or flames.

Mountains are for camping.  I put the "Y" detail on because our boy was born right next to a mountain
with a very similar "Y" that lit up on a good night.

Our home looks simple, but there are five separate parts to the building:  chimney, roof, structure,
windows and door.  Make sure to get every piece with your applique stitch and in an order that makes sense.

Trees were TOUGH, but we have forests in Illinois.  Everyone is slightly different, but every one was a pain
because of the curves in each one.  I skipped my normal three passes on applique and only did two on these.

Our public library has a funky roof line and TONS of glass.  

My hubby builds furniture, so naturally this is where most of the cars end up helping Dad.

I know it is supposed to have a t at the end, but t or not, the boy knows exactly what this store is.
The orange strip across the center is just the same applique technique I have been using just in a straight line.
The flag poles, radio poles, masts, swings and similar architecture features are all done the same way.

To finish off your blanket, you need to get the back material attached to your front material and bind it together.  I used clear thread and went around each buildings outline to bind the two fabrics together.  You could quilt it more traditionally if you like, but I'm lazy.  The clear thread was difficult to work with and probably took the most patience.  I made my own binding using this tutorial since I had never made my own.   Pin your tape around your blankets outer edge and sew around all the edges.  

Spread it out and get all the cars ready for a few hours of well deserved quiet time.

Entertainment for at least a few minutes!

Happy Birthday My Boy!

Woke up to Balloons and a supersized poster of himself.

That is his "happy face."

Let me know what you think in the comments.  Hopefully this was helpful and you get started on your own little man's--or little girl's--car mat soon!

Car Mat/Blanket Tutorial

Believe it or not, I am not a sewer.  I wish I could tell you what a baste stitch is with confidence, but I just can't.  So imagine my sweet husband's surprise when I decided to tackle this....

Car Mat/Blanket All Finished!!  Yippee!!

 I had the idea in my brain and went searching the Internet to see if I could find something as a jumping off point.  I hit the jack pot when I got here.  This was almost exactly what I wanted to do.  The main difference was I wanted curvy roads.  As you can see I found out really quick that to get all that I wanted on my little guy's blanket I had to compromise the curvy roads and race track for the greater good.  I am going to attempt to help any other novice (or not so novice) sewers out there that want to do something extraordinary.  Every time I show this, I get a huge wow.  Here's hoping my little guy feels the same way when I have it all ready and wrapped for his birthday in May (I know the clock is ticking away).

So you will need:
1.   IMAGINATION AND PATIENCE
2.   Paper, stencils, pencils, ruler, erasers, and other office supplies
3.   Fabric scraps
4.   1 1/2 yards of a main base fabric (mine is the green corduroy)
5.   Lots of thread in all sorts of shades
6.   Sewing machine
7.   Heat n Bond (or whatever brand you use.  NOVICE POINT: This can be found in major fabric stores.  It is bought usually by the bolt [they have to cut it for you].  It is white and is the ironed on glue to keep your buildings in place while you sew them down. )
8.   Ribbon and Piping (Railroad)
9.   Buttons
10. Shoelace
11. At least 1/2 yard of black felt (roads)
12. Iron and ironing board
13. Embroidery machine (OPTIONAL. My mom has one so I used it, but I would have done it by hand if she didn't have one, or just left it out)
14.  1 1/2 yards of THIN batting if desired (I didn't use any)
15.  1 3/4 yards backing material (This is on the back.  The flannel for me.)
16.  Did I mention TIME (I have been working through this process since Halloween)

Alright, the pros to this project are you will be doing this for some time.  If you don't have everything all at one time, that is ok.  Work on what you can now, put it away until you can do more.  (In my case, when my budget allowed for it, or when something was on sale and I could get it then.) The cons are that it really isn't cheap especially if you don't have fabric scraps lying around because you are just getting into sewing or don't have the room to store all you would like.  I did find some ways to pinch a penny though.  My first tip is to go to the bargain bins at all of your major fabric stores first, then hit the local quilt shop.  I know you heard quilt shop and budget in the same paragraph.  I found a bunch of small squares (which were perfect for one building or some windows) for fifty cents or less!!  It is where all of my major building fabrics came from.  I spent about five dollars on all the building fabrics there and didn't even have to go to the bargain bins for anything else...SWEET.  The next con is that this sucker takes a lot of time.  My solution is planning, planning, planning.  I think I spent the majority of two or three months thinking, sketching, and laying out plans before I ever went shopping for material.

Speaking of sketching, it's your first step....Here is what I originally wanted my blanket to end up as.

See the race track that didn't make the cut?

As you can see it didn't really end up the way I wanted; as things went along some things just wouldn't work out.  You'll probably run into the same thing; relax, at least try to, and enjoy the process, if you can.

Once you have a rough draft start sketching the buildings first on paper and then on good, old card stock.  I found some great help on Google images.  Try typing in "school clip art" or "ship black and white," print it off and there is your fantastic pattern.  You could do a cave for dragons, or a scene from a favorite book of theirs, or even a sand castle (I thought of all this, of course, after I had already used every bit of space on his blanket.  Grrrrrrr.) If you need something pretty specific (the Willis Tower) type in "Willis Tower" and look at all the angles Google has and try your hand at sketching.  Get that ruler out ladies and gentlemen...It is your new best friend.
I have to admit that while I was working through this project I got asked many, many times what my scale was, and I had to say that I really didn't have one.  I know it sounds ridiculous, and it probably is, but I just eye-balled most of it. I knew Willis Tower needed to be the biggest so if the farm house was bigger than Willis Tower than it was too big.  Also, lay those card stock pieces on your base fabric so that you get a feel for the scale before you start cutting into any fabric. You can definitely do better than I did, let me know how it works out in the comments.

The Schoolhouse, Willis Tower, Fire station, and Hancock buildings next to their stencils.

My stencil for the roads is brown wrapping paper I got at IKEA a year ago. I rolled it out and cut three inch strips for the roads and 1.5 inch strips for the railroad.  It worked great!

Wrapping paper for road stencil.

Yippee, you have all of your stencils cut out of card stock, so now you need to move on to cutting out your fabric.  Get your building, fabric, and Heat-n-Bond ready.  IRON your fabric to your Heat-n-Bond FIRST.  I know you think it will save you money on the Heat-n-Bond to iron only the part you need for the building, but iron first, then cut out your building using your stencil.  SO MUCH EASIER!

Once you get each piece of the building cut out, set it with the rest of the pile and keep working until you get the buildings all set.  This will make it so much nicer to see on your base fabric. Don't iron anything until you have it all laid out.  If you don't you might find you made to adjacent buildings the same fabric or something just isn't working right.  

Once you get it all onto your Heat-n-Bond and set up exactly how you want it on your base fabric, pin away my friend.  I pinned everything down that you see in the picture above and then worked on one structure at a time.  Think through each structure BEFORE you sew.  For example:

The Pirate Ship and Lighthouse

In this corner we have--shore material, lake material, two light house materials, two ship materials, and six types of thread.  The shore HAS to be ironed down first, then the lake and hull of the ship can be ironed.  Before you can put on the sails however, you have to sew in the masts using the same stitch and thread you will use for the wooden part of the boat.  So I ironed, but didn't sew the shore and lake, but iron and appiqued in the hull and masts.  After the masts are in then you can iron on your sails.  I appliqued everything on with the appropriate threads.  AFTER the shoreline is ironed and sewn on THEN you can iron on your lighthouse and applique it on.  I appliqued the sails and lighthouse at the same time because both used black thread.  My sails sat ironed but not appliqued on for a week or two while I waited for the lighthouse to be completed.  The name of the ship I had embroidered just before I bound the blanket.

YOUR DOING GREAT!  I ironed on all of my buildings and then worked on applique for each one so I could easily move to the next building with the same thread if it was possible.  This will take a boat load of time, but it is worth it in the end.  See you on the next post for the rest of the information.

My Superhero

Lately my son has been crazy over superheros in all their characters.  We see Spiderman on backpacks while dropping off the first grader.  We tie on the Superman cape as he goes zooming through the house rescuing the damsels (all three sisters) in distress.  And I have been his favorite "bad guy" to karate chop.
Last night my knight in shinning armor (that's right Daddy made him an oak sword out of scraps from the workshop), came down in his big sister's pink tutu.  "Look Daddy.  Skirt," and laughed his head off.  My husband kept a straight face and asked him what color it is, "Piiiink."
"Do boys or girls wear pink?"
"Girls."
"Go take it off and put it away please, son."
And as bright as can be, "OK."
I couldn't hold back the giggles as my super-manly, pink-skirted boy toddled back upstairs to play tools with his reluctant sisters.

What would you do if you Ran the World?

I live in the great, corrupted state of Illinois.  There is no money, there is no standard of excellence, and there is no code of conduct that someone hasn't walked all over.  I know that the state is broke (even though our taxes are high and our unemployment higher), and there are many who are without work.  When there is no work, there is no money.  No money means no food for a lot of people across the country.  I am not trying to say that there aren't good things in the world and this state; however, I think I have come up with a solution to at least one problem.
Our food banks need food.  I propose we take a small portion of all government lawns (i.e. libraries, schools, city halls, post offices, etc) and make them into a veggie/fruit garden.  THINK OF IT!  That lawn has to be maintained anyway, right?  Union workers or city gardeners have to have their people working on them whether they are grass or veggies, so let's make them veggies and give them to the food banks.  School kids can learn all about the science of growing food and the satisfaction of being able to serve someone in the community!  (Wouldn't it be awesome if they could eat some of it for their school lunches?)  Food banks get the food needed (maybe the city building workers who need a little extra could work out time in garden for food from garden if need be), the tax payer isn't wasting money on maintaining ALL that grass (just some of it), and the students learn about vital parts of life they can take home and teach their parents. 
Understandably I haven't done the budgets, maybe this would cost more, but I really don't see how it could (especially if we don't use pesticides).  There would be a million hoops to jump through and a ton of people complaining about the beautiful grass being taken away. 
BUT, if I ran the world, this is the thing I would start right away.  What about you?  What would you start if you ran the world?

Who says life is boring?

As a stay at home mom, I am constantly being asked:  "How do you do it all day long?  Aren't you bored?"
And I ask you:  Where can you be so much in one day?  In one day I can be a nurse, meal preparer, food critic, referee, laundress, project manager, editor, teacher, bread maker, couture fashion designer, and CEO decision maker.  I shop, research, and dish out kisses by the dozen.  Why! this morning I was hiding from pirates, searching for lost treasure, and learning addition and subtraction.  And that was just the fun stuff I did. 
I bet you didn't know that as a mom you have to wear so many hats (true most of them have just been cleaned out by four-year-old hands) that your own head spins.  This weekend I was a party planner, interior designer, weatherman, grounds crew, and chef. 
Bored?  You have GOT to be kidding me.

Fancy Nancy

Grandma came back from a Make-a-Wish trip (LOVE Make-a-Wish and cannot say enough about how wonderful they are) to Europe.  She went to Rome and Paris, but of course the highlight of the trip (at least for her grandkids) was EuroDisney.  She brought the two oldest girls pink Mickey Mouse ears with princess tiaras on them.  Our four-year-old puts it on and swings her hips, "Look, Mom. I am.. . Faaaancy Naaancy."  I couldn't get over just how giggly cute she was.

Tell me I imagined that Black Eye

Yesterday I couldn't write down all of the episodes into one blog.  I needed some time to allow my mind to digest all that happened. Hopefully I will be able to give you an idea of just what happened in our home.  We woke up with nightmares from my two-year-old boy.  Little did he know it was just beginning.  His oldest sister (six-year-old) decided that her summer break has gotten boring so from the first she harassed EVERYONE.  She wanted a movie.  She stepped on her brother's stomach "playing." Five minutes later, she kneed him in the stomach "wrestling." She wanted something to color.  She wanted to go to the park (it was raining buckets). She didn't want to make her bed, or clean her room.
LUNCH TIME, and tag it off to the three-year-old.  She didn't want to take a nap.  If I made her clean then she wouldn't go to sleep.  Picking up this one block was too hard.  The book was too heavy.  She didn't want to take turns so she whacked the boy in the head.  She decided to play drums.  She whacked herself in the head.  The boy had a moment's peace so he thought to twrill around at the top of the stairs.  You guessed it.  While I was holding the six-month baby girl (who was hungry), he looses balance, falls, and hits his eye on the metal banister.  Thank goodness he didn't fall down any more stairs.
ICE PACK, but it is already bruised and puffy.  Feed the baby, try to calm the boy, while the two oldest act as if nothing happened.  An hour later, Daddy comes home and miraculously there isn't another issue.  Please explain to me how the car can make the most awful sound until the mechanic takes a look at it.  I swear sometimes my husband must think my imagination runs wild.