Baby Blanket

Happy New Year Everyone! We hope you all had a great Christmas. I know we sure did. Becky and I had so much fun spending time with family and enjoying the season. Now that we are getting back into the swing of things, I'm excited to show off one of my new fun projects. 

Probably about a year a go I found this great pattern on Moda Bake Shop called the Just Growing Quilt. The pattern can be found here. In the pattern she used the Bliss line. I instantly fell in love with the blue, pink and red. Since I have decided to so my nursery for our next little one in blue, pink and red I was really inspired by this quilt. I searched for some Bliss charm packs and couldn't find any, but I soon fell in love with this new line called Sophia!!! It is beautiful and I love all the tiny houndstooth prints in this line. 

I knew this would be a great beginner quilt for me. I love that you use charm packs so I don't have to cut a lot of fabric and the simple sqaures were similar to my Halloween Quilt. This quilt was so fun to make I just couldn't stop sewing. 

The other fun thing about this pattern is it includes patterns of this fun applique flowers to add to the quilt. I really feel like they added a lot. 

I am such a sucker for soft blankets and just couldn't resist adding this red rose minky to the back. I love how this quilt is so sweet but has a little spunk at the same time. 

(heart) juju

Yo-Yo's

Voila!  I just finished my mother's Christmas present!  Didn't my yo-yo Table Top turn out cute?  This is nothing new to the sewing world, but it was new to me.  I actually started it at the beginning of this year and I just finished it today....Needless to say it took me FOREVER!  But my Mom's worth it--I kind of like her;)  Ok, I like her a lot and my making this for her, and giving it away--PROVES IT!

 It matches her cute house and I'm sure she's going to love having it out year round--well, she better anyway:)

 I hand stitched each and every one of these yo-yo's and then I hand sewed them all together.  I did it row by row by row while watching ALOT of Gilmore Girls:)

Now that I see it all put together it makes me want to make one for myself:)  But it's definitely going to be one of my 'someday' projects:)  ANyway--just had to show you what I've been up to!  Hope you are having a Merry Merry Christmas!

xoxo,B

Quilted Thankful Tree

Last year I stumbled upon an idea about doing a Thankful Tree with your kiddos.  How it works is that the first day of November you sit down with the Fam and each of you takes a turn saying what you are thankful for.  You write it down on a leaf and put it up on the branch so you can see what you are thankful for everyday and remember what Thanksgiving is all about.  Brilliant idea no?  Well, this was my family's thankful tree last year:

This is my Thankful Tree this year!!  Can you say Gorgeous?  Fantastic?  Ridiculously AMAZING!  Those are all the things I made my husband say to me after I was done ;)  

Now, this project takes quite a bit of time, but don't all quilting projects?  It definitely is not hard but it requires patience!    It's so worth it though because just think--every year you will get to pull it out and your family will get to enjoy it!  Plus it's so cute--and already in my family considered an heirloom;)  Ok not really--but I'm choosing to assume that my kids will remember this tradition forever and will want to continue it on in their own family--because they thought they had such a rad Mom! :)  Right?  Right!  Holla!

So, Here's whatcha need in order to make this FABULOUS QUILTY THANKFUL TREE:

2 Strips Brown Fabric for tree trunk--front and back (I used muslin because it's what I had on hand)

1 piece fusible batting for tree trunk

1 piece of wonder under same size as tree trunk

2 fabric rectangles for the tree top (I used Muslin and a piece of red because red matched my tree)

1 piece fusible batting for tree top--same size as tree top

1 piece wonder under for tree top

1 piece of red fabric to cut out a heart

1 piece of wonder under same size as heart fabric

Embroidery hoop and thread and needle

However many strips of brown fabric you want to make for your tree trunk(I used between 30 and 40)

However many leaves you want to cut out, just remember to incorporate how many members of your family and how many you'll use each night:) (I did over 100)

Strips of sew on velcro

Pieces of velcro for however many leaves you have

3 short pieces of ribbon

Lots of coordinating thread

NoTe: Don't make your tree trunk too tall because you want little kiddos to be able to reach.  

NoTe 2: Make your tree top big enough to fit all your leaves on there!  

1. Cut out your leaves--make sure you cut out a front and back side. Take one side of your leaf and sew on a piece of sew-on velcro to the right side of the fabric.  

Take the other side of your leaf and iron on your fusible interfacing.  Now sandwich your leaves with the velcro on the outside and the interfacing in the middle.  Sew around the edges.  Repeat for all your leaves!  (I watched Gilmore Girl Episodes while I cut out and sewed all my leaves together:))  Set aside.

2.  Take your Tree Top Rectangles and iron on your fusible interfacing to the wrong side of your fabric on one rectangle. Now lay your wonder under on top of the other side of the interfacing and then put wrong side of fabric of your other tree top rectangle on top of that.  Iron it until it fuses together.  Now cut out a tree top shape to your liking:)  Scalloped edges are cute.

3.  Repeat process with Tree Trunk Rectangle pieces.  Your trunk should now look like this:

Cut a around it to make it look more like a trunk:

4.  Cut wavy strips out of your brown fabric scraps.  I used all different lengths and widths!  Pin a few on at a time.  Sew in place using free motion quilting.  If you have a walking foot on your sewing machine this is very helpful!  If it bunches up that's great--it just adds more character to your tree trunk!

Just add a few at a time and keep going!  Work your way all the way up the tree trunk!

5. Now Sew your Tree trunk to your Tree top.  I just went around the edges of my little branches.

6.  Next, sew on  your velcro.  I did mine in strips so I could fit on as many leaves as possible.  Your tree is almost finished! 

7.  Take your ribbon and create a loop like this:

Zig Zag stitch across the back of your tree top to hold it in place. The back of your tree top should now look like this: 

These ribbons are put on the back so you can hang your tree up on the wall.  I put command strips onto my wall and hung the ribbon onto those!  

Here's a close up of the back of my tree--see all that free motion quilting!

8.  Trace your heart.  I searched on google images until I found one in the size I liked.  Then I traced around the edges onto my fabric.  Then I printed out what I wanted to say on my heart in Word and fooled around with the sizing until I felt like it filled up my heart.

I taped my paper with my saying on it to the window, and covered it with my fabric.  Then I traced the lettering onto my fabric like so: (Note: I used a fabric marker)

If you click on the image you'll be able to see my tracing.  Next, I took my embroidery hoop and put it around my heart. Then I took my embroidery floss/thread and using my needle, I embroidered my saying.  :)

Take a piece of wonder under and iron your cut out( I used pinking shears here to give it more of a ragged look) and embroidered heart to your tree trunk.  Now stitch around the edges.  And Alleluia!  You are DONE! 

Ahhhhhhhh...Isn't it:

Gorgeous?!

Fantastic?!

Ridiculously Amazing?

Well, I think it is!  And I'm so excited it's something I get to pull out and use every year.  AND--I will never again have to cut out another maple leaf! ;)

Told ya my girls LOVE it!  I know your kiddos will too!  Happy Thanksgiving and remember what you are thankful for!

Halloween Quilt Tutorial & Sale

Becky and I have been working on some big fun projects lately. There is just something about cooler weather that makes me want to craft and sew and crochet. I love being inside where it's warm and working on something fun. Since Becky and I are having so much fun crafting we wanted to do a jujuB sale for our Etsy shop! 

Check out our Etsy shop here. This is a great time to get some fun Halloween items from our Halloween inspired collection. Or shop for Christmas presents. Enter the coupon code 

HALLOWEEN2 for 15% off your total purchase!!!! 

Sale ends Sunday night so get your orders in soon. 

If you've seen something on our blog that's not in our shop, or would like a custom order, please send us a convo on Etsy or send us an email at jujubstash@yahoo.com

My latest project is this Halloween quilt!!! It is so warm and comfortable. I know my family is going to love pulling it out each fall when it starts to get cold outside. The front is squares of my favorite Halloween/ Fall fabrics and the back is all black minky!!!

Now before we start, I have to clarify. This Tutorial is for BEGINNERS!!!!! In fact, I have a confession... this is the first quilt I have ever made by myself, start to finish!!!!! It is quick and easy and I was able to make it in about a week. So if I can do it, you can to!!!!! This quilt pattern can easily be duplicated with any cute fabric that you love. And the best part about this quilt is the back is covered with MINKY!!!! Our followers will know I am totally in love with MINKY right now. It is so soft and cozy and makes this blanket so much more comfortable. In my family this blanket is affectionately called the nap blanket. I swear it has special powers and when you cuddle up with it, you're bound to doze off. It's so cozy!!!!

So I had a bunch of fabric left over from my FABRIC PUMPKINS. 

I really loved the fabrics I bought and wanted to use them in another fun project. Becky and I went shopping for fabric and this blanket fell neatly into place.

SUPPLIES

1/ 2 yard of 7 different fabrics

3/4 yard of fabric for the binding

2 yards of minky for the back

batting

yarn 

yarn needle

quilting pins

basic quilting supplies 

Prep Work: To prep for making this quilt, buy and gather all your supplies, wash and iron out your fabrics. Don't iron the minky though!!

Step #1: Cut your fabric. I cut the entire 1/2 yard of each of the 7 different fabrics into 6 x 6 inch squares.  

My 2 year old was "helping."

Step #2: Lay out your pattern. Once everything was cut, I laid out my pattern and played with it until I liked how the fabrics went together. For this quit I had 9 squares across the top and 13 squares down. I decided I really liked this stair-case type pattern the best. After you lay it all out. Stack them up, so you can sew together each line of 9 first. 

Step #3: Start sewing.  Sew strips of the 9 squares together first. After I had a few strips sewn I would then sew the strips together. I was so excited at this point because my quilt was starting to come together. I learned through error, but it would have been a good idea to iron the seams all one way after sewing the strips. So then when I sewed the strips together the seams will all be going one way. This will help the quilt will lay flat and sew together better. 

Step #4: Pin and tie your quilt (or send it out to be quilted together). I was feeling so excited my quilt top was done and I loved it. Now what do you do next? I love blogs like Moda Bake Shop. But it only shows you how to do the top of the quilt. After that I was totally lost on how to put it together. So I called on my quilting friends for help. They helped me lay out my quilt. First the back, then the batting, then the top. Leave yourself a few inches of the back and the binding. 

Next I borrowed Becky's quilting pins to start pinning the quilt together. (You could also use safety pins, but you'll need a lot of them). Start in the middle and make sure to pin through all the layers (and don't pin it your carpet). Try to smooth out any wrinkles or creases as you work. You want the fabric to be tight without any bunches. Once the quilt is all pinned start tying the quilt. Now you could skip this step and have some one quilt it together. I wanted this quilt to be fairly low budget, so I decided to just tie it with yarn. Start tying in the middle and work your way out. By the way, a yarn needle makes a huge difference!!!!!!

Step #5. Bind  you quilt. Now I'm not going to lie. This was the part of making a quilt that I was pee-my-pants-scared to do. I was terrified that I was going to ruin the whole thing!!! Now if like me, you don't even know what binding is, or the very thought of it makes you hyperventilate, take a few deep breaths and follow me. You can do it, I promise!!!! I started by trimming the back and batting so they lined up with the top of my quilt. Next I studied the following tutorial for cutting and sewing the binding very carefully. 

The tutorial does a great job of showing each step. Now, my binding is not perfect, but I DID IT!!!!! I know I'll get better at binding with practice. I love my blanket and I know my family will love it for years to come. It was really fun to do and is a great project for a beginner.

(heart) JuJu