Project List and Finished Projects

Got a few things done this weekend and even hosted a toddler craft day.  

I finished and hung up the crochet grandma bunting and added hearts to the bunting.  I attached the hearts using safety pins and after February I will replace the hearts with shamrocks.

I also completed the top for the 1600 jelly roll quilt.  It was fairly easy to assemble but I don't totally love it.  Maybe it needs to grow on me some.  I still need to pick out the backing and then baste, quilt and bind it.  I also thought I would like the colors more than I really do.  I was never a huge fan of the look of the 1600 quilt but always wanted to try it.

Close up shot

Another close up shot

I finished 2 more of the red blocks for the Block-A-Long (sorry no pictures this time)

Crochet Block-A-Long Blocks Completed

Green 2 of 25

Red 5 of 25

Blue 0 of 25

Yellow 0 of 25

 

Here is the rest of the list.  I really need to make the train and music bins for my son.  Hopefully I can work on that some this week.

Rank	Project	Status	How Many
	Crochet Hearts for Bunting	COMPLETE
1	Crochet St Paddys for Bunting		8
2	Trains Fabric Bin		1
3	Music Fabric Bin		1
4	1600 Quilt	50% Complete	1
5	Kitchen Aid Bowl Cover		1
6	Kitchen Aid Cover		1
7	White Crochet Baby Blanket	25% Complete	1
8	Pink Eyelash Knit Scarf	Started	1
9	Kitchen Oven Mitts - Wedding Gift		1
10	Car Mat Quilt		1
11	White Newborn Hat and Booties		2
12	Animal Cloth Blocks		2
13	Floor Cushions		1
14	Swiffer Wet Jet Reusable Pads		3
15	Christmas Quilt	65% Complete	1
16	Hooty Hoot Owl Quilt		1
17	Medium Rice Therapy Hot/Cold Bags		3
18	Numbers Bean Bags		1
19	Pink Knit Baby Blanket		1
20	Girl Animal Print Rag Quilt		1
21	Baseball Knit Hat and Booties		2
22	Football Knit Hat and Booties	50% Complete	2
23	Sewing Machine Cover		1
24	Lovey Tag Blankets		2
25	Mini Apron and Oven Mitts Set		1
26	Small Rice Therapy Hot/Cold Bags		3
27	T-shirt Yoga Pants		2
28	Alphabet Bean Bags		1
29	Red Knit Prayer Shawl		1

Project List and Finished Projects

I really meant to get this posted on Wednesday but a sick child will always put you a few days behind. I have photos of some of the projects that I blogged about last week and started work on a few more things.

Here are the two car rolls I made recently for birthday gifts.  One of the boys likes baseball and the other is a Star Wars fan.

I also made a little UT baseball hat for one of my best friend's son for the UT Baseball games.  I told you I was a big fan.

I have also almost finished make a crocheted bunting for my mantel.  I am making the mantel in plain white and will make little hearts, easter eggs, other holiday things for the different seasons.  I plan to attach the different items with safety pins to the bunting. 

The next project I am working on is a 1600 quilt.  It is has been on my list for a while but I was waiting to find the right jelly rolls.  I saw these a few weeks ago at Hobby Lobby and they reminded me of spring and Easter time.  I don't really have anything like it but it seemed so cheerful that I thought it would be perfect.

I really had the urge to sew earlier today and the 1600 quilt seemed like an easy thing to get started with without having to do a lot of cutting first.  

I haven't made much progress on organizing my house and haven't made any more blocks for the Crochet Block-A-Long.  I spent all week working on the bunting instead.

Here is the rest of the project list - hopefully I will knock some of the things off soon.

Rank	Project	Status	How Many
	UT Baseball Earflap Hat	COMPLETED
	Car Roll - Starwars	COMPLETED
	Crochet Bunting	COMPLETED
1	Crochet Hearts for Bunting	80% Complete	8
2	Trains Fabric Bin		1
3	Music Fabric Bin		1
4	1600 Quilt	15% Complete	1
5	Kitchen Aid Bowl Cover		1
6	Kitchen Aid Cover		1
7	White Crochet Baby Blanket	25% Complete	1
8	Pink Eyelash Knit Scarf	Started	1
9	Kitchen Oven Mitts - Wedding Gift		1
10	Car Mat Quilt		1
11	White Newborn Hat and Booties		2
12	Animal Cloth Blocks		2
13	Floor Cushions		1
14	Swiffer Wet Jet Reusable Pads		3
15	Christmas Quilt	65% Complete	1
16	Hooty Hoot Owl Quilt		1
17	Medium Rice Therapy Hot/Cold Bags		3
18	Numbers Bean Bags		1
19	Pink Knit Baby Blanket		1
20	Girl Animal Print Rag Quilt		1
21	Baseball Knit Hat and Booties		2
22	Football Knit Hat and Booties	50% Complete	2
23	Sewing Machine Cover		1
24	Lovey Tag Blankets		2
25	Mini Apron and Oven Mitts Set		1
26	Small Rice Therapy Hot/Cold Bags		3
27	T-shirt Yoga Pants		2
28	Alphabet Bean Bags		1
29	Red Knit Prayer Shawl		1

Project List Update

After a slow crafty start to the year I have finished a few things in the past few weeks.

I completed the longhorn baseball hat and t-shirt bag for baseball season and also made a pair of matching Valentine's Day headbands for B's little friends that are BFFs.  

I also completed some more blocks for the BBC Crochet Block-A-Long.  I am doing classic yellow, red, blue and green blocks and have estimated to need 25 blocks of each color or 100 total to make a child size blanket.

Here are the blocks completed the past 2 weeks (sorry for the bad picture)

Crochet Block-A-Long Blocks Completed

Green 2 of 25

Red 3 or 25

Blue 0 of 25

Yellow 0 of 25

Here is the rest of the project list:

Rank	Project	Status	How Many
	T-Shirt Bag	COMPLETED	1
	Longhorn Baseball Hat	COMPLETED	1
	Crochet Slouchy Beanie	COMPLETED	1
	Car Roll - Birthday Gift	COMPLETED	1
	Valentine's Day Headbands	COMPLETED	2
1	UT Baseball Earflap Hat	50% Complete	1
2	Car Roll Starwars		1
3	Trains Fabric Bin		1
4	Music Fabric Bin		1
5	Kitchen Aid Bowl Cover		1
6	Kitchen Aid Cover		1
7	White Crochet Baby Blanket	25% Complete	1
8	Pink Eyelash Knit Scarf	Started	1
9	Kitchen Oven Mitts - Wedding Gift		1
10	Car Mat Quilt		1
11	White Newborn Hat and Booties		2
12	Animal Cloth Blocks		2
13	Floor Cushions		1
14	Swiffer Wet Jet Reusable Pads		3
15	Christmas Quilt	65% Complete	1
16	Hooty Hoot Owl Quilt		1
17	Medium Rice Therapy Hot/Cold Bags		3
18	Numbers Bean Bags		1
19	Pink Knit Baby Blanket		1
20	Girl Animal Print Rag Quilt		1
21	Sewing Machine Cover		1
22	Lovey Tag Blankets		2
23	Mini Apron and Oven Mitts Set		1
24	Small Rice Therapy Hot/Cold Bags		3
25	T-shirt Yoga Pants		2
26	Alphabet Bean Bags		1
27	Red Knit Prayer Shawl		1
28	1600 Quilt		1

Crocheted Baseball Hat

I am a HUGE Texas Longhorns Baseball fan, HUGE!  We go to all the games and even here in Texas, it can get pretty chilly sitting there for 2-3 hours watching a game.  I decided to make B a hat for the colder games when he ballcap just won't do.  I was initially going to do an earflap hat but decided a newsboy style hat with a block T would be way cuter.

 The classic Texas baseball hat is white with the block T.  The picture below is what the team currently wears.

Google.com

I followed the Cheri Hat pattern on Ravely and made the rim a little longer and also made the hat a little longer to make sure it would cover B's ears. 

 

I then made a block T and kind of made the pattern as I went.  I did single crochet stitches and appliqued it on to the hat starting in the center and then stitching it on around the sides.

Project List and Finished Projects

Well there isn't much update to the project list so I won't post it but wanted to show a few things that I have completed the past few months.

 This is a set of matching crayon rolls for adults for Christmas.  I found the matching fat quarters at Joanns and then picked out some coordinating colors for the back of the crayon rolls

 Newborn baseball earflap hat

 Gray and white hat for my sister for Christmas

 Blue beanie with white strips for B(2)

 Brown Newsboy hat for B (2)

 Off White beanie for me

 Cranberry slouchy hat for me

I also joined a crochet block-a-long on my Crochet Mamas board on BabyCenter.  I was originally going to do different granny squares until I saw this adorable Lego Crochet Blanket from All Things Bright and Beautiful.  Immediately I knew that it was the perfect project for the block-a-long.  The goal is to complete a block or two a week and post our progress.  I am aiming for 3-5 blocks a week since they are smaller and pretty simple to make.  I went to Hobby Lobby and got basic green, yellow, red and blue yarn that remind me of old school legos.  I will make a bunch of blocks, crochet them together and then give the blanket to B.  Since B isn't quite into legos yet, my goal is to finish it by his birthday (October) and give it to him then along with some legos.  I figure by agev3 he will be more into Legos right?

Here are my blocks so far - the color isn't right by my camera broke so these were taken with my phone.

Project List and Finished Projects

So I haven't posted in a while, oops!   I have meant to but like most people this time of year have been extremely busy.  I finished up a few things, made several crocheted hats and tile coasters for a craft show in early December.  I didn't very much at the show but got my name out there a little more.  Like most crafters I was also busy finishing up some Christmas orders and gifts.  Now that the holidays are over I am trying to figure out what project to start next.

Several of the things weren't on the official list so I added some and put below several pictures of things that I have completed recently. I am also looking at my project list and reordering some things.

Longhorns Tutu

Football Crochet Earflap Hat

Coffee Cozies for B's teacher's Christmas gift

 Tile Coasters

 Toddler Shells Beanie

 Newborn Football Hat

 Newborn Butterfly Hat

Child Butterfly Hat

Project List:

Rank Project Status How Many Christmas Faux Chenille Blanket COMPLETE 1 Custom Curtain Order COMPLETE 1 Gray/White Hat COMPLETE 1 Newborn Football Earflap Hat COMPLETE 1 Baby Baseball Earflap Hat COMPLETE 1 Crayon Rolls Order COMPLETE 4 1 Trains Fabric Bin 1 2 Music Fabric Bin 1 3 T-Shirt Bag 1 4 Kitchen Aid Bowl Cover 1 5 Longhorn Baseball Hat 1 6 Kitchen Aid Cover 1 7 Crochet Slouchy Beanie 1 8 White Crochet Baby Blanket 25% Complete 1 9 Pink Eyelash Knit Scarf Started 1 10 Kitchen Oven Mitts - Wedding Gift 1 11 Car Mat Quilt 1 12 White Newborn Hat and Booties 2 13 Animal Cloth Blocks 2 14 Floor Cushions 1 15 Swiffer Wet Jet Reusable Pads 3 16 Christmas Quilt 65% Complete 1 17 Hooty Hoot Owl Quilt 1 18 Medium Rice Therapy Hot/Cold Bags 3 19 Numbers Bean Bags 1 20 Pink Knit Baby Blanket 1 21 Girl Animal Print Rag Quilt 1 22 Baseball Knit Hat and Booties 2 23 Football Knit Hat and Booties 50% Complete 2 24 Sewing Machine Cover 1 25 Lovey Tag Blankets 2 26 Mini Apron and Oven Mitts Set 1 27 Small Rice Therapy Hot/Cold Bags 3 28 T-shirt Yoga Pants 2 29 Alphabet Bean Bags 1 30 Red Knit Prayer Shawl 1 31 1600 Quilt 1

Project List Update

This past week I have been busy working on my Halloween Quilt.  I am guessing I am about 60% done with it, I have 2 of the 6 rows done and will probably need 3 more hours to finish putting the top together.

Here is a sneak peak of the blocks before they were laid out. 

I am hoping to finish the top this week, get the backing fabric and then baste and start quilting it by this weekend.  I am thinking about quilting with with silver thread...

I also made my first crochet earflap hat!  I made this for a friend and followed a pattern online and the hat turned out a little tall but should work.  My friend is a Penn State fan and so I made it white and navy for her daughter.  

I have a craft fair this weekend so this week will be busy making up some crayon rolls and car rolls to go with the quilts and scarfs that I already have for sale.  Whatever I don't sale at the fair (which will probably be everything) is going up on Etsy next week and my Etsy shop will officially be opened!

Rank	Project	Status	How Many
	White and Navy Earflap Hat	COMPLETE	1
1	Bento Box Halloween Quilt	60% Complete	1
2	Crayon Roll for Boys		2
3	Brown Angel Hair Crochet Scarf	66% Complete	1
4	Crayon Roll for Girls		2
5	Car Roll		2
6	Custom Curtain Order		1
7	Christmas Quilt	65% Complete	1
8	Trains Fabric Bin		1
9	Music Fabric Bin		1
10	White Crochet Baby Blanket	25% Complete	1
11	Pink Eyelash Knit Scarf	Started	1
12	Kitchen Oven Mitts - Wedding Gift		1
13	Car Mat Quilt		1
14	White Newborn Hat and Booties		2
15	Animal Cloth Blocks		2
16	Floor Cushions		1
17	Swiffer Wet Jet Reusable Pads		3
18	Hooty Hoot Owl Quilt		1
19	Medium Rice Therapy Hot/Cold Bags		3
20	Numbers Bean Bags		1
21	Pink Knit Baby Blanket		1
22	Girl Animal Print Rag Quilt		1
23	Baseball Knit Hat and Booties		2
24	Football Knit Hat and Booties		2
25	T-Shirt Bag		1
26	Kitchen Aid Cover		1
27	Sewing Machine Cover		1
28	Lovey Tag Blankets		2
29	Mini Apron and Oven Mitts Set		1
30	Small Rice Therapy Hot/Cold Bags		3
31	T-shirt Yoga Pants		2
32	Alphabet Bean Bags		1
33	Red Knit Prayer Shawl		1
34	1600 Quilt		1

Crochet vs Knitting

When I was planning inventory for my Heidi's Nest store back in January, I initially planned to make knit hats, scarves and blankets via loom knitting.  I had started loom knitting about 3 years ago and really enjoyed it and it was easy to do, quick, easy to teach others and also easy to keep track of stitches because they didn't fall off the loom.  

Once I started making more things, I thought that I should learn how to knit to make newborn hats and booties.  I taught myself but it seemed to take forever to finish something (even though I did finish some booties) and I was wondering how I was going to finish all the inventory that I had planned to make.

There seemed to be interest growing online in learning to crochet and I had always wanted to learn so I jumped in and taught myself that via youtube videos.  I did crochet some items and some items I knitted but after a few months I have really taken to crochet more.  I think being able to finish things faster helps but it seems that crochet is much more natural to me that knitting.

I think there are pros and cons to each method.  Knitting is better for clothes and form fitting items and certain yarns such as eyelash yarns, fun furs, etc are really, really hard to crochet.  You can't see stitches very well and those yarns seem to do better with knitting and are even easier to loom knit with!  Knitting uses less yarn while crocheting is easier (at least for me) to take out rows that I screwed up and not having to start all over again. 

I am still a beginner with both skills but enjoy learning and expanding my skills.  One thing that I haven't practiced yet is changing colors but I am ready to tackle that soon.  Once I knock out a few sewing things I am going to try and crochet B an ear flap hat for when it gets colder.

Mom's Birthday Scarf and Apple Pie

My mom's birthday was over labor day weekend and since she didn't want anything and I made a scarf and also an apple which is her favorite.  

I whipped us this crocheted scarf in a few hours and went with the classic burnt orange (Go Horns!) as I know that color with always go well with her.  I found the pattern online somewhere but don't remember where so can't provide a link. The scarf kind of reminds me of some crocheted stuff from the 1970's but my mom was really happy with and really liked the pattern I chose. Now if only we could get some fall weather here in Texas, it was over 100 degrees again today!

I felt since the scarf was really quick and easy that I would also make her a homemade apple pie as a birthday "cake."  I used the apple pie recipe from the classic Better Homes and Garden Cookbook.  I substituted butter for the shortening in the crust and made a little less pie filling then it called for since I was using a smaller pan.  I also added some of Penzy's Apple Pie Spice to the filling, I love that stuff!  To make things a little easier and also because my mom loves apple crumble and peach cobblers, I made a crumb topping (in the same cookbook) instead of the traditional pie crust topping.

A recent tip I read on the Pioneer Woman blog said to roll out your pie dough between two sheets of parchment paper.  This worked extremely well and you don't have the dough sticking to your rolling pin and don't wind up adding extra flour to your dough.

I don't have a picture of the inside of the pie because I gave to my mom went I met her for lunch and never even got to taste it.  She said it was very yummy though!

Quick and Easy Crochet Headband

Last week I made of pair of headband's for our little neighbor's 3rd birthday party.  The little girl is into dress up and pink and purple so I made two headband and a pink and purple tutu for her birthday party at Build a Bear. For the headbands I followed a pattern I found online and I could whip up the headbands in about 30 minutes and did a few crochet flowers too.

 The headband uses a v-stitch with a ch 3 and dc on each end.  The pattern was very easy to memorize after making it once and I made the headbands about 16 inches in length then whip-stitch the ends together.  I sewed the crochet flowers on top of where I joined the headband to hide the seems.

For the first flower I found this pattern on the blog Action Hero after following links from Raverly. I loved the way the flower turned out and will probably use it as my go to crochet flower for headbands and hats.  It gives great dimension and isn't too big or bulky but can easily be made into a larger flower if need be.

The second flower I made was a quick and easy one from Aesthetic Nest blog that I follow.  She actually posted the tutorial when I was working on these headbands and the timing was perfect. She posts some great sewing ideas and tutorials plus some nice and easy to flower crochet patterns for those learning to crochet like me. I believe this flower took me 5 minutes to make!  It is a great way to embellish a shirt, hat, headband, bag, etc.