Race Car Caddy

I am so darn slow at getting anything done around here, but I finally finished the race car caddy idea that I have been planning for months and months. I loved the way it turned out, though I did make a measurement error with the Velcro so I have to sew on additional Velcro- oh well.

It has a flap that you lays flat when it is folded up, but then Velcros to make a cross-over bridge.
And then it fold neatly up into a little caddy or briefcase as I like to think of it.
And just so you know, I AM working on the tutorial for the princess caddy, but just be warned everything is slow going in this house.

Morgan's Strawberry Suprise

I love the strawberry shortcake character, not only because I had this same cake made for my birthday when I was little (it's the cake pan that keeps on giving), but because it is still so cute. I love the colors; I love that all her friends live in a berry; I love that Morgan loves them, too.

I made some strawberry bean bags to play a berry toss game.

And being a true nerd that I am, I made a little berry village to decorate the food table and Claire and Morgan loved playing with the berry houses.

How big of a fan are you? Can you name those three characters?

Borders tutorial

Wavy Borders-what to do with them? If I quilt it, there will puckers. So here are a few pointers.

First of all accuracy in every step is very important.
And when you are working on the bias, it is really important to not to stretch the edges.
Spraying the fabric with spray starch and ironing it before you sew helps the fabric not to stretch.


Unpick the borders! Spray them with spray starch and iron them so that they won't stretch as much.

Then you want to square up the quilt the best that you can. Make sure that your corners are square and that the quilt lies flat.
Measure through the middle of the quilt. Sometimes the edges can get stretched and by measuring through the middle, it helps to bring the quilt back into square.

Cut your first border the exact size of this measurement.
Then fold the border in half and then in fourths and mark with pins. Do the same for the quilt.
Match up the pins on the border and quilt and work in any fullness carefully. If you have one side that is fuller that the other, put that side on the bottom when you sew it. The feed dogs on the sewing machine will help ease the fullness in.

Now measure the quilt lengthwise including the two borders that you have just sewn on. Use that measurement (lengthwise of quilt and plus the 2 borders) Use that measurement to cut the next 2 borders. Divide the quilt in fourths and the border in fourths. Match the pins again. And sew the borders on.
I measured and matched the pins 12 times on this quilt.
It takes a little bit more time, but the quilt lies a lot flatter


I hope that this helps in future projects. Any questions on anything that I haven't made very clear, let me know.

doll clothes

Mom and I started this doll dress when she came to visit last February.  I just barely finished it, and am excited to make some more for my little girls. 

Humanitarian Quilt

Fabrics from Walmart.  Not my best work, but I get so excited making these quilts as I picture some child, somewhere, needing and loving it.  I hope that is the way it works.  For humanitarian quilt instructions (and patterns/instructions for other humanitarian projects), go here. 

No-Sew Quiet Book

Last night, while the boys were camping, Abby and I made this preschool no-sew quiet book with file folder games.  There are a lot of tutorials for these so I'll just leave you with a couple of websites that I found the print-outs on (all free of course).  Feel free to share any other sites that you may have found. 

1.  http://www.filefolderfun.com/ (by far the best site with the games organized into grades and subjects -- you just have to be careful not to let the ads confuse you). 

2.  www.mormonchic.com/crafty/filefolders.asp (seven preschool file folder games with general instructions on how to assemble file folder games)

3.  http://mormonshare.com/taxonomy/term/1352/file-folder-games (LDS oriented games, perfect for church.  I haven't used these yet, but I have big plans). 

Note on Laminating.  My local staples/office max/office depot etc. charged $1 a page for laminating.  It is much cheaper to purchase a laminator and the sheets.  I found a laminator at Walmart for $24.99 and a 50 pack of sheets for $12.99 (I had a $10 gift card which helped).  Now I have a laminator on hand and can easily make more books for my kids, for gifts or for LDS humanitarian efforts. 

Here are a few of the pages I put together (there are a lot more!)  And even though they are traditionally made with file folders (hence the name "file folder games"), I just used cardstock as that is what I had around my house. 

I store the cutouts in a ziplock bag, which I put in a laminated pocket stapled to the back of the work sheets.   

More Puppets

Mike decided that we needed a Dad and Mom puppet, so we made two more.  These are so easy to make and my kids absolutely love helping me make them and then playing with them.  Good thing Tom supplies us with an endless supply of holey socks! 

Yellow Quilt

I made this yellow quilt with all the yellow scraps mom gave me. Thanks mom! Samantha is about half way done with her yellow quilt which is scraps from mine which is scraps from moms.


This is the yellow brick road pattern. The size is right between lap and twin, with no border. I am really happy with how it turned out. I plan on using it as a lap quilt.