A Weekend of Mini-Projects

FINISHED! I finally finished Baby Liam's Quilt. I put a label on it (but didn't share due to using his full name) and washed it for that crinkly look. Seriously, when my drier buzzed done I opened up that door and grabbed that quilt and just buried my face in it. I hope he'll do the same. Just two more months until I see that little man and give him his brand new quilt! So happy with how it turned out. I feel like a professional quilter now.



So now that I got to check off Liam's baby quilt off my list (yes, I have a standing list) I decided to knock two more things off the list this weekend. First off....


LOOK AT THIS FABRIC! I pretty much died when I saw it at the Quilting Loft in Ballard. Look how gorgeous!



And I had the perfect use for them. So growing up (Mom, don't get mad!) we had a junk mail pile on the corner of our kitchen counter. No matter how much we sorted through it (and the napkin basket sat on top) we always had mail piled on the counter. I find that I have that now in my own home as well and I have about a third of the counter space. Well I'm sick of it! It's unsightly in our little apartment. It ruins the ambience I'm going for. We have it stacked next to the absinthe fountain. So I (finally) did something about it.

With those gorgeous fabrics I made a mail organizer so I could hang it all on the wall. Not my own invention, however. I got the tutorial here. Now we have a place to keep our stamps without having to remember where I put them last. We have a place to keep our little notebook we make grocery lists on. And we have a place to keep bills at eye level so we don't forget.

Once finished I sorted our mail pile and got to work figuring out a system. I actually ended up filing/throwing away a lot of that pile so it's bare necessities that made it in... well... once the cat got off of it.

I then promptly hung it up so I had no excuses. Our counter is now pristine and we have a little piece of me on the wall... holding our mail.

So then I moved on to a project for the hubby. We have a small den in our apartment that houses our computer and musical instruments. It gets DUSTY in there! I am an avid, some may say obsessive, cleaner and I just can't get a handle on all the dust. City dust, yuck! It gets in the keys of Matt's wurly (aka Wurlitzer Electric Piano) and is causing some problems. So he asked for a piano cover. Ask and you shall receive!

I think he now understands why it takes me so long in a fabric shop. I told him I'd make it if he'd pick out the fabric since he'd be the one looking at it all the time (plus, I would have picked something super colorful with paisley's on it. He would have barfed). He agreed and proceeded to question every fabric choice he made by finding the next great fabric. What about this one? Oh wait! This one would be awesome. No, no. This one! After a grueling Just Pick One! moment he decided, rather well I'd say, on this blue fabric with navy polka dots. Easy on the eyes and a perfect fit for the music room.

I spent about two hours making measurements and sitting down with a piece of paper, a pen, and a calculator. I drafted a pattern and whallah! I'm sure proud of how it fits. It's a really tight fit with a nice hem and yes, my initial pattern didn't quite work. I had to make a few adjustments but it turned out super professional and really perfect. Plus, it's nice to know that when it gets dusty we can just throw it in the wash. He loves it!

Here's a sneak peek at the quilt I'm working on now. It's for Baby Baker who is 18 weeks old in his mama's belly.