Mini-Quilt!

Last week I made a commitment to Amy that I would finish this project.  I wasn't sure if I would be able to do it, what with the three month old twins and all.  But it turns out that all I had to do was step away from the computer and just work on it whenever I had a few minutes.  And I finished it with a couple of days to spare!  Wahoo!  To see what other people finished last week, check out the link:

And here's what I did last week:

I made a mini!

I'm thinking of trying the quilt-as-you-go method for quilting my Fandango quilt, since it is going to be another huge one.  However, I've never done it before so I decided to make a mini quilt to test my skills.  It was also a good chance for me to try a couple different quilting styles to see which one I liked best.  So I made mini "out of the box" blocks to practice on, using some fabric from my stash. 
I knew I wanted to quilt straight lines in all the neutral fabric, but everything else was anyone's guess.  These are the designs I tried:

Feathers and pebbles.  I really wanted these to work, but I think it is just too busy.

This one has wavy lines in the border box.  Then for the solid box I just traced around the design on the fabric.  I think I like this one the best.

Loops, meandering, and swirls.  

All straight lines.  Too poofy.

Here is the back.  I think it looks kinda cool.   Even though the four sections don't meet too well in the middle.  Oh well.  One can't be too picky.  I think I like the "wonky" look.

I bound it in this green because I just so happened to have a whole bunch of it already cut and folded.  I've been practicing my machine binding.  Check out my corners!

I found several tutorials for the quilt-as-you-go method.  Two of them were for attaching one block at a time - here and here.  One was for attaching larger sections - here.  And then I found this tutorial after I had already started - genius!  I'll definitely keep this in mind for next time.
I decided to try the first technique and attached each block one at a time, then attaching the rows.  One tutorial suggests putting the overlapping piece on the front, the other suggests putting it on the back.  I tried mine with the overlapping piece on the front, so I could stitch it down by machine and not have the front look funny.  Now that I look at it, I think I will put the overlap on the back next time and try stitching it down by hand to avoid the "strip of fabric sewn on top of everything else" look.  I don't know though.  I'm not too good with hand stitching.  It takes forever.  I think I might also try making my sashing strips just a tad wider, to cut down on bulk. 

The final product is 16 x 16 inches
Fabric is "Pumpkins Gone Wild" by Sandy Gervais - I THINK.  (This fabric was part of a giveaway I won a long time ago.  Who knew I had Sandy Gervais fabric in my stash all this time?!)

Now that this is finished, I have NO IDEA what I'm going to do with it.  What does one do with mini-quilts?

Diaper Pouches

I pinned THIS tutorial on Pinterest a few weeks ago.  Up until now we have been keeping those little 20 packs of diapers in our diaper bag (we got a bunch as a gift).  Now that the little packages are all gone and it only makes sense to buy diapers in BULK when you have twins, I needed something to keep a few diapers in.   I had JUST enough fabric left over from the crib bedding to make this:

It's stuffed clear full - we go through lots of diapers!

Right around the time I was thinking about making this, I found out that two of my friends from work were having a joint baby shower.  I'm still too scared to take two infants with me to Wal-Mart, so I knew my best bet was to make their gifts at home.  Luckily, I made my own diaper pouch first, so I was able to make a few adjustments on the pouches for my friends (specifically the strap).

One of them is having a girl:

And the other is having a boy.  I know that she has decorated her nursery in green and black, which inspired the colors for this pouch:

ALL of the fabric was from my stash (YESSS!).  I didn't have any fusible fleece, so I just used regular batting, but the lining is a stiffer burlap fabric left over from THIS bag.  And I didn't even have to do any shopping!  I finished three pouches in about two days of working off and on between feedings and stuff.  I hope they work out okay!

I can't help but link up with Kati - check out the awesome giveaway she is hosting this month!