Crafty First Attempts

I've been hoping to pull out my sewing machine for a while now to try out a few sewing crafts and yesterday I decided to stop procrastinating and start doing.  I had already pulled out my big bin of fabric a few days before trying to decide whether or not I should make a shopping cart seat cover that would fit on the carts at my favorite Target after discovering that the Floppy Seat we have won't exactly fit on the newer style of Target cart.  That project is on my procrastinate list at the moment, but I'll be working on it soon enough if time permits.

Yesterday I decided that I'd try my hand at making a crinkle square with ribbon tags.  I have lots of ribbon left over from bows I made years ago (another craft I'll be getting back into once Katie has enough hair) so I had some fun matching ribbons up to the fabric I wanted to use.  My first attempt at a square was pretty good except for me sewing it the wrong way as far as how I lined up the pins were concerned.  The square would have been perfect if one of my ribbon tags hadn't fallen off before it was sewn into the seam.  My second attempt was better, but the open end of the seam didn't want to fold in properly.  Grrr.

Once I had enough fun with making a baby toy, I thought it would be nice to try making a little quilt for Katie to play on in the family room.  I've wanted to make a quilt for about 8 years now, but I kept shelving the idea because I was convinced it would be too much work for something that probably wouldn't look so great once it was finished.  I figured I'd give it a shot and see if I could make a small quilt with 8 inch squares.  Bigger squares mean fewer seams and less cutting so why not?  I picked three fabrics and started cutting.  Between last night and this morning I spent about two hours piecing the quilt together and I have to say I'm really surprised that making a quilt wasn't as difficult as I expected, and it looks pretty good.  My seams are lined up and I am convinced that I am finally capable of consistently sewing in a straight line.  Yay!

Once I get a few spare hours I'll have to work on making a few things to put up in my new etsy shop.  Bryan has been telling me for a while now that I should try selling some of the things I make.  Ellie's eye patches are one of the things that I'll be making for the shop since people frequently stop us to ask where we got it and my answer is usually followed up with people asking me if I sell them or telling me that I should sell them.  I have some funny patch ideas for boys that I would love to make.

Now that my first attempts at new ideas are finished I'm going to take a break and watch Katie enjoy her new things.  She already likes her crinkly square.