Cason's Quilt

Well, the little weekly photography project turned into a quilting project. I didn't really plan it that way starting out, but it's been a fun way to end. 

Some of you may not care at all about the details. That's fine, but if you do they are all below.  The long and short of it is that each photo above was taken on a different yard of fabric (acquired mainly from the salvage bins at Joanns and Hobby Lobby). I then took those fabrics and made a twin-size quilt for Cason's bed that you see below.

I hope one day it's a special little keepsake for him. Danny's bound and determined that he's going to take it to college with him for his dorm room, but I'm afraid by then he might be sick of it and need something fresh. Either way, I hope he knows that it was made with love and that these projects are my little attempts to celebrate and treasure his life as he grows. 

The Quilt Top:

This is the completed quilt, as much of it as we could photograph at once while Danny held it out, arms outstretched.

The quilt top is a Jelly Roll 1600 pattern. I pretty much followed these instructions from Heirloom Creations. The Jelly Roll 1600 is suppose to be one of the fastest quilt tops to make as you are SUPPOSE to create it from pre-cut strips of fabric.

I, however, made this project about as hard as you can:

1. I cut all my own strips of fabric. 
2. I sewed them together, end to end on the bias (at an angle). To see a Jelly Roll 1600 with the strips sewn together end-to-end straight on (not at an angle) check out these instructions from Crafty Garden Mom.
3. I had to go back and cut MORE strips in order to make a nice, large twin-size quilt because I didn't do enough the first time. 

Jelly Roll Math - in case you're looking to make different sized Jelly roll 1600 quilts, this website was a little helpful. I ended up wanting my rows of fabric to go horizontally across the bed (not vertically like in this website) so I didn't end up utilizing her math, but it was a good start all the same.

The Quilt Back:

The back of the quilt is a grey, squiggly extra-wide fabric from Happiness is Quilting in downtown McKinney. I used leftover jelly roll strips to piece together four rows of two-inch squares. I wanted a little color on the back inspired by this Red Pepper Quilts striped quilt and this Red Pepper Quilts Lunar Dust and Frog Ponds.

The Binding:

I made this a quilt without a binding (or a bindingless quilt) after seeing this adorable baby blanket without a binding on Red Pepper Quilts. Rita's "Quilt without a Binding" tutorial was super helpful. 

I'm not sure that omitting the binding made finishing this quilt any easier, but I LOVED the modern edge for a little boy and so I was determined to make it work. I also don't think I'd recommend this type of binding (or lack there of) on a quilt any bigger in size. You can't hide any imperfections in the quilting when there's no binding to cover over the edges!

Basting:

I used spray basting, but I would not recommend it at all, especially for a project this large. I don't think it held as well as if I had just taken the time to carefully pin-baste. I feel like it shifted too much as I was quilting, maybe because I quilted it over a few weeks and the basting wore off.

Red Pepper Quilts has a great tutorial on pin-basting and buying batting that I should have just followed.

The Quilting:

The quilting was simply one-inch horizontal rows. Sewing half an inch on either side of each seam resulted in one-inch rows all the way across the quilt. As you can see my quilting lines are very, very imperfect. I'm not sure if it was not having much practice quilting such a large project, my small machine, my attempts at using spray basting instead of pins, or my lack of skill at maneuvering such a heavy quilt around (or all of the above) but I could not get straight lines for the life of me. 

I originally thought I'd quilt a one-inch grid over the quilt like this Red Pepper Quilt but once I got started I knew rows would be plenty of a project for me to tackle. Besides, I liked Rita's vertical quilting lines on this quilt, so I figured it would still look awesome.

The Thread:

The thread on the back of the quilt was a variegated gray, while the thread on the front was just a simple cream. I didn't want to use the gray on the front and take away from the colors of the quilt top (or make it any busier for that matter).

The Finished Quilt:

(The quilt is pictured here without the bar on Cason's bed simply because it looks better - normally the quilt is all rumpled and bunched on the bed!)

And there you have it. My first large quilting project. It's not perfect, but to me that's part of the charm of handmade projects.

Danny's Pizza Oven

Danny's handy, dandy DIY streak is at it again. This time he made a brick pizza oven - it's basically a converted charcoal grill. It cooked our little pizzas in just minutes flat and they were crispy, hot and delicious! 

I'm also realizing that I've failed to blog about Danny's DIY drum smoker, so maybe I need get some photos of that up on the blog soon. Let's just say our turkey last Thanksgiving was astounding!

Cannon's 3rd Birthday Sandbox & Water Table

Cannon's 3rd birthday gift was a sandbox and a water table, both made by Danny's bare hands. They are awesome if I do say so myself. I must say that I LOVE having a handy husband. I show him a pin on Pinterest and by the time I turn around it's complete in my own backyard. For those interested in the DIY "hows" I've included some links at the end of the post for you.

Cannon actually helped Danny "build" the sandbox as we didn't have enough evening hours to keep it completely secret, but he didn't see it open and full of sand until the evening of his third birthday. His smile was priceless. 

So this is how Cannon spent his birthday afternoon/evening. 

Then Nana and Papa came over for dinner/dessert and brought with them all kinds of presents in the form of new sandbox/water toys! The hours of entertainment ahead of us thrill this mama! I foresee many years of wet and sandy play in our future!

The Water Table:

I'm actually really excited about this water table, because it can double as a sensory bin table. I can put anything I want in those tupperware bins!

• Our water table started off based on directions from Bumble & Bean. 
• Our containers are two Sterilite 28-quart under bed storage containers from Target. 
• We followed our friends, The Groves, suggestions and added cross braces.

The Sandbox:

We mulled over many different designs for sandboxes and finally just settled on a simply design with a lid based on Young House Love's sandbox.

• Our sandbox has no wooden bottom. Danny just laid down weed block and put the sandbox straight into a leveled hole he dug int the ground.
• Danny originally built the box with one large lid, but it was too heavy to lift because he used actual 2x4s. He split the lid in two and now each section hooks to the fence to secure it from falling over. 
• We talked about doing rocks/pebbles instead of sand (like Young House Love) but decided sand was more fun. Danny found a ton of soft, fine sand through a masonry company in town. 
• Sometimes I do wish our sandbox had seats, as Danny or I often sit a board across the corner to play. Maybe we'll add some later.

A few extra links:

• Another water table with a similar design using one large tupperware instead of two.
• This mom bought an existing table and just cut a hole in the top for a tupperware container to make her water table.
• This sandbox has built in benches/seats.
• Want to see a portable sandbox with built in benches? This is awesome!
• There are no instructions on this website, but the concept of a sandbox with a sliding lid is pretty cool.
• If you want a built in deck, check out this sandbox with a hinged lid.
• And finally, if you're really ambition, try your hand at this covered fort sandbox.

Handmade Toys for Boys - Colorful Sorting Toys

Wooden Eggs & Egg Cups

Wooden Peg People & Pots

Wooden Acorns & Sorting Bowls

All of my ideas were pretty much copied step-by-step from Weefolk Art. (See Wooden Eggs & Cups, Color Matching Wooden Pegs & Pots, and Wooden Sorting Bowls and Acorns.)

My steps for making the eggs, egg cups, peg people, pots, acorns and bowls were pretty much all the same as listed on her blog.

I ordered all of the wooden pieces already cut and sanded from Woodworks. (You could also check out Casey's Wood Products.)

I hand-sanded a few rough spots on a few pieces and dremeled the inside of the pots so they would fit the peg people easily. 

I purchased the Soy Paint mentioned in Weefolk Art at Joanns for the brilliant colors, and finished everything off with the Three BEEautiful Bees Beeswax Polish.

And there you have it. Bright, new wood toys for Cason. He likes putting the eggs in the cups, chewing on the peg people, and we haven't gotten out the acorns yet as they are too small to go in his mouth!

Handmade Toys for Boys - Rainbow Stacker

I've gotten several questions about where we got Cason's birthday presents, if we made them, how we made them, etc.

So, here you go, an overload of how we made Cason's colorful, wooden toys for his first birthday.

First off, I read constantly about Waldorf and Montessori teaching methods. They intrigue me. Their styles appeal to me - having children learn to "work," giving children wooden toys that spur the imagination and invite open-ended play, allowing children to grow through playing instead of academic lessons. I like it all.

I found these ideas while searching around for Waldorf toys. After making Cannon the activity/latches board for his first birthday, I just knew these would be the perfect first birthday gift for Cason.

The Wooden Rainbow

I originally saw this play rainbow on this website: Prudent Baby

We pretty much followed her directions. 

We had trouble finding wood similar to the size she mentioned: 14 x 7.5 x 2.5 inches. I even commented on her blog, asking about her wood source, only to learn that her father cut down a tree, dried the wood and cut the block himself. Well, since that wasn't an option, Danny finally went to a mill and got them to cut a piece of wood to his specifications, but it wasn't cheap (maybe around $50 for a piece big enough to make three of these). 

After Danny cut all the arches with a band saw, it was my job to sand. BY HAND. First I used a Dremel to take off the rough edges, then I sanded everything down with a rough sandpaper (maybe 80 grit) and then finished it off with a super fine sandpaper (maybe a 220 grit). I didn't want any splitters impeding imaginative play!

Finally, it was time to paint. I purchased these watercolors at Joanns (with a 40% coupon) and painted away. 

The final step was polishing every piece with Three BEEautiful Bees Beeswax Polish.

Both boys have enjoyed playing with the rainbow. They make arched roadways for their cars, boats for their Fisher Price people, and fenced in pens for their farm animals. The time and effort was definitely worth it for a fun, handmade toy. 

**Note: The only thing I haven't been pleased with is the fact that the paints are rubbing off onto each other, so red smudges are getting onto the yellow arch, as are green smudges, etc. If you don't want that happening, you might try sealing the rainbow or using soy paints instead. 

We were also looking at purchasing the Grimm's Rainbow Stacker, but decided we wanted to try our hand at making one instead. But that might be more up your alley if you don't want the labor-intensive work. You could also search for Rainbow Stackers on Etsy, but of course nothing was to my very particular liking at the time.

Drinka Mama's Water?

This little stinker LOVES to sneak sips of water from my water bottle . . . even though he has the EXACT SAME WATER BOTTLE . . . just slightly smaller. 

Here he is getting busted . . . oh what? This purple bottle in my hand? I was just getting it for you Mommy!

How'd we go from this to this so very fast?

While we're at it I need to catch up on blogging all of Danny's amazing DIY projects he's completed. He built the Learning Tower you see Cannon climbing on in the photos, and it's AWESOME. The height can be adjusted (the platform can lower) as Cannon grows taller. He stands in it every day to watch me bake, help me stir, or eat a snack while I work in the kitchen. It keeps him from falling off of high stools and enables him to be included in what's going on.

Danny followed the instructions on Ana White's website. He made ours collapsible, which I love because I can fold in down and tuck it behind a bookshelf if we need the floor space. I must say though that he spend closer to $50 or $60 to build ours (she says it only costs about $20) because he felt like higher quality wood would make a sturdier tower.