Americana & Denim Rag Quilt - Finished Pic

So it's taken me a while to post the completed rag quilt pics.  I think I was just so frustrated with the original post  that I didn't want to deal with it again... I'm ready to move on now.

Here is the flag side in all it's All-American glory.

 Here is the rag-denim side.

 I love the random pocket squares and the ruggedness of the fray.

I've washed it once to start the fraying process. 

Every time I wash it it'll keep getting better too!

I can't believe how *soft* this blanket is! You know how you LOVE your favorite pair of jeans...totally broken in for you.  This is how it feels to me.  A whole blanket of soft denim.  I love snuggling up with this quilt! 

The best part about this whole project is that I didn't spend ANY money on it!  It's made entirely of things I already had on hand.  Gotta love FREE!

Oh, I did go through about 6 sewing machine needles though!  (Thanks Amy) So if you plan on making a denim blanket be sure to stock up on needles first so you don't have to stop when you're REALLY close to being done to change needles 3 more times!  

And I tried saving a couple needles too!  They would bend a little and I caught it in time before it broke and bent it back straight with needle-nose pliers!  It saved it for a few more rows before it couldn't handle it anymore and just snapped! Hee-hee!

Giveaway at Cinsarah

Hey you guys!

I just wanted to let you know that the awesome Cindy over at Cinsarah is having a giveaway to commemorate her blog reaching 100 followers!  Cindy is the one who featured my play kitchen.  She's awesome!  I check her blog daily for inspiration.  Go check her out...well not really check her out...just go look at her blog, and read it and follow it and stuff...you know.

Lots o' Love,

Megan

Americana & Denim Rag Quilt

So basically...I've been trying to post this ALL DAY! and I'm getting pretty frustrated!  I think (hope) this will work though!

So my quilt is FINALLY DONE!!!

I started by stitching 8 muslin stars on navy denim with a heavy weight denim on the back for stability.

Start on an inside corner rather than a point so it's easier to hide the starting ans stopping point.

Slightly overlap on the points.

When you're done you'll have threads on top.

Take a needle and pull the threads through to the back.

So it looks like this!

Knot it off.

Trim the excess.

So it looks like this.

Lay out all the pieces and get it looking how you want it.

For some reason I have a video that isn't posting...but basically it said:

Then to keep it organized while you're working on it, stack them by columns.

Then to start the column to sew, you make a "sandwich" as shown in the video below, then keep going through the whole stack.

You'll end up with all these rows connected together.

See the little threads in between the squares?

Turn them towards each other and sew down all the columns to connect them and you'll end up with something like this.

Then put all the bigger sections together to complete the quilt.

I sewed it all together and stitched around the whole border to finish it off.

I'm going to hope this posts correctly and I'll take a picture of the finished product and post it tomorrow.  I just want this to work!

Lots o' Love,

Megan

I'm busy...

I'm still here...I promise!

I've just been working on something I started oh, I'd say, 2 YEARS ago! 

My husband is SUPER excited that I'm finishing it so that he doesn't have to look at the 3 garbage bags full of old jeans and old fabric that had taken up residence in the garage.

I had my friend Amy over for a little bit last night and she TOTALLY helped me with the plan of attack.  That's always the biggest issue for me.  So with her help, I'm well on my way to finishing my sewing project that I've been putting off soooooo long.

HOPEFULLY I'll finish tonight or tomorrow!  Stay tuned!

Flylady is one of my all-time heroes!  According to her system, Wednesday is Anti-Procrastination Day.  

How appropriate! 

Lots o' Love!

Megan

I {heart} San Diego!

Happy First Day of Summer!

I've been having such a wonderful week.  My sister and her family is in town and we decided to spend time exploring my hometown and I have to say, I'm falling back in love with San Diego.  I've never not loved living here...I'm just in TOTAL head over heels LOVE again!  

Saturday we went to Seaport Village.  

It's a lovely little seaside market with tons of charm!  

We took a picnic lunch and flew kites, then walked around and looked at little shops.

We let the kids ride the historic carousel that was hand-carved in 1895.

Then as we were leaving there was a street performer who attracted the kids...they were mesmerized! 

Last night we drove over the Coronado Bay Bridge and had a picnic dinner on the beach of Coronado Island.

We were right next to the Hotel del Coronado, where the movie, Some Like It Hot, with Marilyn Monroe, was filmed.

I 'm having a WONDERFUL day today!  We went to Balboa Park this morning.  Seriously one of the coolest things in San Diego!  Balboa Park was built for the 1915 World Fair. There is some AMAZING architecture, beautiful gardens, awesome museums, and so much more.  If you're ever in the area, it's a MUST SEE!

 

This is the bell tower which sounds so cool every hour.

There are really cool, old buildings.

the koi pond

Cool archways which make a lovely backdrop for photos.

museums

boxwood hedged gardens

the museum of man

Mercury in the Timken Museum

We're going to bbq at the park tonight to finish off our day.

REALLY!!! I live here!!!???  

I'm so grateful to live in such a beautiful place!

What do you like to do in your neighborhood?  

How are you choosing to enjoy Summer?

Lots o' love,

Megan

Burgers and Fries?

For Father's Day I decided to give a gift of sweetness...

in the form of dessert!

YES, THAT'S DESSERT!  

The bun is a cupcake, the burger is a brownie, 

and the fries are sugar cookies!

You can go to bakerella and she'll show you how it's done.

She even has a link for the box, paper liner, 

and fry bag so you can print them!

So stinkin' cute!

I hope everyone had a good Father's Day!

Lots o' love,

Megan

Thrifted Finds - Mirror with Awesome Frame

For some reason the files for the before and after picture aren't loading...LAME!  But you'll still get the gist.

Here is a sweet plastic $2 mirror I got at the thrift store, but you can't tell it's plastic until you touch it.

 I wasn't so fond of the gold. The backing wouldn't come apart, so I had to just cover the mirror. 

 I taped to pieces of scrap paper together so it covered the whole mirror with a little overlap. I laid it inside the frame and made a crease at the edge of the frame.

 I cut it out, maybe 1/4" or less, past the crease.

 Then I slid the paper under the frame and made sure every part of the mirror was covered.

 Like so...

 Then I painted it in Krylon Watermelon.  

 And I pretty much love it!

This is perfect for my little girl's room and it'll be perfect for the shower I'm hosting!

Lots o' love,

Megan