Princess Zelda Quilt

I first started working on the template for this quilt in March of last year and posted the final template a couple months later, complete with measurements.  One year later, it's finally finished.  I wanted to try something new with this quilt by including a flower block pattern in each of the four corners of the quilt, but soon realized that my skills were not up to that level.  Unfortunately, I cut the fabric for the flower blocks before I came to that conclusion, so that cost me some time.

The abandonment of the flowers turned out to be a blessing in disguise.  I still wanted something different in the quilt, so it wouldn't just be an image of Zelda.  The image of the Triforce quickly came to mind.  For those who don't know, the Triforce is the ultimate source of power in the Zelda series and serves as the balance that weighs the three forces: Power, Wisdom and Courage.  After thinking about it, how could I not include it in Emilie's quilt?

Integrating triangles into the quilt posed it's own set of challenges, but I figured it out and I think it looks really nice.  I also love the colors in this quilt, very bright and cheerful.  Emilie is happy with her new quilt, too, and she has slept with it every night since I finished it for her.

Gingerbread House

Gumdrops, candy canes, marshmallows and more!  Valerie was determined to make a gingerbread house with the kids this year, and I think we came up with a delightful little candy clad cottage.

Gingerbread house kits abound at the stores these days, but to me that feels like cheating.  It's just my nature to try to make things from scratch; especially things that are edible, so I figured a gingerbread house should be no different.

I modeled the gingerbread house design from the Santa houses that Nonna and Grandpa used to make.  I measured the dimensions of the Santa house and cut templates out of construction paper.  I found a recipe online for the gingerbread and got to work.

I rolled out the dough, put the templates down, and cut around the templates.  I baked the gingerbread and then cut around the templates again after it came out of the oven.  I whipped up some royal icing and waited for the pieces of the house to cool before assembly.

It was nerve wracking working with those pieces of gingerbread, knowing that one could snap if I made one wrong move.  Thankfully, the pieces held together and the house went up without any issues.  The house was ready for decorations, and the kids were all too ready to help.

I was also nervous watching Ari and Emilie's little hands as they put the decorations on.  There was one mishap early, but it was easy to fix, and they were otherwise very delicate and careful with the way they worked.  I am delighted with the way our gingerbread house turned out; it has just the right amount of character and charm.

Link Costume

After beating Ocarina of Time for the 3DS it didn't take long for Ari to declare that he wanted to be Link for Halloween.  No sooner did he say it, I started planning how to make the costume.  I originally planned to make a tunic and hat for him, but was concerned about my limited sewing skills.  Upon studying a picture of young Link from the video game, it looked as if his tunic was just a big polo shirt.  With an idea in my head, we went shopping.

I was surprised how hard is was to find a green polo shirt for boys, but we finally found a green button-up shirt that looked the part.  Ari tried it on and it came down to just above his knees.  I found two belts in the store and buckled one around his waist and one across his chest and it looked perfect.  Our little Link was coming together.  Now it was time to equip him with some weapons and accessories.

My weapons search was in full swing when the living history encampment, Koh-Koh-Mah, was holding it's annual event.  I was excited to search the vendors for a sword, bow and arrow, and other items Link had in the game.  The first item we found was a little leather pouch that I could wrap around his belt.  The other item we found at Koh-Koh-Mah was a little wooden sword complete with a sheath.  I was very happy to find that sword because I could attach the sheath the belt that went across his chest.  Our trip was successful, but I still wanted a couple more items to complete the ensemble.

I went to the internet to find the rest of the items.  I found an inexpensive bow and arrow, boomerang, and even an ocarina.  His costume was really coming together, but he still needed boots and a hat.  We found some Ugg type boots that worked really well; plus, they fit Valerie.  Bonus!  I made his hat after finding an elf hat pattern on the internet, which came together a lot easier than I thought.  We also stumbled upon a Legend of Zelda belt buckle on clearance at Toys-R-Us that I snatched right up.  And, I printed an image of the Hylian Shield and taped it onto a Nerf shield Ari already had.  After all that, his costume was finally complete.

I was surprised how much Ari looked like Link.  I showed him the side-by-side picture that I posted above and he couldn't wipe the smile off his face.  He looked at it in awe and was quite pleased with himself.  The best part about this costume is that he can play with all the items after the trick-or-treating is over.  Plus, he has a couple of nice belts and a nice green button-up shirt for the future.  Valerie also got a nice pair of boots out of it.  Definitely a costume to remember.

Quilted Memories Body Pillow

After dabbling in pillow coverings with the Indianapolis Colts pillows, I really wanted to make a body pillow for myself.  I decided to use fabric scraps from all of the past quilts I have made.  My original idea was to use the squares in their original size, so I wouldn't have to cut as much, but configuring a pattern was a lot more involved than I was planning.  So, I decided to cut the scraps to the same size squares and go from there.

The body pillow cover took a lot longer to make than I thought it would.  I had to do a lot more cutting, plus I just didn't have the time or energy to do much work on it during the summer.  I am so glad it is finished, though.  It looks even better than I thought it would and it is so cool to see the fabrics I used in the quilts I made.  It makes me smile every time I look at it.

Homemade Shower Curtain

We renovated the bathroom recently.  It badly needed an update, and we were finally able to get it done.  We replaced the vanity, sink, faucet, medicine cabinet, light fixture, and added a cabinet over the toilet for additional storage.  The bathroom looks so much better and I contemplated doing a post about it, but I thought home improvement like this wasn't really the style of latent chestnut.  But, when I made the shower curtain and valance (look in the mirror) and thought that would definitely be worthy of a post.

I don't know where we came up with the idea to make a shower curtain, but I'm glad we did because I am so happy with the way it turned out.  There are a lot more fabric options than shower curtain options, so we were able to get something we really wanted.  I decided to do big stripes because there weren't any pieces of fabric big enough to make the curtain out of a single piece. 

I was able to finish the shower curtain in one afternoon, and it came together rather quickly and simply.  Once I finished the front, I sewed a piece of muslin on the back and it was almost complete.  Our old shower curtain had button holes on it for the shower rings to go through, so I looked in my instruction book on my sewing machine, and sure enough, I could make button holes!

The button hole making process was a lot of fun.  I practiced on a fabric scrap to learn the technique and then I lined up the new shower curtain with the old as a template to see where I needed to but the holes.  It was a little time consuming to do all those holes, but it was done in no time and the new shower curtain was complete!  The room couldn't look better, and I never thought I would have such a sense of pride walking into a bathroom.

Colts Pillows

I was on the phone with my mom asking for birthday ideas for Marty.  She started listing a few things, then she mentioned he might want a body pillow.  That struck me as a different and fun kind of gift, but I didn't know how to pick one out for him.  My mom and I continued talking with the body pillow idea in the back of my mind.  I don't know if she came up with it or if it was me, but we decided it would be neat if I made a cover for it.  New project!

For the body pillow, I used Indianapolis Colts fabric, the same pattern I used for the back of the Colts quilt.  The pillow came together very easily, just a few cuts of fabric and a few seams sewn together and it was complete.  I was a little concerned about the pillow sliding around inside the cover, but it securely stayed in place.  Overall, I am quite happy with the way it turned out.

Marty really liked his present and it was displayed nicely on their new couch in the basement.  The couch is black, and my mom had been trying to find throw pillows to match.  I mentioned to her how nice the body pillow looked on the couch and she asked me if I could make throw pillows with the same fabric.  New project!

We were talking about the pillows when I noticed that her old throw pillows were enclosed in a zipper case.  All I had to do was unzip the case, take out the pillow insert, and they were ready for a new cover.  I used the same method to cover the throw pillows as I did the body pillow, and they were done in no time.  I took them back to my mom and they were a perfect fit in the basement.  Who knew pillow making would be so much fun?

Princess Zelda Quilt Template

I have finished the design and purchased the fabric for Emilie's princess quilt.  I am stepping out of my comfort zone a little bit by adding some flower blocks to the front of the quilt.  The directions for constructing the flower blocks can be found here.  Otherwise, it is the standard square procedure I have used many times in the past.

For Zelda, I am using her likeness from the "Oracle of Ages" and "Oracle of Seasons" video games.  I did not stay true to her original colors as I wanted to have a bit of variation.  Overall, I really like the way the design turned out and I can't wait to see it come together in fabric.

As for the template itself, I want to show how I go about designing my quilts.  I use Microsoft Excel and just fill in the cells with the colors I want them to be.  Once the design is complete, I divide the size of the quilt by the number of squares in the row to see how big the squares need to be.  For this quilt, I want it to be 4 1/2 feet wide, or 54 inches.  So, I divide 54 by 24 and I get 2.25.  I add a half inch to account for the overlap from sewing the fabric together, and I know I need to cut 2.75 inch squares.  The length of the quilt will be 6 ft.

To determine the amount of each color of fabric, I first add up how many squares of each color I will need.  I then determine how many 2.75 inch squares I can expect to get out of a yard of fabric.  36 divided by 2.75 is 13.09, which I rounded down to 12 to account for cutting errors.  Most fabric widths are in the 40 to 44 inch range, so I then divide 40 by 2.75 just to be safe, and I get 14.  12 x 14 is 168, so I can expect to get 168 squares for each yard of fabric.

Finally, I divide the number of squares of each color by 168 to determine how much of each color to purchase.  As you can see from the picture above, I don't need very much of some of the colors, and luckily, I already have some white on hand from previous projects.

Phew, that's a lot of math.  I'm glad I wrote it out, though, so now I have a reference for if I forget how to do it in the future.  It really is easy, though, and the square patterns to design from Nintendo characters are practically endless.  Yay!  Plus, by using the method above, you can make the quilt any size you'd like.  I'll be sure to keep you posted on my progress.

Brotherly Love: The Luigi Quilt

Remember the stack of squares I showed you in May?  If not, I can't say that I blame you.  If so...thanks!  Well, what I didn't tell you at the time was that stack of squares was for both a Mario and a Luigi quilt.  I initially planned to keep the Mario quilt for myself and give the Luigi quilt as a Christmas present.  What I didn't know is that Ari would eventually claim the Mario quilt as his own, leaving me without the new quilt I was wanting.  He was so excited when it was finished and it looked so good in his room, I more than happy to let him use it.

I decided to keep the Luigi quilt for myself, and I ended up making the Link quilt to give as a Christmas present.  Even though I had all the squares cut for the Luigi quilt, I made the Link quilt and the Colts quilt first since I needed to have them finished before Christmas.  After those quilts were made, it took me some time to get motivated to finish Luigi.  Much to my surprise, once I finished the Luigi quilt Ari claimed it for himself, preferring to have it on his bed instead of Mario.  I gladly indulged the boy, and I ended up with my Mario quilt after all.  It's funny how things work out sometimes.

The Indianapolis Colts Quilt

1680 squares.  It was a daunting number when I finished the final planning for the quilt.  It was the only way I could get the Colts logo to look good by using squares, though.  I knew what I had to do, so I bought the fabric and started cutting the two inch squares.  Once all the squares were cut, the stacks of two inch squares were even more intimidating.  It wasn't difficult, just time consuming, but I got it done.

Another Christmas present, the Indianapolis Colts quilt is the most challenging quilt I have made to date.  It is the quilt I have learned the most from making as well.  Most important of all, I now have a better understanding of how the fabric behaves and responds when sewn together.  There were some times of frustration while making it; but now that it's done, I am really proud of it and happy to give it as a gift.

The reverse side of the quilt is Indianapolis Colts fabric (I should have taken a picture of it).  So it is in a sense, reversible.  I modified the design of the back slightly after I purchased the fabric, so I ended up with enough to make another quilt.  I'm sure I'll get around to it, I just don't know when I'll be ready to cut another 1680 squares.

The Legend of Zelda Link quilt

Why stop at Mario? There are so many other 8 bit Nintendo characters out there just waiting to be turned into a quilt!  Link, from The Legend of Zelda, is almost as iconic as Mario, and a perfect character to be made into a quilt.  I gave this quilt as a Christmas present, so I didn't do any progress posts in order to keep it a secret. 

These 8 bit character quilts are easy to design, though.  I just do a Google image search for the character I am looking for, then insert the picture into an Excel spreadsheet and color in the squares of the spreadsheet to match the pattern of the character.  From there it is simple to calculate the size of the squares to make the quilt as big or as little as you like. 

The Link quilt couldn't have turned out better, and I was delighted to give it as a gift.  Even though a small part of me wanted to keep it.  One can't have too many quilts, right??

Turtle Pants

Ari has decided he wants to be a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle for Halloween; Leonardo to be exact.  So, before he could change his mind again, we went out and purchased his costume.  Not thrilled with the Ninja Turtle costumes on the market, we decided to just buy him the mask and piece the rest of it together.

We found a nice shirt to go with the costume, but the right color of green pants were hard to come by.  I figured I could make him some pants, so I bought some green fleece and went to work.  As I was making them, I envisioned the scene from the Grinch cartoon where he was making his Santa suit.  Just cutting an outline of what I wanted to make and sewing it together.  It worked quite well, for all intents and purposes, and now Ari has a pair of turtle pants.  The first article of clothing I have ever made.

Upon making this garment, even with the crude nature with which it was made, I gained a deeper respect for those who really know how to make clothes.  My cousin Eva, of Eva + Daniel fame, has just started a new blog called Belle-Mère Belle-Fille dedicated exclusively to creations made by Madame Sutter and herself.  She also has an Etsy shop featuring original clothing of exceptional quality handmade in France (and I do mean exceptional).  I am lucky enough to own something made by Eva, and it is simply wonderful.

If that's not enough, my friend from Chicago, Michelle, is launching her own clothing line called Dollparts; which is a clothing line made from recycled textiles.  Her clothing line utilizes eco-conscious fabrics, remaindered or discarded textiles, as well as vintage and thrifted pieces.  Michelle started a kickstarter campaign to raise funds for getting her designs into production.  It would be awesome if anyone would donate (even as little as $1) to her cause.  She only has a few days left to get pledges, so act fast!

I don't know how I got so caught up in the world of fashion, but I'm loving every minute of it!  Oh, and I'm happy I was able to make a small contribution with the turtle pants.  Who knows, they may be the next big thing!

Super Mario Quilt

The Super Mario quilt is complete!  I am so happy with the way it turned out, too.  I love the colors, plus having a life-size quilted Mario is pretty cool.  It didn't take me as long to complete it as I thought it would, and it wasn't nearly as tedious as I was anticipating by using smaller squares. 

Even more happy to have the quilt completed is Ari, who had been asking me when it would be finished since I bought the fabric.  The night I finished it, I took it up to his room and covered him with it so he would be surprised when he woke up.  He was pretty thrilled the next morning.  It fits on his bed nicely, too.

Hmmm...maybe I should make a Princess Peach quilt for Emilie...

Calvin and Hobbes T-Shirts!

I have turned one of my dreams into reality.  I am the proud owner of some Calvin and Hobbes t-shirts.  Unofficial, mind you, but still Calvin and Hobbes t-shirts nonetheless.  Oh, iron-on transfer paper, where have you been all my life?!  I figured if I could make a Calvin and Hobbes t-shirt for Ari, why not make one for myself?  Plus, after seeing how the iron-on transfers holds up through the wear and tear of a four-year-old, they should hold up for me.

Once I decided to make myself some shirts, the hard part was deciding which images to use.  My Calvin and Hobbes Complete Collection books have a nice array of images besides those seen in the comics.  So, I flipped through the books, and as I found an image I thought I might want to use, I scanned it into the computer.  I decided to start off with two shirts, so I narrowed down my choices and got to printing and ironing.

I couldn't be more happy with the way they tuned out.  I especially like the Stupendous Man t-shirt since the comics with Stupendous Man have always been some of my favorites.  Already, and not surprising, Ari has already placed an order for a Stupendous Man shirt of his own.  I'm glad I bought the larger package of transfer paper.  What fun!

Mario Head Start

I am half-way finished with the front of my Mario quilt; and Ari and Emilie would be happy if I stopped here.  I have to admit I have had the most fun making this quilt because I am able to see Mario come together with each square. Stay tuned...

Super Mario Onesies!

Check it out! Super Mario Bros. onesies! I think these are just about the coolest baby clothes I have ever seen. I wish I had discovered the magic of the iron on transfer sheets when my kids were still babies.

My Aunt Joyce was visiting the other day and asked if I had made Thomas any clothes. I did make him a quilt, but I have never made clothes before. The closest I have been to making clothes has been with iron on transfers when I made Emilie a Fresh Beat Band shirt and Ari a couple Calvin and Hobbes shirts. Then it hit me, I needed to make Thomas some Super Mario onesies!

It was a piece of cake. I got Thomas some onesies, picked out the images I wanted to use, printed them, cut them, then ironed them on. We got the 3-6 month size, so they should fit him during the summer. I can't wait to see him wear one!

Super Mario curtains

My mom is awesome. She not only helped me paint Ari's room, she gave me the idea to use iron-ons for the curtains I was making for him. I knew I wanted to do the brown blocks, but I didn't know what other Super Mario elements to incorporate into the curtains. I was explaining to her what I wanted to do, and she came up with the brilliant idea to print characters on the iron-on sheets and put them on a solid colored fabric. Needless to say, I loved the idea, and got to work on the last element of Ari's room.

I decided to use a total of five squares of fabric for each curtain and alternate between the brown blocks and the characters. For the blocks, I cut out the individual brown 'bricks' and then sewed them together with the black 'mortar' in between. The blocks turned out really well, and came out looking pretty authentic compared to their video game counterparts.

As for the character squares, I had four squares to use for characters; so the challenge was to decide which characters to use. I didn't want to use Mario, Luigi, Goombas, 0r Koopa Troopas, because they were already represented on his wall clings. I thought about using power up items like mushrooms or fire flowers, but that didn't seem too exciting to me. After some serious debate, and looking for high quality images on the internet, I decided to go with some 'bad guys'.

I ended up using pictures of a Hammer Brother, Lakitu, Bowser Jr., and a Bullet Bill for the character spaces on the curtains. After I ironed the images onto the fabric, I sewed all the squares together and added some tabs to the top for the curtain rod. I couldn't be happier with the way the curtains turned out. The character iron-ons really give them that authentic Super Mario look. I doubt any other kid has curtains like this, with item block curtain rods, too! They were the perfect finishing touch to Ari's room. Thanks again for the idea, Mom!

Super Mario curtain rods

I decided to make curtains for Ari's Mario room, and inspiration struck as I was looking at his curtain rods. Why not be a little inventive with those as well? The ends of his curtain rods just screwed off, so it got me thinking about what Super Mario item I could screw on. I thought of using the plastic figurines, but that could get expensive. Then, I remembered a little tin Super Mario star filled with candy that we put in Ari's stocking.

I retrieved the star and began examining it in order to determine how I could make it work on the curtain rod. I figured I could just drill a hole in the side of it and screw it on the curtain rod. I was quite pleased with the prospect. I consulted with Valerie and she gave me the go ahead to purchase more star tins to complete my project. Ari and I headed to Bed Bath and Beyond since that is where we purchased the star tin.

When we got to the store, we discovered they no longer had any of the star tins in stock. Bummer. However, they did have tin Super Mario item blocks filled with 'coin' candies. How clever. I realized that these would look even better than the stars, and promptly purchased five of the item block candy tins. I only needed four, but purchased a fifth just in case I ruined one. As Ari talked up the cashier regarding her Mario skills, I explained to her my project. Leaving that poor cashier confused and bewildered, we then headed home.

I took all the candy out of the tins, and headed to the basement to start drilling holes in them. To my surprise, the project was completed in no time and was actually much easier than I was anticipating. The end result was quite pleasing as well. I don't think they could have turned out any better, and I got the satisfaction of making them myself. It's fun where a little ingenuity can take you. The item block curtain rods were complete, now on to making the curtains...

Twirl-Whirl

The ceiling fan in Ari's room, complete with Propeller suit yellow Toad, and a propeller mushroom power up; or as Ari likes to call it, "twirl-whirl."

We thought it would be fitting to put these images on the ceiling fan blades to give them a flying effect.

Merchandise materialized

I've previously mentioned my affinity for Calvin and Hobbes. Truly one of the greatest comic strips to ever grace the newspaper funny pages. Bill Watterson, creator of Calvin and Hobbes, held tight in his stance not to merchandise his creation. That meant, no Calvin and Hobbes action figures, stuffed animals, TV shows, or clothing. No Calvin and Hobbes puzzles, cutlery, mugs, board games, stickers, nothing but the comic strip itself, and the book collections. By the way, those urinating Calvin stickers on vehicles are a complete rip off.

As a ten-year-old kid loving Calvin and Hobbes, it was especially hard to understand why I couldn't buy a Calvin and Hobbes toy. I remember scouring the toy aisles looking for anything to do with Calvin and Hobbes, only to leave empty handed. I could just imagine how much fun I would have with my own stuffed Hobbes. The thought of having a little Calvin figurine was so exciting to me.

Alas, the Calvin and Hobbes toys never materialized, and I later learned such toys never existed and probably would never exist. I moved on, still loving Calvin and Hobbes and rediscovering the brilliance of the comics by reading them to Ari before bed. He received a stuffed tiger for Christmas one year that we call Hobbes, due to the fleeting resemblance to character. But, that's the closest we have come to bringing the world of Calvin and Hobbes off of the pages and into our home. Until...

I recently came across some iron-on sheets at Jo-Ann Fabrics. I wanted to get Emilie a Fresh Beat Band shirt for Christmas, but could only find a "craft" to make my own with the iron-on sheets. Skeptical, I bought a package and went home to make the shirt for her. It turned out really well, even after making a minor misstep. I began thinking of what other shirts I could make for the kids, and immediately Calvin and Hobbes came to mind.

So, I made Ari his own Calvin and Hobbes shirt; in fact, I made a couple. He has received a lot of compliments on it and the iron on is holding up quite well to the abuse that little four-year-old can dish out. I think he may be the only kid with a Calvin and Hobbes shirt, and I don't know if that makes me happy or sad. I do know one thing for certain, he sure is happy about it.

More Mario!?

He's an addict. He's addicted to Mario. No, I'm not referring to myself, though Valerie may disagree. But I know how Ari feels. I mean, there's not a whole lot to do to keep yourself entertained when it's 20 degrees outside. Super Mario Bros. is fun, and it can keep a person entertained for hours, even playing the same level over and over again, as I've recently had to experience (World 1-3, anybody?).

But, as parents, we have to draw a line somewhere. We can't let the boy spend his whole day playing Nintendo, even if I'm playing with him. I can't believe I just said that. There are times, though, when it's all he talks about and all he wants to do. So, standing firm, and not buckling under the constant whining, I got a little creative.

We brought Mario into the real world, and used our imaginations to create our own levels. Using the Mario Bros. figurines we already had on hand, we pretended that the game came to life. I made a Bowser flag to symbolize the end of the level (it even slides down the pole) and we used some chocolate gold coins to represent the three star coins that are scattered throughout each level. I would hide the three coins around the house and Ari would have to find them before he could reach the flag, dispatching of goombas and koopa troopas along the way.

The game was an instant success, and Ari and I spent hours playing. He even created the elusive level ten that he still thinks might magically appear in the real game. There was even an extra element that we weren't expecting; keeping the mysterious beagle monster from finding and devouring the chocolate coins before we do. We've since had to abandon the chocolate coin in lieu of some plastic ones; it seems we were no match for the mysterious beagle monster, and the mommy monster wouldn't let us use them anymore.

In the end, everyone gets what they wanted. Ari gets his Mario fix, and Valerie and I don't feel like horrible parents as we watch our little boy play his life away on the Nintendo. Ari still gets to play the real thing every once in a while, but it sure is nice to have another option. It doesn't hurt that it's a lot of fun, too.