Quilt Journal

I having been preparing for a HUGE destash, as I want to send a lot of my fabric to homes that will use it and enjoy it more than I am. (I'd love to keep it all, but that's just loco. I don't have the time to use it all.) ;)

As I've been going through my fabrics, I realize that there are some that I don't want to get rid of, even though I'll never use them again. Most of the time it's because they are fabrics that I used in quilts for my children, or other special quilts or projects. That emotional attachment can be a pain when you are trying to lighten your load. So I decided to create a Quilt Journal! A place that I can document each of my special quilts, or projects, and save a snippet of the fabrics I've used. That way I don't have to keep moving these fabrics all over the country, but still be able to see them and remember them.

I finished my first quilt journal entry yesterday morning!

This is the first quilt I ever made. When I was pregnant my step-mom told me I should make a quilt for my first baby, and she taught me how to quilt. I picked a pattern out of one of her quilt books, we went shopping at Joann's. She taught me how to piece, use a rotary cutter, iron, and all that good stuff! It was awesome! I hadn't yet discovered modern fabrics, or the modern quilt crave, so when I finished this quilt I was good to not necessarily do it again. Although I did enjoy it. When I was pregnant with my second son I figured I needed to make a quilt for him too... and for my third baby. Third times a charm I guess because that's when I found all the beautiful fabrics (my first FQ bundle purchase was Heather Bailey's Nicey Jane - I knew she would be a girl!) and all the amazing bloggers and modern quilters. Let the love of quilting begin! So anyway, those will be my next quilt journal entries. And I'm glad that I've kept those scraps from those quilts so that I can tape them into my little journal! :)


To explain the above picture: There is a space for the Project: Hunter's Baby Quilt; For (as in recipient); Date: (I put the start and finish dates); Place: I started it in Logan and finished when we lived in Orem; Pattern: to document which pattern you used; Story: the story behind the quilt; Fabrics: if you used a certain collection or designer or something.

My story was long so I just continued it into the fabric section, which works perfectly. Both sides of the paper are completely lined for as much writing as you want to do. I printed a picture of the quilt, front and the quilting on the back. I taped it to the page on the right side only. It can be easily flipped up and underneath I have layered and taped fabric pieces in the same manner - they can also be flipped up on the left so you can better see each print. This works really well and actually isn't bulky at all. I'm sure after I enter a lot of quilts, it will bulk up a little, but this is awesome for now. :)


Here's a screen shot of the cover: you can write your name on the front. I'll also add the dates that my quilts cover once I get enough in there. If I make enough quilts in one year, I'll make a book for every year.

 

Here's a screen shot of the inside pages:

 

I included some basic instructions on how to create your Quilt Journal, as well as simple binding instructions. I love making books, and though I only know the basics in skill level, it's still fun and I love them!  

 

 You can easily create your very own quilt journal! I printed mine on card stock, hoping it will hold up a bit better to the added weight of taping in fabrics and photos.


If you would like to purchase my template you can do so on Craftsy and Etsy. and if you do I'd love to see them in use!! If your on Instagram you can tag them with #fbpQuiltJournal and #fbpPatterns. :) Or send me an email! I love that too. :)

Birthday Flash Sale: just because... Love Notes!

Today's flash sale is for the just because... Love Notes!

Normally $3.50

TODAY ONLY: $1.75

50% off!!

Prices are discounted, no coupon required.

Sale will run for 24 hours.

Sayings include:
just because
hello
i love you
thank you
sorry
xoxo
get well
Congrats!
Happy Birthday
#payitforward
#happymail
and a blank card to customize

Purchase on Craftsy OR Etsy

Disclaimer: This pattern will only be discounted for a guaranteed minimum of 24 hours. It may be longer, but once the price reverts back to the normal price, I will not be making any exception discounts for late comers. Each pattern will go on sale sometime during the day on the specified day - start time is determined solely by me and may vary from day to day (most will be in the morning hours EST). Some sales may overlap, but none will be cut short due to starting times.

The rest of the line up:

Prices will probably never be offered this low again.

I can't wait to see what you make! Be sure to share your creations:

 Flickr group: http://Flickr.com/groups/fromblankpages
 Instagram* with hashtag: #fbppatterns
 Blog*: http://fromblankpages.blogspot.com/2014/01/share-your-projects-event.html
 Or link your projects to the patterns on Craftsy!

*Sharing on Instagram and linking up on my Blog automatically enter you in random drawings for a variety of prizes!

Thank you so much!

Still time to plan your Valentine's Day Date!

A few years ago the hubby and I went all out for our Valentines Day! (I've just been reading over it and remembering how much fun we had together before our lives became overpacked with little kiddos. ;) lol. We still have fun... but if you have lots of little kiddos, I'm sure you know what I mean. It's just different) :D


Anyway, I thought I would share the layout and games with you in case you still need some ideas!

I think I will actually just copy and paste it to keep it interesting. It makes me laugh! ;)

"...For our great day, Neil provided Valentines (Dinner) Around the World! He had put together a playlist of music from all around the world. He would always ask me, "Where's this one from?" and I would respond, "I don't know. I hate this game." He always makes me guess what the song is or who the artist is, and I am the absolute WORST at that! He made some SUPER Delicious T-bone steaks! (USA) Yummy!!! (I really want to eat some more right now, they were so good.) Along with some yummy yams (the Caribbean - they really are from there too. Neil looked it up.), salad, Italian dressing (Italy) ginger ale (England - originally), and Perrier (France) - which we ended up mixing with Cranberry juice (based on Apfel Schorle - a German drink where they mix carbonated mineral water with apple juice. It makes the mineral water MUCH more bareable!) It turned out pretty good. The whole dinner was delicious!

"We then proceded to my portion of the evening: The Entertainment. :) We have a game called Bananagrams, which is also called Speed Scrabble - super fun game. But I made up before hand some variations on scoring. I picked out some valentine's words, and if you made any of them you got extra points; for every "L", "O", "V", "E" that you used, you got an extra 5 points; after counting your points/letters, if you could rearrange your letters to make certain words (had to have all the letters needed) you got extra points. It was fun, and I think it took as long to count our points as it did to play the game. :) It was fun. The winner also got a "Love Buck", basically a coupon for something (cookie, soda, dessert, massage, favor, item of choice). I really won, but Neil fudged the numbers so he won. We both got Love Bucks.

"Then we went onto our other game. I had previously put together a playlist, on Playlist.com, of valentine's songs, and then picked a phrase from each song, and made up 6 different "Valentine's Music Bingo" cards. They each contained a heart as the free space as well. Then I put the playlist on shuffle, and if we had that song or phrase from the song on our board then we could cover it up. When someone got a Bingo, they cleared that board and traded with another one (we played with two boards at a time), recieved a Love Buck, and continued onto the next portion of the game. When I was at Sam's I saw those big containers of different flavored Jelly Beans and just had to get one - which leads us to the next portion of the game: the Bingo winner would then recieve a jelly bean chosen by the other player, whithout seeing what it looked like, and then have to guess what flavor it was. For example: Neil got a bingo, I would pick out a jelly bean and compair it to the pictures so I would know what flavor it was. Without Neil seeing I would put it in his mouth and he would have to guess what flavor it was. If he got it right, we would continue on with bingo, repeating the whole game. Now if we DIDN'T guess the flavor right, ****HERE IS WHERE ALL INNOCENT MINDS SHOULD SKIP OVER READING THEPURPLE TEXT AND CONTINUE WITH THE BLACK TEXT*** , if we didn't guess it, we would have to remove one article of clothing. :) I made sure to have lots of layers on. ;) It is SO hard to guess flavors!!!!!!!!!! You should all try to just guess it at least! And then we would continue as usual. It was a fun game, with a fun twist - Neil thought it was a good idea too, so I thought I would share, in case anyone else wants to play in the future. :)"



If you want, here is the playlist that I made for the Bingo game: http://pl.st/p/15098345227

I turned the Bingo cards into PDF's. Just click on the link under each card. I included the "Love Bucks" too if you want. :) Remember, I made them a couple of years ago, so they aren't top notch design. lol.

Valentine Bingo1

Valentine Bingo2

Valentine Bingo3

Valentine Bingo4

Valentine Bingo5

Valentine Bingo6

Love Bucks1

Love Bucks 2

Hope you all have a Happy Day tomorrow!! :)

VT message: It's Better to Look Up!

Since we had General Conference last month, we can pick what we want to share for our visiting teaching message. As I was looking through the different talks this one stood out to me, "It Is Better to Look Up" by Carl B. Cook. It is such a good talk.

Anyway, to make it fun I decided to put together a cute card. I like quotes and although my collection of them is everywhere, I still like them, and suppose that others do to. If you want to use it you are more than welcome to download it here. :)  (just a warning. the font looks weird on the page, but when you download it, it looks a lot better.)


oh, and I made this with a free mini kit shared by MyMemories (they have a great digital scrapbooking software, along with lots of digital papers, kits, etc. - check out my sidebar for a code to save $10. I'm really not trying to advertise here, just letting you know where I got the cute stuff from! and trying to help you save money). ;) They have Friday Freebies on facebook.

W.i.P. Wednesday #16

Wahoo! We are back online, and boy oh boy do I feel like I have accomplished a lot! :) I'm so excited for WiP Wednesday today! :)


In Progress:

I received all the blocks for the do.Good Stitches quilt for September, arranged them and have sewn the top together! It is totally awesome how fast a quilt comes together when most of the blocks come from other people! I am definitely liking being a quilter! :) Now to decide how to do the back, and how to quilt it. :)

Here's the top:

and.... just out of reach. :)

I am sewing like crazy on Mikaela's quilt! In the last two days I cut the rest of the fabric, and am just about finished with all the blocks! I don't think it will take me long now at all! Then comes the fun part of arranging them! :) I think this will be a fun and VERY colorful quilt!

{sorry no pics. I forgot to take some. 

I'll post more in a day or so when I start arranging them on my wall. :)}

I did have a few etsy orders that I sent out. One was some Match Game Cards. I love these little bags!

 

and another Name Mobile! I hadn't made one for a while, but it was so much fun! The hardest part is figuring out how to ship it! But I love how it turned out! (She ordered it right as my health was going down the drain, and I am so grateful for her patience!!)

the best thing for these for the finishing touch is to fold the edges out just a little to give it some extra dimension. I also have a tutorial here if you want to make your own (with a LOT of pics!). They are actually pretty easy!

I am also trying to come up with some cards that I can send out with my orders with my info on them... ug. I don't know what I think about this. I've still got some tweaking to do. What do you think?

add some color? change the font? I really don't know where to go from here...

Now I'm off to sew up some bee blocks, and see if I can finish a quilt or two! :)

Thanks for stopping by!

and don't forget to stop by Freshly Pieced to see what everyone else's got going on!

W.i.P. Wednesday #11

*** Wow. I am so off. Today is Thursday. oh well. :) ***


The first things that come to mind when thinking of all my in progress projects are: laundry, dishes, and general cleaning. Those things never seem to get finished. ;) Though sometimes it seems that none of my sewing projects ever get finished either, at least they are a lot more fun to think about. :) (plus I'm sure no one wants to see pictures of the piles of clothes that need to be washed or folded, or the dishes piled up in my sink, or the fridge that needs to be cleaned out. maybe another day. lol.) :)


Finished Projects: uh... still working on this... though I am SUPER close with so many of them, I'm crossing my fingers that next week will be packed in this category!

In Progress Projects:
Kaleidoscope QAL, boy is this one going to be tricky. I can't wait to have it finished and I know it will look great... if I can get my squares to sew right. :)

Here's a little sneak peak of my Pretty {little} Pouch Swap pouch. I think I might have a hard time giving this one away. ;) It's all ready to be put together! almost done! :)

I didn't actually make all these matchbooks, the young women did (which saved me a ton of time) plus they all turned out so cute. Now to add a finishing touch to them and they're ready for next week!

I have this stack of fun fabrics which will be turned into a million reversible pocket tissue covers. I realized that it really is hard to pick out fabric for people!!! You think you know someone and what they like, and then when you try to pick a pattern that they will also like, at least for me, it made me feel like I don't even know them! Some were easy, but boy oh boy I hope they like them! :)

Here is the pile of fabric that is waiting to be cut for my nieces quilt. It's going to be a BIG one!!  At least bigger than I've ever done. All of those prints are going to be cut 5 1/2" by 5 1/2" and have a finished 1" boarder in 21 shades of 7 colors. Then they will be randomly sewed all together in 12 x 13 block strips. With 156 total blocks! I think it will be really cute! I'm excited to see how it turns out. As she was picking out the fabric she found some extra turquoise minky that I didn't use for another project and fell in love with it (and wants it for the back)! This project is almost going to be completely from my stash! I feel so good about that. :)

can I also add this post! ;) that and updating my side bar. :) I love lists.

I guess that's it for now... though I'm sure there are more in progress items, but this is what I'm currently focusing on. Until next week, Happy Sewing!! :)

Made It: Paper Crafts: Birthday Cards Tin

I actually made this a long time ago, but since I've been making some more cards again, I remembered this and thought I would share it with you! :)

It's a little tin that you can buy at Robert's or Michael's, or probably any craft store.

I simply covered it with cute paper and used my cricut to cut out the letters to label it with. (My SIL has a cute one like this for her recipes).

For the inside I made little dividers so I could categorize the different types of cards so they'd be easy to sort through and find later.


I labeled my dividers by month and then made a little birthday calendar to put on the front and back of each one. I still need to write some names in on the dates. ;) (The things I never seem to get to.)

They are simply made out of cardstock, with a small tab on the top. I printed out the months and glued them onto a piece of corrugated cardboard and then cut them out. Then I glued those onto the tabs. Same with the dates: printed them out, cut along the boarder and glued them on the fronts and backs of each divider. Super easy. I may or may not still have the document file I made up for these. If you would like a copy let me know. I'd be more than happy to pass them along! :)

I think I should make a section for "Thank You" cards.... and make some more cards to put in it!


If you make one of these I'd love for you to share it in the from blank pages... flickr group.

Fab Finds: Cricut, Cutting Vinyl and Fabric, and new Print and Cut Tutorials

Here are the instructions for cutting with vinyl.

I always forget the blade depth and pressure settings, so here they are. :)

Cutting Vinyl using Cricut & Cricut Expression Die Cutting SystemVinyl Instructions using Transfer Tape

1) Place vinyl sheet on Cricut cutting mat. Load mat into machine and confirmthat machine is set to the correct cutting mat size.2) Make cutting selection and set size as if you where cutting paper,and then press cut.Peel images off cutting mat.PREPARATION1) Place vinyl sheet on Cricut cutting mat. Load mat into machine and confirmthat machine is set to the correct cutting mat size.2) Make cutting selection and set size. For best results, set blade depth to 6 and pressure to 2.These settings will result in a "KISS CUT" or a cut that only goes throughthe vinyl leaving the backing liner uncut.3) Take ends of transfer tape in each hand with adhesive side facing down.Gently lay transfer tape over vinyl (be sure to lay it straight)image starting in the center and moving out toward the ends.4) Once tape is in place,use applicator stick to burnish*the tape on to the vinyl.Start in the center and use overlapping strokes.

APPLICATION
1)Completely clean and dry wall (or other surface) area where vinyl image is to be placed.For best results do not use a cleaner that will leave a residue.2) Lightly place image on wall using level to ensure correct placement.3) Once image is in place, use applicator stick to burnish* vinyl on to wall.For best results use overlapping strokes when burnishing*4) Gently peel back transfer tape at 45-degree angle.If vinyl starts to come off with transfer tape,lay area back down and burnish* again.

Cricut Vinyl Instructions Without Transfer Tape

PREPARATION
1) Place vinyl sheet on Cricut cutting mat. Load mat into machine and confirmthat machine is set to the correct cutting mat size.2) Make cutting selection and set size. For best results, set blade depth to 6 and preasure to 2.These settings will result in a "KISS CUT" or a cut that only goes through the vinyl leaving the backing liner uncut.

APPLICATION
1) Completely clean and dry wall (or other surface) area where vinyl image is to be placed.For best results do not use a cleaner that will leave a residue.2) Use level and pencil to draw a faint line on wall to aid in placement.3) Carefully remove the vinyl images one at a time form the backing liner and applyto the wall using the pencil line as a guide. Gently smooth down the vinyl using your fingers.4) Once all image are placed on the wall, place backing liner overthe vinyl and gently burnish* with application stick provided.5) When complete,carefully wash off or erase pencil lines.

Cutting Fabric:

I have a great video I found  that I put on my db's Crafty Corner blog along with some other links. Here's the link:   http://dbcrafty.blogspot.com/2009/05/great-tutorial-on-cutting-fabric-wthe.html

I have some other cricut info (free font links, svg files) over there too. You can find them all here:
http://dbcrafty.blogspot.com/search/label/Cricut


And, since I'm posting Cricut stuff, I just found some great info and tips on how to cut out images that you've printed on your printer, or cut shapes for your stamps! SO AWESOME! I'm so excited! :)
(No need to spend beau coup bucks on the new Cricut Imagine!)

Print and Cut

Ok, here's a video for the easiest way (I love Make The Cut!):

Here's a link that has the video instructions written out.

http://cleversomeday.wordpress.com/2010/11/01/mtc3printandcut/

And here's some more links:

http://cleversomeday.wordpress.com/2009/09/22/hinge-technique-for-cutting-printouts/

http://cleversomeday.wordpress.com/2010/06/12/mtcprintandcut/

and here's a link with a list of other options that I haven't checked out all the way yet.

http://cleversomeday.wordpress.com/print-and-cut/

and here's another site (this link is specifically to how to use center point to cut stuff) but I bet the site has a lot of other great resources too! :) 

http://www.mypinkstamper.com/2009/01/cricut-series-7-episode-78.html

One More Note:

If you go to this link:

http://www.scrappydew.com/mtcclassroom/beta/

you can see a lot of the awesome new features of Make the Cut! 3.0, it's a beta version still, so if you buy MTC you will get the older version, but you can upgrade to this. I am seriously so excited! (and the best thing is upgrades are FREE, unlike SCAL. But that's ok. It's just one more thing that makes MTC so great.) :)

So honestly, if you own a cricut, or a gazelle, or black cat cougar, you really need to check out these videos! :) It's pretty awesome! :)

Made It: Cash Envelopes

My hubby and I have tried and failed (ok, more like not cared) about budgeting over and over again. Well, now we're serious about it (well, going to be once we start. lol). I asked some friends for advice and a lot of people suggested the cash envelope system. Another suggested Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover. So, I searched online for some cash envelope ideas and found quite a few:

Paper envelopes:

Here is one with envelopes and a case if you want it in it's own separate case.

link: http://www.thehybridchick.com/2010/02/envelope-clutch/

Here is a how-to for the actual envelopes and how to bind them together. This one is cute because you can place in it your wallet and keep it nice.

link: http://kelleighratzlaff.com/featured/free-envelope-template-and-a-tutorial/

Some separate little pouches.

Link: http://simple-green-frugal-co-op.blogspot.com/2009/06/are-you-using-envelope-system.html

And a fabric version using oil cloth.

link: http://walterandveronica.blogspot.com/2010/03/envelope-system-wallet.html

I ended up making the last one, but used cotton instead of oil cloth (thus needing to add seam allowances and stuff). but it was still pretty simple. My friend contacted me the other day and told me that the blog is now private, but wanted to know how I made mine. So, I'm planning on making up another one so I can add the tutorial on my blog. (why is the link still there if it doesn't work? So they can still get credit for their beautiful work, and maybe one day it won't be private). :)

Anyway, here is mine version that I made: :)

 I lined it with cardboard to help give it some shape.

 I love the pocket in the back for your checkbook or whatever else.

 and pockets in the front for cards and DL

It was a little trickier making all the pockets out of different fabric, but it I love having variety. :)

The pockets all have little clear vinyl pockets so you can label all of the pockets. :) (you can kind of see it on the purple pocket, or the blue pocket in the picture above.)

Here's the tutorial post: http://fromblankpages.blogspot.com/2010/10/cash-envelope-tutorial.html


Check out all the buttons on my sidebar to see where I'm linking up, and to check out all the other great stuff out there!

Thanks for stopping by!! :) Have a great day!

and stay tuned for the tutorial!! :)

Made It: Personalized Photo Names

Do you remember this?

Did you makes some? (I want to see if you did!!) :) And are now wondering what to do with your left over squares that have letters cut out of them? Well, let me show you! :)

Find a picture of your loved one whose name you made, and crop and size them so they will fit perfectly inside each letter.

Then print them out and cut them square.

Now layer your empty letter squares (they will be reversed from how you made them for the name mobiles), pictures and a blank piece of cardstock to back each 'letter piece'. Trim around them so all the layers fit are nice and tidy - try to keep them all about the same size though, no matter how big the letters are. (You can also wait and do this after the next step. That might in fact be better.)

You don't have to trim them exactly. It's kind of fun how they overlap on the sides too. See it on the E?

See how the paper on top is opposite?

Next run the individual letter papers through your xyron sticker maker, or whatever other method you want to use, and get them all stickied up. Carefully align the letter paper with the narrower letter cut out over your picture and smooth out (make sure your picture is centered before sticking down). Then carefully align the larger letter on top of that. Get your backing cardstock sticky and glue that onto the back. (You made to trim them just a little bit again at this point.)

On each piece of cardstock I wrote a note to my son. Telling him something I love about him, little things he likes to do, whatever. Just a little note, kind of like a journal to go along with the pictures. Something for him to remember.

Now attach/connect them however you like! You could punch a hole in one corner and tie a ribbon through them, or laminate them like I did to make an accordion style book (I also used my xyron for this). You could also, instead of cutting out individual cardstock squares, cut out long strips to glue the squares onto so they are all connected that way. You could bind them, put them in a frame, glue them onto large wooden blocks, hang them on the wall, scrapbook them, or whatever else you want to do!

And walla! No wasted paper scraps! :)

Linking up with all the linky parties on my side bar. :)