Quilts, Hats, and Shoes, Oh My!

Last week, we went away on vacation for a wedding, and to spend time with family and friends who we haven’t seen in a while. Let me tell you, it brought so much happiness to my soul. But this post isn’t really about our vacation. It’s about crafts.

For the first part of our vacation, we celebrated the wedding of my brother-in-law and his new bride. My brother-in-law loves flannel, and I love sewing.... so I came up with a wedding present to fit the bill: a flannel quilt!

Let me be honest here, this thing was a pain in the butt. Let’s just say that for my first quilt EVER, I decided to make a giant, queen-size quilt, in flannel (which is pretty tricky to work with), without the right tools.

But don’t worry, my husband came to the rescue! Seriously, he knew less about quilting than I did, but he still helped me get through every step. In fact, he did most of the actual quilting himself. We hand quilted the whole thing (and quickly discovered that his stitches were straighter, more even, and faster than mine).

I know, right? It was a crazy idea. But it looks really cool. And after their honeymoon, the bride and groom sent us a picture of themselves wrapped up in the quilt, saying they loved it. And it was 100% worth it.

As a side note, later on in our vacation, we visited my grandma, who is an avid quilter. I had so much fun looking at all of her creations, and even going to a quilt show with her. There’s no denying it: I’m hooked. I can’t wait to start my next quilt.

Speaking of hooked, I used my crochet hook for another recent project. My other sister-in-law, who we also saw on our vacation, is expecting their second child any day now. Several months back, she commissioned me to make baby shoes and a hat for her little girl. I must say, I’m very pleased with the results.

Ugh, I can’t get over how adorable they are. I used this pattern for the hat.

I used this pattern for the shoes, but modified it a little, and added a strap. I love the fancy button!

They were pretty easy to work up, and I kind of want to make more. So between baby shoes, quilts, and the million other projects stewing in my head, be on the lookout for more crafts!