Hooded Towel with Pleats

I went to a baby shower recently for the mother of twin baby girls who will arrive in a few weeks.  I pulled out a favorite gift/project to make for them and I thought I'd try a tutorial of it for anyone interested.

Supplies:

1 bath towel

1 wash cloth

pins

ruler

thread

  ** I found some towels and matching wash cloths at Walmart.  You can use any combination that you like.

Find the center of the long side of the towel and mark it with a pin.

Use your ruler and measure 2 1/4 inches from the center and mark this spot with a pin.

This point will be a fold.

Fold the towel over with the second pin as your fold marker. 

Then fold the towel back with the fold point near the center.  Pin this first pleat in place.

Your folding should look something like this:

Use your ruler again and measure 2 1/4 inches from the edge of the first pleat and mark this point.

Repeat what you did to make the first pleat, to make a second.

You don't want the edges of the pleats to overlap because it will be too bulky.  They should be just next to each other.

Now, do all of this over again on the other side of the center pin, folding it toward the center.

With matching thread, sew along the edge of the towel to keep the pleats in place.

Go carefully with all that extra bulk.  I broke two needles with this project trying to hurry it.

It should look something like this:

This is the front of the towel.  You'll need to know that later on.

Set the towel aside and find your wash cloth.

If your wash cloth has more of a design or picture you want to show, you can adjust this part to fit your needs.

Place the wash cloth with the right side up. Fold down the top about 1/3 of the way - right sides together.  

Now, fold down each top corner, like this:

I pinned it on the inside because I turned mine right sides out to sew but you can pin it and sew it on either side.  Which ever is easier for you.

I turned mine right side out and sewed along the edge of the cloth.

Hopefully, you have something like this:

Next, lay out your towel so the sewn edge is closer to you and the back is up. (The front has the pleat folds right up to the middle.)

Lay the wash cloth over the edge of the towel about 1 1/2 inches or so and pin it in place.

Sew it along the edge of the wash cloth (from the black pin, following the red pins to the other black pin).  Try to keep the pleats in place but they don't have to be perfect.

Next, turn the towel over and sew across the edge of the towel.

That should do it!  I hope this made some sense.  Please let me know if anything is unclear.

Enjoy your little ones wrapped in a new towel.

Give Aways!

Some great new fabric is being given away to someone lucky -- I hope it's me -- but you can try your luck too.  This is at Lila Tueller Designs:

Also, at Stray Stitches there is more fantastic fabric up for grabs.  Give that a try too.

My First Swaps

Since I'm pretty new to blog-land, I have recently entered my first quilty swaps.  I joined International Friendship Quilters and there are lots of different events and activities that you can join and have fun with.

The first swap I joined is the Framed Hexagon Swap.

This is my first attempt:

And this is the one I received from my partner in Australia!  Isn't it Beautiful!!

I had so much fun with my first swap that I wanted to do more.

I signed up for the Mosaic Color Play Swap.  My partner sent me the middle square and I had to pull together three other fabrics that would make a 12.5 in block.

This is what I came up with using her center block:

 And this is what I received in the mail from my partner in S. Carolina using my center block.  I love the colors she put together.

 What fun this is!  I'm already working on my next swaps...

My Mercy Border Block

The ladies in our little town have started a quilting group and we call ourselves:  Parma Quilters Anonymous.  We have a lot of fun together too.  This year we decided on an ongoing activity and we're going to call it the Mercy Border Quilt.  Basically, we each brought a center block for our quilt to our first meeting and then we all pass it on to someone else and that person will add a border to it.  Next  month it will be passed on again and hopefully by the end of the year we will each have a quilt made of a central block surrounded by borders made by each person in the group.  We are at the mercy of the person who adds the next border - hence the name.  I'm really excited about this project!  Here's my center block:
I can't wait to see it again.

Procrastinator - ME!

Yes - I am an admitted procrastinator.

I got involved in a Block of the Month from a local quilt store that ended in October.

I just finished it.

Here are the first nine that I did before I started this blog:

This BOM was a study in the use of Thangles.  I had never used them before so it was great to learn a new technique and really get to use them in different ways.

Thangles are a nifty way for making half-square and quarter-square triangles.  You use a paper foundation and layer your fabric on it and then sew on the lines.  Pretty easy, really!

Here are the last three that I finished yesterday:

Now I've got to figure out what to do with them next.

I'll do that later....  :)

Pity Party

Well, call it a pity party or just a splurge... Whatever.

I spent countless hours entering dozens of Sew-Mama-Sew give-aways (there were hundreds) in December and, oh the goodies that were out there to be had!  I can't tell you of the visions of sugar plums that danced in my head - or the chickens I counted before they were hatched.

My luck has apparently completely ran out because I didn't win a single thing.  I'm sure I'm the only person in all of quilt blogging world that walked away empty handed.

So, what does a girl in my pitiful situation do?  Throw pity party and go buy myself some gifts!

I made up for it in our local JoAnn's at their New Year's sale and bought some good stuff!

I feel much better.  :)

And, yes, I will still continue to enter those silly give-aways with the glimmer of hope that my luck will change.

Give Aways!

There's a fun, colorful give away over at Stray Stitches.

Go take a look!

A Quilt for Christmas

This is what I spent every spare minute through the month of December doing -- which isn't many with all of the holiday trimming and celebrating that goes on in our house.  But, I did get it done in time.  My inspiration came from here.  I fell in love with this pattern and had to try it.  It was a lot of fun.
This is a gift for my favorite sister.  She's not a quilty person but I hope she'll like it and feel a part of me in it.

 I loved each square as I made it but as I put it together, I wasn't so sure. There seemed to be too many bright colors going on but when it was completely finished... I loved it again.  These are some of my favorites:

The one above and below are the same background fabric and I love how it worked so well with orange and teal.  They look totally different.

I quilted it myself on my regular old machine.  It isn't perfect but it looks good.
I really love the back too. I just used scraps from the front and splashed it across the back.

 No outside pictures with weather like that.

Merry Christmas, Sis!

Ornament Exchange

So my search for ornaments in my last post was really for the Ornament Exchange Party that I was lucky enough to be invited to.  12 ladies were to each make 12 ornaments and then we trade them.  We all go home with 12 different, handmade, absolutely beautiful Christmas ornaments. 

I chose to make the quilled snowflakes.  Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of them all but they were so beautiful.  Elegant and lacy. 

What Fun!  I was so excited!

So, here are the treasures I came home with....

 A penguin made of a flattened glass ball.

 The popcorn ball.  

I can't figure out how she got the popcorn inside that glass ball 

but it's awesome and smells delicious.

 Two different santa bellies from two different ladies.

Very cute, huh.

 Yo-Yo Christmas tree.

Love this one!

 A very delicate glitter ball with a snowflake on it.

 The Nativity made with polymer clay.

  A hand stitched Nativity.

 A stitched star.

 My own quilled paper snowflake. 

(I really am in love with it.)

 Wooden Believe.

 A rustic bell.

 A very cute Santa with a floppy hat.

Aren't they all just delightful!

I can't wait to put them all on my tree.

I had such a fun time with this - the making and the trading - I think I my just have to do my own party next year.