Kindle Cover

So my husband surprised me with a Kindle for my birthday and I immediately thought of the cover I wanted to make for it. I just wanted to protect it and store it so it would have less of a chance of getting ruined (in a house with 6 kids the likelihood is very high!) So I finally pulled out some fabric that I snagged from my mom's house last time I was there, and got busy.

I used some heavyweight upholstery fabric, a layer of lining, a layer of batting, and a layer of stiff plastic craft stuff (don't know the name).

When I was done I think I decided I could do without the layer of batting since the fabric itself was so heavy. It was hard to get it all in my sewing machine because it was so thick.

Quick tutorial: Measure your fabric, batting and lining to be 1 inch larger on the 2 sides and bottom of kindle and about 4 inches bigger than the top of the kindle. Cut it all out. Layer it with the batting in the middle and fold the side and bottom edges together and sew the side and bottom edges together. Turn it inside out. Position a stiff velcro piece about 1/2 inch from the top of one edge and the soft velcro side 1/2 inch from the top of the opposite edge and sew them into place. Measure the stiff plastic craft stuff to fit the front and back, being only as tall as your kindle is, and cut two pieces to slide into the layers that are already sewn together. Slide them in before continuing. Turn over the top edge so the velcro is now on the inside
and lined up with each other, and top stitch through all layers sewing the turned over edge down about 1/4 inch from the top and again about 2 inches from the top. Wah la!

I think it would look cute with a little label on the front that says something like, "Mom's Kindle- stay away!" It would get the message across and jazz it up a bit!

Wanna Be a Cowboy 2

So I was able to make three puffy quilts while on vacation with my 6 kids for 2 1/2 weeks! I gave one to a friend and didn't take pictures of it and these other two are for a baby boutique in Cody, WY. They are all western theme (since that's what Cody, WY is) and use the Wanna Be a Cowboy fabric by Riley Blake. I love the girl fabric combinations and wish I could keep one for myself! So stop by "Buttons, Bows, and Berry's" in Cody, WY to take a look at their cute stuff. Or you can find me at my etsy shop of course!

Butters and Beans

Just wanted to give a shout out to a new store opening in Woodbury, MN on July 22nd called Butters and Beans. Take a look at their facebook page http://www.facebook.com/buttersandbeans and tell them Caralee sent you. They are going to be selling my puffy quilts! Wish I lived closer so I could actually walk in the store but they have a website of course at buttersandbeans.com.

Pile O' Puffiness

Seems like most of my posts lately have been puffy quilts. It comes in spurts I guess. I got an order from a baby shop in Minnesota for 6 puffy quilts so I've been frantically trying to get them done before we leave on a trip to OR tomorrow! I had to order the fabric and wait a week to get it so I have really had 5 days to get them done, and that is with 6 kids home for the summer and a day of town festivals thrown in there too. Oh, and my birthday (which doesn't really matter when you are turning 29 again anyway).


Here is the pile of puffy quilts. I kept thinking the princess and the pea wouldn't feel a pea under all of that puffiness!

Wanna be a Cowboy 2- by Riley Blake

Purple and White (don't know the designer)


Daydream by Riley Blake (my favorite one!)


On a Whim- Robert Kaufman


Blue and White Cloud, backed with soft white minky


Green and tan gingham.

I'm going to try and stop by a baby shop here in Cody, WY and see if they are interested! Who wouldn't love them?

Blue and White Apron

So my sister got all of the tablecloths used at her wedding 5 years ago and gave me some. I'm the queen of turning "old" fabric into something new with my scrap box. There was plenty of fabric and scraps to make another cute apron set. I'm getting faster at making them and every time my girls ask me to make one for them. Wait for Christmas girls!

Loving the poodle puffiness

Just had to share one of my favorite puffy quilts before it's even done. I used some "poodle" fabric that I had a bunch of extra from several years ago (poodle dance costumes!) I pre-washed it because it was shedding everywhere and it was fine in the washer and dryer and now it doesn't shed anymore! I initially thought the quilt would have too much white in it, but it's just perfect. I love the mix of greens and blues with the puffy look and feel of the white. I can't say what I'm making it for because a certain person might read it and I don't want to give it away totally! Now off to finish the border and back...

Why did I buy a pattern?

So my 13 year old daughter keeps growing, as they tend to do. So she has no church clothes. I made her a skirt awhile back and looked in vain for other dresses. They all have spaghetti straps or are too short these days in the store. So I tackled a dress this week. At the fabric store I told her to look at patterns while I did some other shopping. When I met her at the patterns she had found a really cute dress, but the pattern wasn't on sale. I am not in the market to pay full price for patterns ($16.95!!!). PLEASE don't EVER buy a pattern at full price. I wait for the $0.99 or $1.99 sale and then stock up on any pattern I think is cute. So we looked at the $2.99 "See and Sew" rack. There were parts of several dresses that she liked but not one pattern had everything. She wanted a summer dress but she likes long sleeves and most real summer dresses are sleeveless or spaghetti straps. So she found this pattern and really liked the SASH.
So I was supposed to build a new dress around the sash. Since I had SIX children with me (not recommending shopping at a fabric store with 6 kids), I grabbed the pattern and away we went. When I got home, I realized the pattern only came in size 8-16 women's. Well my daughter is between girls and juniors sizes so she was too small for women's size 8. So I had to figure out how to make this dress with the cool sash and

1. add sleeves
2. change the bodice lining since it has sleeves now to a yoke lining
3. Make the V neck not so deep
4. change it to a smaller size to fit a 13 year old

So after a phone call to my mom who asked "What were you thinking?", I started cutting out the fabric. I cut out a size 8 instead of cutting it out smaller, in case I cut it out too small. The yoke wasn't as hard to figure out as I had thought it would be. I used sleeves from another dress pattern, made the bodice a little shorter, tried it on several times, and hoped for the best. She is thrilled with the outcome and likes the bright, springtime colors, and she especially likes the SASH! I think it's way cuter in person and the pictures make it look a little frumpy, which it isn't.