Geometry Quilt

I finished my first quilt of the year (too bad it's almost July)! I have had this quilt on my mind for a long time, and I decided it was time to make it happen. Now that my baby boy is in a "big boy room" (insert ugly crying tears here), we moved my rocker into the living room. And in the house of a quilter, all furniture must have a unique quilt on it.

This quilt has many names depending on who you ask. Some call it 3D blocks, tumbling blocks, rhombus cubes, etc. I call it my Geometry Quilt. Geometry is the only math that I'm good at, so I wanted to combine a pretty geometry concept with quilt math and make a perfect piece for my living room.

                  

                                          

I made my own template for the cube, using a 60 degree diamond and triangles. I figured out a way to strip piece the blocks and eliminate the horrible Y-seam that comes with sewing cubes. If you look very closely, each of the teal diamonds is actually two triangles sewn together. This allowed me to piece the columns, then sew them together using a straight seam. 

I used solid Kona cotton for the grays and white, and a tiny teal dot for the tops of the cubes. I LOVE a striped binding, so I was happy to find this white and charcoal fabric at Hobby Lobby. 

                 

I usually straight-line quilt my pieces, but I couldn't do that with this design. Instead, I opted to do a meandering straight line. I have done meandering curves before, and this was definitely more difficult. I like the overall effect, because it's intentionally messy, but keeps from breaking up the pattern. 

I am going to enjoy snuggling up under this baby. It adds the perfect pop of color and pattern to my favorite rocker-glider. I still find excuses to rock both babies in that chair, whether it's in their nursery or not.

Ruffle Pants for Back to School

It has been a LONG time since I was able to sit down, sew something, take pictures of it, and blog about it. With kids, graduate school, and work, my opportunities to sew and create are rare these days. But I did want to share two outfits I made for baby girl for her back to school wardrobe.

When I created the Meghan Ruffle Pants pattern two years ago, I had to bribe baby girl to put them on for me to take pictures. I was certain she would love them, and she hated them. Fast-forward to kindergarten, when all of her friends are wearing LOTS of ruffles. Now, she wants the pants. So what's a sewing mama to do??? Of course, sew up some ruffle pants and make matching shirts!

Her first look is perfect for football season, with our precious orange and purple to help us cheer on our Clemson Tigers! I shortened the length of these pants from the original pattern, because she likes them a little more capri-length than touching the floor.

These pants sew up in less than an hour, and with only about a yard of fabric per pair, they are inexpensive to make! If ya'll have been reading Grits and Giggles for a while, you know I don't like outfits that you can only wear once, or with one other item. Hence, my reversible patterns such as the Bradshaw romper and Kaileigh Knot Dress. So although both of these pants match her new shirts, they also match other tops in her closet as well, so she can mix and match for the weather and her mood that day.

So head over to the shop and grab your ruffle pants pattern. Your baby girl will have a closet full of ruffly goodness in no time!

While you're here, I want to send a HUGE thank you to all of my customers. Grits & Giggles Pattern Shop has sold thousands of patterns on Etsy and Craftsy since opening just a few short years ago. 

Congratulations!

Oh my....where have I been?? Busy, that's where. Life has taken some major twists and turns since I last posted, with changes to careers, family and education. 

Although I don't have time to post about lots of craftiness and "mom" things anymore, I had to take this opportunity to congratulate my husband on a major life accomplishment. He has finally earned his bachelor's degree!

He was the first in his family to earn any kind of degree with his Associates degree several years ago. After years of working full time, raising two kids, and going to school, he has earned his B.S in Business Management. It was a long road but so worth it for him to further his career!

We all enjoyed being there for him along the way, and at graduation as well. 

Congratulations Matthew!! We love you!!

Back to School Supplies

Sometimes I find products on my favorite shops and websites that I didn't even know they had. The stationary at Treat was a wonderful surprise!!

    With lots of colorful and personalized options, you're sure to get some amazing back-to-school accessories and essentials for a great price and of great quality!

Prepping for Football

It's getting close to football season, and if you've been here a while you know that's my FAVORITE season of all! We are Clemson Tigers fans in this house, and we cheer loudly, every week, from the stands or at home.

Here are some things that get our house ready for the season....

DIY Garden Flag

Game Day Quilt

No-Sew Blanket

Mini Cornhole Boards

We love football season no only for the games, but for tailgating and time with family. It's a tradition in our family to spend our Saturdays together eating, laughing, and enjoying each other. What does your family do for football season??

Forgotten Football

I cannot believe I forgot to post football pictures last winter. I always do a football recap and it totally slipped my mind! I know I have lots of CLEMSON fans reading, so I love hearing about their games and tailgates, and sharing mine.

Some games were super cold (The Carolina Game!!), but with blankets and our gas heater, the tailgate was still toasty. 

Before the Ga. State Purple out game. Somehow in her closet of pink, Goldilocks doesn't own any purple!!

Oh how I love this picture. Gray could not look more like my Mama. 

Yay for family pictures! We're all smiling because this was after our WIN against USC. Such a good day.

Girl shot! 

You know you shop the same places when you don't even kind of plan to match...and match perfectly with your sister-in-law.

Two of my favorite people in the whole world.

 And my first true love...I have two more boys I love now...but he was my first!

Baby boy's favorite thing is football...and it makes Papa proud!

And of course...makes Daddy proud too. 

We have so much fun at our tailgate and at the games. It's a family tradition that I hope we can continue for years to come.

Scrappy Quilt: Finished!

I first posted about this quilt last year when I put the top together. It made a HUGE dent in my scrap bin, which I was thankful for. 

I actually finished this quilt late last year, but am just now getting around to writing about it. It was gifted to a sweet girl for her 2nd birthday.

The back of the quilt is a large yellow gingham that my Granny had stashed. It was perfect for the back of this quilt, and added some vintage softness.

The binding was my favorite...black and white stripe. This really is the most perfect binding fabric in the whole world. It's from Hobby Lobby, and if they quit selling it, I'm in trouble.

The quilt was quilted with straight lines outlining the vertical seams, and every other horizontal seam. It has great texture without being too overdone.

The quilt is pretty large, between a twin and full size. I hope it keeps this sweet girl warm for a long time!

God Bless America Printables

I Love the 4th of July. Celebrating Independence Day with friends and family is a tradition of ours. Cookouts, swimming, playing outside, and so many other things make the day great. 

One of my favorite patriotic songs is "God Bless America". I learned this one at a young age, because it is sung at the opening of EVERY Clemson home football game. 

To add this sweet song to my house, as well as create a festive decoration, I've made a FREE printable!

The printable is a 5x7, so it will fit in a standard frame, and comes in TWO colors for you to choose from.

 These would look great on a holiday mantle, or anywhere else you would love to display them!

Click HERE to download the PDF file

Summer Photo Books

Have you had the perfect summer vacation yet? I know a lot of us don't print pictures anymore. They go to our computer to die and never get printed. I try to stay on top of printing them to have some to flip through and use in picture frames, but then you have to store them.

My favorite solution...photo books!! And I can honestly say that we have at least 20 Shutterfly books at our house.

I have made them for everything from vacations, to birthday parties, births, football seasons, and so much more. They come in so many sizes that no matter how big or small your event, you can find the perfect one for you. AND, they're completely customizable, which makes this crafter's heart happy,

If you haven't tried them before, let this be the summer you do!

Sweet Memory Quilt

I made a quilt a while back that honestly....really sucked to make. It's not that I didn't want to, but it was a sad quilt. A very young boy in our community died last year. Some of his classmates are the children of people I went to school with. They contacted me to work together to make a memory quilt for his family. 

They wanted it to be a good project for the kids, and something sweet for the family. Of course, I agreed.

The students and the teachers each made a block. The students had a picture of him, and each drew his portrait on white cotton. They collected the pictures and sent them to be to be made into a quilt.

To keep the focus on the pictures, I added simple gingham sashing between the blocks, and used the same gingham for the backing.

My favorite binding was used, a small black and white stripe to make a perfect framework.

The quilting was done in an all over meandering pattern, to mimic the look of puzzle pieces. I didn't quilt over the individual pictures so there wouldn't be anything distracting from them.

It was so adorable looking at each picture the kids drew. 

They're very talented at such a young age, and their interpretation of their friend was so neat.

I was sad to have to make the quilt, but I'm glad I got to be a part of this special memory for the students and the family.

Happy Anniversary

Happy Anniversary to my dear sweet Hubby! He has been putting up with being married to me for SEVEN years now. Bless his heart.

But in those seven years we have created a beautiful life together, and two amazingly gorgeous children. 

Life can be stressful sometimes, but we always make the best of it and come out smiling on the other side.

We do a lot of laughing around here. If you can't laugh together, then you're in for some long, hard years. I love this man and the daddy he is to our babies. Seven down....so many more to go!