white tutorialS- polka dot quilt and polka dot playroom

Today we are DOUBLE-Y lucky to have not one, but two, fabulous guests (and not one, but two, amazing white projects). Kristen and Allison from Lullaby Lubbock are some of our best girls. They throw parties like it’s their job (check out this Roaring 20s party, and this Candyland party! Also, I cannot get over the fabulousness of the box-turned-ice-cream-truck at this Ice Cream Party?!?!), they are guru’s when it comes to life-with-kids (Allison’s reward jar has been quite the effective system for Burke), and their creativity (and t-shirt making) is boundless. Also, Jord knows (and loves) these girls in real life (they all lived in Lubbock together- they’ve all moved since then, though)- she always says they were some of those rare souls that ‘got her’ creatively. Fun fact- the Anthro-Inspired Duvet pictures were taken in Allison’s (former) guest room. Yep, we’re tight like that.

These girls went above and beyond for their white tutorials- not only do we have a white quilt tutorial for today (before you get scared off by the word ‘quilt,’ it looks beginner-quilter-friendly), we also have a white polka dot paint tutorial-

Woo Hoo!

Thank you Kirstin and Jordan for having us!

We still cannot get over the fact that we are a part of this group of such amazing bloggers!

Even though we are miles away from each other we are always on the same page.  We both talked about what we wanted to do for this series and had lots of ideas.  When we finally settled on them they ended up both involving polka dots- just in different places. I like to think great minds think alike :)One of our favorite things about summer is picnics.  We have picnics and tea parties all the time in our yard or at the park. One of my favorite things is seeing tiny hands serving each other in tiny cups using their grown-up manners.  So precious.

Needless to say, I knew this quilt would get a lot of miles out of it.

To break it in, my twins and I grabbed some donuts, milk and our new white quilt and headed out to have a little Polka Dot Picnic.

Powdered Sugar smiles are the sweetest 🙂

This quilt was so super easy and anyone can do it.

My quilt back side is just a white cotton fabric from my local fabric store.

I could not find a way to get the fabric to stay in place so I grabbed some duct tape and taped it to the floor.  I am sure there are much more professional ways to go about this, but the duct tape worked like a charm.

I just loved the spray adhesive.  I used Krylon Easy Tack.  I know that traditionally you are supposed to pin your quilt, but the spray did the trick so perfectly. It kind of changed my life.

To sew it together I started by sewing around all of the edges to make sure it wouldn’t shift.

Then I sewed parallel, perpendicular and diagonal all over the quilt.  Anywhere that I wanted a line, I made it. It is so freeing to be able to sew however you want and make it look however you want.

Then it was time for the binding.

I started by making my own bias tape.

I cut strips on the bias and then sewed them together by laying them perpendicular to each other and then sewing them together diagonally at the corner.

Once you lay it out flat it makes a straight line with a diagonal seam.

Then it was time to get this binding bound.

I started by sewing on the white side of the fabric and just laying my bias tape on top of the white fabric.  I used a 5/8 in seam and sewed up until a couple of inches from the corner.

Next, I sewed off of the quilt.

I folded the binding the opposite direction of the quilt and then back over on top of the quilt while keeping it tact together with my finger.

Then I began sewing again down the folded binding.

Once you turn the binding over and begin on the opposite side you have a perfectly folded corner.

I used this tutorial to guide me through.

Once I had bound the entire white side, I folded the binding over and ironed (or folded again) the binding underneath itself and bound the other side of the quilt.

And there you have it!

Easy peasy!

Thank you Kirstin and Jordan for letting us be a part of such a colorful and fun series!

From one polka dot to another . . . 

last week my girls started sharing a room. I think it’s so sweet that they get to have sister sleepover every night. Not too mention an extra bedroom freed up. I love that we can now have an official playroom! (and maybe a little craft nook too) There is no rhyme or reason to the play room quite yet. It’s basically just every toy we own thrown into one small square room.

After seeing these polka dots on pinterest, I began brain storming for the the playroom. I loved the big, bold and crisp look that the white polka dots gave the room. After looking more into it I realized that her polka dots were not painted on, they were peel off wall decals. Then after realizing the cost of buying that many polka dots, I began brainstorming on how to paint my own big, bold and crisp polka dots.

I measured the length of the wall and cut a piece of brown butcher paper the length of half of the wall. I started with the whole length but the paper was too big and heavy to work with so I cut it in half. I used a 13 inch lamp shade for my circle stencil.

Then you repeat again.

Once that side of the wall is finished, line up your stencil to finish the other side. I flipped the stencil horizontally to keep from having a partial dot in the middle of the wall. But that creates another problem with the stagger by putting the two dots on the second row right next to each other.  To fix that problem I flipped the stencil horizontally but then moved it back left to overlap one polka dot. Lastly, I had to move the stencil over one more time to finish out my dots evenly.

Love these girls and their white projects! For more WHITE goodness, head on over to delia’s for a white serged chenille blanket!