How to clean your BOB stroller

I will apologize in advance for my lack of before pictures. But my BOB (the most amazing stroller ever thank you Sarah R) has really been worked for close to 3 years. It has been the only stroller I have ever used and drug on numerous road trips, the farmers market most Saturdays, various runs and  probably most grime inducing - hauled around in the bed of the pickup. No surprise that it is just a tad dirty. Okay... Embarrassingly dirty. But no mold or mildew to worry about.

The beautiful after!

I tried several times cleaning it with limited success scrubbing with soap and water. In particular, the area where toddler feet hang was just disgusting. While doing some cleaning last weekend, it occurred to me to try using laundry detergent. Hello, why had I never tried it before.

I had some empty laundry detergent containers that needed to be washed out and recycled. So I added some hot water to them and shook them up to get all the detergent off the sides. Then I poured it onto the BOB and scrubbed. Then rinsed and dried. Note that I didn't scrub for hours or soak it for days. I poured it on and scrubbed for a few minutes. Not a major workout. But holy cow the gross water that came off it.

And... It is the cleanest it has been since it came out of box! Part of my luck may be that may detergent has oxi clean in it which has produced good results for others.

So if your BOB is looking a bit dingy grab some laundry detergent, a hose and scrubber and make quick work of making it look nearly new again!

Tummy Time Mat Tutorial

I have always wanted to make a quilt but I have been too afraid to try - that was until I saw this tutorial.  Seemed pretty easy, so I gave it a try.  The original tutorial used 1/2 a yard of  5 fabrics, but I didn't want to make 6 of the exact same quilt, so I bought  7" pieces of four coordinating fabrics, 1/2 a yard of another coordinating fabric (to use for the quilt and the binding), 2 yards of fabric for the back and the edges, batting (crib sized) and coordinating thread. 

As you can see from the picture, I bought both brown and pink for the back - I bought 2 yards of each (since they were on sale - I only needed 1 of each).  Since this tutorial will make 2 quilts, I made one with pink on the back and the other with brown on the back. 

Making the Top ...

My mom bought me this fancy shmancy rotary cutter for my birthday and I LOVE it.  I don't know how I used scissors for so long - this is so much easier!  I bought the self healing mat at Walmart (for only $14) and the ruler was on clearance at Walmart (for $4).  I use this stuff all the time - well worth the money!! 

Now, back to the tutorial ... I washed my fabric then ironed them.  Then, cut the five pieces of fabric into 6" strips. 

Arrange them how you want them. 

Pin and sew the seams together.  I did this one strip at a time. 

Looks great, doesn't it?

Press your seams toward the darker fabric. 

Cut the top and the bottom even. 

And cut what you have in half. 

You will have two of the exact same pieces - set one aside (see it in the top right corner?).

Cut 4" strips of your backing. Pin and sew. 

I pinned and sewed the two side pieces on then cut them even with the rest of the quilt.  Then, I pinned and sewed the top and bottom pieces. 

The Quilting ...

The other tutorial stops here -  this was my first quilt so I have no idea what to do when I got to this step.  Luckily, I found some amazing batting at the new Hobby Lobby in my area that saved the day! 

Fusible Batting - this just may be the best invention ever!!! 

All you have to do is place the top on and iron it - that is right it will stay put!!

Do the same thing with the bottom.  You can do the top and bottom at the same time if you are feeling brave (I obviously wasn't). 

I don't have a fancy quilting sewing machine so I tried to make my lines perfectly UNstraight (that's right - not straight)  I knew I wasn't going to get them perfect so I decided to make them not perfect on purpose - that was the best decision ever!  I followed the seams and sewed random distances from the seam.   

Now, when Michael saw the quilt he said, "Your lines aren't straight."  I said, "I know they are perfectly UNstraight!"  He looked at me like I was crazy (which isn't entirely out of the ordinary), laughed at me, and told me that I made that up.  I punched him in the face laughed too!  Just kidding - I told him that I thought it was amazing!

You can see the random perfectly UNstraight lines here. 

So, this is where it gets interesting.  The person I gave this quilt to has a seahorse theme in her baby girl's nursery.  I wanted to make it go with her theme, so I decided stitch waves into the quilt.  Waves aren't straight so that fit my perfectly UNstraight stitching ... well, perfectly! 

I drew waves on the quilt with a washable fabric pencil - I used the clear ruler to make my waves straight-ish. 

Can you see the waves?

How about now?

Then, stitch along the lines and you will have nice subtle waves!

LOVE it!!

After I completed the quilt, I wanted to go back and use turquoise thread instead of pink for the waves.  That would have really made the waves pop instead of being subtle.  But you know what they say about hindsight being 20/20.  Maybe next time!

On to the binding ...

Cut of the extra fabric and batting to make a nice rectangle. 

Looks nice! 

By the way, the quilt is wet because I took a wet rag and wiped off the pencil I used to mark the waves. 

I cut 2" pieces of my binding material (I only used 3 of them).  I sewed the ends together to make one really long strip of 2" fabric. 

I folded under, pressed it, folded it under on the other side, pressed it again, then folded it in half and pressed it.  Then, I attached it to my quilt and sewed.  Sounds easy, right? Too easy even ..

Then, I finished, hated the way it turned out and cried.  It looked horrible (I just typed and erased four times, so I am just going to leave it at horrible) - I almost threw it in the trash right there, but I decided to just shut the door and walk away from it.   

The next day (after thinking about it all day at work) I took out all the stitching and Michael's mom found this amazing video on how to do binding. 

The video shows her not pinning the binding on, but I did.  I sewed it on the back first. 

Then folded it over and pinned it down. 

I sewed it down. 

I am so happy with the way it turned out!!

Look at those beautiful corners!!

I could have stopped here, but I decided to add a little something to really make the quilt personalized for her. 

Adding the Embellishment ...

My coworkers baby's nursery theme is seahorses using pink and turquoise.  So, I wanted to add a turquoise seahorse.  I found seahorse clip art and printed it out (you can resize it to the size you want - I enlarged mine). 

Put it behind the fabric and trace it with a washable fabric pencil. 

Cut it out and place it where you want it. 

Notice how the tail isn't cut out all the way?  I shouldn't have cut it out perfectly since I had to cut it out twice. 

Attach the seahorse (or whatever you want to add) to iron on adhesive, cut it out, place it where you want it and iron it on. 

LOVE!! 

I tried to add turquoise bubbles coming up from the seahorse but I tried and failed multiple times.  I had to give it to her at her baby shower, so I gave up.  If I would have added the bubbles before I quilted it then it would have been a lot easier.  But, I love it the way it is!!  I was also gong to attach an eye (from the white dot fabric) but I lost it. 

I folded it up and put and pretty bow on it.  I made her a few bibs with coordinating fabric. 

The mommy to be loved it and I am sure it will get tons of use once the baby arrives!!

So, there you have it a personalized tummy time mat / quilt! 

Don't forget to click over to see the original tutorial at iCandy Handmade - I am in love with the fabrics she used!!

What do you think?

Personalized Bib Tutorial

 There seem to be babies popping out everywhere!  There are 4 women at work that are preggers and Michael's cousin is also preggers.  That means lots and lots of baby gifts! 

I wanted to make them all something that they would love but would also be useful.  I decided upon a few bibs (and other things I will post later) and I thought it would be cute to personalize them, so here you have a personalized bib tutorial. 

You will need:

- fabric for front (1/3 of a yard will made 3 bibs)

- fabric for back (1/3 of a yard)

- thread

- snap

- less than 1 hour

- bib to trace

First, trace half a bib on the inside of a grocery bag.  I used an over sized bib my sister had while my nephew was here.  Then add a seam allowance - it doesn't have to be exact. 

Cut the template out and place on the fold of your fabric of choice. (I know it looks weird, but trust me - I could get three out of this little piece of fabric by slanting the first bib).

Trace with a pen and cut out.

Repeat with a different fabric for the back.

Put the right sides together and pin all the way around.

Sew.  Leave an opening to turn.

Here it is - see my opening?  Now, turn it so the right side is now out through the little opening. 

Now fold the opening closed and pin (if you want or just hold it closed) and iron. 

Then do a top stitch all the way around. 

I used brown thread and I love the way it turned out!

Then add a snap - just follow the directions on the package of snaps.  I think I will try a pearl snap next time. 

The bib is complete and looks great as it is now, but I wanted to make it more personalized, so I picked a font and a fabric so I could add the baby's initial.  I used an iron on adhesive - just follow the directions on the package.  I put the adhesive on the scrap then cut the letter out after the adhesive was attached (you probably already do this but last time I ruined my ironing board cover, so I only cut the shape out once).

Then decide where you want the initial (or shape - I made one with a seahorse too).

And iron it on!  You are all finished!

You can play around with the fabrics and the personalization to fit the baby and the mommy (or daddy).  Or you can make some basic bibs to keep on hand as gifts when you need them. 

Enjoy!