Tic tac toe, and checkers to go!

My itty bitty is turning two next week! Oh my goodness! 💜 I finally just got her weaned too. Every kid is so different, and the more you have the more apparent that becomes ☺️ I tried to gently and slowly wean like the first two, but in the end I had to cut her off cold turkey. She wouldn't taper off. Buuuuut she was ready to go off the momma milk. We were both afraid we wouldn't have as much cuddle time but now we both know we Can cuddle without the boob, lol.  I feel I did good over all! My first got 15 mos., the second 16 mos., & she got 23 mos. Now I'm going through the search for engorgement relief. So far sage has worked wonders! Do not bind your chest! :( I tried it for one day and it made my problem worse! Not a good idea, but I read it soooo many places... Grrrr.

Anyway!!!!!! I have been inspired to make some homemade toys for her birthday this year. Believe it or not she is hard to shop for! We are at a point now that we don't need any more unnecessary stuff!  Her birthday comes so close after Christmas and whatever a two yr old could really enjoy, we likely already have from the previous two 😁 This project I made 'just because', not for the bday, well just because I had the idea and it's more for the five yr old and I'm running with the inspiration 💗

This transportable 'real-life' game is equipped with checkers & tic tac toe game boards and a pocket for your pieces 😊 heehee

What you'll need:

*One piece checker board felt (or if you are super awesome a quilted board) This is measured with one inch squares

*A piece of fabric measuring 28in x 10in

* Nine 4x4 inch squares ( 5 of the same and 4 of the same; or do like I did and just use the right and wrong sides )

*Something of a strap for tieing it all up when you're little ones are done i.e. a ribbon, shoelace, rope, or a 2in x 18in strip of fabric sewn together like a strap

*Game pieces ( I made mine from just 3 types of felt )

*All Sewing is done with 1/2 inch Seams! *

✨First, sew or cut your strap.

✨Next, quilt together your 9 squares.

✨Then, affix your strap to the top of the quilt block at the edge as shown above.

✨ Cut out your checker board; they are 8x8. I cut a nine by eight square piece and folded and sewed down one side for the top edge of my pocket. I also cut with a 1/4 in excess border. But all measuring from edges was done from the line 1/4 inch inside!

✨if you haven't done so already cut your  28x10 piece

✨Right sides together sew the quilt block onto the larger piece so that the strap is on the inside now^^^^

✨sew the checkerboard onto the left side centered one inch from the edge leaving the top open

✨Now, fold in half (the short ends matching) right sides together, and sew down edge so you now have something of a tube.

✨Adjust it so the seam would lay in the middle (still inside out)

✨pin it closed and sew the top and bottom leaving an opening to turn it out. If you ever made a pillow this would seem familiar to it.

Here mine is sewed and turned out with the opening on the top left. Notice the strap is where it's supposed to be too. Careful to not sew it to something else while it's flapping about inside, when sewing your top and bottom!

✨At this point make sure it's flattened right and your edges are right to then sew a seam done the middle between the two 'boards' 

✨After that it should be safe to close your hole by hand

Then you can make/assemble your pieces! I think two separate colored buttons as checkers would be soooo cute! I just sewed a double layer of felt circles for checkers and our tic tac toe markers are cut colored felt owls that have been stiffened with modge podge.

There are so many possibilities for pieces and really they're so interchangeable ! I had not planned originally to make each of of my darlings one of these but as I was making it I was getting requests to what they wanted theirs to be like, lol! I should've known, ha! That's okay of course  :) I want them each to have their own 💜 !

I hope these directions were easy to follow ! I realize I shoud have had a pic of it sewn before turning out but I hope it still makes sense!!!! Let the games begin!!!! ☺️