babies everywhere!

Somehow it seems like pregnancies come in groups, and this time I have a group of ladies I can sew for, but am not pregnant/with newborn myself! It's actually really exciting and I had a grand time figuring out what to make these growing families. I am just going to round up all the gifts I made for these two special families in one post since most are doubles anyway.

To begin with, each gets a quilt. One is the cat quilt which I already posted about, and the other is getting my cascade quilt since she mentioned loving it, so obviously that is the largest part of the gift. I then made each babe a rattle out of an awesome stripe jersey knit, a teething ring, and a hooded towel. The rattle is from simple sewing for baby, in case you were wondering, and my only issue with it is that it is not washable....and I strongly believe anything for a baby should be washable, particularly if it is to go in their mouth, but oh well. Also, I think hooded towels are my favorite to make. They are so cute and so useful and quite honestly, most of the ones in the stores stink. I know I love the ones I made my little and she is still using them.

One package got robot burp cloths (which go with their very loose theme) and an open wide zip pouch and matching key fob, which incidentally is the first thing I made for this friend and when I was going to get her address to mail it, found out she was expecting.

The other got the most awesome little baby vest! Seriously, almost makes me wish I'd had a boy. This vest is from the pattern parcel that I mentioned last week, and I think it will just fit their style perfectly. I made the 6-12 month size in gray corduroy with a voile lining and it is just the cutest. I decided against real pockets and the back tie since it is for such a little guy.

That wraps up the baby stuff I have been working on. I hope the parents and their little people love them and get a lot of use out of them. Isn't that what we all wish? To know our things are used and loved? Now I am just trying to get a bunch of things done before I start my next big project late next week. I am really hoping to finish my sweater, make good progress on the baby's first year book, start organizing and making my planner for next year, finish a quilt, cut a bunch of fabric, and maybe work on another quilt. I don't know how much will actually get done, but I guess it's better to dream big :)

cat love

Do you ever get an idea, and it seems like it should be so simple, and then you try to make it work and it is anything but simple? Because that is the story of this quilt. You see, I found out recently that a dear friend from high school is having a baby boy in a couple of months. I decided ages ago that I would make her a cat quilt at the first opportunity, and this happened to be it.

Now, there are tons of great cat blocks out there, really there are, it's just that I had my mind set on using a Florence layer cake that I have been saving for just the right thing. So basically I wanted a cat block that would use 2- 10" squares, one for the cat and one for the background, and would end up 10". Apparently that is no easy task and I am not kidding when I say that I had one piece that was 1.5"x2.5" left of each background, but I made it work! It took quite a long time to come up with something I was happy with, and a couple of test blocks, but here we are.

 

The binding is stars and it is backed in some delightfully soft minky. I quilted it with some random grid design. I stinking love this quilt. It will be a tough one to send away, but I know that it will be loved. Now I just have to make some other cute little things to go with it! Right after I finish about 10000 other things ha! I am hopeful that I will be back with some other sweet finishes later this week :)

get well gifts

We have now just about reached one of the deadlines I was up against. You see, my poor sister is having surgery on her hip, for the second time in as many years, trying to get rid of the pain that has been plaguing her. The surgery is next week, but I really wanted to have a little get well package ready to send back with my parents for her. This surgery will be much more intense than the last and will have a recovery period of at least a couple of months. Since she will have so much time lying around, I wanted her to have some little things to make her happy. I bought a few things to entertain her, and made some other things that she has been asking for. Sister, if you found and are read this, stop and don't spoil it!!


Mostly she has just been asking for a new wallet. This was the perfect opportunity to get and try the necessary clutch pattern that I have been wanting! Rest assured, there is a version for myself in the works. But anyway, she asked specifically for a black polkadot exterior and lime green inside. I only had one fat quarter of the green, so I had to use it pretty sparingly, and spent a great deal of time trying to decide on color placement. I hope she likes the additions I chose with the gray, purple, and zebra. I really like the setup of this wallet and it is very professional and spacious. I used a magnetic snap and I think it looks really nice. Adding the wrist strap was a little difficult and I ended up using a piece of ribbon and sneaking it into the top stitching on the side. I hope it holds up.

So that was the biggest thing I made her. I decided a matching key fob couldn't hurt and that one can always use another zip pouch, so those made their way in as well.

Finally, I made her a little knitting project bag. I use this tutorial and it is the perfect size for the hat I am sending her. See, she knits a little, but has been hesitating on making a hat since she things knitting in the round is scary, and has been asking me to make one for her boyfriend instead. To help her out I decided to start a hat for her and send it for her to finish. I actually love how this bag turned out and almost wish I could keep it for myself! I hope she likes it, otherwise I am stealing it back the next time I see her ;)

This is everything together, and hopefully it will make her feel a little better next week.

And now, I have a little person to continue celebrating! Happy weekend!!

birthday things!

In this second installment of birthday things, we get down to the gifts! Naturally I had big plans and not much time, so I ended up making her two things.

First up was a messenger bag that is just her size. I found this pattern, and was all set to follow it to make a super cute bag, but when I printed out the pieces, I simply could not figure out how the flap would fit on the bottom. So I made some patchwork and instead of cutting it out, I left it larger and it worked pretty well. I still think the flap is too big, but that's okay. And an adjustable strap, that's just sweet! Hopefully it will help the bag grow with her.

She picked out the flap fabric and helped with the coordinates, and I just love it. I have been saving this fabric for just the right thing and this was totally it. So now she is all ready for a roadtrip.  We won't talk about the fact that it is so full that the flap barely covers it....

The other thing I made her was an alphabet pillow. She is totally in an alphabet phase and always points out letters and figures out sounds, and I saw a print somewhere that had the alphabet and then highlighted I and U and turned the O into a heart, so I incorporated that. I used felt and fused the letters and stitched them down with batting and a back to quilt it and give it a bit more body. The back is some argyle I have been saving for just the right thing and she has been asking me to make her something out of it. I used black piping around the edge and a zipper (with a flap) in the back. I couldn't help but be surprised how professional and perfect it came out! I serged all the seams inside to finish the edges too. I am happy to report she loves it!

And with that, happy long weekend! We will be traveling and celebrating and generally being super tired. Travel with little people is exhausting to say the least. Hopefully the baby holds up and we make it back in one piece!  And I am just going to go ahead and try not to think about how I have a 4 year old and that just blows my mind :)

It's a cinch!

And then there was that time my sweet little babe decided she didn't need to sleep all night anymore....or nap...or be put down. Yes folks, that's where we are these days and I.am.tired. So instead of tackling some of the larger or more demanding things on my list, I have opted for the little and simple things that I have been avoiding for ages. I'm not really sure why I've been avoiding them, but I'm glad now that it gives me some easier things to do. I'll round all that stuff up a bit later, but right now, I am finally going to share the now quite belated gift I made my sister. It is finally in the mail so hopefully she'll get it soon.


The pattern is the It's a Cinch Tote and my version was very much inspired by the one that Sarah at Stitching and Bacon made a while back. I used a lot of her mods and it came together just beautifully. Unfortunately I didn't have the recommended interfacing and was too lazy to get it so I used what I had on hand which was much stiffer plus I used heavier fabric so the bag doesn't really lay as nicely as I might like, especially when it is cinched. Still, it is quite nice.

For fabric, I used some faux suede for the bottom and handles, which worked out pretty well. The outer is a home decor fabric my sister picked out from joanns, some pink pindot fabric for lining and a touch of zebra for pockets. I even used a nice metalic zipper which is pretty sweet. My handle pieces are all 1.5" since that was the size of the hardware that I already had. 

So yeah, I like the bag but I don't love it as much as I thought I would. I had planned on making one for myself when the diaper bag can be downsized, so we'll see how I feel about it by then. Anyway, I think I'll be back Wednesday with a project round up because as it happens, things are taking over and I can't keep track of it all. I just have piles of things laying around waiting to be turned into pretties and I need to get it straight in my head. And sleep, I also need sleep although that is much less in my control. I hope we are coming out the other side here but in the meantime we keep on keeping on.

a couple gifts

That about all I got around to this past holiday season, a couple gifts. And only for my sister. You do what you can in the time that you have. And sadly one gift is still, at this very moment, not finished as I am still waiting for hardware. I don't know what the postal service did, but they messed up big time and I am currently waiting for it to be resent since it got returned to sender. But anyway, I did manage to make 2 little things for her. One is technically a birthday gift that I owed her from back in September, but I gave them both last month when I saw her.


First up, the one I marked for birthday was a have it all wallet. I love this wallet. I am still using mine all the time and I hope she will too. It just fits all the essentials so perfectly! And once again I added the d-ring on the side and made a wristlet strap so it can be a clutch on its own.

The other thing was a nook case. It is not the first I've made and is once again from the fresh lemons tutorial. I knew the moment she got out her unprotected nook while she was visiting a while back that she needed one. I used some of my precious mermaid/whale fabric and I was a little sad to give it away.

The big gift will be finished one day. It has been sitting around for almost a month totally finished except for 2 small seams to sew in the hardware and the straps. Super frustrating! But I am hopeful that it will be worth the wait :)

That is all I've got for old stuff that I am going to bother with. From here on out, bring on the new! Starting with some pony club blocks and a quilt once I know it has been received :)

Wedding quilt #1

As I was getting this post ready, I realized that this is my first finished quilt this year. And for me, especially considering I finished 16 quilts last year, this seems insane. I guess pregnancy and a move will do that to you. Not a complaint, just an observation. We'll see how the year ends up, but I only have a total of 5 quilts that I really want to make this year.

Anyway, I finally finished my lilly belle quilt, destined to be a wedding gift for one of my husband's cousins getting married next month (another is getting married in the fall). I am really hoping they like it because I absolutely love it. This is one of the few fabric lines I love enough to have purchased a bundle of. I cut the squares nice and big to show off the pretty fabric and only had to add one square to make it 9x9, which is the one I ended up embroidering.Please ignore the fact that the embroidery looks like a 5-year-old did it....I am just going to call it charming and move on.  The squares finish at 8.5" each making it a nice snuggle size. I also kept the quilting simple and just echoed each seam.

The back is a sheet from target, and the binding is a dark gray dumb dot from Michael Miller. Using a sheet is so much easier than piecing yardage, plus now I have the rest of the sheet set to make other pretty things.

I am so in love with this quilt, and I am a little sad to send it away, but I think they'll love it and I know that they appreciate beautiful handmade things, so I am feeling pretty good about it. Other than that, I am feeling pretty overwhelmed by life, so I am just hand quilting and making a few pony club blocks and ignoring everything else for right now. Soon though, I know I am going to have to hunker down and get some of these things done. My list is huge and almost all of it needs to be done before baby comes in 3.5 months.The clock is ticking!

I almost forgot!

Well hello again! It randomly occured to me the other day, while sitting on my couch looking at it, that I never shared the finished product of my husband's gift! I am kind of impressed that I forgot, but being all secretive for so long will do that to you I guess.

Anyway, I naturally found the idea on pinterest. And it was definitely one of those that looked like it would be easier than it was haha. It took sooooo long to make this stinking thing, and I even had help in the beginning. I knew I would have a hard time starting it on my own, I have a tendency to avoid things like this, and I didn't have a whole lot of time that he wasn't home, so I enlisted my dear friend to help me. I did it pretty much exactly like in the tutorial, but I used a regular sharpie after testing it out. It seems to wash fine so that is good and I already had one. I will say, though, that the fabric sure eats the ink! I went through like 5 markers for this thing! To be fair, it is an 18x18 pillow case, but still.

I decided it needed to be like my cathedral windows pillow since it is the matching pillow form, so I made it the same size and with the envelope closure and all that. I used some Essex Linen for the main part and a fantastic black and white print, which escapes me at the moment, for the in between and binding on the back. The lyrics are our first dance song (the way I am, by ingrid michaelson) and it makes us happy every time we look at it. I wish the whole song would have fit, but I am happy I fit as much as I did. I had been looking for a nice way to have them around, without just typing them up and sticking them on the wall or something, so this was perfect. I admit it is definitely more of an anniversary type gift, but he has to take these things when I am inspired :)

So I think for real that this is the last of the gifts. I am still avoiding making my list for Wednesday, but I really really am going to make myself do it. I need to face the music. Maybe it's not as bad as I fear....

the final gift

I guess it's been weeks now, but this is the final gift I managed to get made this holiday season. It was for my mother and I am happy to be able to report that she loves it.

I used a pattern I have used a couple of times before, and I still love it. This time I lost my mind a little and decided that since I didn't have any single pieces big enough, it needed to be patchwork. and of course the squares needed to finish at 2". To be fair, I then got lazy and did solid pieces for the pockets, but that's okay. I used all home decor weight fabric that I had scraps of, and I still have way too much left. I probably should have quilted it a little more to make it sturdier, but it still works. I don't even know where the purple from the handles came from, but I was happy to find it. I used some damask that I still have lots of for the lining. I could have used it for the outer, but I didn't want it to match mine plus I would say my mom is more of a patchwork kind of gal.

So that's that. The next time I post it should be from our new southern home. I can't wait to be settled in and feel like we have a home again. Hopefully both the kid and the cat do alright on the long drive to a strange place.

One more down

Happy Monday! I think. 2 weeks until moving day, but at least I have one more thing crossed off my list. This weekend I finished the bag for my dad and it came out really well. It took longer than I was hoping, but at least it is done.

I used the getaway duffle bag pattern again, and like the last one, I quilted it. This time I used a layer of felt for the inner layer and it worked out well. I was a little worried about it, but it seems to have a good deal of structure. I decided not to use the piping this time, which made it a bit easier and I thought worked better with the plaid, although the edges aren't quite as nice. I also added a snap for the outer pocket I added, which I think was a good call. It does get a little easier with each one I make and I am happier with the way they turn out. Even machine stitching in the lining went pretty well!I used a black fabric with brown dots for the lining. I originally bought it to use for my farmers wife because I thought the dots were gray, but since they weren't, it has been sitting around for a while now.

So at least that is done and I have started cutting for my mom's bag and I am over halfway done binding the feathers quilt. After that it is pretty much just small stuff. I can't believe how the time is flying. I have way too much to do. And I totally bought myself the weekender bag pattern so that is on my list for the new year. Along with a bazillion other things. I also can't decide which hand work projects to have ready for moving time. I really want to do my kawaii winter wonderland cross stitch, but I also have my hexies and a bunch of things to knit and I am trying not to start too many at once since then they will never get finished. But enough about all that for now. I am crossing my fingers that by Wednesday I have the panels for my mom's bag all ready and can begin construction!

texty geese

Is it a sign of a good weekend if you are just super tired at the end of it? We had a lot of fun this weekend while my parents came for a visit, but man am I tired and longing to get back to our slow, steady routine. We had a beautiful weekend in upstate NY and visited our second pumpkin farm of the season and just generally had lots of fun. I also now have an entirely different type of project to tackle as we now have a new {to us} chair that needs to be painted and reupholstered so we can use it as a new desk chair. We'll see it it goes, I have never done anything like that before, so I am hoping with a little help I can pull it off.

I really didn't get to sew at all this weekend, but I did finish up the pillow I was working on. It was pretty small (at least compared to a quilt) so it didn't take long to get the binding on, I just had to make myself sit down and do it.

This is the first time I have put binding on a pillow. I thought I would give it a try so I didn't have to worry about the raw edges inside and it worked really well and I love the look of it. I did an envelope closure (my favorite) and I just love it. The fabric is all leftover from the napkins that failed, and it is really just a happy pillow. I am so obsessed with text + rainbow and I love this headline text fabric. And I found the numbers at a LQS and they just felt right for this.

It is 16" so I had to enlarge the circle of geese pattern to make each quadrant finish at 8 inches instead of 6, which was not the easiest since I needed it the exact width of a piece of paper and my printer did not appreciate it. But I just ended up cutting off the seam allowance and making sure I had enough fabric hanging over to cut it the right size.  I also did quilt it, echoing each of the geese, but it blends in so much you really can't see it. It gives it some nice texture though.

I do love this pattern; and if I am honest I really would like to keep it, but I am going to be strong and give it as a gift. To make myself feel better I think I already have another pillow cover planned to replace it. It may take forever though. And I actually have the second one that I need alreday planned too, but at the moment I have to keep it secret. Right now though, I have about a gazillion feathers to make. Or 55, whichever. I do love them though, so that helps. I'll have some sneaky pictures on Wednesday of those I have done so far :)