One down, Hundreds (?) to go!

I finally finished Goody's quilt this morning. If you remember from this post, I purchased a set of fabrics to make her a quilt before she was born. I thought I didn't have time then (ha ha!). Anyway, this was completed in mostly one hour sessions. I'm not sure how many. I realized that I really wasn't in love with these fabrics any more, as I have since discovered the amazing world of fabrics online. At the time, I was limited to what I could find within driving distance. Don't get me wrong, there is plenty I like. But nothing like the dreaminess online. Anyway, I had a specific pattern in mind when I bought the fabrics, but I didn't feel like messing with a pattern, so I just decided to wing it. Here's what I came up with (this is pre-washed, by the way...it will get a lovely wrinkley look when I do wash it):

Sorry the picture's a little blurry; I'll try to get some better shots when I can put it on the bed. Goody's asleep right now. Everything is machine stitched and quilted, including the binding. The circles are hand-appliqued. Here's a detail of the quilting and applique:

Spring is for flowers!

Goody has learned about flowers; most of them she finds "pretty" or "cute". We can hardly walk past one without her saying "touch it". I always say yes and she does so very delicately. Such a little lady! She is always sure to mention the color of the flower as well. I hear about the purple and white crocus by our front stairs every day.



Today, I was searching online for the appropriate stitch for attaching rick rack by hand (I'm using some vintage rick rack sent from Mississippi for a work in progress, hopefully finished today and blogged asap) and I came across the amazing rick rack flowers. I've searched before about a million times for fabric flowers, but I never saw these.

The tutorial for these oh-so-springy rick rack flowers is blogged at Knick Knacks and Ric Rac , which is a behind-the-scenes blog for madewithlovebyhannah.com. They do have some lovely hand made clothing in their shop. I am going to add these flowers to my impossible to-do list.

Reminder to Self

I must have a copy of the April issue of American Patchwork and Quilting Magazine. There will be a free pattern printed with which I will not be able to continue living. Just a note: THIS IS NOT MY DESIGN and I did not make this quilt; I got this off Flickr, where the designer posted it.

If you have been shopping with me any time in the last year or so, you will know that I cannot resist any sort of fabric, art, clothing, functional (really, any) kind of item with bird(s) on it. I don't know why; I don't have a pet bird. I'm not a birdwatcher (officially, but I have pulled out the binoculars at home a couple of times, and I scan the trees for Bald Eagles when I am driving to Wenatchee). Here's a link to the designer's blog. Can't wait to make this beauty! And a stash buster at that!

Little Dress for a Little Girl

Our long-time friend Brad was married back at the beginning of September. Tim was one of the best men (Brad wanted all three groomsmen to be called best men) and looked so handsome in his tuxedo. So, of course, I thought Goody should look extra cute in a special Mama-made dress. I used a pattern that Tim's mother so graciously let me have. I love, love these vintage patterns. I will sometimes just sit and look at them all (I think I posted about this before). I photo-copied this pattern before using; it was already cut out and seemed so delicate, I couldn't imagine sticking pins through it.







It turned out great! I joke that the dress was built around the shoes, but I guess it isn't much of a joke. I loved the little orange shoes Nicole helped me find (at Williamsville, of course) so much I shopped for fabric based on 2 criteria: must match the shoes, and must match the baby's blue eyes. Those shoes were a hit at the wedding; when people realized her shoes were squeaking they would go totally nuts over it; and it didn't take Goody long to realize it either!

I found this Tracy Porter fabric at Joann's, 40% off with my coupon of course. It looks much more baby blue in real life. Here's a super crappy picture of it (after it was worn, of course):


I didn't take my camera to the wedding. It was all I could do to get home from work, get me and the baby dressed, and get to the wedding before it started! The wedding photographer did get a couple of really nice shots of Goody at the wedding, which was held at the beautiful Ohme Gardens. I'll be ordering some of those prints--along with some shots of Tim in his tux (when will I see that again?) and will post them then.

Another swap creation

I just completed another swap on craftster. This one was a fall scarf swap. Here's a photo of what I sent to Oxnard, California:

It's made of a really soft wool suiting and a lightweight jersey. If you like it, let me know, as I have enough fabric left to make another one or two.

Fun with Swaps

On my favorite crafting forum, Craftster, I have become addicted to swaps. It's just what it sounds like: someone organizes a swap with a specific theme, you sign up and are paired with a partner, and you swap crafted items. Fun! So far I've done a pincushion swap and an embellished onesies swap. I'm in the process of a fall scarf swap. My pincushion swap partner was from England. See the picture of the pincushion I sent to her. Here are some photos of the onesies I made to send to my swap partner in Virginia:








Check out the ones I received from my partner. It's really fun, and keeps me occupied with activities other than TV watching.


And of course, what is a post without a picture of Goody? You can just barely see her two teeth!

Stars in my eyes

I've been really thinking lots again about my "dream job" of having my own children's clothing company. My sewing room is a wreck right now, and I don't have the equity to do a huge start up. So I was thinking of starting small, like with an etsy. For those of you who don't know, etsy is a really cool place to sell hand-made wares online. And it's really cheap. I'm thinking I'll just use as much of my current stash as I can on some really unique baby clothes and post them on etsy and see what happens. We'll see...

Here's a couple of etsy sites that inspire me:

• Boutique Mia
• Kinchi
• Addi Layne Designs
• Breathing Beside Us

Patterns!

I love UPS. It's never bad when he pulls up at your house. Just the other day I got a pair of winter boots and some sweet little baby stockings. Today, the pattern fairy, aka my mother-in-law, bestowed a dream gift.

Oh, drool!!

Here's a couple of my favorites. The pictures I took are a little blurry, sorry.

They will, of course, be for this little cutie.

(Hopefully while she can still wear them.)

This was taken on the 4th of July.

Settled on a Quilt for Baby's Room

With Joann's Fabric having a 3-day sale (all calico 50% off) I was forced to make a decision about the quilt I am going to make for the baby's room. I found this book at the library, and chose the "Hearts and Gizzards" pattern. I love the texture made by the pleating in the little circles. It reminds me of fabric yo-yo's. Here it is from the book, composed of true reds and light pinks.

I'm going to use cranberries and light pinks/mauves.

Here's a picture of the fabrics I got on sale:

The top right fabric will be a border, probably about 4 inches wide, and the dots on the top left will be the binding fabric.

I was inspired by the Blossoms line by Baby Martex; but I'm not so into mass-produced, and wasn't crazy about the applique. I did buy the sheet, though. I "needed" it to remind me of the color scheme.

Cute, huh?

Finally!

The first baby dress is finished! After many, many hours trying to learn how to use my new serger, I decided just to dive in. This dress is made using McCall's 5166. Or at least that's how it started. At some point I decided that just having the bodice lined wasn't good enough. So I wanted the whole dress lined. And then, of course, if the dress was going to be completely lined, it might as well be reversable. So here you go.

I made this entirely from "Why did I buy that?" fabrics in my stash. Of course, that was the only box I had access to out of the storage building. I can see the other boxes (the purse fabrics, quilt fabrics, and other waiting-for-a-special-use fabrics) way back in the farthest corner. But I can't get to them.