28 Peppermint Grove

Getting back on the saddle

2012-01-25T14:44:00.000-08:00

I wanted to sew. I have been wanting to sew. Of course, my dream project is something new and fresh and devising my own version of a pattern I fell in love with in a catalog, but in reality, had I went shopping for fabric, came home, ironed, calculated and then cut I would have not sewn a single seam. So I decided to attack the Amy Butler basket quilt I have been working on for a year.

I cut the white fabric for eight blocks, thinking that was a perfectly manageable amount for me to complete in a weekend (the Amy Butler is all cut and in a box, I just have to sew until it's gone). Well, it's Wednesday and I still have three more pieces to attach to each of my eight blocks. I had optimistically figured that if I could complete eight blocks per weekend that I would be able to finish the top in four weeks (allowing one weekend to sew all 60-ish blocks together). I think I'm going to have to dial back the optimism..a lot.

Monday Moments

2012-01-23T06:32:00.000-08:00

I don't think I have mentioned yet, the Lego explosion that has gone on in my house. Over the summer I had a neighbor take Gabe in when I had some of the more intrusive doctor's appointments for the pregnancy. This neighbor has a boy with a huge Lego collection. And Gabe came home obsessed. Before I knew it, he was waking me up at 8:00AM saying, "Let's go to the neighbor's and play Legos."

Obviously, I talked to my son about why you can't just invite yourself into someone's house to play with their toys, but after months of dealing with the Lego problem, I bought him some. They were at the top of his birthday wish list, the top of his Christmas wish list and they are the first thing he grabs every morning.

I took this picture for him. Mainly because I find myself describing my favorite childhood toys and ending up on Google to show the kids. (Most recently The Wuzzles. I dare you to try describing a half lion, half bumblebee to your kids without Google, and Wuzzle Colorforms no less...it's like I'm speaking another language.) I think he'll appreciate this later, and his changing taste in toys is a fun way to see how much he's growing up.

Monday Moments: Scrapbook Edition

2012-01-16T04:02:00.000-08:00

Gabe and I built his first snowman this weekend. It was smaller than both of us wanted it to be, but the snow was less than perfect for it, and it was much harder than I remember it being as a kid. Probably because my mom did the bulk of it for me, just like I did for my son.

The snowman was made extra special by two things. One, we have only had snow since late Thursday, which was a terribly long wait for the kids, and two, Gabe and I have not had much one on one time since Caroline was born. This was a chance to play, just the two of us.

These were going to be my Monday Moments photos anyway, but then I saw that the My Memories Blog was having a "Chilly Challenge" this week and decided to make them into a layout. If you're unfamiliar with the blog, they host a challenge there every Wednesday for prizes (usually credits to their digital scrapbook store) and sometimes, the challenge is based on a downloadable kit or font, so you can get freebies even if you don't win! And as always, if you don't have their software and want to purchase it, my code for $10 off plus a $10 credit to the My Memories Store never expires. Just enter STMMMS79028 when you purchase!

Majority of the papers and embellishments used from A Frosty Surprise kit, which I just discovered is $1.00 right now! Jealous!

Blogger's Choice Bundle Contest

2012-01-11T14:24:00.001-08:00

I said that I was going to post fabric photos maybe twice a month, but then I heard about Quokka Quilts contest to design your own fat quarter bundle! I definitely wanted to post mine with a few days left for you to enter, too.

The rules? Pick 12 prints and 3 solids, then assemble the photos into a collage. So simple! And if you win, you get a half yard cut of each of your 15 fabrics! Awesome!

I knew I wanted some tangerines, it is the color of the year, after all, and tried to think of colors I liked with oranges. It was originally a much different palette, but I put them all into the collage maker and removed what didn't mesh. I like it. I think if I were to win I'd put them together just like this, in 16 patches alternating with large squares. Though, they might make interesting star blocks. Oh, how I long to sew after staring down all that fabric!

My picks:

Impressions Orange Dahlia

Crazy Daisy Red Rythm

Heirloom Amethyst Empire Weave

Michael Miller Orchid Cotton Couture Solids

Bright Owl Red Star Doodles

Bella Solids Baby Blue

Primativa Plum and Lavender Wavy Reed Stripes

Bespoken Orchid Jacquard

Outfoxed Purple Triangle Toss

Domestic Bliss Eggplant Out of Doors

Floral Folio Dark Orange Wavy Stripe

Taza Blue Cynthian

Michael Miller Violet Cotton Couture Solids

Dazzle Sky Blue Basket Weave

Floral Folio Dark Orange Allover Leaves

Monday Moments: Retro Edition

2012-01-09T04:38:00.000-08:00

When I was pregnant with Gabriel, my mom brought me several photos my grandma had taken of me as a baby. They are such a wonderful gift, with my late grandmother's handwriting at the bottoms. I truly treasure them.

And, being an October baby myself, it means that Caroline and I are nearly the same age in these photos. My aunt said that she was a "little Melinda", but I wasn't seeing much resemblance beyond the hair color. I see it here.

Get inspired!

2012-01-07T03:03:00.000-08:00

Today is the first installment of a weekly (or maybe twice monthly) feature here on my blog. I'm going to be posting some coordinating fabrics that I love, and a project idea to go along with them. I'm always really inspired, even when I'm lacking the time. So if you are ever in a rut, this could be a great place to come! And it's a great way for me to keep track of all those ideas!

I fell in love with this bunny fabric and picked out several coordinating prints that could make a really cute small quilt or tote bag for a child, depending on her age.

An aqua bunny made from this pattern, embroidered and embellished to match the bunny on the cotton print would be the perfect thing to pop in your tote bag or wrap up with your quilt! How cute would this be if you could find just the right carrot print for the belly? I'm so in love with this idea for a birthday or new baby gift!

Fabric photos from Fat Quarter Shop. Fabrics pictured are Aqua Tiny Gingham, Watermelon Tiny Flowers, Candy Snack Bunny (all by Michael Miller), Get Together Pink Hearts by David Walker for Free Spirit Fabrics, Coral Sketch by Timeless Treasures Fabrics and Promenade Yellow Dots by Stitch Studios.

The obligatory resolutions post, and pics

2012-01-06T08:41:00.000-08:00

Well, it's 2012, and for the second year, I get to look back at the goals I made for myself and see how I did at accomplishing them. Last year it was super fun, because I did everything. This year...well, see for yourself.

1. Potty train Gabe. Success, though not before his fourth birthday, ironically, everything seemed to click for him after he had an embarrassing accident in front of his cousins at the party.

2. Make a quilt for myself. Success here too. I have managed to hang on to the Deb Strain quilt I made. I thought about giving it away several times, but I'm glad I never did. I really love it. Plus, Deb loved it too, and the blog post she made about it was a really fun moment for me last year.

3. Make something larger than a lap quilt. Not yet. I made the top for my daughter's toddler bed quilt, but I have yet to actually finish the thing, and some people still consider that size a lap quilt. What are typical lap quilt dimensions? I should probably know that kind of thing before setting goals like this.

4. Make 144 blog posts. Miserable failure. Not only did I not blog more at all, I blogged even less than I did my first year! Awful! Though, in my defense, I made that resolution a full month before I got pregnant and morning sickness, coupled with a newborn does not make for a lot of blogging time.

So, what do you hopefully have to look forward to in 2012?

1. Blog more. I am hesitant to post that 144 number again, plus, I'm already behind on that being almost a week into the year and posting once, but I really would like to be crafting substantially again. I miss it.

2. Finish the top to my basket quilt. I seriously love those blocks, and I have all of the Amy Butler fabrics cut for it, but for some reason I am dreading cutting all of the white and have been at a stalemate for awhile with it. I'm not going to say I want to completely finish the quilt, as paying the long-armer is going to be costly, but I do want the top done so I have the option.

3. Buy less fabric. It would seem that this would be contradictory to the blog/craft more goal above, but there is a lot of fabric in my basement that should be tended to, or sold if I'm not going to do anything other than hoard it. A real lot.

4. Try new things. Now, I'm not going to go as far as say...crochet (though I would love to learn, I just do not need another hobby), but paper piecing, scalloped edges on a quilt, needle-turn applique...I see beautiful projects made with these things and have the instructions right in front of me without ever trying them out. I'm challenging myself to actually do that this year.

And if you've held out this long, I give you a photo. The first ever real smile of Caroline's actually caught on camera. Actually, I'll give you the first, "it's probably just gas" smile too, since I have yet to post her professional hospital photos on here.

Wow, look at how much she's grown!

Happy holidays!

2011-12-27T12:54:00.000-08:00

Back in September I had made a little deal with myself that I would make NO gifts this year. I knew the baby would be coming no later than the first week of November and there was no way I wanted to get myself into making lap quilts for everyone again...or doll clothes, or even cookies or caramel corn as I have done in years past.

So, of course, I started a small decorative sewing project in December. While shopping, I saw another gift that would really delight the person I was sewing for, and I talked myself out of buying it, out of having a back-up plan. And Christmas morning, I had nothing to give this woman. When I saw her, I just apologized and explained that I hadn't had the time to finish what I wanted to give her. She looked at me and said, "You are busy," and kind of implied that I shouldn't have bothered this year. She was right. There would have been no shame in the back-up gift.

Eventually, I will finish that decoration and get sewing regularly, but my relative really put it into perspective for me. I am busy. Caroline will only be a newborn for a short time, and I need to just accept what I cannot do right now.

I present, the extent of my finished Christmas crafts. I'm slowly building a scrap book for Caroline with My Memories Suite. I don't talk about the software I did the giveaway for very much, but I do use it, even more so since they released a Version 3. It is a lot more user friendly, with a lot more variety. I'm still discovering things they have made easier and every time I do, I just want to play with it more! Boy, did that sound like an advertisement, but I swear, I really do love it and am not being compensated for saying that, though I do get a small kickback for everyone who purchases the software using my discount code (STMMMS79028 for $10 off the software and a $10 code to purchase kits and accessories in the store).

A cry for help, and a baby pic

2011-12-21T05:27:00.000-08:00

Remember that bookshelf I was refinishing? Well, I sanded it and was nearly done painting it when my water broke, leaving me a full week less than I thought I would have to finish it. Of course, I didn't have the time to get to it with a tiny new baby and it started getting too cold to paint in the garage. So my husband brought my project into the basement where I could work on it at my leisure.

What happened and how do I fix it? I have refinished furniture before, including a few other antique pieces, but I have never had anything like this occur. I want to say humidity, but really I am fairly inexperienced with wood, and I'm not sure that makes sense.

In other news, the baby is getting bigger, and I'm getting more sleep, but I'm still not fully functional. How could you look at this, though, and think a few months of hardly crafting was not worth it?

I love babies in grown up clothes. Teeny tiny jeans are adorable without chubby little thighs stuffed into them, and crazy adorable when you combine the two!

And she is waking up to eat again...did you know that in the past two days I have watched an entire season of How I Met Your Mother ONLY while feeding her? Truth. This is why my blog is lacking.

A year in the making...

2011-12-08T09:26:00.000-08:00

Nearly a year ago, I wrote about how I had stupidly decided to try out a new craft right before Christmas, and make it as a gift for someone. Now that it is finally finished, I'm going to explain what happened, and sort of review the kit I purchased.

In 2009, Gabe and I each received a needlepoint stocking as a Christmas gift from a relative up north. Of course, I briefly looked them over, then packed them into the Christmas decorations when we got home from our trip. It wasn't until I got them out last year and hung them up next to my husband's decade old needlepoint stocking that I realized only one person in the family didn't have one, my step-daughter. And it looked wrong!

So I went to L.L. Bean where the stockings had been purchased for my son and myself. Of course, a lot of the designs are the same year after year, and when you took out what Gabe had, and what I had, what was left was nothing that my step-daughter would like. So I checked Land's End (where my husband's came from years ago), and there were a couple cute ones, but what I was really looking for was one with a penguin on it, to match the fleece stocking she picked out years ago. I finally resorted to Google, and I found this Dimensions needlepoint stocking kit.

I thought it was like a Christmas miracle that I found a needlepoint stocking with a penguin on it, and being an experienced crafter, I thought it would be no big deal to finish the thing.

Then it showed up...and it faced the wrong way. Now, that is something that the photo on the front of the kit clearly shows, but not something that looks out of place when you're looking over a million and one stocking kits on a craft site like JoAnn. Because ALL of Dimension's kits face the wrong way. Is this a marketing ploy? If you have one handmade stocking you must have a handmade stocking for everyone because ALL commercially produced stockings face the opposite way? If so, it's a crappy one. I was pissed, but I was determined I could make it work.

So, if you wanted to make a stocking that faced the wrong way, this is how the canvas looked. Nicely pre-printed with a close approximation of the color you were supposed to be stitching in the correct area.

And if you wanted to make a stocking that faced the right way, as I did, this is what the canvas looked like on the opposite side.

I would do a couple stitches, flip it over, count how many I had left and do a couple more stitches before I forgot what I counted and had to do it all over again. It was tedious. It was annoying. It took me until January to finish just the basics.

Then came the embroidery. The name was easy, because it was just a little chart in the instructions, but the fine hairs on the penguins were nearly impossible until I had the bright idea to go to Kinko's and have a mirror image made of the pattern. Once that was done, the stitching went much quicker and I was ready to finish.

Surprisingly, the finish is the biggest problem I have with the kit. Even if I had decided to face this the way the kit faced, the stocking still would have taken hours and hours of my time, and do you know the instructions Dimensions provides for finishing? Cut a piece of cheap acrylic felt and sew it on. No lining to protect your delicate stitching, no sturdy velvet backing like you would get on anything you purchased, you just get a piece of craft felt. Now, thankfully, I know what I'm doing and was able to both fully line this in cotton and back it in the only blue velvet I could find locally, because there is no way this stocking would have lasted more than a year without a lining and a sturdier fabric for the back.

It still stands out, but will stand out less when I order Caroline's this year. Which, I guess is the ultimate conclusion to my review. I won't be doing this again, ever. With the $20 the kit cost, the hours of time I put into it, and the extra money I spent purchasing lining and backing fabric to make it last a decent amount of time, it is not at all worth it. There isn't any savings over purchasing a commercially made stocking. I know savings isn't the point. The penguins were the point...but I think she would have settled for a polar bear.

Monday Moments: Retro Edition

2011-12-05T07:52:00.001-08:00

The comment I got last week about Caroline being a little Gabe clone inspired me to hunt down his one month photo. I have to say, they're pretty similar.

In the process of finding the photo (remember that was a crashed computer ago), I discovered something else. I had this memory of taking Gabe's picture exactly on the days he turned each month older until about seven months when I forgot. I remembered beating myself up about that day. And it was those memories that made me so upset I didn't take Caroline's photo at exactly one month. What kind of future were we going to have if I was already forgetting her pictures a full six months before I forgot her brother's?

Only, I remembered wrong. This picture, which is in Gabe's baby book as his one month photo, was actually taken a day after he turned one month old. Apparently, I wasn't such a great mom then either..and that actually makes me feel better. Much better.

Monday Moments: Tuesday Edition

2011-11-29T06:11:00.000-08:00

I want to say that I'm a slacker for not posting a thing in two weeks, but I'm not. I'm still as exhausted as I was when I last posted, maybe more so. Caroline turned one month old yesterday. I dressed her up warm in an adorable outfit we had been gifted and ran a couple errands, reminding myself all day that I needed to take a photo of her at one month exactly. It didn't happen, and yesterday is gone, so it never will. This one was taken Saturday though, and it's cute, and I'm trying hard to forgive myself.

I have been feeling this itch to do something creative, but have not had the time. What I really want to do is make a little project from the book I bought myself for my birthday, but what is probably more realistic is wrapping some of the few Christmas gifts I have purchased. Though I do have at least one major (like a full year in the works) project that I am determined I WILL finish before the holiday. It helps that said project is probably 85% complete, I hope that I'm not kidding myself about how much crafting time that adorable smiling face up there is going to give me.

Yawn!

2011-11-17T07:57:00.000-08:00

I really sincerely thought about posting a Monday Moment on Monday, then I took a nap or something. Honestly, I don't remember what I did at any point so far this week except for the three doctor's appointments I have been to, and I only remember those because they're written in my calendar.

I'm exhausted. "Sleep when the baby sleeps," only works when the baby is your first one. Not to mention, it is hard to get sleep when they have you running all over town. My girl is 20 days old today and she has had six appointments already. Plus, Gabe had a four year check up that turned into a sick visit and I have an appointment tomorrow! Yikes!

And if you've paid attention this long, I guess you deserve some kind of photo. I promise, there will be more baby photos soon. (She's already grown 1/2 an inch and gained more than a pound!)

This is from Gabe's birthday party. Note the crying face in the corner. He did not want to be sang to or have any photos taken. A request I should have taken seriously, but I never honestly thought that every photo of him (other than the gift opening ones) would have this face in it.

We got the number 4 sparkler "candle" at Party City. Only after we got it home did we read on the back that it isn't supposed to be used for children under 8. It was fun though, and set off every single smoke alarm in the house!

Monday Moments

2011-11-07T09:44:00.000-08:00

I was all set today to post the hospital photos of baby Caroline, then, as I was sitting down to the computer something amazing happened. Gabe wanted some orange juice and I asked him if he would like to be a big boy and use his step-ladder to get a cup from the cupboard. He said, "How about I hold the baby and you get the cup?"

Giving up his status as the baby has not been easy on him. Things that he was never allowed to do before, are suddenly blamed on the baby when he can't do them now. No candy for breakfast? No playing outside by himself? No jumping on the bed? Nobody loves me, they just love the baby!

Him asking to hold her this morning was a big occasion. I'm so proud of my boy.

She's here!

2011-11-01T04:03:00.000-07:00

It turns out that it was a good thing I drove across town and bought a crib skirt. My baby girl was not going to wait on me to sew one. She decided to start making her way into the world on Thursday evening.

Caroline was born at 8:04AM on Friday morning weighing 6lbs 2oz and 19 inches long. I still cannot believe that a person this small exists. Especially since my last baby weighed almost 9lbs! She's so sweet and we are so blessed to have her here!

I'm just lazy...

2011-10-27T11:15:00.000-07:00

I promise that I did not have the baby. I just didn't blog for a week because I literally did nothing!

I realized that I was truly dreading making the crib skirt. All of those ruffles, pulling the thread to gather and praying it didn't break on a 52 inch side...no desire. None. So I talked to my husband, and even though I had already purchased the fabric to make it, asked if it would be alright if I drove across town to the baby store and bought one. He laughed and said, "You know, there is a reason they sell those things." Thank God for him!

Here it is, on the bed. Just plain pink to match all of her sheets. I'm excited that I don't have to sew it, though I did talk myself into believing that once it was in, I'd start piecing the back to her quilt. That hasn't been done either. I should really know better.

Here is a close up of her letters and the banner from the baby showers, now hanging above her bed. I covered the letters with pieces of the bag one of my shower gifts came in. It matched so perfectly and was free!

Happy birthday

2011-10-20T10:04:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was my birthday, and my celebration involved lots and lots of pumpkin guts. My son is too little to carve his own, so I had to hollow out and carve both the design he picked out of the book, and the design I wanted to do. About 1/3 of the way into mine I got that, "Why in the heck did I pick this one?" feeling and left out some of the details. Then, when I ran inside to grab the tripod and camera, my son grabbed the little drill tool that came in the carving kit and added an extra hole. Thanks, kid!

I usually do something more creative, and had planned on something else this year, but when it came down to it, the pregnant lady was tired and lazy. Next year it'll be awesome...maybe. I make no promises.

Burp cloths

2011-10-18T07:42:00.000-07:00

I got these Carters burp cloths as a gift at my last baby shower, and I LOVED them. I had a lot of mom friends tell me that I'd never use them, because I'd be too afraid of my baby puking on the cute ones. This logic kind of baffles me though, because everything for baby gets puked on, pooped on, or peed on in those first few months. So should I have nothing cute for my little girl? I think not!
I set out to buy more, but couldn't find them in the stores, and the ones I found online were $10 for three. I decided that I could buy my own interlock knit at those prices and make some cute ones myself. I hit a sale at JoAnn Fabrics and was able to make all of these for less than $9!

And look how they stack up to the store bought ones! Hardly a noticeable difference! I didn't do any embroidery or applique on these ones for my baby, but I think it could be really easily done and would make them so much more gift-able!

Monday Moments

2011-10-17T07:51:00.000-07:00

We took the kids to Bowen's Mill yesterday. I think they only do cider now, no more grain, but they did have a little museum area set up with all of the equipment. I should have taken pictures, but didn't realize until I got home that maybe Keli, and readers of her blog, would like to have seen all of that. (Keli made a miniature replica of a French grain mill that is mind blowing!)

This is the part where it's really incredible that I didn't think to take any photos of the grain stuff, because this is the lock on the door in the far right of the above picture. The door that was taken off of the old French mill. I stood there and read the whole hand written note on it, and pointed out the names scribbled on the door to my step-daughter. I turned the camera on this really intricate lock, and I still didn't think about the connection. I blame the baby.

They had more stuff, like this crazy metal slide built into a tree. It had planks of wood nailed to the trunk instead of steps. My husband had to climb up on the branches to help the kids get to the top. Gabe was seriously brave, and his sister was seriously smart, letting him be the guinea pig before she would take a chance on it.

In the end they both went down a few times. They made huge piles of leaves at the bottom while the other laboriously climbed the tree and laughed hysterically when they landed in them. It was a pretty good time, even though the quilt show they advertised (and part of the reason we went) was only about a half dozen quilts with no information on them. Hmph!

My husband requested that I replicate this one, and have in on our bed before snow flies. I laughed at him, but it was an interesting request. Who knew he liked bear paw blocks, flying geese and applique? Not that he has any idea what any of that means...

Stripped

2011-10-16T06:00:00.001-07:00

The bookshelf is stripped and sanded with coarse paper (the before picture can be seen here). I finally got my husband to remember to pick up some finer sandpaper for me on one of his many trips to the hardware store, so I am hoping to begin painting this on Tuesday. In the meantime I'm still trying to find the finishing touches for it. I have decided that if I put it in my son's room before I complete my vision, that I will never realize it. So hopefully I find exactly what I need in the 48 hours or so it takes the paint to cure...

Monday Moments: Tuesday Edition

2011-10-11T07:18:00.001-07:00

We spent Sunday at a local park. I wanted to get some cute fall photos of Gabe, but it was hard to do in the 80 degree weather. I couldn't even bring myself to ask him to put on his dress shirt and pretend it was cold out for a few minutes.

He wasn't really in the mood anyway. We kept getting almost cute photos like these. Where if he only would have moved two inches, or looked at the camera (and when he did look he gave the corniest fake smile), they would have been amazing.

He was nowhere near as up for posing for photos as this guy was. Ha! I was given a praying mantis in a jar by my aunt when I was little, and I've kind of been obsessed since. Don't worry, this one ended up back in the field. I may still love the bugs, but I've definitely gotten over the having them in my house bit.

Shower pics

2011-10-03T04:23:00.000-07:00

I had my last (for this baby, and more than likely forever) baby shower over the weekend. It was fun, and exhausting, and I am so relieved that it's over! I don't have to be cute and sociable at all again until my son's birthday in November. Which is a good thing, because that isn't as easy as it was before I was 8 months pregnant.

The tables were so large that we set one up as a combination dessert and gift table. It made a great spot for the monkey treats I made, and didn't make the fact that they clashed with the ducks and elephants anywhere near obvious.

Did I mention that I'm relieved the parties are done? I now know everything I have to buy for the baby. My shopping list is, amazingly, only seven items long, and my to-do list has shrunk to three items long. I feel like I might very soon get that feeling I've been waiting on...the feeling that I'm ready for her to come whenever she is.

Almost finished!

2011-10-02T11:29:00.001-07:00

I was able to complete the crib bumper last week, and now I am nearly finished with the baby's corner of the room! I have to make the bed skirt, and figure out some way to put her name or initials on the wall. I will still have her quilt to finish at that point, but since I made it toddler bed sized, I'm not very concerned that it be finished in the next month.

I can't get over how adorable these little Care Bears are!

My finally finished painting. I'm really, really pleased with how it came out, and imagine this hanging on her wall for years to come. Even if she doesn't end up as enamored with Care Bears as I was when I was little, it should go well with the character themed decor that my almost four year old prefers.

And in the event that you needed a refresher, or were just curious (as I was) to see how it might all look together, here the crib is with my finished quilt top. More photos of that can be found here.

I've been working on

2011-09-29T07:37:00.001-07:00

The bumper for the baby's crib. I'm binding it right now (who needs piping? Not me!) and wow is hand sewing that seriously long edge tedious! I'd say I'm more than half way done though. So hopefully tomorrow I can post a picture of it up in her bed. Don't hold me to that, though, as I do have a baby shower happening this weekend.

Speaking of the shower, I mentioned in my post last week that I was looking for favor inspiration. This is what I decided on. It would have been way better in a sugar cookie with royal icing, but I really didn't have the time to learn a new skill before the party. So chocolate covered Rice Krispy Treats it is. They didn't turn out as cute as I thought. It's hard piping features on such a bumpy surface! Still though, I think at least the kids will be delighted with them.

Hmmm...

2011-09-25T09:28:00.000-07:00

My next baby shower is coming up really soon. Unlike the first one, that was held in a cozy family home with plenty of other decor, this one is being held in a white walled conference type room. No personality what-so-ever.

I saw these little paper mache animals in Michael's awhile ago, but walked away. The other night I went there looking for favor inspiration (and I may have found it) and saw them again for $0.40. So I bought one for each table, maybe...or maybe I will scatter them on the food table...or maybe I won't use them at all.

The ducks I think look a little shabby, which goes great with my banner. The elephants look retro. They both look weird to me when I think about pairing them with the monkey tags I am putting on favors. Does it all match just because it's pale pink, hot pink and green? Or does it need to be more defined than that?

Monday Moments: Retro Edition

2011-09-19T09:40:00.001-07:00

Shutterfly sent me a coupon for a free photo book. I told my husband that I wanted to try and accomplish in the six days the coupon was good for, something I had not been able to do for nearly four years. Finish a scrap book for my son.

I have about five pages finished in My Memories Suite, but I'm not sure I'm keeping all of them, and I'm not doing them in order. As I find inspirational layouts in magazines that fit the photos I want to include, I'm making a page. I really love these simple ones with just a few photos and a lot of blank space. This is definitely my favorite so far!

P.S. If you want to order your own copy of My Memories Suite my coupon code never expires! Just enter STMMMS79028 for $10 off the software and a $10 coupon good for downloadable goodies in the My Memories store.

A little peek

2011-09-14T05:21:00.000-07:00

I have this list of things that I have to do before the baby comes. It's handy, but I've discovered that I haven't really put half of the things I need to do on it. For example, after three trips to my sister's place since becoming pregnant, I finally remembered to bring home my son's infant car seat (she had borrowed it for my nephew). I was so excited to cross that off of my list! I then realized that washing it was not on my list. Nor was washing the stroller. I somehow imagined that these things would be in wonderful condition after 18 months in storage.

I did get to scratch one thing off. One thing, that did not add three or four more things to the supposed-to-be-shrinking list, thank goodness!

I finished my painting! It is now hung nearly exactly centered over the completely built crib in the kids' room. I am so excited to do the big reveal with all of her Care Bears things...I just have to get them off of my list first.

Huge catch-up post

2011-09-12T04:07:00.000-07:00

We have a lot to discuss today. Ready?

I had one of my baby showers (there will be two) on Saturday. Last week, I did a ton of prep. I wanted to schedule a post for all of it on Saturday, but I never ended up having the time to type it out.

The first project I tackled was relatively small, but still cute. I was in charge of one game for the baby shower and I wanted super-simple, but not something everyone had played before. I found a printable Old Wives Tale game, but I didn't so much like the clip art granny in the corner. I decided to take the scraps from my banner and glue them to a "string" I had drawn on plain cardstock. Then, I drew stitching, made copies and printed the game (after some small tweaks to the wording) onto them.

Much improved!

I bookmarked this post from Scissors and Spatulas back in April, when I had barely known I was pregnant for a month. (Something about a baby just makes you plan!) I set out to put my own spin on these favors Friday morning.

I think mine turned out a little more like a gooey mess than the picture perfect favors that Jen made. They were a tasty, gooey mess, though.

And how cute are those tags? I got them from SimplyBabyStuff.com when there was a half off sale. I loved how perfect the pink and green were for my shower, especially when paired with a darker pink bow. The adorable monkey didn't hurt, either!

I took no pictures at the shower until the guests left and all of the kids completely ruined themselves in the sand. I wish I would have, now, but at the time I was having too much fun to stop and get out the camera.

Last, but not least, as if I didn't have enough projects to finish up in the next eight-ish weeks, my mom found me a bookshelf at an antique store. It's solid wood with gold spray paint faux inlay. I wanted something small enough to fit in the room the baby will share with my son. I have an idea of what I want to do with this, but I may just paint it red and tackle the details sometime later, after the baby stuff is done, maybe even after she is born.

Speaking of winners

2011-09-02T05:30:00.000-07:00

I won Sarah from Fairy Face Designs blogiversary giveaway. The prize was this bunch of not-quite-fat-quarters of Amy Butler. LOVE them! Sarah also sent along this beautiful post card of a castle that I can't believe exists anywhere, let alone in the city where she lives!

I have an idea for these, but still a multitude of projects to get done before the baby gets here. Sadly, they will have to be shelved for a bit.

And the winner is...

2011-09-01T11:05:00.000-07:00

A big congratulations to Karen!

I know you're going to love it! My Memories sent along this really great introductory video that you (and everyone else) may want to check out for a screen tour of the software, a tour of the My Memories website and introductory information on album creation and tools.

Welcome to the Family! from Lisa Jurrens on Vimeo.

If watching this video makes you absolutely desperate for a copy of your own, don't forget that my coupon code is still good! For $10 off the My Memories Suite software AND a $10 coupon code to the My Memories store enter STMMMS79028 here.

Last day for the giveaway!

2011-08-31T06:51:00.000-07:00

If you've been putting off entering the giveaway, this is your reminder to stop procrastinating and head over to that post!

Sometime tomorrow I will be drawing one lucky winner to download their own copy of My Memories Suite! Don't forget, though, for those of you who don't win, the code STMMMS79028 is still good for $10 off the software and a $10 coupon code to the My Memories store!

Good luck!

Monday Moments

2011-08-29T06:38:00.000-07:00

This weekend was my niece's fifth birthday party. Gabe was so, so excited to go that I was shocked when we got there and he wouldn't even talk to her. Turns out all those other kids around made it pretty intimidating. I actually had to talk him into a pony ride! When most of the other kids had taken their turns and were off swinging, he finally decided to go for it. He didn't laugh, or smile the whole time, but when the rancher asked him if he liked it at the end, he made this face, stuck one finger up in the air and said, "I just want one more."

He overheard me telling the story later, and he got quite angry at the fact that he never did get his one more pony ride. Poor spoiled kid!

P.S. Erin Bradley is having a giveaway!

2011-08-25T14:19:00.001-07:00

You may have seen a bunch of digital scrapbook stuff on here lately, as I'm learning to use my new software and giving away a copy of it. Well, those of you interested in that may also be interested to know that Erin Bradley Designs is giving away a HUGE Halloween package with five sets of clip art and three sets of digital papers! If you haven't heard of her, she has the cutest owl stuff ever! Enter here before 8/28, and for those of you wondering, YES, you can use these papers and clip art with My Memories!

A small finish and some progress

2011-08-25T06:26:00.000-07:00

My wonderful friend Erin bought me this fabric book panel in my nursery theme. I decided to put off any further work on the quilt until the bed skirt and bumper are done, that way I know exactly how much scrap I have to piece the backing. So, until the crib got here (which I wasn't expecting to happen for awhile), I pulled out this book panel and a purse that has been a work in progress for a long time.

Of course, the crib arrived yesterday and I never made it to the purse. Oh, how hard it is going to be to finish that purse now that my major baby purchase is in the house!

Wait a minute, does this page of the book look familiar? It should!

That's really similar to my painting! It doesn't seem like there is much work left to do on it, but I feel like there is a lot. About the same way I feel about her room!

Monday Moments & Giveaway Reminder!

2011-08-22T06:49:00.001-07:00

We spent the day at Lake Michigan yesterday. I really didn't want to, I wanted to paint or sew, but sometimes my husband knows what I need to do.

The waves were huge! It was so much fun to play in them, even though the red "do not swim" flags were out. We only went about waist deep, but sometimes the waves were over our heads. The kids stayed in the very shallow water on the shore, but the waves were still a lot of fun for them too. We all had a good time, and there's plenty of time for painting and sewing today.

There is also still plenty of time to enter the My Memories Suite giveaway! I cannot believe there hasn't been a single entry yet! It's $40 of free software that can make scrapbook pages, quilt journals, birth announcements, custom invitations, etc. etc. with! Look at this thank you note I designed over the weekend!

Now, go! Enter!

Finished quilt top

2011-08-18T06:10:00.000-07:00

Since the image in my giveaway post was a little small, and a little cropped, I thought I'd give the Care Bears quilt top it's own post today.

Here she is! You can't see it in the photo (I had to have something to hang it by), but there is a thin stripe of the aqua fabric across the top. I made it a little bigger than what I was planning though, and need to add at least two inches to the length and width of my backing fabric. I want simple piecing, so I'm leaning toward a nine patch type pattern in an uneven cross. Not exactly like the backs of my Log Cabin Stars quilts, but kind of similar to stretch my backing fabric.

I'm also praying to have enough to make her a pillowcase to match, since I realized that by the time she's using a pillow there won't be any of this fabric around, and a toddler sheet set (with pillowcase) isn't likely to match this quilt. I should be good. I think I over ordered, but I'm nervous to work on an "extra" when I don't have the basics covered.

P.S. You still have time to win your own copy of My Memories digital scrapbook software! Who can argue with free?

Review and Giveaway!

2011-08-17T04:48:00.000-07:00

Have you heard of My Memories software for digital scrapbooking? Admittedly, I hadn't until I was contacted by them and offered a free copy for my opinion, but now that I know, I am so excited!

I no longer have to get out a variety of glues, tapes, scissors, ribbons and papers to scrapbook. I don't have to worry about the kids getting into my supplies and covering my oak table with stickers. With My Memories on my laptop I can actually find scrapbooking relaxing and fun...the way I used to, before I had the children I wanted to scrapbook about.

Do you know how awesome that is?!

My Memories Suite is so much more economical than traditional scrapbooking, too. Their website has pages of free downloads and an even larger selection of $0.99 downloads that they call the dollar store! So affordable, and you can use them repeatedly, versus the expensive stickers, papers and alphabets you buy and use once the traditional way!

Working with the software, nearly every time I found myself wishing it did something, I would magically discover the button or function that did exactly what I was looking for! I found it so simple to use, and I was able to make some really creative pages without downloading any extras!

This quilt journal page is my favorite! I will absolutely be making a page like this for every quilt I make from now on, and probably printing out books of them too! The fabric close-ups, selvage strip and little blurb about the project are just so fun! I can't wait to download more!

As a matter of fact, if you purchase My Memories Suite using the code STMMMS79028 they will actually give you $10 off the purchase price and a $10 coupon code to the My Memories Store! That's $20 exclusively for my US and Canadian blog readers!

Of course though, you could just win it! You're dying to know how, right?

MANDATORY: Visit the My Memories Store and tell me which paper pack or layout is your favorite in a comment here!

Earn extra entries for each of the following that you do:

1. Follow my blog (or let me know that you are a follower) and leave a comment here.

2. Post about this giveaway on your blog, then comment with a link back to your post.

3. Visit My Memories Suite Facebook page, like them and let me know you did.

I will randomly pick a winner on Thursday, September 1, and PLEASE make sure there is a way to contact you either in your profile or comment! If I can't contact you I will not consider your entry valid.

Fabric Giveaways

2011-08-16T06:04:00.000-07:00

I didn't have a Monday Moment this week, which usually prompts me to go out and do something, but I'm getting to that point in my pregnancy where I have appointments all the time! Three this week for different doctors, nurses, classes...Yuck!

I did manage to sit at the sewing machine for quite awhile though and finish up the top of my baby quilt I have been working on. I'd show you, but I'm saving the big reveal as part of a giveaway I'm hosting later this week.

In the meantime, here are some other giveaways to hold you over.

Sara at FairyFace Designs is always putting up beautiful things on her blog and Flikr, and apparently she's been doing that for a year now. In celebration, she's giving away six almost fat quarter pieces of Amy Butler!

Green Fairy Quilts is giving away a huge fat quarter bundle, a jelly roll and a layer cake. Of course, they are encouraging donations to their charity, but you don't have to donate to enter, and if you do, in ANY amount, you get three extra chances at the fabric goodies. Amazing!

Bunting break

2011-08-11T05:35:00.000-07:00

I decided to let the quilt sit for a few days while I tried to decide what to do next. I could have worked on the painting, but I needed a color that I didn't have to finish it up. So I decided to start yet another project.

I have had this paper bunting tutorial bookmarked for awhile now. I've been slowly building up a stash of pink and green scrapbook papers (my baby shower colors) and decided to sit down and try it out.

I really like the way it turned out. I haven't added any ribbon yet, and I'm thinking it doesn't need it. So cute! And much simpler than the banner I made for my sister's baby shower.

You know the best thing about having a girl? Cupcake stuff! How cute is that paper?

Another impasse

2011-08-09T06:13:00.000-07:00

After finally finding a solution to the problem of measuring my rows wrong, I hit another wall last night. The fabric I was going to use to separate the pinwheels from the similarly patterned top of the Care Bear stripe is also the fabric I was going to use to bind and make ties for the bumper. And there isn't enough of it to do both jobs. I'm thinking I need to go shopping...

Monday Moments

2011-08-08T04:44:00.000-07:00

We took the kids to their favorite state park beach this weekend. They had a great time playing in the shallow water of the little lake, then jumping over the waves in Lake Michigan after a very short walk. Some of my favorite pictures have been taken there, and I'm pretty sure I added some new favorites Saturday.

A solution!

2011-08-07T07:32:00.000-07:00

After days of trying to make my rows fit and dozens of seams ripped out, I have finally found a solution to my problem! Can you tell what it was?

How about when I change the angle just a little bit?

Good, right? It still isn't ideal, but it's far better than ordering new fabric. This way, if it doesn't line up just right I have to rip out an eight inch seam instead of a 44 inch one. Plus, I'm thinking once it's all sewn together and quilted it will be almost unnoticeable. At least, I'm hoping!

Weekend work

2011-08-02T07:06:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, sewing is this amazing process, where everything fits together and all of the seams are perfect and I stand back with a huge grin on my face saying, "I did that!"

Of course, that usually happens when I am using a pattern that has been tested to death by dozens of sewers. Coming up with my own design is much harder, even when it should be easy. I measured my quilt rows at least four times before cutting the fabric strips to mix them up with. You would think that would mean that they matched up perfectly, but you (and I) would be wrong. I hung the quilt up on the back of my chair and promised myself I'd rip out a bunch of seams after the weekend.

I worked some more on the painting instead. I am on a deadline, after all.

Giveaway Reminder

2011-08-02T04:54:00.000-07:00

As of right now there are only 24 entries into the My Memories Giveaway! You still have amazing odds to win this software!

The people at My Memories thought that maybe a few more of you could be enticed by this video they put together. It really shows how easy the software is to use with a screen tour that points out where you will find your papers and embellishments, a tour of their website, a beginners guide to creating albums and an intro to some of the tools!

Welcome to the Family! from Lisa Jurrens on Vimeo.

And of course, don't forget the special code just for my blog readers! Just enter STMMMS79028 to get $10 off the price of the software and a $10 coupon code to the My Memories store if you can't wait to win it!

Monday Moments

2011-08-01T06:45:00.000-07:00

It has been HOT here. Way too hot for me, which has meant my little boy hasn't been outside as much as usual. This weekend, we really wanted to sit inside, but we also really wanted to take him somewhere. We decided that fishing was low activity enough that we wouldn't burn ourselves out keeping up with him.

Of course, we got to the fishing spot and his enthusiasm quickly died down. My husband had just finished explaining that fishing was all about patience when we looked at each other and laughed. We were explaining patience to a three year old.

So I followed him as he ran around, and left my husband to hopefully catch the 12 inch fish that had been hanging around our hook (but just not biting) for an hour. It didn't happen.

Rows

2011-07-29T07:01:00.000-07:00

My purple pinwheels are done and pieced into rows with the pink ones. I had hoped to have the whole top completed today, but I'm finding myself second guessing a decision I made before I saw the whole top laid out. I imagined working a print I hadn't yet used into a thin stripe separating my rows. Now I think it might stand out too much...

Pink pinwheels

2011-07-25T06:10:00.000-07:00

More than half of the blocks for my quilt top are completed with this pile. I am going to have to piece the back as well though, so I may decide to make more of these pinwheels in the future.

The next set is purple, aqua and green. I have a TON of the purple fabric, but also a ton I want to do with it, so I had to dig out my notes before I could cut into it. I found them this morning on my desk and should have a stack of purple pinwheels like this tomorrow!

Testing

2011-07-21T07:27:00.001-07:00

I saw a picture of a quilt I really liked in a magazine and thought I knew how to make the blocks from it. It's a good thing that I grabbed some fabrics from my stash to test my theory, because I was obviously wrong. Turns out, using my shortcut, the green pieces end up in the wrong spot exactly half of the time.

After coming to my realization, I went and downloaded the free pattern. The block size is about twice what I need, but at least I now know how they constructed it. I'm sad that I get to spend another day at the cutting board trying to figure out measurements before I finally get to break into the good fabric.

Couldn't wait...

2011-07-19T03:45:00.000-07:00

I was not going to reveal the theme for the baby's corner of my son's room until I had the whole thing finished. Thinking about it though, I ideally want the bedding, the painting (I'm seriously considering two more smaller ones with her initials after this one) and the crib all done in time for my first baby shower. I'd like to have completed photos to show all of the relatives from far away.

That shower is in less than two months! I am hoping that putting things up on the blog will keep me motivated to finish it all in time...because if I really sit down and think about how soon my little girl will be here, YIKES!

The fabric to match this unfinished canvas should be here today! I'm crazy excited!

Monday Moments

2011-07-18T04:28:00.000-07:00

Two years ago at the Fourth of July arts and crafts fair, we bought this photo mat. We thought we could do better on a frame price, though and neglected to purchase one. After researching, we have been walking the craft fair every year since just waiting to see this vendor back so we could buy a frame.

Obviously, this was our year.

I love it! The letters were so much fun to find photos for. The middle of the C perfectly covers up the jutting nose of a blow up dolphin, and I couldn't imagine a better photo to go inside the H. The palm tree was perplexing though. I'm still not sure that I absolutely love the photo in it, but I figure that's okay.

We just got to the beach for the first time this summer, last week. The kids are growing more every day, and next summer there will be a whole new family member to add to the frame. Eventually, I will find the perfect photo for that palm tree.

E is for elephant

2011-07-15T03:51:00.000-07:00

It's finally done! If you have been waiting to see what prompted me to try embroidery in miniature since last month, your wait is over!

It took some trial and error, but I finally figured out embroidery on both sides of the elephant. I almost ended up running out of fabric due to failed embroidery attempts. To be fair to my skills though, I was only using what scrap was left from binding my Fresh Flowers quilt.

Now to just find a box for it and ship it off to its new home.

Monday Moments

2011-07-11T06:06:00.001-07:00

We spent part of the weekend out of state taking the kids to a much bigger zoo than our area has to offer. We really wanted to take them on some kind of bigger trip before the baby comes and we can't really do things like this for a year or two...or maybe even three.

Note the hands rubbing the eyes. Maybe three was a little too young for spending hours walking around in the 90 degree heat. Still, he says he had a great time. We all did.

Monday Moments

2011-06-27T04:48:00.000-07:00

I have no picture today. Well, I have one that I could post, but it isn't even uploaded yet and I'm lazy. So, there's that.

In other news, I am nearly finished with the embroidered toy project I posted a little picture of a few days ago. I just need the perfect little scrap of ribbon and I don't have it. I wanted to shop for it yesterday, but the place with the best ribbon selection was not open. I am hoping to get over there today and have a finished project on here by the weekend.

I also have decided on what I'm going to do with the baby's crib. I won't be able to do an entire nursery theme because I'm having her share a room with her reluctant big brother, but I saw some fabric I really liked and now nothing I could buy compares to what I envisioned. So yesterday, while my craft store was closed I spent the whole day working on transferring part of the fabric design onto some canvas I just had laying in my supply closet. Why is it that I have the urge to paint when I'm pregnant? And never simple things like walls?

You have to scroll through awhile, but there is a picture of what I painted last time I was pregnant in this post.

Surprise!

2011-06-22T11:03:00.000-07:00

Years ago one Father's Day, or maybe my husband's birthday my step-son and I collaborated on a T-shirt for his dad. We made South Park character versions of every person in the family, and he loved it. I caught him wearing it out a few weeks ago and realized he desperately needed a new one. One where my step-son wasn't an angst-ridden guitar playing teenager, but an adult in his Army uniform. My step-daughter didn't want her pig-tails, but long, straight hair and picked out a soccer ball to carry in her arms instead of a teddy bear. I made a new version of my son without a pacifier...and I added this.

Yes, just a few days before the holiday we found out that our baby will be a girl! A girl! Everyone assumed I wanted a girl since we had a boy the first time, but really I'm kind of panicked. I love having a boy to take on hikes, and I've already memorized the name of every train on Thomas & Friends. I know it will work out and I will feel like she was always meant to be here, but I can't help feeling like I have to learn how to be a mom all over again.

At work...

2011-06-16T04:50:00.000-07:00

Awhile ago I made a baby gift for a friend. That friend was so impressed with her gift that the very next baby shower invitation she got, she contacted me. I'm now working on a tiny toy for her, with teeny tiny embroidery. I tried to do a padded satin stitch, but with such little work area...everything turned into a blob. After some swearing, some napping and some trial and error I came away with these two hearts, each about the size of a pencil eraser. Hopefully the next bit will go smoother.

Monday Moments

2011-06-13T07:14:00.000-07:00

So maybe I wasn't ready to come back. I have not created a thing this last week, but I have been busy.

I cleaned out my sewing room. It wasn't exactly by choice, but I am glad that it is done. I allowed myself to do something I haven't done in years, yes, literal years...I decided that some of that fabric was never going to get used. At least not by me. I set aside a rather large box of fabric to be put in a garage sale. It was very freeing. And with all of the folding and re-organizing I thought of dozens more projects that I can do with the stuff I kept.

In the meantime, enjoy this picture of calves. We saw these guys (and girls) last week. They were obviously black and just a little larger than our dog. They were both very curious about each other. She tried to touch noses with one and ended up touching the electric fence. She yelped and ran, but then a few minutes later was brave enough to crawl under it and try to get up close and personal with the babies. Of course, the mothers didn't like that much and almost started a stampede. I never thought you could see panic on a dog's face...I should have been recording video instead of snapping photos!

I'm back...

2011-06-06T05:52:00.000-07:00

I took a little break, possibly not a long enough break, but I'm going to try getting back into this. See, I've been hiding something, at least on the blog. In real life, I haven't been able to hide it for awhile.

Yes, I'm having another baby! I haven't so much been taking time out to enjoy the pregnancy. I am not one of those people. But, I have been wanting to enjoy these last months where my three year old is still my baby.

This last weekend we took him to visit his grandma and cousins. See that look I'm getting? That is the, "Mom, why is Jasper sitting here?" look. He seems to love his girl cousins, but for now the other boy bothers him. I think because he was the first male grandchild for my side of the family. He doesn't like seeing another boy get my attention, and Grandma's attention.

I'm panicking...just a little.

Monday Moments

2011-05-09T07:26:00.001-07:00

There is finally nice weather! It almost seems like we skipped spring altogether and went straight to summer. The temperatures are only in the 60's, but we're already mowing lawns and barbecuing, and my son has been dragging me on walks or bike (trike) rides nearly every day.

We started off going around the block, but then he noticed the bike path. Now he wants to go throw rocks in the creek and listen for wood peckers. What fun is just going around the block when you can walk somewhere and maybe see raccoon tracks? He doesn't even call it walking anymore. It's, "Mom, I want to go on a adventure!"

Monday Moments: Tuesday Edition

2011-05-03T06:23:00.001-07:00

Well, it took more than three years, but my son has finally got into that mugging for the camera phase. If my niece is any indication to how this will pan out, I won't see a genuine smile in a picture for a good two years. This picture was the most hysterical of four that he asked me to take the other day. Four times he whipped his hair around, changed his facial expression and said, "Take my picture!" Then he asked to look at them all on the camera.

Maybe I need to stop telling him he's cute all the time...definitely need to get him a haircut.

Back to work

2011-05-01T06:15:00.001-07:00

I had two ideas on what to do with the scraps from my Amy Butler basket quilt. It's still a work in progress, but I have all of the fabric cut out for it, so I know what scraps I have left. Anyway, I thought I had enough scraps to make both of my ideas come to life. So I started sewing up hexagons yesterday.

Then I sat down and did the math. I made 13. I need 113. That's going to deplete my scraps a lot more than I thought it would. I still may end up with enough to pull the second idea together, but I'm already completely out of one print. I guess we'll see...

Dandelion

2011-04-26T04:52:00.000-07:00

Well, I didn't finish five bunnies like I wanted to, but I did finish one for each of my nieces before the holiday. The pattern is so simple and adorable! I just have not been feeling well. Ugh...

My son named this one Dandelion. I told my niece she could give her a new name if she wanted, but I hope she keeps it. It's so cute and creative, and really perfect for the yellow print ears and cheeks on this girl. Very impressive since he hasn't seen a dandelion since he was two. How does he even remember what they are?

I've been doing these bunnies from upholstery fabric samples and cotton prints from my stash. I played around with appliqueing plush fabric for the tail again. I love the effect, but it really is tricky given that you aren't supposed to iron that stuff.

Oh, and did you notice that the felt sandwiched between the cottons totally works for getting the ears to stand up? Hooray! The pattern designer told me it would on her Facebook page, but I was still so relieved when it worked out that way.

Monday Moments

2011-04-25T09:27:00.001-07:00

Two Monday Moments in a row? I need to step up on the crafty!

My sister and I got our kids together for Easter for the first time ever this year. I remember the rare occasions as kids that we got to spend Easter with our cousins. It seemed like the greatest egg hunt ever happened when I was five or six. My mom and my aunt sat outside in lawn chairs as we eagerly brought them hard boiled eggs with 25 cents written on them to trade in for quarters. I think one egg even had $5 on it.

Of course, as young kids, we failed to realize that we'd get more money if we kept hunting and turned in all of our eggs at the end. We were just too eager to get our hands on that change.

Our kids are smarter. Not a single one opened their eggs to see what was inside until they were sure they had found them all. We had different colored eggs for each child to make sure that my allergy laden nephew didn't get anything that could hurt him. It was a lot of fun watching them scramble around, occasionally finding each other's eggs and giving hints about where they were. It was cute seeing their reactions to the dollar bill fortune they found too. Even the oldest was excited to get one step closer to the toy she was saving for.

Now we just have to wait 25 years or so to see if it was the best one ever.

Monday Moments...and then some

2011-04-18T06:18:00.000-07:00

I will post cute pictures from this weekend, but first, I have to say a big hello to anyone visiting from Deb Strain's blog! She was kind enough to post photos of my quilt and another quilt someone else made from one of her adorable lines. Such a great lady!

Second, what in blue blazes is this? Are you serious? May is less than two weeks away!

Look at the poor little buds on my bush all covered in snow...I hope the forecast is better for next Sunday so the kids don't have to wear their snow pants to hunt for Easter eggs.

This photo is both a Monday Moment and a craft picture. I had promised my step-daughter that if her friend Abbie could come over, I'd invite another one of her friends and they could have a mini birthday party, since we'd be giving her gifts and making her a small cake anyway.

She had asked me if I could do a monster theme since she's into Monster High toys and Moshi Monsters online. I got some Moshi Monsters trading cards and downloaded some coloring pages from the website. I used them as stencils to paint the characters on canvas tote bags. Then I brought out a pack of fabric markers and let the girls go wild. They had a lot of fun just doing their own thing, and I got to relax because everything was so low key. Win, win!

She's finished!

2011-04-11T07:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the perfect day. The weather was gorgeous and it wasn't supposed to be. We were really unprepared. I decided I had better haul a quilt (this one was a gift from my mother-in-law) outside and take photos of my finished bunny while I had the light.

Isn't she so super cute? I love her.

This one is for my youngest niece, who is just at that age where she would pull a tail off of a bunny if I hand sewed one on. The pattern I bought had directions for appliqueing a felt tail to the back, but I didn't have any that wouldn't pill like crazy and I wanted this toy to last. So I tried my hand at applique with minky. I just happened to have two or three large scraps of a perfectly matched purple in my stash. I think it worked out well.

I am disappointed in the ears though. I didn't consider for a moment that the comparably stiff felt the pattern called for would be what held the ears up. I thought that it was somehow in the folding of the fabric. I really should have known better. I like the look of the second cotton print, so I'm wondering if maybe I could layer the felt into the ears like batting and get them to stand in the same way they do on the pattern. I will have to try it with the next bunny I have planned.

Looking good

2011-04-06T08:35:00.001-07:00

I bought a new pattern yesterday. Because I didn't have enough things to work on? This is the start of my first attempt at it. It's turning out very cute! I hope to have five of them done in the next little while.

Monday Moments

2011-04-04T07:49:00.001-07:00

Sunday morning, my husband and I awoke to the sound of silverware clanking on a plate. We both were startled long enough to have the thought that the other had got up and was making breakfast, then we both fell back asleep. Some time later my little boy came into my room singing, "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!" I opened my eyes to see this face.

I asked him what was all over his face and he said, "Fudge cake!" I followed him into the kitchen, getting angry. "Dad gave you cake for breakfast?!"

He smiled at me and said, "I did it!" I didn't believe him until I opened the refrigerator and got my second shock of the morning.

He really did get his own cake! And plate, and fork, though he isn't tall enough to reach the cupboards...so I have to hope and pray that he opened the dishwasher and didn't grab something dirty off of the kitchen counter. Yuck!

Just in the nick of time...

2011-03-31T18:31:00.000-07:00

Does this look familiar? It should. This is my entry for the Moda Bakeshop Monthly Contest for March. I started on it in early February, and should have had plenty of time to finish it before today, but there was that trip out of state and me getting sick...

The contest for March was to recreate a tutorial from the Bakeshop blog with Charm Packs (5" squares). I chose the Lolipop Quilt
but instead of making the applique lolipops, I chose to follow the original intent of the tutorial and enlarge the floral motifs from the Fresh Flowers line. The idea struck, and once I saw the little swirls in the centers of flowers that echoed the embroidered swirls in the Lolipop Quilt, I knew that I had to do it!

Originally, I tried sketching my floral designs on graph paper to make sure all of my flower petals were perfectly proportioned. It only took a couple sketches for me to realize two things. Number one, I was sketching in a 5" X 10" field and leaving myself no room for seam allowances, and two, the perfect graph paper petals took away from the hand-drawn quality that I loved so much about the fabric design. (By the way, it turns out that the reason the flowers had a hand drawn quality is that the designer, Deb Strain, actually hand paints her fabric samples! Amazing!)

And finally, just a little close up collage of my interpretations. Check out all of the contest entries (and get an idea of the scope of projects at the Bakeshop) in the Flikr group here.

Monday Moments: Retro Edition

2011-03-28T08:30:00.000-07:00

I have been really, really absent here lately. First my computer died, then I was travelling, and then (now) I was sick. I was absolutely fine when we got home from South Carolina, but in less than a week I felt like I had been hit by a truck. I couldn't eat, I did a ton of sleeping...honestly, I'm still not up to par. There are some serious goals that I set for myself this week, though, and I WILL accomplish them.

Back to the death of the computer, I was so sad to realize that among the photos I hadn't backed up yet were nearly all of my son's baby pictures. We're still hoping to find someone who can go into our corrupt hard drive and try to grab the pictures out, but in the meantime I've been scouring my photo accounts on different sites to see what I can piece together. This one is from a Photobucket account I haven't touched in years. I was so glad to see this sweet little face again!

Monday Moments

2011-03-21T04:03:00.000-07:00

My husband and I spent roughly the last week in South Carolina (or traveling to and from South Carolina) for my step-son's graduation from basic training for the Army. It was exhausting for everyone I think, especially the new soldier. Today he hopped on a plane to finish his training in yet another state. Not as far south this time, but I still think he'll see the trees blooming again (the above photo was taken on his Army base) long before we see it happen here in Michigan.

New Baskets

2011-03-16T04:05:00.000-07:00

I bought another Amy Butler fat quarter bundle in blue this time (it had the most number of prints that I didn't get in my Christmas bundle). Then I added the green Temple Doors, the pink and brown Passion Lily prints, and the green Delhi Blooms to kind of even out the color scheme.

Plus, adding the pink and brown prints means that the pink polka dots and the brown Disco Flower at the top of this photo aren't focal points anymore when I mix them in with the old blocks. Yay!

Birthday Cupcakes

2011-03-09T05:45:00.000-08:00

I mentioned that it was my sister's 16th birthday last week. She takes after me in the crafty department, and my mom had mentioned that she was running out of fabric. I got her a half a dozen pieces of felt to make little softies out of, and made her a charm pack of some of my favorite fabric scraps. I found these little cupcake buttons in the scrap book section of Hobby Lobby. I figured she could sew them into the hands of her little animals to make them look like they were enjoying a yummy dessert. Of course, I'm sure she will come up with some amazing way to use them that I never would have thought of.

Here is the only picture I have of her creations. I think it may have been the first one she made and she has gotten much better since. They're adorably primitive and fun!

Monday Moments: Tuesday Edition

2011-03-08T04:49:00.000-08:00

Have you ever tried to look up your favorite barbecue chicken recipe on your phone? You've made it half a dozen times and you should know it, but you don't. So you rush over to the computer to check your bookmarks for it and half way there, you realize the computer died days ago. Okay, maybe that's a bit specific...

That sort of thing happened to me a lot over the last week. You would think my Monday Moment today would just be a photo of a shiny new computer, but believe it or not, the new computer was not the best thing that happened recently.

My youngest sister turned 16 this weekend (wow, does that make me feel old, it's never good when someone you remember being born is old enough to drive). I took a trip to see her and got to see my sweet baby niece for the first time since Christmas. She's so much bigger! I hate living so far away from those kids. After about eight hours of driving this weekend I was ready to take a few naps and set up the new computer. That was yesterday, today, the sewing machine will come back out...

Hiatus

2011-03-01T08:02:00.000-08:00

For the past two weeks or so I would leave the room and occasionally come back to a blank computer monitor. I told myself that it was my three year old messing with the power button, but I had a sinking feeling it wasn't.

My suspicions were confirmed yesterday when I turned around in my chair for a second, and turned back to find nothing. Ironically, I was trying to post a status to Facebook about what a bad day I was having. It got worse. The computer wouldn't come back.

I don't know how long I will be without, but I appreciate you sticking around. And I promise to spend plenty of quality time with the sewing machine, so I will have tons to show you when I can.

I'm learning

2011-02-25T06:53:00.000-08:00

There is a finished quilt top hanging on my living room wall. I don't yet have the fabric to back and bind it, but in the meantime I'm trying to gain some free motion quilting skills. I have an idea of what I'd like to do with it, we'll see if I have the know-how in time.

Pictured above is my second attempt ever at free motion quilting. I covered probably a 12 X 18 inch fabric with little loops and swirls. I still don't have the even stitches thing down...or the right hand/foot speed combination to not have little loops of thread on the back. But the errors are way less evident than they were the first time. So hooray for practice! I'm thinking I need to buy a yard of muslin for this though...I felt so guilty using any of my scrap just to throw out!

I also made this iPod case this week by request of a friend. She wanted a cute little one like mine, and I thought I would use the opportunity to fix some of the design errors I had made. Turns out, my "errors" weren't as bad as I thought. This one was much harder to put together, and in the end, actually too big. I will be going back to the drawing board to try and find a happy medium between the two.

Oooohhh

2011-02-22T07:03:00.000-08:00

I so wish I could show you the rest of this. I mean, I could, but I really, really want it to be a surprise. So I will wait for the big reveal, but I was too excited about it to not show you a little something.

Monday Moments

2011-02-21T09:31:00.000-08:00

We got dumped on, again...probably got another 8 inches overnight. These pictures are from almost two years ago at Lake Michigan, but I can assure you they're prettier than what you would get if I ventured outside today.

The one good thing about the snow, if you actually happened to make it down to the lake, it would probably look nearly exactly like this. Minus the sun peeking through the clouds anyway.

You can try that if you like, but I'm going to sit inside in my pajamas and sew all day.

Work ahead

2011-02-16T06:08:00.001-08:00

I had to buy all of this thread for my newest project (except for the red, that one has been in my stash since this quilt) and it wasn't even on sale. I told my husband there was no way that I could feasibly wait to buy it until the new sale ad came out on February 27. So obviously, I haven't done anything with it yet.

I'm close to doing something with it though, and I'll try putting a little peek of it up here, but I want to save the whole thing for a big reveal.

And if you have to ask if I'm done with the Amy Butler baskets yet, you don't know me very well. I will be getting back to them though, as I got all of the fabric to finish them in the mail last week. I have a rough estimate that I'll need 85 blocks to make that quilt bed sized, and I have 32 completed right now. It's going to be a marathon for sure.

Monday Moments: Tuesday Edition

2011-02-15T08:05:00.000-08:00

Last year around Easter I found this little monster truck that looked like a dinosaur and bought it for Gabe. His big sister asked if it was a real one and mentioned that we should have got him Grave Digger. I had apparently bought into something I didn't know existed. The dinosaur truck, it was real, and all of the trucks on the store shelves were replicas of real trucks...pretty soon whenever we sat at the computer one kid or another was asking us to find videos of their toys on You Tube.

So, this year, when the commercials for Monster Jam started coming on TV, we decided that maybe we should let the kids see their trucks in person. They loved it! I took tons of blurry photos of trucks jumping and spinning in circles...and a few photos of Gabe, who was so overstimulated that he fell asleep at the end of the show. We've been joking ever since that maybe we need to turn the Monster Jam DVD up as loud as it goes to get him to nap.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T14:04:00.001-08:00

The day isn't over yet, so if you haven't got a card for someone Ann Wood has this one as a download on her site. Seriously easy, but looks like it took hours worth of work. I promise to fully own up to the download if my husband ooh's and aah's too much. Ha!

Even if you have got all of your cards, go download this anyway. It could easily be used for an anniversary or other occasion.

Another cool thing for today, Prudent Baby posted photos of less than 30 potholders from the 871 potholder entries they received that they said blew their minds and were absolutely gorgeous. Check out who made the list (just a hint, I'm in there) and be inspired!

Easier Hexagon Tutorial

2011-02-11T10:11:00.000-08:00

If you're like me, you have been seeing gorgeous things made from hexagons all over blogs, Flikr and Etsy for months, but the thought of making your own hexagons...ugh!

Typical sewing with hexagons is exhausting just to explain. You cut out dozens of tiny paper hexagon pieces, you cut out dozens of tiny fabric hexagons 1/4" larger than your paper ones, you sew the fabric to the paper with basting stitches, you sew the hexagons together by hand, then you take the basting stitches out.

Why, oh why, would anyone go through all of that? I am far too busy/lazy.

So, first things first. Get yourself some of these. Reusable, heat resistant Teflon hexagons. No paper to cut out! Step one, DONE!

The instructions on these things are about useless. No pictures and pretty vague. Run a basting stitch, remove shape with tool...huh? Ignore them.

It says to cut your fabric 1/4" larger than the Teflon shape, but I have found that Teflon is slippery (who knew?) and that 1/4" is way too little room for that thing to slide around. I like 1/2". So, cut your fabric into 2 3/4" squares and it ends up just about perfect.

From there, center your hexagon on the square and I like to clip off just the tips of the corners to reduce bulk. You don't have to, and could eliminate that step too, but I do.

Now, thread your needle. You're going to want about two feet of thread on there, any more and you'll be upset with yourself for wasting it. Double your thread by bringing the needle to the middle and tying the ends in a knot.

Fold your fabric around one corner of the hexagon.

Stitch like this (there is a great illustration here) just in the corner.

Continue all the way around the shape. Basting this way means no stitches to rip out when you're done! All of your stitching remains hidden on the back of your shapes!

When you get to the end, run one last stitch back to your starting point, but before you close the stitch completely, run your needle through the center so that it forms a knot when you tighten it.

Trim your thread and you are ready to iron. Spray a little starch on your hexagons (I have tried it without the starch and they do tend to lose their shape) and press.

Now take that little straw that came with your hexagons, and insert it in the hole in the middle. Push down on it gently in the direction of one corner while pulling back on your fabric. Loosen two corners this way and the whole shape will easily pop out.

Press your shapes one more time and they're ready to sew with. Sadly, I can't help you shorten this part. You still do have to hand sew them together, but I've cut a bunch of steps out of the process...which should make it a little less daunting if you were on the fence.

Whew!

2011-02-10T06:14:00.000-08:00

Just in the nick of time, I finished my potholder for the contest over at Prudent Baby. I had about a half dozen sketches that I was hoping to make for it, but in the end the one I wanted to make most was so much more work than I imagined.

You want to see?

This is the back. The little hexagon part is a pocket to put your hand in.

Here is the front.

I always try to learn a new skill with every contest I enter. That way if I don't win, at least I have added something to my repertoire. Of course, this also means that a supposedly simple potholder making contest turns into a week long project. I had never worked with hexagons before, though it had been a goal of mine for months now. I purchased some Teflon shapes at JoAnn quite awhile ago (because if I had to cut these little bits out of paper I never would have attempted it) and finally got up the courage to try them out.

And there will be a whole post on those Teflon hexes soon.

I made quite a few mistakes, but the top-stitching I did over the hexagons really hides the errors well. I totally recommend it. I love how the reproduction fabrics and traditional shapes make this look like it almost could have been made from an old quilt. Hooray for new kitchen accessories!

Random stuff

2011-02-07T06:09:00.000-08:00

I could show you a Monday Moments picture, but you would get the same effect staring at a white wall, or a blank sheet of paper. We got almost 16 inches of snow last week! I had my posts scheduled so that I could work on a new pattern I'm drafting...it has been almost a week with all the white stuff, and it's no fun. The schools are back in session, and the roads are clear (mostly) but the snow that was on the roads had to go somewhere...and that's generally into a pile large enough to hide an SUV or two right on the edge of the road. Turning any corner is now an adventure! Is there a car coming that I can't see? Am I about to get creamed?

For right now, I'm scrambling to get an entry or two into this contest. All you have to do is make a potholder (it must be new and made for the competition) and e-mail a photo in to have a shot at one of two sewing machines! Good ones too, with all kinds of fancy features.

I finally decided what to spend my Fat Quarter Shop gift certificate on. I opted out of the layer cake. I want one so bad, but I need more fabric to finish the quilt for my bed, and that didn't leave a lot left to spend. So I threw a couple charm packs in my cart instead and am planning on coming up with something for the Moda Bakeshop monthly contest series that starts in March.

Collaboration

2011-02-03T07:23:00.000-08:00

This is a lunch bag I worked on with my step-daughter. After a couple consecutive weeks of her forgetting to bring her lunch box home with her I decided that maybe she needed more than one and asked her if she'd like to make her own.

She picked out the outside fabric, and agreed with me that the polka dot would make a good inside since it wasn't really going to be seen. I cut out the rectangles for the bag and had her sew around them. I wanted her to make the whole thing, but when I took our last paper lunch sack out of her cupboard to take some measurements, it was completely malformed. I had to square off the corners, turn it out, add the strap and do the top stitching while she was in bed, otherwise she would have had nothing to put her lunch in. Oh well, any practice is a good thing!

It turned out cute, but not how I was expecting. I should have checked out a few tutorials first, it's a little bulkier than I wanted...

A lot less work...

2011-02-01T07:06:00.000-08:00

Awhile ago I showed you a different giraffe made from the remnants of a patchwork bag. I got quite a few positive comments on it.

So, when I had to hit the stores shopping for fabric for yet another giraffe, this one to take to a baby shower I was invited to mere days after I finished the first, this print immediately jumped out at me. All the appeal of the other, but with far, far less effort.

I was a little nervous about the fabric I chose for the feet and horns. The blue was a perfect match, but the green is nowhere in the main print. I wasn't too sure if it would be complimentary or if it would turn out obnoxious. I've obviously decided I like it, and I hope the mommy-to-be will like it too.

Monday Moments

2011-01-31T07:07:00.000-08:00

Have I ever mentioned that my son loves my sewing machine? Just from watching me (and his sister) he lifted the foot on his own, put the fabric down and lowered the foot again. He likes to adjust the speed control and occasionally I will turn it down as low as it can go and let him operate the foot pedal. He also knows what a bobbin is, though not what it's for. Maybe in the future I will have two sewing children in my house.

Puppy Love

2011-01-28T08:35:00.000-08:00

She looks so cute and sad, doesn't she?

In the event that the purple polka dots weren't enough to jog your memories this is the Valentine's gift (with cupcake applique) that I posted a preview pic of last week.

I have used this pattern a few times before, so you may recognize it. I first made one as a baby gift for my nephew, then his big sister got jealous and had to have her own. Now their baby sister needs one too.

I thought the puppy initially made the perfect baby gift because my sister had decided on a puppy themed shower. I made decorations and cookies in the shape of dog bones and had to order custom birthday invitations with all of the wording changed to fit a baby shower because nothing was available.

Of course, today I got this e-mail advertising all new puppy themed baby shower decor and favors. Thanks! Too late!

Seriously though, I love Simply Baby Stuff. We ordered the Who Smells the Stinky Doo? game for my oldest niece's baby shower five years ago and it was hilarious to watch people sniffing their cards. They really are a fun site, and would have saved me so much work if they had only come up with the puppy idea sooner!

Sewing school

2011-01-26T10:28:00.000-08:00

Two weeks ago I started my step-daughter on the basics of sewing. She's really eager to learn and just like the me she has ideas about her next two projects before she's done with the current one.

Her first finished project was supposed to be a blanket for her current favorite stuffed animal. She had told me she wanted patches, so I grabbed a piece of notebook paper and drew a basic 9 patch and said, "Like this?"

I was far off. She drew her own blanket with five patches randomly strewn throughout it. Without teaching her applique (she's not quite ready for stitching that shows yet!) I cobbled together a rough pattern based on her drawing.

She finished sewing it together and decided it looked more like a pillow. So I got out my bag of stuffing and she got to work.

Look at how well these matched up! She's still learning though, and some lessons are coming harder than others. I pinned something for her and she got tired of fiddling with all of the pins so she took them out all at once. She wasn't too pleased with her "shortcut" when she had to redo half of her sewing because her two pieces weren't even together.

She's really enthusiastic about making things and I'm loving that she's learning some life lessons right along with her new skill.

Monday Moments: Tuesday Edition

2011-01-25T07:52:00.001-08:00

This is the only picture with a child in it I have taken in the last week. It has been bitter cold here so no playing outside and no sledding. There have been moments, but not many photo ops.

I have another photo taken this same night where you can see my entire unmade bed and just out of reach are the pajama pants we laid him down in. He took them off, trying to convince us that we should put him back in the bath to play, then fell asleep waiting on someone to follow through with his idea.

More baskets

2011-01-24T08:54:00.000-08:00

It's the end of Challenge week! I finished my goal of completing my 12 basket blocks, plus made two more!

I got my 12 baskets done and needed one more to fill out the layout, but the only prints I hadn't used were the laurel dots. I wasn't sure which one, if any, would work well so I made one of each.

This did not make the cut. However, when I showed my progress to my husband he suggested I make it bed sized since I had so much fabric left. I'm a lot nervous about farming out my quilting...so I haven't decided yet what to do.

Sweet giveaway

2011-01-19T07:05:00.001-08:00

This is just a tiny little peek at a Valentine's gift I've been asked to make. I am loving how it is turning out! And look at that cute loopy stitch my new machine can do. Too bad I still had to do the French knots by hand.

Speaking of gifts, if you'd like to enter to win your own $50 gift certificate to the Fat Quarter Shop, Suzannah at Adventures in Dressmaking is holding a giveaway right now! Who can resist the chance at free fabric?

Yo-yo

2011-01-18T09:01:00.000-08:00

Can you believe I'd never made a yo-yo until last week? It seems like such a sewing and quilting staple, and they're so easy!

My mother-in-law bought nearly every Clover yo-yo maker there is for my step-daughter for Christmas along with a few Indygo Junction patterns because she knew it would be a simple place to start. Victoria sewed one of these, I did the rest. I had to do at least one to explain how to make them to her, but the pattern called for so many! I picked up the needle and thread and made a few more just to help her out.

Of course, I'm working on my own projects this week (these are not for the basket blocks, but they do look kind of cute there), but I'm thinking about working a yo-yo into my next project.

This week...baskets

2011-01-17T07:55:00.001-08:00

Amy is holding another challenge! I have yet to win one of these, but the beauty of Amy's challenges are that even if you don't win the prize, you still get a finished project out of it.

My goal for this week is going to be to finish the 12 blocks I have cut out for my latest quilt project. I have one done right now and a bunch more in progress.

I am chain piecing (here is a really great explanation of what that is), but I ran out of both thread, and white on white prints for the backgrounds this week. Add to those a few misdirected half square triangles and I have a few blocks almost done, a few just cut out and a couple that are half finished. I can't wait to be done with them all! I have been wanting to make basket blocks out of large floral prints for a long time. I initially planned on buying some Kaffe Fassett, but I'm glad I waited because the Amy Butler fat quarters I got for Christmas are perfect!

Repurposed

2011-01-14T10:44:00.000-08:00

Almost two years ago I posted my patchwork bag tutorial. Back when I made those bags, I accidentally cut enough fabric for two of the second one. I have had the front and back panel of that bag unfinished in my basement since April, 2009. Yikes!

I went on the hunt through my stash to find some baby girl appropriate fabrics to make a gift out of and stumbled across those panels. I decided that, realistically, I probably wasn't going to make them into another patchwork bag, and brought them out to make one of my favorite patterns.

Mrs. Perkins by Melly and Me! I cannot sing the praises of this pattern enough. It has never failed to turn out adorable, no matter what fabrics I make it in and kids just love the 19" tall giraffe, especially babies!

I like her better with buttons, but I hate the thought of her sitting on a shelf because the baby's mom is too afraid to let her play with it. I stuffed a cat toy deep inside this one, a trick I cannot remember where I picked up. Just a little bell in a plastic ball so she rattles very quietly. And not a choking hazard because the bell and ball are surrounded by layers of stuffing and fabric.

While I'm sharing tips and tricks, let me show you one of my favorite ways to make stuffed animal eyes.

Polka-dot print felt! The irises are already printed on for you to just cut out little ovals or circles. I bought every square of this blue that I could find when it went on clearance at a local craft store. If I ever find more colors (maybe I should Google that?) I will buy them for sure! It's nice to have the option of a shortcut sometimes.

P.S. Some other Mrs. Perkins I have made since the blog can be found here and here.

So far...

2011-01-12T13:55:00.001-08:00

2011 is not going well.

My son has been sick since Sunday. I didn't mention it Monday because I thought it was a 24 hour bug, but then last night my entire bed was doused in regurgitated hot dog at 10:30 PM. I'll spare you the amount of bodily fluids I've cleaned up today.

This is on top of my sewing machine not being repaired when I picked it up.

Then I bought a new sewing machine, because I got a decent amount of money for Christmas and I really felt my machine was lacking after completing my Christmas projects on my mother-in-law's. I didn't get one anywhere near as nice as hers, but I found a decent machine in my price range.

It shipped to my house missing four feet. I'm supposed to be getting them mailed to me for free.

So today I picked up my finally fixed old machine. I dropped it off in the case, and the shop neglected to close both latches on it. I neglected to notice until the one latch holding it closed finally gave out on the steps leading into the house. A piece of it broke off. Not an important piece, and as far as I can tell the rest of the machine wasn't damaged, but I'm annoyed at the senselessness of the whole thing.

I told my husband I think the universe is telling me not to sew right now.

But I have projects to complete. Laugh at that would you? The above picture is actually these pieces from last January finally sewed into blocks. I didn't touch this quilt for an entire year!

Every time I scrolled through my photos to find one to put on the blog I'd come across some of the blocks from this set and I'd wish it was complete and on my bed.

I'm thinking if I can finish it, it will knock two things off my crafty resolutions list. Something for myself, and something larger than a lap quilt. Plus, I think the scraps from my Amy Butler will all fit in perfectly with my color scheme! I'm excited to get to work on it.

Monday Moments

2011-01-10T06:41:00.000-08:00

My mother-in-law, who just so happens to live three hours away, was actually brought into town for business this weekend. We got to meet her for a quick lunch at a local restaurant, but nothing more since she was on the clock. Still, the kids loved the double treat of eating at a restaurant and seeing their grandma.

We came home from lunch and got everyone dressed and ready to go sledding. I don't even know how long we were out, but everyone was beet red and ready for cocoa when we got home. I had my camera in my pocket the whole trip, but didn't snap any photos. Sometimes it's nice to just slide down the hill and be a part of the action...instead of sitting at the bottom trying to catch it.

Sad face

2011-01-06T15:01:00.000-08:00

I finally broke down and used the sewing machine today. I was trying to finish up my embroidery first, but it was taking forever and I really wanted to finish at least one thing I could put on the blog.

So I got out a scrap piece of fabric, threaded the machine and sewed a few lines. Everything looked wonderful. I ironed and got out the rotary cutter. I put my Amy Butler in the machine and this happened...

Ugh! I grabbed a piece of navy blue fabric from my scrap bin for contrast and sewed some more lines until I got a similar result, then I packed the whole thing up and headed back to the repair shop.

I don't blame them at all for sending it back to me. Even I was convinced things were prefect (or else I never would have got out the good fabric). It was kind of rewarding to have the owner of the shop looking at my machine and saying, "Weird!" repeatedly. He explained, though I already knew, that I had one of the most simple machines on the market and there isn't really anything to go wrong on it. I thought that maybe it wasn't holding the adjustments to the tension, but he thinks it's the timing.

Bottom line: I lost my baby again for at least one more night.

Number six

2011-01-04T06:20:00.000-08:00

I finally got the call that my sewing machine was ready for pick up last night (all of nine minutes before they closed, so it is still not in my eager hands!), and thank God, because this is the last of my Christmas projects to show you. Quilt number six of 2010.

I did the same type of backing that I did for the Making New Friends quilt. (This one was a Spumoni Bali Pop that I found on clearance somewhere, not sure if I ever mentioned that.) Only this time I actually took a photo of the full back. The batik I used was maybe a little too coordinated here. It looks really nice in person, but in the photos and from far away there isn't much distinction between the colors.

Did you notice that I said this was the last of my Christmas projects? I was not able to finish my super secret surprise one. So it isn't a surprise anymore and I'm still working on it. It is very close to being finished and I took photos along the way to show you, so there will be a big post on that soon (I hope!).

Monday Moments

2011-01-03T13:39:00.000-08:00

I went to bed last night with just a touch of a headache that grew into a terrible migraine overnight. It's one of the worst ones I have had in years, complete with nausea. Then I ran out of something pretty important that couldn't wait for my husband to get home from work, so in the middle of this terrible headache accompanied by an overwhelming urge to purge, I got to run to the grocery store, with my three year old.

All I want to do is curl up on the couch, and maybe buy a little something off of ebay with my Christmas money. Only, I never shop ebay anymore and I can't remember my ID or my password for the account I set up ten years ago. It's just the way my day is going. I hope the rest of my family is faring better.

So excited!

2011-01-02T14:27:00.000-08:00

Are you kidding me? I won?!

I have to say that I am beyond excited, because my little story was mostly true. I did ask for a layer cake for Christmas, and the lovely family member who was going to get me one as a gift decided to wait until she was at the winter cottage where we always celebrate holidays to buy my fabric. She trudged down to the local quilt shop only to be told that they didn't carry Moda. Seriously? What kind of quilt shop doesn't carry Moda?

So I got the fat quarters above instead. And I love them! Don't get me wrong, they are bright and beautiful and Amy Butler! They are also completely wrong for the project I had in mind when I asked for the layer cake. I have other plans for these lovelies, but I am really excited that I won't have to shelve my plans to make Welcome to the Neighborhood from Pat Sloan's Fast Forward Quilts. Layer cake, here I come!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T14:04:00.000-08:00

Last year I posted three resolutions on the blog, and I thought it would make a fun post to go back and see how well I did.

1. Get Gabe off of the binky. I honestly don't even remember when we finally did this one. It seemed like it took forever, but I know that it was long enough ago that he doesn't even think twice about it when he's around the babies anymore.

2. Have more blog posts than the year before. Let's see, I did 97 in 2009 and 118 in 2010. Awesome! Accomplished that goal too!

3. Make at least three quilts. I think this shows how daunting quilting seemed to me only one year ago, because although they were small I completed six quilts this year. Yay! Another resolution met!

I went three for three last year, let's see what I can accomplish this year.

1. Let's throw another parenting resolution in there. I'm tired of changing diapers. I have had the potty chair and training pants (and real underwear) for months with little to no results. I will have him potty trained, God willing before his fourth birthday. So stubborn, that child is.

2. Make a quilt for myself. I still have yet to finish anything I start that isn't meant for someone other than me. The shoemaker's children and all that...

3. Make something larger than a lap quilt. I have really been afraid to do this, because it would either mean quilting as I go or farming the quilting out to someone else and paying for it. Ideally, this would be finishing the blocks for the queen sized blanket I started piecing

4. I increased blogging by about 22% last year, so I think maybe I'll try to do that again. That would be about 144 posts. That's a little less than three times a week. Man, I better hope that my sewing machine gets fixed this week!