Our Weekly Calendar

 This is what I've had floating around in my head the last few months (yes, I said months!).

I wanted to make a weekly calendar to help Mimi understand the days of the week as well as help her know what's happening each day, and this is how it turned out.

I wanted each day to be a different color, so I chose 7 colors of flannel for each day's background. I had these in my stash, I guess that sort of tells you how much sewing I do (and how much fabric I have).

I used my cool, cool Silhouette Cameo to cut out the lettering. I love that machine, by the way. I am not a scrapbooker, but I use it for so many things.

I ironed the lettering to the backgrounds. I have to tell you, picking the right colors for the lettering was really difficult. You just don't know if you'll be able to read them until they're on the fabric. I redid most of the days at least 1 or 2 times until I was satisfied.

Next, I sewed them all together and chose a border and background (also from my stash). I used flannel on the back so we could flip the calendar over and use it as a big felt board too.

I made the little activity pieces using iron-on transfer paper for my printer and some cool images I found mostly online. I added the lettering myself. I just ironed the images onto white felt and cut out the shapes, easy.

I sewed some pieces of rick-rack into the top so I could hang our calendar on a dowel. Mimi still hasn't seen it, but I think she'll be pretty excited. Right now it's out of her reach, but at some point I'll find a place to put it where she can access it better.

What d'ya think?

Schnibbles Times Two

Hey, I made some quilts! I think the last quilt I made/finished was before Amelia was born, so this is exciting stuff for me.

Have you heard of "Schnibbles"? Well, as usual, I'm pretty unaware of what's cool out there in the world, but I do kind of know about Schnibbles. I've seen loads of the patterns around and I have a pattern book, which I love. 

Anyway, a friend of mine from the world's best baby group is pregnant with twins (poor thing) and this past weekend was her baby shower. After crocheting an entire blanket and deciding I couldn't come up with a good color scheme for a second blanket, I started in on making two quilts. This decision was made about 2 weeks ago, by the way. I had some charm packs laying around that were appropriate for a boy and a girl, and I had the "Schnibbles times two" pattern book...easy.

Really, it was pretty easy. Here's what I made.....

 The pattern is called "Plan C" and the fabric collection was "Punctuation" by American Jane. This one's for a baby girl.

The pattern for this quilt is "Hot Cross" and the fabric is "Lollipop" by Sandy Gervais (love her!). I prefer this quilt, I don't know why, maybe it's just the unique color scheme.

I'm glad I got a chance to work on something different for a change, and to give them to someone who I know will cherish them. They were very well received. :)

Oh yeah, and here's my most recent snap of Amelia at 19 months!

I took this picture in my living room which just received a much needed skylight (more on that later). Previously you would have had to turn on 5 lamps during the day just to see someone in that room! yay!

Still Kicking

I just wanted to stop in a say I'm still alive. Is anyone out there? I've actually started writing more than one post and haven't had the chance to finish, so I'll keep it brief in order to get this online. 

Here's what I'm up to:

 Amelia is now a whopping 18 months old (yes, I knit the sweater). She spent her 1st birthday at Disneyland and turned 16 months at Disney World, not bad for such a young lady. She's in "school" 3 half days a week (yay) so I've been back at the sewing machine and working on my shop again.

I'm always making something. Here are a couple of my latest projects:

This is Amelia's Easter bunny. I thought it might be fun to make here a new critter every year....this will be #1 in a set. I got the pattern on Ravelry here.

I'm still a fan of monkeys (though I rarely make them anymore) so when Rebecca Danger came out with this monkey pattern I had to play along. Isn't he the cutest? I think Nick likes him more than Amelia does.

I'm still making tons of these:

and generally having a good time. Hope you've been well all these months and I really hope I can manage to blog a bit more than once a year from now on. Fingers crossed.

Back in the Swing

Hey there! How are you? I feel really bad that I'm blogging so infrequently, but you know how it is with a new baby in the house. I just thought I'd drop in and give you an update on how things are going around here.

Amelia is now 3 months old, if you can believe that! At my baby group they're always saying how hard the first 3 months are...if you can just get through the first 3 months, things will be easier.

 

 I guess that's pretty true. Not so much that it's hard, but the fact that you get those big smiles every time you look at her makes things a lot more fun. I can't complain, other than occasional wake-ups, she sleeps about 8 hours a night...she's growing, smiling, putting her hand in her mouth and wiggling all the time. Still not much hair to speak of (except eyelashes!), but it's coming along slowly, haha.

Now that Amelia's so grown up, she's giving me lots more time to get things done around the house...and to sew!

I've started to slowly restock my Etsy shop (not so much restocking of the monkey shop, however) and I've got about a million knitting projects in the works. Occasionally I get a babysitter for the afternoon so I have a few hours to focus on things. This week Trisha and I are going to spend the day working on a year-long project that I'll tell you about later. I'm so looking forward to it too.

 

Today I even got around to listing a little messenger bag I've had sitting here since about August

Better late than never, right?

November Update

Whoops! I forgot I had a blog, I guess it's time for an update, haha.

Well, things are pretty good around here. Amelia will be 7 weeks old tomorrow! Wow, time flies.

She's about 9 pounds now & learning new things every day. Tomorrow she'll meet her Auntie Veronica and 3 of her cousins for the first time, we can't wait.

I haven't had much time to sew or knit, but I did start an afghan a few weeks ago (thanks to Trisha). Here's how it's looking...

I'm actually a bit farther along than this, but I don't have a new picture. It's practically dark here right now so there's no point trying now. (There's snow on the ground too!) The free pattern for the afghan is here. I decided to go crazy and try a different color scheme, I think I like it so far. And here's Trisha's version, so pretty. I try to knit a row every night or so. At this rate I could finish by the time Amelia starts school.

Though I haven't been sewing much, I did make it out to a quilt show this weekend (thanks to a very proud daddy who pushed the stroller and chatted with all the nice ladies at the show who wanted to know all about the baby). I picked up a few treasures.

These toasters will make a great coupon organizer some day.

And what about these retro prints? I bought them with coupon organizers in mind, but I may have to keep a little for myself. :)

Miss Amelia will enjoy this alphabet panel & matching print. The panel is narrow so I can either make it a wall hanging as is, or add to the sides and make a quilt. Maybe I'll decide by the time I get to this project.

And here's a little something for me. You can't tell from the pattern but these fabrics will make an adorable snowman wall hanging. They had a sample made up at the show and I was hooked by the red & aqua. It'll be great in my dining room some day.

I guess that's my update. Hopefully as Amelia grows, I'll find more time to blog and sew. Have a great Thanksgiving in the mean time!

Handmade for Baby

My baby shower was a couple weeks ago and I wanted to share some of the beautiful gifts we received for little BooBoo. It was a small gathering but I'm happy to say that most of the gifts were handmade!

Trisha made this sweet quilt. I'm so honored that she gave it to me, she actually worked on it at my house! haha I really love it. I want the baby to enjoy it, but I'm also thinking about hanging it on the wall in her room for a while so we can see it. Thanks Trisha, I really love it!

And from Trisha's daughter, these gorgeous baby bracelets. Remember the stitch markers she made for me? These are even more special because they're made from beads & crystals I used to make my wedding jewelry. They'll be a wonderful keepsake for the baby.

My friend Alejandra knitted this adorable hat and blanket. I love the color of that blanket and the hat is just too cute (and, I'm told, it will even stay on).

 

My cousin's girlfriend Sanya came all the way across the country to be with us that day and the gifts she made are to die for. Look at this adorable hat and booties. Just beautiful!

Sanya also made this lovely gown and hat. These are just amazing and I'm so touched that she spent so much time for my little baby. If I didn't have to take the baby home in a car seat, she'd be wearing this home for sure.

Christina couldn't make it to the shower but she sent along this cute bunny to hang in baby's room (I've reserved a special place). His body is cross stitched and his little tail is beaded. Isn't he sweet?!?!

Christina also sent me some birthday pressies (my birthday was this past Saturday)...she really knows what I like.

I can't wait to make these cookies! Thanks so much Christina...you're so thoughtful. :)

I'm so lucky to know so many crafty people! I've been chipping away at my craft list lately too, here's the latest...

A very soft knitted blanket, just riddled with mistakes. I suppose no one will notice as long as I don't lay it out flat.

And just finished today:

A reversible hoodie made from an old Butterick pattern I had laying around. It only took me the afternoon to put this together.

I finished this little scotty dog a while ago, just didn't get a chance to share it. He's so cute, isn't he? (If you want to see both sides, click here.)

And (just for Trisha) because I refuse to dress up a newborn for Halloween...

In one evening I knit up this sweet little pumpkin hat. She can get her picture taken in it but I'm not taking her trick-or-treating. ha!

There's more where this came from but I'm a bit behind in the photo department.

Is it too much?

Wow, I didn't mean to be missing that long, sorry about the extended and impromptu blog break. Must be all that nesting going on around here. It seems like all I post anymore is WIP's, but that's what I'm doing. What can I say?

Here's another round...(with a few finished projects thrown in to prove I do actually finish things every now & then, ahem)...

**Warning** This is a long post, but not too wordy.

 Let's start with a few sewing projects in the works for my little bump.

 I've spent a lot of time cutting out patterns lately, totally not my favorite thing to do (and my back likes it even less. Don't get me started on back pain right now).

How about a nice little corduroy jumper/dress with polka dot bias trim? I can't remember where I got this cool corduroy, but I know it was in England and it's super soft & cute! I'm making the little sleeveless version.

Both of these fabrics are from JoAnn and are a nice medium weight twill. I'm making the hoodie out of the polka dots and the jumper out of the kitties.

Two projects from this pattern. On the left, a coat out of the birds, lined with the stripes. Then I'll make the little dress in polka dots with stripey bloomers.

 It's cool enough around here to wear winter clothes for about 9 months of the year, so we're going to need some outerwear. This will be a reversible hooded jacket that will still work if the next baby's a boy.

Call me old-fashioned, because I am. I'm making a long sleeved dress from this adorable floral and yes, I'll probably make the eyelet pinny too. (This pattern had been around a while, my niece got a pretty little dress from it when she was a baby ~ she'll be 14 this month.)

Make it a double old-fashioned. The red will be the little short sleeved top with the blue as the bias trim & ties. No idea where the floral fabric came from but I have a bunch and I think it's perfect for this 1950's reproduction pattern, don't you?

I might as well show you my pinning system. I like to pin a little scrap of fabric to the pattern envelope to keep track of my plans and to remember what I've made from a pattern. It seems to work out pretty well for me and is very helpful if your memory has been sucked away by a growing human in your growing tummy.

This one shouldn't take too long and it's going to be made from fabrics from my stash! Check out Jenny B.'s blog for the free downloadable pattern for this cute scotty dog. p.s. I'm making the flat version.

 Maybe I'll make something for myself, maybe I won't get to it, haha. More stash fabric. Did you know there are about 3 maternity patterns out there these days? So unfair. Luckily I live in Frump City all the time.

On to the knitting...

One extremely soft pink blanket that will likely have cocoa brown trim. This is version 2, by the way. I already pulled apart about a foot of knitting I didn't like. I'm happy with this one. Got the free pattern here.

How about a little cotton cardigan? The yarn is a little paler in real life. If I don't add the organza ribbon trim, I think it could be gender neutral if needed. I'm sensible that way, you know?

This little jumper will be great for any time of year, also in cotton.

No, I haven't started on this one yet. Don't you think I probably have enough things going right now? This will be a warm wooly pullover hoody, and gender neutral again too. I promise to leave this project until I have at least one knitted sweater finished.

 Last night we went to Stitch & Pitch night at the Seattle Mariners game. I got this gorgeous yarn there. It's called "Sublime" and let me tell you, it is! It's ohhh so soft and will be made into this cardigan. (I'll be honest with you, this project will likely get started right away. Because it's crocheted, I know I can finish it about 50 times faster than anything I knit.)

Time to prove prove projects are also being completed!

 

Digging into my stash again, I made this super simple flannel blanket.

I couldn't resist this kitten fabric, so I paired it with a plushy white stripe & some rick rack I had laying around for another easy blanket.

I finished the baby shower invitations and mailed them, woohoo!

They do actually sell some cute stretch knits at JoAnn! This was easy to make, I used my serger and I know it'll be a handy addition to the baby wardrobe. It's got a drawstring at the bottom so you can reach the tootsies.

 Yep, cloth baby wipes. (I'll be making cloth diapers too). I've made 24 wipes and the only thing I bought was the cute animal print you see on top. Nice.

And last but not least, the Union Jack that's hanging by the door in the baby's room. (I hung it there so we could enjoy it from the hallway.) It's not actually quilted because I was too lazy to get into that, but you get the picture. :)

So, let's take a vote now:

___ You're nuts, that's way too many projects.

___ It must be nice to be able to make so many things yourself. 

___ What about the crib bedding? Geez, get off the couch already!

Anyway, I'm having the time of my life. :) 10 weeks to go.

p.s. I finished the granny square blanket too. And I'm still making new handbags & coupon organizers for the shop.