snow day, sew day

Many months ago, a friend emailed me this photo of baby bonnets and asked if I could make something like them. 

I thought I could, so I first (of course) googled baby bonnet tutorials to see if I could find it without extra work for myself (lazy). No such luck! I then tried a variety of fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants patterns, none of which looked remotely like a bonnet. Then last night I stumbled upon this little blog and I thought, "Hey. That could be scaled to a baby size." So I gave it a whirl. It is not exactly like the first photo, but the general style is similar. I didn't cute it up very much because I just wanted it to get done. I am going to tweak the pattern a bit more next time. What I LOVE is that it is an apron when it is unbuttoned. So after baby outgrows the bonnet, she can play kitchen with it! Of course, I just sewed buttons on...I need to work on buttonholes next. Still, cute, no?

My model refused to smile.

Last night, I was home alone so I decided to indulge in watching Pride and Prejudice (Colin Firth, I LOVE YOU). I also knit myself some fingerless mittens. They were not very exciting, so I sewed some lace around them--much better.

Just in time, too, because it is snowing again and it looks like I will be shoveling with my three little helpers.

Hibernation

As you may have noticed, I haven't been blogging much. 

I have a good excuse.

Well, three good excuses.

It turns out, life is a lot busier with three kids. 

That doesn't mean I haven't been a crafty mama, 

just that I have been a less-craftier-than-normal mama. 

I did manage quite a few homemade Christmas 

gifts, almost none of which I photographed. 

I sewed new stockings for everyone.

I sewed two hobo bags out of corduroy, 

complete with magnetic snap closures. 

I knit a bracelet with wire and beads.

More recently, I started a spring dress for the baby 

(hopefully to be completed for her dedication in April).

I received an awesome gift of a NookColor, 

and I sewed a little pouch for it.

I am also working on some projects for photographers, 

including a woven baby hammock and newborn twin 

teddy bear hats. (pics of those coming soon)

I am also working on my four year old's quilt, 

which I decided would be with double hourglass squares.

She decided it should be purple.

Also in the works is a tutorial (!!!) for a baby bonnet

I have been making. The first two prototypes were awful, 

but I think I have it now. Stay tuned.

All this to say, I am back into the bloggy world of crafting. 

Thanks for reading and I will post again soon.

my nest

I don't have pictures, but I have been redecorating our family room the last few weeks. New throw pillows, new curtains, and turning a coffee table into a cushioned seat. I don't have a nursery to decorate so this is my substitute. I am feeling the crunch now--5 weeks or less until baby arrives!

Our 'master' bedroom has had a closet renovation which will allow us to rearrange our room for the first time ever! I love my 1920s farm house, but it is not very convenient with the slanted ceilings, tiny hallway-esque closets, and poorly used spaces. We are making it work though and hopefully this weekend will be the finishing touches once my husband gets his rear in gear. ;)

I have also been knitting wee little things...

Not sure why it looks red in this photo, but it is a dark orange and white. I was going for a harvest look. Bring on the fall!

cranking it out

Baby blankie:

The backing:

I have to say, that soft brown velour is very nice on the blanket, but what a pain in the rear to work with. The rest of the quilt is a mix of cottons and flannels, and the backing is a flannel (and I mis-cut the back, so then pieced together a little extra edging with leftovers...kind of cute though!).

Wipes (20 out of a goal of 40):

So exciting to be checking things off my list! I am having a horrible nesting urge that I cannot direct at a nursery, since the baby will be sharing a room, so I think my living room will be getting a makeover this week. heehee

pictures as promised

This bad boy is d.o.n.e. Oh yeah. And I already washed and dried it to see how it quilted up. Lovely. Oliver seems to like it too. Of course, this means we now have to set up his big boy bed! Ack...not looking forward to that. It means more work at bedtime, that he is growing up, and that I will be having a baby soon.

Like my embroidery? I had bigger embroidery plans, but got lazy. The red backing is nice but I wish I had thought to use red thread in my bobbin so it would blend in better. Oh well.

I have had wicked bad insomnia this week so I am almost done with the new baby's quilt, too. Pictures of that next time!

I might have a problem with overcommitting

Oh goodness. You know how I said Oliver's quilt was done? Um...not quite. I had some border issues. First I thought I would do a solid yellow border around it, to lengthen and widen it a bit. Except I didn't buy quite enough yellow, so I had this cute multi-colored dot fabric and I thought I would do a sort of easy edge alternating the two, cut into 6.5" squares. I finally got it all cut and sewn and decided it was way too busy and so I ripped it all out. That's right, I did! After working on this thing so long, there was no way I was going to settle for something that would drive me crazy every time I looked at it. Back to the fabric store went I, and came home with some lovely, simple, white Kona cotton. Much better. Crisp and clean.

The next step was to top quilt the bugger...I wanted to do a cool meandering kind of thing but alas, I lack the machine and the talent; I also lack the money to pay someone with those two magical ingredients, so I opted instead for a basic X through each square kind of thing, which works okay. I am not good at straight lines, but I did discover just in the nick of time that I own a walking foot, so no bunching fabric for me! Hurrah. I also found a 1/4" seam foot, which would have come in handy oh, about five months ago. Next time. 

I just cut and ironed my binding and I can't decide if I should just do it with the white thread even though I could go to the store and get some that matches better. I will probably just use the white. But I needed a quick break because my back hurts. Being home with two small children and being 32 weeks pregnant is no joke. And did I mention the obscenely hot, humid weather we have had for almost a week now? Seriously it makes me glad that my craft area is in the basement.

Lest you think my blog name is wrong, I have also been knitting. I made a few more flowered headbands for my friend Ali, am 2/3 of the way done with lion hats for my kids for the winter (SO stinking cute I can hardly stand it), and have a queue of like a million other projects. Okay, not a million, but here is a glimpse.

To knit--August:

1. beanie w/ flowers for Ali (actually crocheted)
   
2. earflap hat for Ali
   
3. sundresses for Ali (yes, Ali owes me some rockin' photos in exchange!)
   
4. pixie hat for Evelyn
   
5. frog hat for Bjorn

To knit--September:

1. new baby romper (and look at these adorable buttons I got. girly and boyish, just because I couldn't decide, don't know who this baby is yet, and I have a slight Etsy addiction)
   
2. new baby photo shoot munchkin hat
   
3. new baby photo shoot pixie hat
   

And then on my baby to-do sewing list:

1. new wipes (about 40) (our old wipes are ones I made before Clara was born, so four years old now)
   
2. repair bumGenius diaper velcro tabs (about 25 diapers worth)
   
3. baby quilt. I already have all the material and I know, I may never want to quilt again! and Clara is already asking about HER future quilt...egads, good thing we are stopping at three children.
   

Seriously, do I have a problem!?

the quilt!

Finally! It's finally sewn together! I decided I will just add a yellow border to make it a bit longer & wider, then it is off to the long arm quilter to get stippled, and then I will finish this sucker. Yes, I will.

Things I have learned making my first "real" quilt:

1. pins are my friends

2. straight lines are important (and hard to attain)

3. done is better than perfect

Seriously this took a really long time even though it shouldn't have. I got bored with the pieces, then I had to square them all up because I am a sucky straight-line-sewer. Squaring up was super annoying, so I averaged one square/week for a while there. Poor Oliver was probably wondering if he would ever get a big boy blanket for his bed. At the end I decided to just go for it and get it over with. It can suck, I told myself, it's my first quilt. Oliver won't care. And you know what? It actually doesn't suck. It looks okay. I still plan on embroidering on a couple of the turquoise squares (a few with pictures and one with something like "Otto's Quilt 2010. Love, Mama" and of course need to add the yellow border, which I am getting to TONIGHT so that I don't procrastinate even longer. I also bought this a-dor-a-ble multi-colored dot fabric to use as the binding after I get it quilted. The backing is a red sheet I bought at IKEA.

I love the circles inside the squares, but I didn't have enough to make it a real twin-sized quilt, so that is why I added the turquoise squares. Each square is 6.5". I like how the solid colored squares give it a random feel. Makes me happy. :)

needle + thread

There is nothing better than a homemade gift--as long as it fits the style of the person to whom you are gifting.

Our new neighbors are expecting their second child any day now. They are having a boy and already have a 2 year old girl, so I thought it would be a good excuse for some boyish onesies. I embroidered these with Sublime Stitching transfers. Cute? Yes!

I also thought I would show off a couple more of my "professional" pieces I have knit. These were for another awesome photographer friend I have. Check her out at www.oneswiftclick.com. Jessica's amazing!

Baby cocoons:

Baby hats:

fresh knits

I keep forgetting to snap pictures of my finished projects before I give them away. Luckily, one of the people I am giving stuff to is a photographer. I have made her a few items now and have a few more in the works for her to use as photo props. 

I am not really much of a crocheter, but I did manage this baby beanie with a flower. Lovely photography, too! Check her out at www.alisonleaphotography.com. I will post more photos of my knit items as she gets subjects to photograph in them.

My friend Casey has a new baby girl and I needed a newborn head to size these baby headbands I have started knitting. Here's the one baby Madeline is sporting for me. 

I made up the pattern and have so far made it in three sizes: 0-12 months, 2-4 years, and 6+. They are quick and satisfying little projects.

I went to North Carolina to visit a friend this past weekend and while there I made myself a new nursing cover. No picture of the finished project yet, but this is the material I used. I got it for a steal--four dollars for almost two yards! (Ignore the gray at the bottom there. Guess I was faster than my internet today.)

I also just went to IKEA and got a red twin sheet ($4.50) to use as the backing on Oliver's quilt. Hopefully I will be done with that thing soon.

star spangled

One thing I have noticed is that boys have an over abundance of red, white, and blue clothes. Girls, on the other hand...well, let's just say my girl has absolutely nothing even remotely patriotic in her enormous wardrobe. 

Today we went to a 4th of July parade and I felt the need to dress my kids in the traditional colors, but I had to get creative with hers. It is not perfect. It was sewn at 10:30 last night (why must I get these crafty urges so late at night!?). It worked and she even got some compliments from strangers--score!

Materials: plain white tank top, three largish patriotic scraps from the boy's quilt, and some red ribbon.

Finished product: