Cute shorts and scraped knees

Alex requested some shorts this morning. Since I finished a long-standing, major quilting project yesterday I'm feeling the freedom of being between projects. I didn't prewash this fabric so it might just be a one time only pair of shorts. That would be a shame cause they're super cute.

Talia's Fairy Playmat / Messenger Bag

Similar to Alex's, this one has a bunch of little villages, a Rapunzel tower, a waterfall, castle, mushroom patch, koi pond, mermaids, beach, forest and more. I haven't finished it so I better hurry up!

Alex's Car Playmat / Messenger Bag

I made Alex a car playmat that folds up into a messenger bag. He loves it. I used this pattern from Gingercakes with a few changes. My sister and I used to make elaborate villages out of Fisher Price houses and Little People. I feel like I'm always trying to get the kids to play villages with me. I keep buying them playhouses and dollhouses - anything to start a village building frenzy. It doesn't really work. They might play that way for a little while but would rather do their own thing. Which I guess I should accept. This playmat is sort of a take along village. It has a school area, a hiking park, a candy store and cupcake cafe, a science museum, a zoo, a construction site, a fire station, an airport, traffic, a playground, two housing complexes and a roadway. I am in the process of making Talia a girly one as well. I went on a fabric frenzy after I started making these two. They aren't that big so I have to be VERY selective as to what fabric I choose!

I made a mermaid!

After avoiding my sewing machine for a few months, I'm back in there. I've been working on a quilt for my nephew Joel who is coming home from the NICU really really soon! I'm waiting for some more backing fabric to arrive in the mail so I can finish the quilt. I decided to work on an easy little project to stay in the creative mood. I used the Mermaiden pattern from the Wee Wonderfuls book. I'm not big on making stuffies but this one looked so easy. I used an old pair of cords for the hair and bits of fabric I had around the sewing room for the rest. She took me an hour and a half but the next one should be much much quicker. I certainly can't give it to Talia without promising Alex one too. There is a cute stuffed trolley in the book but I bet he's still going to want a mermaid. I could maybe change one into a mer-man. That might be satisfactory. Then again, if my boy really wants a mermaid, he'll get a mermaid!

Bo Peep Skirt II

There has been some sewing going on here. I've been working on small projects lately and hope to get into some bigger ones as soon as it gets colder. I bought some coordinating corduroy fabrics and have been making a set of clothes for the kids. Alex got some great pants that have cargo pockets and contrast cuffs. Talia got another Bo Peep Skirt. The first one can be found here... (She never really wore that first one. I got a little wiser and made it slightly less full and used a lighter elastic because she said it itched her) I need to make Shayna a little dress and we'll have the whole set done. Talia gets a lot of compliments on her skirt. I taught her to say "Thank you, my mommy made it" emphasis on the "Mommy made it" part.

I got so sick of the kids wanting to "help" me sew that I brought out my old sewing machine and took the needle and electrical cord away. Now it is theirs, along with a big bin of scraps, their own kid scissors and notions and even a rotary cutter without the blade. I also gave them my small ironing board and got them a thrift store iron and cut the cord off. Unfortunately, the magic (and it was wonderful, imaginary, cooperative magic) wore off after a week or two and now they are bothering me at my sewing machine again. Alex tried to "help" me clean up my sewing room and organize my fabric by putting all the ones he liked (which is pretty much everything) into a bin for himself. I would like to admit, however, that Alex names all of the parts of the sewing machine (presser foot, feed dogs, bobbin case etc.) as if they are common words everyone knows.

I have two quilt tops done and I'm thinking I'm going to just send them out to a quilter. Until I can afford a long arm machine I think I'm only going to quilt baby quilts by myself.

Farmer's Market Quilt

For those of you who think I never quilt anymore! This quilt has been three years coming. I bought the RJR Farmer's Market Fabric when I first moved to Madison with the intention of making a picnic blanket. I got so far as designing the blanket and even began to cut the fabric. And then... the first winter came. and the next summer and the next. Finally this summer I was determined to get this project off the ground. I scrapped the original quilt design and started by making disappearing 9 patch blocks. I love how easy they are and the random looking design it creates. I knew I needed this quilt to be BIG to accomodate the five of us as a picnic blanket so I layed out what I had and figured the best way to use ALL the blocks was with the 4 large squares and the strip in the middle. I picked black for the sashing so the colors would really stand out. And then... I decided I wanted the quilt to be EVEN BIGGER so I added the filmstrip edge. It's about 90 by 110 inches, which is by far the largest project I've ever made. I believe it counts as a king size quilt.

Now... I have to piece the back (using home decor fabric for strength and I think it's just shy of being big enough so I'm going to have to come up with some solution since I can't find more in the store) and then... baste it (yuck!) and quilt it (yikes!) Obviously I'm going to do something simple but... what? I always get stuck at this point. My goal is to finish it in two weeks. YEAH RIGHT!?!?

Kindergarten Quilt

Talia's kindergarten teacher is retiring after almost 30 years. A parent of one of her classmates wanted to make a quilt as a gift for the teacher. She had each child paint on fabric and then... she got stuck. She hasn't ever quilted before. I took over the job and decided to make the pieces into flowers and added stems, leaves, butterflies, the school photo and a colorful binding. It's a challenge to take over a project that wasn't your own idea. The only thing I would change would be the fabric she chose for the background. Everything else came out great. The teacher was overwhelmed when she received it last week. This is the first major project I have worked on in a long time and I have already started another since!

Belated Party Post

Talia's 6th birthday party was at Beansprouts, a hip little kids' cafe in our neighborhood. It was a "pj party" (all the kids came in their pajamas and it was held in the evening) and a cooking class. The kids seemed to have a good time and, more importantly, it was relatively stress free for me. All I had to do was get some goody bags together. I went with the pajama party theme and bought washcloths and pillowcases onto which I appliqued the kids' initial and a rocketship or flowers, respectively. I also gave out toothbrushes and toothpaste, a glow stick, a deck of cards, silly putty lip gloss for the girls and one page of junior mad libs. After way too much begging, I finally got Talia to draw a "Thank You" sign so I could take a photo of her with it and get thank you cards printed up. I recently got a new point and shoot camera (long story) and I hate it (none of the pictures from her party came out) and need to return it and find another. It takes decent pictures outside though.

Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse Necklace

It looks like I'm still finding time to craft with a new baby in the house. Honestly I just don't feel good if I can't make something with my hands every single day. Of course there are many days I don't get to be creative in that way but I try not to let more than a few days slip by. I'm still working on Shayna's baby quilt (top is completely done, back is about 2/6 done, then there is the basting... and the quilting... and the binding...) and today I spent at least an hour organizing my fabric room which always boosts my creativity.

I have bought a LOT of fabric recently. I think I was "drunk dialing" during my bouts with insomnia during the last few weeks of pregnancy. By "drunk dialing" I mean ordering lots of fabric online in the middle of the night and not remembering it in the morning. I bought entire collections of Hope Valley, Meadowsweet, Chirp, Little Folks, Hunky Dory, Botany and more more more. Some are charm packs or layer cake packs but some are the full fat quarter collections. In the past I have wanted to buy collections only to find out they were sold out or discontinued so I figured: buy now, worry later.

Anyway... I have only really had time for teeny tiny projects these past two weeks. One of them was this necklace for Talia to wear to the Overture Center to see Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse with her Kindergarten class. Normally we really dress up for our trips to the Overture Center. For The Nutcracker Talia wore a fancy ballet dress. For Little House on the Prairie (with Melissa Gilbert as Ma!) Talia wore an "apron dress" that I spent three hours making that morning (and that was just for the apron that she wore over a dress she already owned!) and a sunbonnet. I felt slightly guilty that I wasn't able to volunteer as a chaperone for her class so I channelled that energy into making this little necklace. It has all the important elements-- the purple purse, the sunglasses, the crown and the cowboy boots. I fused fabric to both sides of heavy pellon interfacing, cut out the shapes, top-stitched them and added embellishments (rhinestones and star buttons). I sewed them down on a ribbon and added some stitches to make it lay flat. Luckily, Talia liked it and wore it. I heard from another parent that T's teacher was pretty impressed and actually showed it around to the other teachers. It's always a bonus when others appreciate your work! I don't have too many crafty friends nearby so it's nice to share. That's one of the things I like about this blog... so... enjoy!

Spool Bird Wall Hanging

I finally made a wall hanging using the pattern from Spool Sewing. I've made these birds before but I don't think I have ever posted a picture. I've always drooled over the beautiful pieces on the Spool Bird Flickr group and now I can finally add something of my own. I used all the colors of our new living room and attached them to the branches (with a hot glue gun-- last time I tried sewing them to the bird cage I was using and it was difficult to get them where I wanted them).

It was a real challenge to figure out how to hang it. I ended up attaching three lengths of fishing wire and then gathering them and hanging the whole thing from a single hook in the ceiling. It's a little precarious but as long as no one touches it I think we will be alright. Talia is jealous and wants a bird mobile of her own so I'm working on that now and I'm sure Alex will want one too. After I finish that project I just have the baby's quilt left. I've done a lot of work on it already so I just need to sit down and get back into it. I've found a great way to get back into sewing after a stalled project is to just take a break and work on lots of small projects. I've certainly done that! Now I only have two weeks (give or take!) to finish the baby quilt. It's going to be gorgeous!

More sewn pillows

I quilted another pillow and made two more simple ones. I'm surprised at how easily I found fabric to coordinate with what I already bought. We also got the wall hanging we ordered. It's all coming together. I never really decorated a room before (which is why most parts of my house look like my college dorm room-- mess and all) so this has been a good experience so far. I just finished a piece of wall art that I made myself and about which I am very excited. I have to figure out how to hang it and then I'll share.

Hand-Printed Tablecloth

I've been looking for a new modern tablecloth (currently using a $4 vinyl "Happy Hanukkah" one). I haven't found anything to fall in love with so I bought some fabric and decided to come up with a few of my own (cause I don't have anything better to do?). This was my first attempt. I bought Lotta Jansdotter's book Lotta Prints and decided to try my hand printing one. I created some simple potato stamps and used fabric paint on muslin. So far it's already getting trashed (little kids will do that but I have also spilled on it!) but I bought some nice dark brown fabric as well and might try printing that one too. I also have some modern spring-y fabric that I need to sew up. I think the best thing would be to find some sort of coated fabric or maybe even top something with vinyl or similar because I can't be washing tablecloths every day!

Pillow Update

The pillow on the left is the (very expensive!) one I bought for our new couch. The one on the right is the pillow I sewed to coordinate. The one I bought cost about 10 times more than the homemade one-- and the homemade one is actually more comfortable and useable. I have lots of other ideas and great fabrics in mind to add to the collection. We'll just see if I have any time to make them before this baby gets here...

Cloth Napkin Bonanza

In my nesting efforts I have been finishing little projects that have been on my list for, oh let's say, the last two or three years. Today I moved some books from one shelf to another. I pass this shelf of books at least 10 times per day and every time I think it looks messy and needs to be moved or straightened. It took me all of 4 minutes to do today.

We've been doing a lot of home decorating as well. Talia got a bunk bed and Alex got Talia's old bed. I bought bedding and lamps and curtains for both. We ordered an entirely new living room from the nicest furniture store in Madison. Yesterday I bought a pillow for the new couch for $150. I could have totally made it myself-- if I didn't mind stealing a local artist's ideas. Today I bought coordinating fabrics and pillow forms so hopefully I can make a bunch of pillows to match. I also have been looking for an awesome tablecloth (for our new dining room table, gifted to us by my in-laws as they have recently downsized) and haven't found one I loved so I bought some fabric and fabric paint and am hoping to hand print one a la Lotta Jansdotter. I know, a lot of projects with a baby coming in less than a month-- especially considering I have totally stalled on her quilt...

Another thing I did today was sew up 22 cloth napkins. I've been wanting to use cloth exclusively for a long time but you really need a lot of napkins to make it work. I decided to take an entire collection of fat quarters and serge the edges. This is a collection I got at Joann's and I totally love it but... it's not the highest quality fabric. I made one or two quilts using this type of collection before and I think the fabric is too thin and slightly see-through so I don't want to go through all that work again and be disappointed with the final result. Now I get to look at this fabric collection every day anyway so I'll get to enjoy it! Truthfully, all I did was serge the edges of the fat quarters so if I change my mind and need a quilt, the fabric is still completely intact. Hopefully the serged edges will hold up to repeated washings.

Most importantly, I threaded my own serger today! Originally, a friend did it for me (by tying on new thread to the old thread's ends- I got a used and therefore previously threaded serger) and that worked fine. Then when I had a problem with it I took it to the repair shop. They didn't charge me but they did keep it for two weeks. A few days ago one of the needles came unthreaded. I tried to re-thread it but it kept coming undone. It worked fine as a three-thread serge, especially since I was just finishing edges-- not using it for actual construction. Today it just messed up completely in the middle of the cloth napkin project so... I got out my manual and re-threaded the whole thing. It took about 30 minutes and Alex was really trying to "help" me but I did it and I can DO IT AGAIN! I pride myself in being skilled at following written and pictoral directions. I think that's why I was able to teach myself to sew, cook, put furniture together and I'm great at reading maps. Taking on the serger, however, always scared me. Now I know I can do it. I love having a serger and would be lost without it. Imagine double hemming 22 napkins = that's 88 edges (meaning you would have to press them each twice for 176 edges). Even if the serged edges do not hold up after repeated washings I should still only have to single hem them. Isn't that great?

Lazy Sunday?

In order for me to do this:

I had to let them do this: (Check out that wall art installation in the upper left of the collage. It consists of a red feather and rainbow thread -among other things- taped to a post in the basement.) There was a lot of great collaboration between the kids and they really did play well together, unsupervised, for most of the day. There is a LOT for me to clean up. Alex is really handy with a pair of scissors and leaves huge piles of teeny tiny pieces everywhere. I'll probably spend as much time cleaning up after them as I did on the quilt, which thankfully, is almost finished (more on that when the intended receives it). Obviously, Ron was working today. I did plan on taking the kids out of the house at some point- maybe to get dinner? but we ordered pizza instead. Then, unexplicably, the kids demanded jelly sandwiches afterward. (See, it's not all gourmet food around here...)

In addition to the art-fest, there was also a major jet crash into the playmobil airport, a dumptruck full of pompoms and a jump start on the kids' Valentines. With the new baby due around Valentine's Day I feel like I'm just simply going to forget things, like my niece's third birthday and Valentines for school, plus Talia insists on an annual scavenger hunt; why I started that tradition is beyond me.

In other news, I cut the tip of my finger off two nights ago. I was using a very sharp 10 inch Chef's Knife to cut up some butternut squash. I know people say that using dull knives is a hazard but I always cut myself with the freshly sharpened ones. I rarely use that knife, as I prefer a slightly smaller one so it was still extremely sharp from my semi-annual trip to the knife guy in September. Ron and I debated going to Urgent Care to get it treated but decided there wasn't much to do, considering the skin there wouldn't really stretch well for stitches and the piece that got cut off was too small to reattach. We got a good look at it for the first time this morning (prior to that, every time I unwrapped it blood would start pouring out) and it looks like healthy tissue. I did bang it on something today and it started bleeding again. I can't imagine how long it will take to heal and I wonder if my thumb will ever look normal again. I'm guessing not. I will spare you the pictures of it. Unfortunately we ate the butternut squash dish (roasted, with arugula pesto) last night and it was NOT worth losing a finger over.

Library Book Bin

The Hanukkah Helper has been creating some mischief in our house each night. Last night he emptied the library book bin and climbed up a fairy tent vine. I'm actually running out of ideas about where to put him. The kids love it and it's actually easier for me to get Talia downstairs on school mornings because she wants to see what he's done. On the other hand, she's waking up earlier on weekends too...

Actually I'm writing this post to show off the Library Book Bin. I've been using it for a while but finally got around to decorating it. I matched the fabric to the colors in the fairy tent, used fusible web and just ironed on the letters and some cute birdcages (no sewing). Every week or two I go to the library and literally just sweep an entire shelf of books into my bag. I barely look at them. There always ends up being a mix of books for Talia and Alex to look through. If they don't like them they get new ones in a week or so anyway (not that it's ever happened!) At Alex's age Talia was still ripping books up but I've been able to get Alex library books for months now. It's so refreshing to have new things to read! We also check out DVD's and many many audiobooks for the car. I've noticed that Talia will listen to some books that are slightly above her level (Little House, the original Peter Pan, today we started The Borrowers) and her comprehension is great. We have the best library in the world. Have I mentioned that they don't charge for late items? Ever?

I Spy Quilt

Delivered this new I Spy quilt to a baby boy in our neighborhood today. This was definitely a more traditional pattern than I'm used to making and I enjoyed following someone else's math for a change! (Can't find a link to the quilt pattern, I'll try to add it later...) Amazingly, all of these "boy" fabrics came from my stash. There are lots of rockets, robots, cars and planes. For the back I used more of that Ikea fabric-- the one I handquilted for my nephew. I quilted this with a square spiral that was super simple. It was a continuous line so it took no time at all. I drew on the quilt top with Crayols washable marker again. I was nervous because there was a lot of white but... it came out in the wash, no problem. Of course, I was so nervous about it that the amount of time between marking the quilt up, quilting it AND hand sewing the binding was ONE DAY. Talk about a catalyst for getting a quilt finished!

For a big sister gift I made a little coloring book bag / crayon roll. Next time, more interfacing (a recent theme, perhaps?) and shorter rows for the crayons.

Hanukkah Garland

Talia is so jealous of all the Christmas decorations she sees in our neighborhood so I try to make her feel special by putting up Hanukkah decorations in our home. When I was growing up you couldn't GET Hanukkah decorations anywhere so ours were all homemade-- even though we weren't such a crafty family (well, I always was but certainly no one else...). Now you can Hanukkah decorations at Bed Bath and Beyond, Party City, Target and certainly online. I even bought some strings of lights with dreidels on them for this year. I wouldn't want them to be mistaken as Christmas lights, so I think I'll keep them inside.

I've been collecting Hanukkah fabric for a few years now. I wasn't sure what I'd do with it. I still might make a quick quilt but it would suck to work on something you can only use for a few weeks out of the year. I ended up making a Hanukkah Garland to hang in the house. I just looked at different garlands on flickr and came up with the concept. I made a dreidel template, cut them out of each fabric and appliqued the letters for "Happy Hanukkah" on it. I used a Jewish star to separate the two words, tucked it all into some navy bias tape and hung it up. I added silver, gold and blue ribbon in between the letters "for fancy" as Talia would say. I wish I used some interfacing to stiffen up the pieces. I knew I should but I was lazy as usual. It only took two or three days and interfacing would certainly have slowed me down. I'm always in too much of a hurry-- especially when the project is not a gift... A lesson learned, I suppose.

Baby Kimono Set

I made this cute little outfit for a recent baby shower. The kimono is from the Martha Stewart website pattern, which I do not recommend. The pattern is a pain to print and tape together and is missing some crucial markings! I couldn't find a 3-6 mo (or 6-12 mo for that matter) pair of pants to use as a patterns for these so I just made them up on the spot. I think they are more 12 mo pants but... oh well. I repurposed an Old Navy T-shirt of mine for the pants fabric and added some applique to tie the outfit together. As for the baby shoes, they came out great! I need to make them in batches because they just take so damn long and would be amenable to assembly line construction. I used the Kaffe Fassett fabric from the "Dahlia Quilt" and the shoe pattern is from Michael Miller online.

Quilt for Baby Sarita

This was a fun quilt to make. I'm stuck on another quilt (but just starting to make progress on the next step!) so it was refreshing to take a break and sew up this quick little one in the meantime. I used a charm pack of Andalucia fabric and cut them in half, sewed them into strips and made this nice coin quilt. I enjoyed it so much that I'm on the lookout for other charm packs for future baby quilts. I guess I would have liked to do some more quilting on it. I really need to start practicing more with free-motion quilting. I finally have the right sewing machine but I need some guidance. I bought a book but would like to take a class. Anyone know of any classes or local teachers in Madison? Forgive the picture-- I took it with my phone!