A baby gift – Onsies and burb cloths

My friend Julianne is about to pop with her second baby girl.  She loves handmade things as much as the rest of us, so I thought I’d make her a gift for her new little one. 

What infant doesn’t need need onsies and burb cloths? 

These were a great, quick gift to give.  She loved them.

I love the way the owl came out.

2 Year Old Birthday Party

I am so late in posting this.  My son had a big birthday a few months ago.  He turned 2!  It’s so  hard to believe he is already 2, the first 2 years with him flew faster than the first 2 years with my daughter.

Nathan loves trains.  To celebrate, I made him a train cake. 

I used a cake pan that I received from my mother in law that makes a bunch of mini-trains.  Because the day before his birthday party was a very busy day, my husband and I stayed up late to decorate the cakes.    We covered it with a large piece of cardboard propped up by cereal boxes, so it could be a big reveal for the birthday boy at his party.  We decided to use a lot of the candy that we received from the many holidays, and we were successful in using up most of it.      This one was a caboose!

I enjoyed every moment that went into the cake.   The most fun of the cake was seeing how much the 2 year old boys (cousins) enjoyed it.

Now, to see the most awesome home made train cake in the world, go see what Katie recently did.  I am totally amazed!

Katie’s Block

My first quilting bee block!  Katie wanted a block that was based off of Denise Schmidt’s Project Improv.  OK, I took the challenge,   did some flickring around for inspiration and I came up with this.

I hope she likes it.  I really wanted to try a diamond within a square, and I am happy with the way it turned out...I really like that it's off center.   I was a little challenged in doing this because I normally lean towards for a balance with the colors and patterns.

I was surprised at the time it took, so I am really glad that I only had to do one!  I also used just about every scrap that Katie gave me, and added 3 other fabrics of my own…I can’t help but wonder if her strategy was for us to really work with the scraps to get more of an improv look??!!!

Katie, I will have it in the mail to you this week.  I really hope you like it!

Squares

It’s been a while hasn’t it?   I’ve been busy with life, work, and that always leaves little time for crafting.  I got some time in recently, though, and did some more work on Nathan’s quilt.  I am feeling a bit of pressure with timing on finishing this.  He’s over 2, still in his crib, and about to go into a big boy bed.  I have GOT to get this finished!  I am hoping I finish this before the bed is in his room.  We still haven’t bought the bed, so I think I still have some time.

 

 

This is going to be the front.  It’s going to be reversible.  Remember this post?  I decided to go with adding the extra gingham.  I was very happy with it, but something was still missing.  I felt I was copping out of doing a real quilt.  And, I had made all those squares of strips!  Well, after lots of market research (aka viewing all kinds of other’s peoples quilts on flickr and other blogs), I came up with a layout and design idea.  I wanted to have some feeling of lots of fabrics, yet, also showcase some of the really cute fabrics that I purchased for this item.  I am going to use a white sashing between each square. 

I am hoping to make some progress on attaching all the pieces together this week.  We’ll see.  It’s a very busy week. 

Opinions, Please!

I redesigned the quilt for Nathan.  I just didn’t like the way the squares were turning out.  I really loved this, and thought I could use the fabrics I had to make a version of it.  However, I really didn’t like the way my fabrics were turning out.  I think it is because my fabrics contrast so much, and the design would do better with fabrics that blend better.

So…I went back to my original design before I thought I’d try a bunch of squares.  It’s not done, but I am so much happier with it.  I really wanted to showcase the cute fabrics I found for this, and the little squares was not cutting it! 

So, now, here’s my dilemma.  I am not sure…do I repeat the blue gingham between the white and red fabrics or not?  I can’t decide.  Without it, it’s going to be about 82” long, so it can take a little length.  What do you think?

Please comment with your opinions.  I really could use some input here.  I haven’t asked my husband yet.  But, I know, if I ask “should I add the gingham”, I’d get an answer like “what’s gingham?”  or “sure”. 

Pieced Together

I joined a virtual quilting bee, Pieced Together. I have been thinking of doing one of these for the variety of blocks you get back. Thanks to Katie for looking for volunteers!

What's a quilting bee? A person is assigned to a month. For that month, that person is responsible for sending out fabrics & instructions to everyone for what type of block they would like to receive back.

So, I will have at least 1 block to do every month for someone else, and one month, they will all make my blocks! My month is August, so I have until about July to decide on fabrics to include. So many choices!

Patchwork dishtowel

Last, but not least, the patchwork dishtowel.

This really came up becuase of my guilt of not giving my parents a handmade gift. Well, they got one.

I used a flour sack - they really make the best dishtowels because they leave no lint behind, and they dry so fast.