A hint of Spring

Open windows.

Outdoor wildlife.

A 4 year old’s version of a flower for mommy.

Hunger for color in the yard.

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!