Just visiting

I think I've finally figured out that I can only do one (or two, or three) things at a time. And since it's summer, and I'm not shut up in the house as much, my blogging has obviously suffered. I have, however, been doing stuff. We have been doing lots of stuff as a family, and I have a few solo ventures to blog about, so stay tuned and I'm going to try to catch up in the next week or so...

Here's the first batch for you... they're totally random!

Joshua took this one of Zoe running on the top of the couch.

Joshua playing in the sprinkler in the front yard
Craig was laying on the floor, so Zoe got herself and Daddy some blankets and pillows and laid down next to him. SO cute!
Zoe's cute little purse from Ms. Linda. She LOVES it! As do I!
Gwanket (blanket - she has 3 crochet blankets and wants at least one of them at all times. 2 from Ma and the 3rd is a Linus Project one from her hospital stay at 6 wks old) and purse go everywhere with her. I have to sneak the blankets away to put them in the laundry.

Joshua being silly...

showing off his bedhead and being a little boy.
enjoying their first popsicle of the summer. Whenever Zoe wants a popsicle, she goes for the back door pulling at her shirt, saying "poss-kl, shirt off, shirt OFF!!" The last 'off' is always really loud.
the super cute wipes case I made for their pediatrician who just had a baby girl.

Batik baby quilt

the little applique baby footprint has Jane Marie embroidered on it.

Here's my batik baby quilt, all finished. It's already in the mail en route to it's new owner, Miss Jane Marie. Phoebe, if you're reading this and haven't gotten it yet, sorry I ruined the surprise.

Nursing Cover

Made a nursing cover for my friend Phoebe who had a little baby girl on Apr 21st. I sent her a picture of all the fabrics I had enough of to make one (28"x39" + a 28x3 strip) and she picked this fabric. The tutorial I used is here. This is my first nursing cover using this pattern. I made one 4 years ago to use with my son, but didn't use a pattern. It came out perfectly for my size but was not one size fits all so I wanted to find a different pattern. I came out wearing it and Craig said "well that's a cute little apron."

Sew & Tell - quilt top & pillows

Here's a quilt top I made on a whim Tuesday morning. I was bored. It's for a certain friend having a baby girl next month. I love batik. I am getting a little sick of the brown/pink combo though. It helped that there was blue & yellow in here.

I thought it needed a little more, now it's about 36x44. Which one of these should I bind with? I'm thinking the yellowish one.

Here's a little retro sew & tell. I made this for Zoe last year, and it fits her perfectly now! So cute!!

I got this simple abundance for our living room valences, and now I'm working on pillows for the couch. The two solid ones will have those jelly roll strips as ties on the front. I think I will back them with muslin, unless I can find something else in my stash to use up.

Here's proof that I actually finished my blush baby quilt. I'm having attachment issues... meaning, I don't want to part with it!

please go visit Amylouwho's Sew & Tell Friday and see what everyone else has been working on this week!

Blush quilt... almost done!

I have been procrastinating about quilting this since the beginning of March when I started it and the transparent thread and my sewing machine did NOT want to get along. I decided to try it again yesterday and it worked so I just kept going until it was all quilted. I stippled with translucent on the front and pink on the back. I think Leslie and I discussed one time that we both enjoy binding quilts. I like to be able to sit on my bed with nothing but my quilt, needle & thread (and thimble and scissors too I guess) and watch (listen to) TV. It's also pretty stress free because the hard parts are all done, and it's difficult to mess up the binding. I enjoyed it last night and got about 3/4 done! Good thing, since the baby is due in less than 2 weeks!

I made the top with layer cake squares a little while ago. While waiting for my backing & binding fabric to arrive in the mail, I saw this tutorial on Moda Bake Shop and wanted to use it for the back. I wanted the back mostly plain so that the baby would have something for tummy time that's not overstimulating. I think the front would be a little overstimulating for an infant! I had fun with the applique, but my hands hurt after cutting out all those letters!

Anyway, here are are pictures. I am going to hang on to it until the baby is born. I love it so much, I don't know how I'll part with it! Good thing it's staying in the family. I hope the baby mama likes it too.

I linked up to show n tell Friday, even though this isn't completely finished... go see what everyone else is working on! I love Amy's dresden plate and Leslie's 'hooter hider.' Those are the only ones I've checked out so far, but I can't wait to see the rest after the kiddos are asleep.

Sew & Tell - Crayon rolls & baby seat

I made this little portable fabric chair thingy for an upcoming trip. I've seen the idea a couple places, but these are the instructions I used or a link to them, or something. Saw this on fresh poppy earlier this week (or whenever you gals first posted it... see, it's their sew & tell too!) and set to work right away! The purpose was to be able to contain Zoe in an adult chair, without having to bring a high chair. Luckily, the place I am going is equipped with a high chair with straps because I Tell You What... that little princess is crafty (and by crafty, I don't mean that she makes stuff) and whipped herself right out of 3 layers of velcro faster than I could say "you'd better sit down on that booty." To which she proudly replied "booty!!" and gave herself her own spanking while standing on the chair. I tell you! I will be finding some extra clips around here somewhere in order to Zoe-proof the seat before our trip. She must be contained!!!

On to my next (and more successful) endeavor...

Love to make these crayon rolls for gifts! They're fast, fun, and I haven't met a child who doesn't like them! I gave these to a friend whose 2 little girls are the same age as Joshua and Zoe, and in the same PDO classes. I still 'owe' 3 gifts, 2 boys & 1 girl, so I'll be making a few more in the near future!

Please visit Sew & Tell Friday at Amylouwho's and see what everyone else has finished this week!

A dress for the princess - Sew & Tell Friday

Zoe's new favorite word is princess. We can tell how excited she is about something by the volume with which she expresses herself. She consistently shouts at-the-top-of-her-wee-little-lungs the words 'princess' (except of course in the video) and 'eat.' ('daddy', 'cheese', 'Lightning' (as in McQueen), and 'blue' (her toothpaste is blue so that's what she says when she wants to brush) are not far behind)

Now that I've lured you into hearing about out little Princess Zoe, I'll tell you about her gown... er, dress. I saw this fabric at the Lobby of Hobbies (30% off, thankyouverymuch) and thought it would make a cute dress for her. I went with the 3 year old size on the pattern because I always like to buy clothes big since they grow so quickly. From the looks of it, she'll be able to wear this dress for the next 2 or 3 summers (maybe as a shirt the 3rd year :) It was a pretty simple pattern - would have been simpler had I read more carefully and not done it wrong - now I know. I think I'll be making another with different fabric to see if I can get it right.

This is only the 2nd piece of clothing I've made so I have a lot of practicing to do. If you have a favorite free pattern or tutorial for little girl clothes, please let me know in your comment!! If you haven't already, please visit Sew & Tell Friday at Amylouwho's, and check out all the other great projects!

She didn't want to stop playing to try it on until I told said "but it's a princess dress"

Hairbows

The day I found out that my Grandpa had passed away last week, I didn't quite know what to do with myself. So, I just sat around with Craig and the kids, and made a whole slew of hairbows while I pouted. I remember before I was even married, my Grandpa told me that he couldn't wait to see my babies. When I visited him in the hospital a couple weeks ago, he talked about how he had had a great life, and a wonderful family, and how now I have a wonderful family and someday I will get to see Joshua and Zoe have children, and grandchildren (EEK!) like him. I hope I am so blessed to live until I'm 94, or be married to the love of my life for 68 years, or see my children (he has 5!), grandchildren (9) have my great grandchildren (10), and hope they will all love Craig and I half as much as we all love my Nonna and Grandpa.

Anyway, here are the hairbows... Maybe I'll think of Grandpa every time Zoe wears one.

I crocheted the headbands the weekend I went to visit him in the hospital. I traveled alone, so had lots of time to crochet on the plane! The 3 pink ones on the left went to Masie, Presley & Darby, along with some off white crocheted flowers. Can't wait to see pictures of them being modeled!

Zoe was engrossed in coloring and drawing circles, so I got her to model most of her new collection

Joshua wanted in on the action too