Finished quilt for baby

This quilt is finished and I finally have the camera to take pictures of it. And it's lovely. And much bigger than a baby quilt. This quilt will last baby Chandler for a long time.

The red is a linen I fell in love with at Mill End fabrics. It ended up giving the quilt a very different feel than I had first intended. The squares are all Beatrix Potter stories. They came from a panel my mom bought 30 years ago to make a quilt for me. It never happened, but she handed the fabric to me and ... well... here it is.

The fabric around the panels just came from my scrap bin. I finally have a wonderful collection of scraps and I can usually find bits and pieces to finish a quilt, without another trip to the fabric store. 

Of course, the classic Peter Rabbit:

I went with free motion quilting- the backing is just a dark blue flannel. Soft as can be. 

And here it hangs on the crib, just waiting for the little person to join the world so she can use it!

Of course... we have a nursery to show off as well. Pictures of that to come. 

In love with Oliver and S

I'm without camera right now, which is a shame because crafting and sewing has been going strong here. I finally decided to use my phone to take some pictures of my most recent creation... but I'll have to take more pictures when I have a better camera.
I just finished my second Oliver and S Ice Cream Dress. Both dresses are 6m. I finished the green one last August and the yellow one just tonight. Perfect.

The pattern was wonderful to follow. There were some new things in it, since I'm not really a garment sewer, but it all came together nicely. I love the detail these patterns give to the final product.

The little "v" in the pocket and neck gives it something extra. It's details like this I don't see in the patterns from the larger companies.

I enjoy the yoke on the pattern- how it attaches to the dress to make the sleeve. Plus, the pattern leaves almost no raw edges showing- meaning the inside is almost as pretty as the outside.

The yellow dress was fun- it's covered with bunnies and geese and cats. As I got close to the end and was selecting a button for the back, husband suggested a bright red button. This led to stitching a bright red line along the pocket and bottom panel.

I love how it turned out- and now I can plan ahead for it in future dresses and I can give it a cleaner crisper look. Here's the button on the back:

(Because it came from my phone, I'm having trouble turning it, but the idea is there)

Two pretty dresses for baby. Just a few (five!) more weeks until I get to meet her.

spooky crafting

"Ghosts and goblins all about!
Trick or treat we scream and shout!
Halloween
Halloween
Such a spooky time."
-from some beginning piano book, one of my very first recital songs.

This year I managed some Halloween crafting, to make our entry way a little...spookier. (Or perhaps, just more fesitive)

Teeny, tiny crocheted bats, thanks to a pattern found on ravelry.com. Don't worry, they are very very friendly bats.

I used a charm pack for the first time. The pre-cut squares? Very very nice. It made the table cover a snap.

I'm particularly proud of the free motion quilting. I tried something a little zig-zag-ish. It felt more like Halloween.

And slowly but surely, my collection of holiday goodness comes together. The trick (or treat) seems to be not expecting to have a house full of all hand made goodness in one year. Tackle a project here and a project there, and slowly it will come together.

Brought to you by one Sweet Husband

"Once upon a time there were four little Rabbits, and their names were—

Flopsy,
Mopsy,
Cotton-tail,
and Peter."

-Beatrix Potter

The nursery walls are coming together. And by coming together, I mean...almost done!!Husband worked the last few weeks to paint and spent most this weekend on the mural. I've been overwhelming him with Beatrix Potter art, and he took the idea and ran with it. So wonderful. We were assisted with some wall decals, but Husband did such an amazing job, it's hard to tell what is a decal and what is his pure talent. 

We'll be putting some molding in right below the mural and then around the room (it's about three feet up from the floor and breaks our tan/cream color from the sky blue). Then we'll get the closet in order (it needs shelves). We have a crib to put together (thank you to some generous friends for donating their crib to us). We have a changing table to get and hopefully a super comfy glider chair. I have some wall art I want to get up. We have french doors to buy and put in. I made some super cute curtains that will go in this week. I have the fabric for the perfect little quilt. And finally, I have plans to make a braided rag rug, to finish off the vintage, country feel of the room. That's not so much... right? We can have that ready in 15 weeks....

for baby

I've finally started some baby sewing. The list of what I want to do keeps growing so fast, I had trouble getting started. I finally found a bib template I liked online. Most tutorials just tell a person to trace a bib they already like... but I don't have a bib I like...so I was happy to find a nice looking template. Plus, it came in two sizes, so I can jump in with two sizes of bibs.
And the result:

 So cute. So freakin' cute I can't stand it. It's made from a fat quarter of a Japanese fabric I couldn't resist ages ago. Pair with some Kona solid scraps and black bias tape... and pure wonderful happened. I just need to add snaps or hook and loop tape.
Oh, a close up on Mr. Mousers:

Plus, you can see the fabric- mice and cheese. I mean, perfection, right?
The mouse is from the book Rainbow of Stitches

Pretty Summer Table

And it is summer, glorious, deep-toned summer,
The very crown of nature's changing year
When all her surging life is at its full.
Summer by Amy Lowell

There a trillions of projects on my wish list, but our new deck needed pretty summer dressings. Bright, light, and summer. I followed the Bolt Neighborhood tutorial, and really this could be a table cloth or a summer picnic blanket. 

I need to take some pictures when the deck comes out of the shade, so it shows off how bright and pretty it is. I used some fat quarter bundle I found at Jo Ann's- it caught my eye and matched the blue solid I had already fallen in love with. The only place I really differed from the tutorial is that I opted to machine quilt instead of tie. 

Of course, my summer table needs more color than that, so a few purl bee citrus coasters and some gorgeous flowers from my mother-in-law (to celebrate husband and my 2nd anniversary) and I think we have the perfect summer table. 

lovely. 

Summer, sweet Summer

Summer started for me- and with it, crafting time.
I've started a quilt (based on the pattern "Fenced In" in Elizabeth Hartman's book).
I'm just about done with a summer time table cloth (based on this tutorial from Bolt Neighborhood... pictures to come).
But true summer crafting has come in the form of felt and coasters. These bright colors bring out the summer in me, which is great, since summer has taken it's time coming here.

Having something to keep my hands busy and to make me feel productive and crafty has been fantastic. Thank you, once again, to purl bee for the inspiration and the tutorial. So many pictures and posts to come of the projects that are all starting. Sweet summer.