Abby or Lena... that is the question.

Some of you know that John and I have settled on naming the baby girl Abilene and I had just assumed we were going to call her Abby for short. Well as I was slouching on the couch the other evening John says to me "what about calling her Lena for short?" I had several thoughts run through my head within seconds. "no, were calling her Abby" " where did you get Lena from oh abiLENE" "huh, I never thought of that...what do I think of that" "well it's sooo different from Abby" "I kind of like it". All that came out of my mouth was "I don't know". Some things come with the baby and nicknames are definitely one of them. But I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. Maybe it's my tendency to plan things in advance or maybe it's just because my brain is on baby stuff. Either way I'd like to know what you think. So share your thoughts...Abby or Lena???

I did put together some things last week for said girl. I made two coordinating sheets for her crib. I use Dana"s pattern from MADE, which you can find here. I love making crib sheets and only wish i had know how simple it was sooner. Buying boring or baby looking sheets is just no fun and so for the same price (or way cheaper if you've got a coupon) you can make you own out of cotton, flannel or knit.

Both of these are cotton and I found the fabric at Joann's. They came together real simply. Just a little udder 2 yds of fabric and 80 inch of 1/4 inch elastic.

I also whipped out (..up...out..??) this gauze blanket, mentioned here. I had gotten some really cute gauze fabric from fabric.com in order to make some gauze swaddle blankets. Here is one of the fabrics I got.

I also love how easy and cost effective this was. It only takes a yard and 1/4, or a 45 inch square to be exact. So at $3.99 a yd it only cost about $5 bucks.

To finish off the edges I just did a double fold hem and straight stitched it. When I got to the corners I just folded one down onto the other so I didn't have to worry about being too fancy.

After I washed it up and was so soft and wrinkly I just love it!!! Can't wait to swaddle the little cutie in this cute blanket... 13 (to 15) weeks left and counting down.

Until next time...

Holly

Fat Tuesday's Easter 2012!

Annnd, done! Yay! No last minute Easter eve sewing for me...no hurried stressing... Well, that last part is not true. I received one of those lovely Shutterfly coupons last week for ten free cards and I wanted to do Easter ones but those coupons only last for two days. Quite honestly there was quite a bit of hurried stressing. Trying to get the skirts done, shirts bought, pictures taken, and cards designed in the one day I had left by the time I noticed the coupon in my inbox- But didn't they turn out cute and summery?

(darling popsicle fabric from JoAnn Fabrics- Lisette by Liesl and Co)

 My middle child despises dressing up so I went for a little bit more toned down and casual summer in hopes that she might wear it more than once without being forced.

The patten is the Layered Skirt Tutorial by MADE- go check out her darling seersucker version on her cutie pie Lucy- ADORABLE. Super easy and fun. I will say that while you can totally do this without a serger, the serger made it so much faster/easier/bouncier. Let's hear it for sergers!

Can I just say I adore this photo and my sweet youngest trying to cram a pink plastic egg in her mouth? Good thing they have little holes in each end- she has a VERY large mouth. Look at that forehead wrinkled in concentration while she tries to get it in...

Happy Easter my readers. May it be full of remembrance, and joy, and God's love, and bouncy skirts on bouncy babies.

Lets Hear it for the Girl!!

So last week I found out I was having a girl and I am oh so very excited!!! Besides all of the clothes I want to sew and freezer stencil for her I am also looking forward to sewing everything for her nursery/blanket needs. If you recall last October, Miranda and sold some of our handmade items at Oktoberfest. One of the things I had made on a whim one day was this precious baby "quilt". I put quotations around that because technically a quilt is fabric sandwiching padding and sewn together. Well I sewed my pieced top straight onto fleece with no padding. I wanted to give it a more comfy baby feeling. When I was done I had fallen in love with it and at the time (not pregnant) wanted to keep it for myself on the off chance I ever had another baby and it would be a girl. But that seemed silly. Well no one has purchased said quilt and now pregnant with a girl, it is all mine!!!

The lighting doesn't do the colors justice, but it is shades of green, turquoise and taupe with hints of yellow.

The design is a basic subway pattern but I added fours scattered square blocks throughout of bigger patterns to help break up the straight lines. Some of the fabric came from fat quarters from Joann's, but a few of the other scraps came from a scrap bag I purchased last summer at the Sisters out door quilt show and just to name drop the scrap bag was from Valori Wells' studio (so I was told). I also have some scraps that came from a shirt my mom made last summer and a blanket I made for a friend last year with fabric purchased from the Stitchin Post in Bend, OR. So there are many cool memories linked to this quilt and I think I was just meant to keep it.

Something else I did differently on this quilt, besides the fleece backing, was to use ribbon binding. I typically make my own binding and hand sew it on, but I wanted to try something new and knowing it was a baby blanket I have always like the texture and look of ribbon edging.

Lastly, this is a photo of some flannel from Joann's I randomly picked up several months ago. Flannel was on sale, I saw this, loved it and bought 2 yards...ha ha. Not only is it really cute and has birds... but the greens and blues and taupe match perfectly with the above blanket. I think my nursery is decorating itself. Now what to make with this.. a crib sheet? a self binding flannel blanket? Something else entirely?

What do you think??

See you next week!

Holly

Fat Tuesday sewed a pattern

(and she kicked and screamed and only did it one more time ever)...

Easter is coming y'all! Remembrance of the greatest gift ever given, the annual Smith egg hunt.....and new dresses! Well here is my first attempt, (two years ago), at an Easter dress to get you in the mood to sew something for the little one's in your life...

This was my second sewing project ever. It's a "See & Sew" pattern #B5198. It was a bear to sew. I'm not sure if it was the pattern or just that I was so new to sewing in general but it seemed excessively hard at the time.

(PS- check out that wrist chub- she slays me. I'm so in love)

 It's supposed to have a zipper but I fell for these buttons so I adjusted it a bit for elastic loops and buttons instead...

In retrospect I should have used a solid fabric, it turned out way too busy for my taste even with the seemingly simple pattern. I like the bright springiness of it, but it seems a bit overwhelming.

So there you have it- dress, bag, and headband (way too scrunchy- live and learn) all made by Mama for my first girl on her second easter. (And for the record the things she's double fisting are grapes and strawberries- a treat but not one to make a kid go crazy in church, just one to make Mama stress about the dress and strawberry juice...).

I'll be back next week with last years dresses for both my girls (and a pair of pants for the boy!), and the week after that with this years skirts.  Happy dress making folks- 

Darin' to be Squarish...

Last year I picked up this great book on modern quilts called Dare to be Square by Boo Davis. It is definitely a beginner's book, which was great, and after doing a few traditional quilts I was looking to do something different. Most of her stuff is pretty hard core and innappropriate (which I didn't know until after buying the book and googling her) so if you check out her website, fair warning it's crude. Her book, however, has more of a cute, fun approach to block-by-block quilting. Here are the couple that I made:

For my first two kids I had crocheted them baby blankets. Well... ever since stepping into the world of Quilting I have had very little desire to ever crochet a blanket again. I have picked up the hook for a couple beanies but even then I was itching to get back to my machine. So, I decided baby number 3 would get a quilt. I loved the wiener dog and it was so easy! Definitely had this done in a weekend. I decided to back it with flannel to give it a little extra coziness since quilts can take several washes before they have that wonderful worn-in soft, comfy feeling.

My 5 year old (then 4) had been asking me to make her a quilt and she really liked the Robot on page . So we headed to JoAnn's and I let her help pick out the fabric. Disregarding all my best efforts to sway her color choice she picked a green robot with a pink background and purple accents. She was even particular about the exact fabric and shade of color she chose.

I was actually surprised with how it came together and it wasn't as hideous as I imagined it would be. I added the piano key borders because I did want to make it big enough to fit on a full size bed. My daughter was very happy with it and when I finished she said "wow" and promptly asked when I was going to make her another one. HA! Got to love kids!!

I also made the bunnies from the end of the book, two of which coordinate with the blankets.

The greatest thing I learned from making these quilts was how easy it was to take a concept and make it into a design. It gave me some confidence in my ability to come up with something on my own. Since then I have made several quilts that I just sort of drew out what I wanted it to look like and took and block-by-block approach to piecing them. It's always fun to see how they turn out. I will still follow patterns when I see one I like but I definitely have gained some freedom from my desire to always follow a pattern.

Until next week....

Holly