Matching Dresses for girl and doll!

The few clothes I've made for Little Red have not been overwhelmingly successful. I think this time I may have hit on the secret! Make a matching outfit for her baby, named baby.

The dress is a simple "pillowcase" style dress. Directions, pattern, even a video can all be found here. Now to make a few for girls in Africa!

If anyone is interested in a tutorial for the doll dress I could easily put one together. Just let me know!

Baby Quilts

I absolutely love the Arcadia fabrics and have quite the collection downstairs all saved up for something wonderful.  Just waiting on that muse!  This quilt was made with a pretty basic bricks pattern and then I flipped every other "brick." It wasn't for anyone and now it sits in my sewing room being occasionally touched and privately adored by me.

Arcadia Bricks Baby Quilt

This was for a friend who had a baby about a year ago.  What a sweet and simple quilt and so easy to put together.  The tutorial I used is here.  Hers is so darn sweet!

Hooray for Babies Quilt

This one is fun too. It would have been a very easy quilt to put together if I chose to read and follow the tutorial here. Although it is well written and easy to follow I like to make things up so I can use my seam ripper.   Where would I be without my seam ripper? 

Blushing Baby Quilt

This is a special quilt. I made it while I was pregnant with my now

3 1/2 year old daughter.  Daddy is a volunteer firefighter so she can use it when he is on shift and think of him.  

Firefighter Quilt

Plant a radish...

Salad from my garden for lunch!  Spinach, radishes, basil, and unknown lettuce.  The tomato is from the store because we won't be seeing those for at least a month around here - if that!  It was delicious and satisfying.  (Emotionally. In terms of food it was a side dish to my two hot dogs.) 

These little radish guys are SO easy to grow!  I just put the seeds in and out came radishes! Have you seen The Fantastics?  Do you know that song, "Plant a radish, get a radish, not a brussel sprout.  That's why I like vegetables you know what they're about...While with child-er-en It's bewilderin' You don't know until the seed is nearly grown, just what you've sown."

I love that musical and that song is very present with me in the garden.  If you think tomatoes are hard to grow try kiddos!!

Full hilarious lyrics available here:
From: http://www.allmusicals.com/lyrics/fantasticksthe/plantaradish.htm

Mug rugs!

I made these a while ago for a swap and meant to blog it.  So here they are - some mug rugs!  I love the fabric in this one.  I cut into some very, very special fabric I have been hoarding collecting for a while now.  I used this inspiration here to make it.  I used a tutorial but I just cannot find it!  The basics are fusible backing and circles.  I hand quilted it which was a lot of fun.  

The back...

It was a two partner swap and this was for the second partner.  It is based on of her wisted mug rugs.

Garden day 2 casualty report

I had such high hopes, images of baskets overflowing with fruit, nighttime sneaky drop offs at our neighbor's front doors because we were just bursting with tomatoes...  Now that still might happen...but...just went out to check on the plants and 2 tomatoes died.  Ok - one of them I definitely stepped on while I was planting another one.  :(  It was a tomatillo, his name was Tommy.  I'm sorry Tommy.  He is survived by his beloved sister, Tomasita.  The other goner was a Golden Egg tomato as yet unnamed (but not unloved).  He is survived by his cousin Hubert who will live in a container on the deck waiting until my sister can claim him in July.  

Hubert:  (Shh - he doesn't yet know and he cannot read.)

And the dead cucumber.  Yup.  He didn't make it.  None of the cukes did.  I may try from seeds or just go buy a plant.  Or just accept cucumbers from my friend who has the green touch.

So there you have it - a rough start for Garden 2011.  Hopefully it will improve.  

These guys are in their beds!

This will be my third year attempting a garden.  Do I enjoy killing plants you ask?  Why yes, yes I do.  No - not really.  I've worked so hard this year putting each seed into a wet paper towel in a plastic bag, letting it germinate warmly on a heating pad, then sowing each seed into a little pot and watching it grow and flourish.  

After a long weekend in the sun my little babies - started from seeds during the hopeful, cold, winter months - are cozy in their garden beds.  I planted 10 tomato plants, and will plant three in containers on the deck, I have four kinds of peppers with two of each plant (including bell peppers).  Strawberries (those I did not start myself).  Some zuchinni and acorn squash, but they will not be joined by their friend the cucumber.  All the cucumbers died.  Poor cukes.  They just couldn't take the sunshine after that gentle fluorescent lighting.  These have joined the lettuce, peas, spinach, and bean (yes only one has popped out and it's not looking hopeful for the others) already in the garden.  I'll take pictures soon to add and HOPE to have something to show for my efforts this year.  

I like how my daughter's "baby" and her blankee are in this picture.  She and I enjoyed laying on the floor and looking at the plants as they were growing, sometimes drawing pictures of their progress or just talking about them.  

Today I put away the lights and the heating pad.  As much as I would like to keep seeding I think the garden is full.  

wonky log cabin

Joining a wonky log cabin quilt along!  Look for the button on the right of this blog.  I am a blog novice (and, quite frankly, a quilting novice)!

These are very fun and addictive to put together!!  I've got loads of scraps and I've been wanting to do something scrappy with them for ages.

Blocks so far:

wonky lock cabin, a set on Flickr.

Now the question is...stop here with nine or keep going????

Owl Needlebook and Chickadee needlebook

So I participated in a needlebook swap and I had so many fun ideas I feel like there are still more I want to make!  Now I'm not a huge owl fan - in fact I am not a bird fan at all.  I can appreciate the cuteness of some of the fabrics out there - but in person I would prefer not to be too close to birds.  (My husband thinks I had some traumatic avian incident the memory of which I have blocked from my childhood)  At any rate this really caught my eye while I was seeking inspiration:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/yellowjar/408474686/in/photostream/

So I made one based on it - very similar.  I figure you need a needlebook for quilting and sewing and then a different one for embroidery, right?  And possibly some more for...pins?  and...other stuff??  

And closed:

This chickadee needlebook was made for a swap:


My first attempt at embroidery.  I've been messing around lately trying some stitches but this would be my first project from pattern to product!


The pattern can be found here


And these are the little clay pins I made to keep the inside cheery!


Forgot to take a pic of the pieced back - it was a slightly wonky log cabin sort of thing.  I was hoping for very wonky but I cut too straight!  

Purse for a present

I made this for my husband's stepfather's daughter.  (Step-sister in law?) for Christmas.  She loved it and wore it the whole evening!   I used this great tutorial http://mmmcrafts.blogspot.com/2009/06/basic-messenger-bag.html.


Inside pocket:


Front of bag:


Back of bag and pocket:


It was my first purse and I pretty much made it out of desperation that she wouldn't like the cowl and wrist-warmers I had crocheted (but she did!) 

Inexpensive, personalized Christmas presents for the masses!

Our daughter is the first grandchild on both sides.  Both my husband and I have parents who are divorced and remarried.  Thus my daughter has four SETS of grandparents and two sets of great-grandparents, and three aunts.

So for Christmas every year I have made ornaments with her photo on them in one way or another.  This year I was hoping for something different but still easy enough to be mass produced!  We decided to make photo coasters since it seemed relatively simple and would make a great gift.  It also met the most important criteria - CHEAP!    

There are loads of tutorials out there for this but it's pretty self explanatory once you have the materials.  We bought a box of 100 white 4 1/4 x 4 1/4 bathroom tiles from home depot for $16 (we only used 60 and could return the rest if we were so motivated), some Satin finish polyurethane (the small container was more than enough) $6, 60 photos (10 sets of 6) from King Soopers @ $.10 a print $6.  We had Mod Podge, paint brushes, a paper cutter, and plastic for the table.  I bought baskets from the dollar store for each set ($10).  The cost of the tiles was $.47 each so for a set of six with a $1 basket it was under $4.00 each set.  The look on their faces when they opened it?  Priceless.  

Enough talk - on to the pics!

You've got to love a craft that a three year old can help with!






Husband asked, "This stuff dries clear, right?"


Yup.


And ready for wrapping: