For Baby Silas

My cousin John and his wife just welcomed their first baby, a boy. I started this afghan for them back in January and worked on it when I had a free moment. Well, two weeks ago I finished all other "hand work" projects and was able to focus solely on it and finished it up last night.

Baby Shower Goodies

I am hosting a baby shower tonight for a new mom at church who had a precious baby boy last month and I just had to try out this tutorial for a changing mat I found here. I did change it up a bit by adding binding to the edging rather then finishing out the way it stated and the end result is fabulous. I also made a couple coordinating burp cloths to go with it.

Pink and Gray

A woman at church contacted me about doing a carseat cover for her sister who is expecting a little girl. I really like the color combo and made a couple burp cloths with some of the extra fabric.

Baby Shower Gifts

I am hosting a shower for a friend having her first, a boy, in a little over a month. I have wanted to try my hand at a couple ideas I have seen around blogland and thought this the perfect opportunity. The first is that of a nursing cover-up. I selected a couple prints from Kate Spain's Fundango line for it and think it turned out fairly well. We shall see what the new mommy has to say about it when she tries it out.

Another idea I have been wanting to try is the carseat tent. There are loads of tutorials for those as well. I don't have a photo of it but used Kate Spain's Central Park line for it becuase the colors in these fabrics go well with the fabrics in the fundango fabrics I used in the nursing cover up.

Along with these I made coordinating burp cloths and diaper clutch and this cute little hat in coordinating colors that should fit the little guy next winter.

Gone No More

After a month+ of computer trouble I am back on track thanks to a wonderful computer genius. I have kept busy throughout that month+ and would love to share some of the things I have been working on.
As I have mentioned before, I always start off the new year with a new afghan and this year has been no exception. I had started a granny square bed cover for Miss Sarah back in May but it was put on hold several times as other things came about and then again with the holiday crafting season. Using the same yarns that were selected for this coverlet I started this coverlet for Ivy Girl.

Just a basic ripple design and coming along nicely. Nearly half way on it currently and it is looking great. Ivy Girl calls it her "rainbow blankie". While working on it I have also been working on completing Miss Sarah's coverlet. Loads of squares (304) to join together. With the exception of all the little "tails" that need trimming I completed it last week and am pleased with it as well.

In between working on  these  two I squeezed in a couple hours to make this sweet little new born hat for a co-worker whose daughter blessed her with a grandson.

Onesis Dress

So quick and easy. Cute too.

Burp Towels

A few burp towels to go withthe other items I've made for an upcoming baby shower I am hosting for a friend.

Sweetness

This little outfit is turning out so sweet. Just have to sew on the buttons and make the diaper cover and it will be ready to post to my cousin who is expecting girl #2 here in a couple weeks. I am noticing that I am growing a bit particle to this shade of green since doing up Ivy Girl's Easter dress last month. Just something about it.

And another little gift (crayola portfolio) for the big sister who is still little herself:

Once I fill it with crayolas, stickers and paper that is.

And since I spoke of Easter dresses I will share those as well. All is done on them with the exception of putting the bow and flower on Ivy Girl's. The boys will have coordinating ties and new suits as they have both outgrown their old ones.

It's Been A While...

but I've been keepin' busy all the same...

This afghan was started 2-years ago. I worked on it for a couple of weeks and then something came up that needed my time and so I put it up on a shelf where it stayed until last month. I am so pleased to have it complete (this last Saturday night) and it looks good sitting on the back of the couch.

The Happy Hallow quilt is now ready for the spider webs in each of the four corners, that will have to wait until April however as I have several other things requiring my attention at the moment.

During my time away from blogging I also filled an order for a lady at church, who was in need of five ties for her sister's wedding. 1 Infant, 1 toddler, an 8-year old and 2 high schoolers. I had a good chuckle the day after the wedding when I happened to be blog surfing and saw the same fabric used to rehupolster a of couple chairs on a blog.

A cousin of mine is expecting her second little girl at the end of the month and so I spent today putting some things together to send. For the big sister, I have a a balloon ball finished and a crayola portfolio almost complete...would have had it done but the ribbon I thought I had for the handles is no where to be found.

                                   

For the new sweet baby...a recieving blanket in fabrics selected by the proud grandma (my Aunt) and in the works, a darling little summer outfit that will be posted in a few days.                

While on the topic of babies, a young lady at church is expecting her first and I am hosting a shower for her at the end of the month. She has a shy baby however and with two different ultrasounds we still don't know if it is a boy or girl. She likes alphabet fabrics and I found this fun fabric I thought could go for either gender. Today I put together this portable high chair, I saw the idea on a blog and cannot recall where. The lady gave the overall dimensions for it and a picture of the layout and I was able to figure it out from there. I don't know how she did her's but I put interfacing on each piece of fabric and then added batting. I think it turned out pretty well but is a bit small for an almost four-year-old who was all to happy to model it for me :-)

 

 

 

Also put together this diaper/wipes clutch...more fun things to come

A Little of This and A Little of That

I met up with my perferred long arm quilter yesterday and was able to pick up the two quilts I left with her a couple weeks ago. The first was my kaleidoscope of color that will be a Christmas gift for mum.

The second, the Seeing Stars quilt that is a wedding gift for a friend's daughter.

Now on to finding some good moves to watch while I hem binding on both. The first is a king size so I might need several good movies.

I am hosting a shower for a friend that is having her first boy in a couple weeks and so today I got a jump start on some baby shower gift items. Both of her girls have a thing for sucking on their blankets so I thought the Ribbon Blanket on Moda Bake Shop was the perfect gift idea. I love these robot fabrics from Andover Fabrics and decided they would make a fun ribbon blanket. A purchase of 6 fat quarters from a local craft shop allows me to make 2 of these blankets as well as 2 sets of 3 burp cloths with scraps leftover for something else fun. I am sure with all the woman having babies at church at the moment that I will find a special home for the 2nd set of robot goodies.

I put together the 16 5" squares for the blanket this afternoon and will hopefully make it to the fabric shop sometime this week to pick up the minkee fabric to finish it out. I am leaning towards the aqua color as the backing but we shall see what they have to offer in colors at the store.

I am not so hot at drawing so I am on the look out for a super cute image of a robot that would be cute embrodiered on a onsies.

Rippling Stripes

Ahhh... I love that feeling of accomplishment. I have just finished up the  baby afghan I started last week for a friend of mine's baby shower that will take place this next Saturday. This is to be her third little boy and I really struggled with coming up with just the right thing for her. After three other attempts I am satisfied that this is just perfect and that she will love it.

For Baby Boy #3

A friend of mine is expecting her 3rd little boy in two months and after several attempts at finding just the right gift to make, I think I have. She put a striped blanket on her gift registery at Target and I took inspiration from it to start this blanket/afghan. Now I am just hopeful to have it done in time for the shower on Sat.

Just a look at a couple things I completed this week. The star burst baby afghan is from a kit I ordered from Mary Maxim and was really quick to crochet.
The tote is a new free tutorial from Happy Zombie. I did add in the stichery on the pocket from May Britt's design for the Stitchers Angel Swap. Love the way it turned out.
In addition to these I was able to finish up half of the kitchen cabinets. Now I just have to get the other half .

Not so Ordinary

I received a baby shower invite in the mail last Sat. for a shower that took place yesterday. I love baby showers and making gifts for them. In my search for ideas for the shower I came across this and had fun turning two ordinary onseis into these, the hit of the shower. I have also used Jody's tutorial several times for turning ordinary cloth diapers into cute burp towels. Using the left over fabric from this little overall I made this set of three burp towels. Also in the works this last week was canning pear sauce...YUM and putting in tile in the entryway in preparation for new carpet that is being put in tomorrow. The tiling was a new experience for me and although very nervous at first I am feeling a bit more confident with the process. The entryway was just a small job but it has left me feeling like I could tackle the family room without too much trouble. On a sad note for the week, two soldiers from my husband's unit were killed this week in Iraq. One was a very dear friend of my husband and it was so hard to receive a call from him last night. Hard to hear your loved one sobbing on the phone and being unable to offer the confort you know he needs. Our thoughts and prayers are with both families.

Various TutorialsTried

August seems to be my month to finally get the chance to try out some of the awesome tutorials I happened upon over the winter months. A friend from church had a baby shower the other night and I took advantage of the chance to try out Joanna's tutorial for cloth baby shoes and Jody's great example of turning cloth diapers into snazzy burp towels. Both tutorials were very easy to follow and very quick to put together. And of course the fabric options are endless. And of course they make wonderful gifts for the new mommy. Have a look:

Soft in Pink

One of my cousins is expecting her first baby at the end of the month and because her mom and dad do so much for me and my kiddos I wanted to do something special for her. So I set to work on an afghan. The pattern I selected is one that I have once before done but is not one that I choose to do often. The end results are always beautiful and snuggly warm but due to the pattern (which is fairly easy) it takes forever to get the required inches complete. I hope you enjoy this gift Christie. Congrads and best wishes.