Three Year Old Knitting

I posted at the beginning of this week about a new craft, Josie's pillowcase for her third birthday (which I am very proud to report that her mom says she sleeps on that pillow every night now and loves it!) 
In that post I might have mentioned also being there the day she was born.  (I drove over two hours to be there for one hour and she her bright shiny new face and give my bestest friend in the world a congratulations hug! and drove over two hours back home and went to work the next morning.  I loved this little girl from the get-go - anyhow...)  That day she came into this world I wrapped her in a Clemson Tiger blanket I had handknit for her.  I wanted her to know I loved her (no matter where I was) and I wanted to make sure she would grow up to be a Clemson Tiger like her mama and I.  So I had to start her off right...

I came back the following weekend - just to make sure she was still being wrapped in her blanket (or more-so really to hold her and love her and hog the baby like I always do!) but good news is the blanket was still in use...

Fast forward three years and after posting about her birthday party her mom says to me "I should send you pictures of that blanket now so everyone knows how much she loves and how much use she's gotten out of it", - "um, yes please!"  So I just got these...

 

(I'm pretty sure she is GROWLING like a Tiger in this one!  and the whiskers make it all the more convincing!) 

When she was little we used to ask her,  "What does the tiger say"  and she would answer, "grrrr" and then "What does a gamecock say?" to which she would answer (her very own idea) "Booooooo!"  lol.  My little tiger - they are raising her up right!  :)

Pretty Pretty Princess Pillowcase

Last week's secret project can now be revealed - our little JoJuice (and by our I mean Brandy and Dave's!) turned three on Saturday!! 

Her birthday party was an explosion of pink (including everyone's outfits, the food, the decorations, the presents - everything!  There are more excitingly pink details here...) but to make the princess happy with pink I had the perfect idea!  I had just gotten some Princess and the Pea fabric (by Heather Ross) and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to use some of it (fussy cut of course).  I used this tutorial and made her a pretty pretty princess pillowcase for her big girl bed!

 

I couldn't find a bag big enough to fit the pillowcase with a pillow in it - so needless to say she had NO idea what it was when she opened it and tossed it aside.  Good thing we had bought her Pinkalicious as well! She did take a minute to look through that.  :)  Later we put a pillow in and showed her what it was - then we got a good reaction!

 I think she liked it!!

 

 Playing with it is a good sign!

 

All in all I think it was a pretty good gift - and I sure enjoyed making it (I kept talking about using all that pink fabric for something!) 

This week is back to the regularly scheduled programming - I HAVE GOT to finish that quilt!  I am going to miss my New Years Resolution in the first month!  :)

Friday Eye Candy

This weeks fabric shipment (ha ha!  I talk about them like they just show up and I don't scour the internet over lunch and order them!)  Anyway...This weeks fabric shipment - included Denyse Schmidt fabric.  Her new line of fabric is called Hope Valley and I'm warming to it.

I ordered a FQ set in my favorite of the colorways (Fiesta!)

And I ordered some of the other prints that I really liked

See, I pretty recently started sewing a lot (and becoming obsessed with fabric), and I'm learning that fabrics are usually only printed once.  So - if you love a fabric line you gotta go ahead and buy it.  Or you'll miss it. (great marketing scheme - eh?)  And Denyse Schmidt has a huge following after her Flea Market Fancy line.  (that website is where they are petitioning the fabric company to reprint it b/c so many people - like me! - missed it or just want to buy MORE of it!  Sign it if you haven't so we can all have a chance to buy some more!)   I also missed her Katie Jump Rope fabric line too - (well, I can find a little bit of it for less than $10/fq - but not much).  So I took a chance on liking Hope Valley the more and more I see it too.  I think my favorite quilt (so far) made in this fabric is from Red Pepper Quilts.  I certainly didn't buy enough fabric to make that quilt, but I bought enough to experiment and see how I like it too. 

I hope you enjoyed the eye candy - and have a wonderful weekend!  I have to get the princess' present finished tonight and hope to have some sewing time when we get back on Sunday too.  The quilt top is starting to taunt me! 

Exciting News

Well - I promised handmade things before the end of the week - and I shall deliver - but I must share my exciting news first!!  Glenna sells fabric and she featured my AB love bag here - on her blog today!  I was so excited this morning!  Yea!  Someone noticed my stuff (and liked it too!  ala Sally Field "You like me, you really like me!")  anyway - enough gushing.  Just thought I'd share my excitment.

Now, truly onto handmade things.  I chose a layout for the Nest Quilt (or rather learned how you were supposed to do it) and sewed the squares together.  I still plan to frame the front and have to make the back - but I'm pretty happy with the layout.  Also - my squares are lining up better and better!  The 1/4" foot is making a difference - but I am not invincible - yet.  :)

I do have another handmade I'm working on this week - but its a surprise for a certain little princess's birthday this weekend - so I can't show you.  Luckily, I have a few aces in my back pocket of things I've made that I haven't showed yet.  Here is one!

My fabulous Amy Butler Wide Leg Lounge Pants (complete with fabric upside down - I was just too excited when I started making them that I cut before I realized - lol!)

Anyway - I love them.  But also - just because I thought it was funny - not only are they wide leg - they are wide topped too!  If  you untie them they fall STRAIGHT down...

No unfortunately - I didn't lose any weight for this shot!  I just like to pretend it is my 'after' picture when I'm having a bad day!  These pants are actually why my mom asked for her pair for Christmas!  I love the In Stitches book and have made quite a few patterns from it now.  These, are probably my favorite!

You are definitely going to want to come back tomorrow - Friday Eye Candy is going to be GOOD!  :)

Sublime Sunday

Sublime- adj. - supreme or outstanding

While the rest of the weekend wasn't so fantastic or outstanding, Sunday turned out to be pretty okay! After church (and cleaning) Eric decided to take me to lunch and then to the bookstore ...oh how I love Barnes and Noble!  With their large craft book section, Starbucks coffee and peace and quiet.  I just love spending hours there and Eric decided he would indulge me and take me to the bookstore.

It just sooooo happened though :)  that on the way to the bookstore, we passed a TJMaxx - and I thought - maybe - just maybe - they might have some Munki Munki.  (I know TJMaxx and Marshall's are owned by the same group and other sewing people (that I stalk their blogs online) had been finding some Munki Munki at Marshalls) - so I asked if we could stop for just a second for me to check the pajama rack.  He helped me search - and guess what we found!!!

Munki pajamas!!  I don't know if this is considered a 'good' print - but I LOVE pink and had been thinking about a pink quilt (remember?!)

  and now I am super excited to pull some Munki Munki into my pink quilt - for $14.99!!

Makes me want to start singing "You get the Maxx for the minimum, minimum price, never ever the same place twice."  lol 

Anyway - after we found our great surprise at TJMaxx I still got to go to the bookstore!!  And I found a craft book that I just HAD to have (have I maybe mentioned here before that I have a bag problem, a bagaholic if you will - well this book is PERFECT for me!!)  She reuses stuff and she makes BAGS!!  Lovely bags that I would carry - so I had to get it

I just can't wait to make something out of this book - but I can't even decide where to start!  After searching through all the craft books, I had to search through the magazines too - and then I found this gem!

TO justify my purchase, I had to convince myself there were two or three things in here I would make - but really I just want to rip out my unfinished Wicked immediately and use the yarn to cast on for this...

OMG!  Isn't it gorgeous?!  I mean, my hair will NEVER fall like that and have a perfect glow on my skin with a "come hither" look either - but the sweater...its GORGEOUS!  I am in love!

So what started as a pretty crappy weekend, ended on a very high note with my Munki Munki and amazing bookstore finds!  yippeee!!

(On a side note, as this is a crafting blog and not a shopping blog, I did sew this weekend - and knit too actually - but there isn't alot to show yet, before the end of the week I will post crafty stuff I've done, I promise!)

 

Friday Eye Candy and Choices...

Friday Eye Candy for this week just arrived yesterday!  I've been waiting patiently after a bad week at work for my retail therapy to arrive.  This fabric already has some plans waiting for it (which is a good thing...)

 Well - some of it I have plans for - the AB Pressed Flowers I have never been able to find in the pink colorway (my fave) so I had to have it - and the AB green dots set it off fantastically I think - so those were a bit impulse - but the Heather Bailey on the left has a plan for it

(sorry about the crappy photos - no light again)

This is the Heather Bailey and its destined to be a nursing cover for my SIL.  I didn't know she wanted one until Christmas and I've found a couple free tutorials and some great example pics and like this fabric combo.

And the best Eye Candy for last...

ahhhhh!!!  AB love (decorator weight) for a duffel bag.

Finally, my New Years Resolution was to make a quilt a month.  (gasp! - I know!)  I only made 3 in six months last year - but I think I can get the hang of it better this year and I have to start eating up some of this fabric I can't stop buying! 

So - I finished my Nest Quilt Disappearing Nine Patch Squares - but I don't know how I want to lay them out (is there a certain way you are supposed to?!)  Here are a couple ideas I've had...does anyone have more photos / inspiration / instruction for how I should do this?  Do you like either of these options?!  I need help here - getting the top put together and the back made is my goal for this weekend so I can stay on track with my "Quilt-a-Month" goal.

So...Option A

Or Option B

Whaddya think?!

Covered Up

Things in the craft room are being "covered up" lately.  For Christmas my uber-wonderful big brother thought he was buying me a boring gift (although he knew I wanted one) ... little did he know that I was going to be soo excited about an ironing board cover to make a blog post about it - but oh! I was that excited!!

Check out how cool this thing is!!!

That's right!!  Black and White Damask to match my craft room perfectly!

Sooo much better than off-white and stained one I had.  I think it really "ties the room together."  :)

Other things are getting covered up too!  I saw on Creative Reveries her sewing machine cozy (in Wonderland - yea!!) and just had to have one.  Lucky me I have some extra Wonderland charm packs lying around and I whipped one up this weekend!

(I have to tell you - I have NO IDEA why a sewing machine might need covered up.  I mean, does it get cold? (it does get cold in the craft room - Eric makes me shut the door so we don't pay to heat it when I'm not in there working) - but does a sewing machine really get cold?  Or does it keep flying lint and dust out?  Or hide it from on-lookers?!  I have no idea...but the idea of sewing something to cover the sewing machine...In Wonderland Fabric...well it just didn't really have to make any sense to me.  I just liked the idea.  I welcome any comments that can tell my engineering brain WHY and justify the fabric usage!)

 

The best parts?  Well one, I went by the Quilt Shop in Aiken this weekend and they still have YARDAGE of Wonderland!!  I didn't think you could find that anywhere!  So I got some of the blue butterflies (they match the wall pretty well huh?) for the sides too!

AND... I had always noticed the scissors (kinda hard to miss) in the Wonderland

but I always thought the other stuff was like alien pods or something strange.  With a closer look this weekend I realized they were pin cushions and irons!!

 

Who knew?!  But how GREAT for a sewing / craft room!

I am loving my new covers!

New Bag

Did you guess from this hint what I was making?  Or was it this post that gave it away?

I love that bag - and I was disappointed not to win it - but I was more inspired then to make something like it.  So I borrowed a friend's Simplicity Pattern (2551) and made another bag  :)

(with flash)

(without flash)

(I am really looking forward to longer days where I can take pictures of my things in real actual sunlight that makes them look good and nice.  I don't like using the flash - but really without it the picture seems so dull and dark - anyway...)

(up close)

(and the lining - and pocket)

Doesn't it look quite alot like the Morgan bag?!  (um, minus the $63 price tag - and well a magnetic snap instead of a zipper, and the cording - which I opted not to do). I am really really pleased with this bag - and even have had compliments (and an offer to buy it!) already! 

Happy Happy!

And...I sewed more this weekend...so come back!

<3 N

Friday Eye Candy

I love Friday Eye Candy!!  Oh how I missed you when I was gone.  Getting packages in the mail filled with yummy goodness (whether it be yarn or fabric) always brightens my day.  That's why I like to share it with you on Fridays!!
I got these two packages before I left, but I kept them bundled up to open when I got home (as a Christmas gift to myself of sorts...)
Sew Mama Sew was having a sale...and I have this new Amy Butler Love pattern - I can't find a thing to match it - so I tried with some of these orange and purples.  Not so much - but gorgeous fabric nonetheless.

 

and I finally gave in to the one Munki Munki I just HAD to have.  I couldn't stand it anymore.  Aren't they too cute?!?

Goldfish in bags - ah!!

If I have a new nephew maybe his playmat will have these, or maybe I will hoard them for myself!  Who knows.

What I do know is that despite this terrible awful no good cold I have had all week I did manage to get SOME sewing done.  And this is a sneak peak at one thing I was working on...

Stay tuned...I'll share more!

Handmade Christmas Part 2

In addition to giving handmade gifts, I was ever so fortunate to receive a handmade gift too.  Last year my Mom bought me the starter set nativity from Willow Tree.  (that link is the WHOLE set)

Anyway, doesn't it just look gorgeous there by my twinkling tree? I love it and I was soo excited to receive it last year.  This year though, my dad, little brother and grandfather added the most AMAZING piece a girl could ever wish to have in her nativity set.  A handmade creche....

And just for reference, this is the $100 one that Willow Tree sells
 

Didn't they do an amazing job?!?  And the very BEST part (that no $100 Willow Tree one will ever have?)

A bottom that is signed with love from your Daddy, Little Brother, and Grandpa.  Best Christmas Present Ever!  I love it and I am so excited to add it to my Nativity scene next year.  

(again for reference...this is what it will all look like when I've spent years collecting it all)

Only with an awesome handmade background that means the world to me.

Handmade Christmas gifts are the best!

Handmade Christmas

Wonder what I've been up to lately?  Well I've been in Ohio - and before that - making a handmade Christmas for everyone in my family.  I didn't get (good) pictures of everything...
But here are some highlights...
My mom got PJ pants

 (pattern is wide leg lounge pants from Amy Butler's In Stitches, and is also made with AB fabric)

Dad got an iPod Sock (its soo tiny you can't even see it!)

 

 

Chad got an Ohio State Buckeyes hat

 (pattern is the Boy Hat and is in Knit Picks Felici Firefighter colorway)

Kelly an apron

 

 (pattern is from Amy Butler's In Stitches book and its Anna Maria Horner and Eric McMorris Fabric)

Beck a laundry bag (really?!  what do you make an 18 yr old college kid?  lol - he seemed to like it okay)

 

 (once again a pattern from the Amy Butler In Stitches Book - and random JoAnn's Fabric)

And Eric kinda got a homemade gift.  I bought him a mushroom kit (to grow shittakes at home - he loves mushrooms and gardening...so he was really wanting it - BUT it had to be kept at 36-41 degrees.  Not exactly packing, traveling, wrapping friendly.  So I MADE him a mushroom to open - I didn't get a pic of that - but I might try to get one later).

We had a great time at home, and I am sooo looking forward to these next two days at home before work (and without deadlines) to work on some sewing that I have been looking forward to doing (for me, or for fun, or just because!  :)

I thought about a 2009 wrap-up of my crafting in addition to the Christmas update, but do you really want to just see the three quilts I made, that you have already seen?  Here is hoping I really get crafting in 2010 and get to have a really cool flickr wrap up like all the cool quilters are doing!  Hope you all had a great Christmas and New Years!