modern handmade child

I've recently become a member of the EtsyKids team, and wanted to share with you their amazing magazine.

http://modernhandmadechild.com/

Featuring all handmade, high-quality children's items! And not just clothes...there are party ideas, costume ideas, crafts, tutorials, and even recipes. Check it out!

it's here!!!!!

My Heather Ross goodies came! I was so excited to get home on Saturday to find my package! And inside......

Race cars, bicycles, horses, flowers, and this really cute Japanese print. Along with some wool felt, ribbons, bias tape, thread, embroidery thread, and lots of buttons. All kinds of goodies!

Love me some bikes!

Seriously, how cute is this?

Unlike many, I didn't request any one thing. Because honestly, I couldn't decide at the time. But now I really wish I had requested some Goldfish I Have Loved (in the bags). Anyone out there have any? Anyone interested in a bit of a swap? I'm excited to see what others have gotten!

Thanks Heather!! You rock!

treasury!!!

On etsy, it's usually a pretty big deal to be included in a treasury. They are filled with gorgeous items grouped in various ways...often by color, theme or whatever strikes a person's fancy. The hope of course, is that your treasury will make it to the front page, resulting in a gorgeous front page for etsy, and lots of visibility for those lucky enough to be included in one.

Well....it happened for me! I received a convo and figured it was the usual "quesion before a purchase" that I sometimes get, and was surprised (and thrilled) to find out it was a convo of the curator who included my item in her treasury! I was so stoked!

Check it out!
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=84221

fabric sale!!!

I just received an email update from the etsy shop that carries a few of the patterns I use, and this woman used to have a fabric shop. The fabric shop is now closed, but she still has LOTS of fabric left over, so she's offering Amy Butler for $6/yard! Plus it's a grab bag - which I think is just fun (like scrap bags!). Check it out here.

Now....where is my Heather Ross stuff? Hmmmm....

progress

Now that I have finished Lilah's quilt and Noah's hat (never mind the new one I have to start now for Derrick...) I've been wanting to get back to the quilts I started and haven't touched in a while. Opening the shop took a lot of time initially, and getting as many orders I did (in the shop and outside of the shop) was surprising and time-consuming. Since then I've had a bit of a lull, which to be honest I haven't minded, since I'm finally able to work on some things for "me" again!

First up...I volunteered to make one of Amanda Jean's blocks for the quilt she's doing for Quilts of Valor. She wanted them by the end of the month, but I didn't want to wait that long, since with the shop, I never know how busy I'm going to be. I put it together yesterday and I'm sending it off tomorrow!

Next up is my Arcadia quilt. I saw this style (and tutorial) over at Carly of Quiltville's blog (and she had one for sale in her shop at one point) and fell in love with it. I LOVE the Acadia fabrics and just HAD to make this quilt when I saw it. This one is a gift as a very special "thank-you".

And on to the 9-patch quilt-a-long. I'm using the Arcadia fabrics for this one as well...and I have to admit - I'm not loving it so far. Problem is, Amanda Jean's 9-patch that she posted was so fantastic, and it sounded like so many of the ladies used scraps for theirs, and I honestly just didn't have enough scrap variety at the time to go that route. We'll have to see though....once I get them all done and add some white sashing it could really change things for me.

As for progress...? Well, the 4 blocks you see was all I had done. And we're on day 63 according to Amanda Jean. Since taking the pic I've made 5 more, but obviously have a ways to go if I'm going to get caught up and finish by next Sunday!

And I also have a very special baby quilt I'm hoping to make and complete in the next 2 weeks! More on that later! Don't want to ruin any surprises!

giveaway winner!

I decided to enlist some very important help for this giveaway. I had Noah pick the winner for me!

Here he is....had to get some chicken and potatoes dinner in first!

And here is the winner! #10 - Ashley! Congrats Ashley! Email is forthcoming!

Nite! We're trying our first ever "movie night" tonight! Noah doesn't ususally sit still for that long... ;-)

this dress...

has really gotten the better of me! Now in this beautiful eggplant print - for sale in the shop!

princess and the pea

I did quite a bit of sewing yesterday. 2 dresses, a shirt, and 2 skirts. I've been wanting to use some of my Far Far Away fabrics to make something for Lilah since I received them a while back but like many, had trouble cutting into it!

I ultimately decided to make this dress:

I love love LOVE how it turned out!!! At first, I thought the print might be a bit large for the size of the dress (I made a 2T - so nothing she'll be wearing anytime soon!), but I now think it's perfect!

Isn't she cute?

The pattern is the Kyla pattern from Froglegs and Ponytails and is available in her shop here. I already use her Caroline pattern as my pillowcase dress (and yes, she allows her pattern to be used to make items for sale! Gotta respect copyright!) and I LOVE both of them. Her patterns are nicely laid out, easy to follow, easy to cut, and are finished beautifully! And being a pdf, they can be printed anytime you need a new size to cut, which I then save in my templates drawer in my organizer. Very nice!

This dress is actually a reversible dress, and although I did create it in the reversible style, I don't really plan on reversing it. The double gauze fabric is really thin and light (but oh so soft!) and I felt the white muslin on the inside would be a good lining.

I will say -working with double gauze is interesting. It's kind of.....sticky. Know what I mean? Not literally sticky silly! But that - catching on another fabric that it rubs against kind of sticky. So, when you're doing certain things (like trying to slide the exterior into the interior to sew it shut and properly line up) is a total pain, but then it also works in your favor as well - like not having to pin quite as much once you get it all nicely lined up because it stays quite well on its own! And once it's done - it's a dream! Super soft, nice drape - just really cute!

I changed up a few things - like the tie straps (and think I might try this one with snaps next time), and the bias tape. I simply used some white that I had laying around (does anyone else love working with bias tape as much as me?).

Anyway - I really love it and I totally wish she was able to wear it now!

So guess what...GIVEAWAY!!!!!!! Yep! I'm keeping this one for my little girl, but my giveaway will feature this dress, just as I have made it here, in the fabrics shown below! I'll make this dress in a size 12-24 mo, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 - using one of the Far Far Away fabrics shown with white cotton muslin for the lining and a white cotton bias tape at the bottom.

Shown above are unicorn in orange & blush, and princess in blush, pink and blue/orange. Please leave a comment in this post to enter and comments will close on Friday September 18th at 7PM. Good luck!

COMMENTS CLOSED - WILL ANNOUNCE WINNER SHORTLY!

I L L - I N I !

That was the inspiration for the first hat I knitted. I made it for his father's day gift (and yes, he's an alum of Illinois). A bit early for cool weather, but he loved it...and so did Noah! He promptly asked me for one of his own. So, right away I started Noah's hat. And then it was put down. And then I prepared for a baby. And then I had a baby. And so the hat sat longer.

But it was time to finish the hat - and I finally did! On our drive home from my in-laws this past weekend, I put the finishing touches on the hat - I really only had the crown to finish at that point.
For both hats I used this ribbed beanie pattern from Wooly Wormhead (I had originally found it on ravelry), and made a few adjustments. I wanted to knit on circular needles, so I did - and only switched to DPN's at the crown. For Noah's had I also made it a bit smaller than the pattern indicated - making the appropriate reduction in multiples of 8. The yarn I used was Blue Sky Alpacas Worsted Hand Dyes in Midnight Blue and Nectarine. They really were the closest "Illinois" colors my yarn shop had.

Only problem? Well, the hat on Noah wasn't quite as large as I would have liked. So, we tried Derrick's on him and it fits pretty great. So, looks like we're going to hand Noah's down to Lilah, daddy's down to Noah, and I better get knitting on a new hat for daddy! (and maybe one for myself while I'm at it!)

no hats....yet!

Okay, I know I promised hats. But it (meaning pictures really) just hasn't worked out. The boys have just been go go go every day and I have yet to nail them down together (mostly means my son won't sit still or put the hat on!). I promise tomorrow! ;-)

So, I thought I'd post about the mini-hexes I worked on over the weekend!

They're coming along nicely! I really do love working on them. I have a few things that are really calming for me. Knitting is one. Yoga too. Mowing the lawn is another (and one I'm not proud to admit. Horrible for the environment...really unnecessary...an exercise in vanity really, but I love seeing overgrown lawn get cut down row by row in such an orderly fashion. Anyone guess my birth sign? ;-) ) Vacuuming also - though can vary with children underfoot.

And now paper piecing hexes as well!

It truly is calming. Aneela's original post on this said "I have discovered the tranquility that is......... handstitching paper pieced hexy's!". I totally agree - and get it! Even the cutting for these wasn't bad! (and I despise cutting...)

This pile is what I worked on over the weekend. And more have been done since. Today I sat in the shade of the garage while Noah rode his trike around Lilah and I in circles. Lovely! We had a truly lovely late summer day. I'm so lucky to be home with them!

I'm still not sure what they'll become. I had lots of ideas while falling asleep last night. There is still the absurdity of a quilt in the back of my mind. My next task is to determine exactly how many of these that would take and then go from there... ;-)

lilah's quilt!!!

It's done!!!!

I am totally and completely in love with this quilt!!!

After ripping apart my first attempt at a quilt, I wanted to start with something smaller - thus a baby quilt for Lilah. The idea came from Ashley at Film in the Fridge - she's done 3 of these so far. The prints are adorable (Wonderland by Momo), and I was actually just one square shy of having enough, so one pretty square of Anna Maria Horner's Good Folks in the middle.

I actually had the idea to leave it a plain cream piece and embroider her birth info on it, but eventually decided against it (next quilt maybe?).

I also did the same quilting as Ashley - lines 1/4" to either side of the seams. I really want to learn free motion quilting, but figure these nice straight lines are a good starting point for me!



The back is a cream colored cotton from Joann's. I wish now I had splurged for one of the other prints, but was wanting to see how this one turned out first!

The binding is also the green polka dot from that line. I used AmandaJean's tutorial on binding. It went fine -but my stitches are by no means hidden and seriously need some work (and took forever...seriously - does it always take that long?). But I don't care.....I still love it!!

And I have more! Tomorrow....Noah's hat!

mini hexes

Look at this!

Seriously….how many degrees of awesomeness is this? Little mini-hexes and with Heather Ross no less!

I purchased this lovely little bag from Aneela. I absolutely love it! Great little snippets of fabric, very well put together, and made to hold tiny treasures! How I came to find this little shop from across the pond is a bit of a story.

It all started with this quilt, made by Ashley of Film in the Fridge. Ashley makes amazing quilts – just about every one she does has me drooling for one of my own. So, of course when I saw that beauty, I had to find out how to do it. Which brought me to Aneela’s flickr group for half hexagons. Which then brought me to her blog. Which is where I discovered English paper piecing – mini hexes to be exact.

So, what is my bag for? English paper piecing of course! Look what I’ve been up to!!!

Fabric all cut and ready to be pieced to mini hexes! I’m not using hexes quite as small as Aneela's (yet). And I had every intention of doing these out of Far Far Away fabrics, but then started cutting some out of scrap fabric (recognize any of these from my shop?) and a brown/pink/pale green/pale yellow kind of palette just came to be. I think these fabrics are so pretty together! I would honestly LOVE to do an entire quilt out of these, but soooooo not sure I’m up for that just yet.

See those “In Progress” projects to the right? See the “Completed” ones? That’s right – there are none!!! Not since I started this blog anyway. The shop has taken up quite a bit of my time, and I’ve fallen dreadfully behind on things I really really need to finish! With a current lull in sales (just in time for our Labor Day weekend!) I’m determined to turn that around! You have a promise from me….my next blog post will be with a completed project off that list! The pressure is on!

If anyone is at all interested in the mini-hexes…I found this great little tool that allows you to create them (based on the size you want). Very handy!

Now if you’ll excuse me…..I’m off to add Dresden petal paper piecing to my “wish list” and decide which of Aneela’s bags will hold those little treasures! ;-)

Have a great weekend everyone!

changing seasons

The weather we've been having is strange. This whole summer has felt unseasonally cool to me. Sure, we've had periods of warmth (and even really hot weather. Heck, the day Lilah was born I think there was a high of 95 or so!), but just so different from last summer. Hot. Long periods with no rain. Brown grass.

Not so this year. Our grass right now (which we rely solely on mother nature for whatever water it gets) is lush and green. The lows the last two nights have gotten down to 45 degrees. 45!!! It's only September 1st and it feels more like October 1st. (Luckily, the next week or so is shaping up nicely for late summer/labor day weather!)

The cold weather sure does make me think about autumn though. In a way, I find it depressing. Not because I don't like autumn. I do. Love it actually! The sweater weather. Changing colors (something you don't get in the desert of Arizona where we spent 6.5 of our last 8 years). But it reminds me winter is coming. I love winter...right up until Christmas time. And then I'm so.over.it.

Anyway, all these reminders of autumn have me sewing lots for autumn. So take a look at some of the items I've been creating, mostly for the shop. And hard to believe, but I have holiday prints washed and ready to be sewn this week!

And seeing all of these prints together makes me really want to invest in some great solids. I have so many prints but not enough solids. I want to start mixing it up a bit!