Pinwheels!

I have been meaning to try out a pinwheel quilt for ages and finally had the reason to make one this week. I had this fabric in my stash and knew that it would a perfect fit for the pinwheels.

My friend wanted to have the name of the recipient embroidered on the quilt. I went a pink that matches the fabric but sadly doesn't show up that well in these pictures. You are just going to have to take my word for it that it looks super cute. Inspired by all the great embroidering I have seen from my quilting bee ladies, I traced a butterfy from one of the prints and embroidered it next to the name for a little pizazz!

A Very Productive Couple of Days, Part 2

So knitting was my gateway craft. I learned it from a co-worker in 2003 and took to it really quickly. Sadly, I plateaued at an advanced beginner stage that I can't seem to shake, especially now that I am so obsessed with sewing. I don't have a huge stash of needles but have enough that they could benefit from an organizer and shouldn't be shoved in a tote bag, getting caught in my skeins of yarn.

And now that I am conquering my to do list, this project got the time it deserved. I used some fabric from my stash and some lovely twill tape I received as a Christmas present for the tie.

A Very Productive Couple of Days, Part 1

I am steadily working on my to do list and I am giddy with excitement. Recently, the mailman delivered some new patterns for me to try out, a little girl dress (I know, another one!) and a baby yoga pants pattern.
This little dress pattern was a breeze to make. I love lined bodices of dresses more than ever after struggling with other patterns that don't call for it. Trying to make a neat hem on such a little armhole makes me crazy because 1) it is hard and 2) I can't do it very well. It also gives the dress that little extra bit of structure and a fun opportunity to add a splash of color.

On this dress, I tried out the rolled hem foot on my machine. Things went pretty well for the most part and I think it looks appropriate on a dress this small. This is the newborn size and I am going to do whatever it takes to get some action shots of this dress.



As much as I love making little dresses, I noticed that most of the time, my favorite little babies were in stretch jersey pants so I picked up this pattern to try out. The pattern was a little confusing because it has two design options, one for regular diapers and another for cloth diapers. I had to guess on what to do at first so I used some blue jersey I had in my stash that I was willing to sacrifice. Once I got through the confusion of how to proceed with the pattern without the insert for cloth diapers, it was a snitch to make. I have an overlock machine so I did everything except for the leg hem on it. The only thing I would have done differently was to hem the legs before sewing up the leg seem.



I am going to give them to the newest baby in my life for her to test drive them. The butt looks pretty big but hopefully it only looks big to me because I am not used to adjusting for diapers when it comes to pants.

All finished, washed and shipped

Here is the quilt I made last month, with it's finished binding, washed and already in the mail. I absolutely love this quilt, and I received the nicest phone call from my friend tonight, thanking me for the quilt. She said it was her favorite baby gift, of course, she might be saying that to everyone she received a gift from, but I am going to believe her. So here is another look at the quilt in all of its crinkly glory.

It is hard to tell from the picture but the back is a navy blue with tiny white polka dots. Love it!


And here are some close ups of the cuteness.

Perhaps my all-time favorite diaper bag

I am getting caught up on blogging about some projects I finished in January, including this diaper bag. The request was for a bag that could go from carrying diapers to a work tote. I love the orange and gray print - it is so sophisticated and original. I might just have to go back to Cancun and pick up some more.

I put three pockets on the exterior, including the one below and one on either end.



The interior is lined with pockets on both sides and closes with a magnetic snap.


I also made a changing pad that fits easily in the bag and can be retired once the bag becomes a work tote.

A quilt for Julia

Sweet Julia was finally born last week and I got to meet her today. I brought along this quilt for her. It wasn't a real surprise since I had already assured her mother months ago that she would be getting a special quilt.

Since Julia's parents waited until she was born to find out if she was a girl or a boy, I decided to wait too. I wanted fabrics that were nice and bright. I fell hard for the prints with the robots and the planets, especially because they weren't only offered in traditional boy colors. The oranges and yellows make me so happy and I loved being able to work in some blues from my stash as an accent.

Now I jut have to patiently wait for some action shots.

I finally did it!

I am so happy! My awesome sofa was in desperate need of some recovering attention. It is 6 years old and had seen better days. It was sun damaged, stained and generally abused. The sofa frame was also scratched and worn, mostly from my evil, but so cute cat.

Here is a Before picture - it doesn't look too bad but that is because you can't see it too closely.


And here it is in all of it's finished glory!

I found the fabric online, actually from a link in my gmail account. I purposefully found very inexpensive fabric; it was about $5 a yard. I have never recovered a large piece of furniture and knew that it could go very bad and I didn't want to waste a lot of money if things didn't end well.

The whole thing was way easier than I expected. I did the cushions a couple of weeks ago and they worked out pretty well. I had a little trouble with the round corners of the seat cushions but they came out ok in the end.

As for the frame, I draped the fabric over the back and the sides and pinned in to the couch. I then basted the pieces together inside out to get the snug fit. I took the cover off, sewed over the basted stitching on my machine, flipped it right side out and checked the fit. It only took a couple of hours and I didn't cry at all.

In a fit of productivity, I also recovered a cushion with the white and brown geometric print to tie in the bench I recovered a while ago. All in all, I am a very happy gal.