Michelle's Mermaidens

Kaylee received a little mermaid from Michelle for Christmas. The hat in the picture was a gift from her as well, which we received at our baby shower – it finally fits! Kaylee is such a lucky girl :)

More details about the mermaid on M’s blog here.

I made a doll quilt and pillow set to match the quilt and pillow case I made for Kaylee. It was a nice little project to get some practice on my new sewing machine. Now we just have to run out to Ikea to pick up a doll bed. The Viking is sooooo much different from my Brother machine - it is super smooth, has a ton of power, and you are literally in control of each stitch. I can understand why they are so pricey now that I have given one a whirl.

In other crafty news, I bought material for my next quilt project; a birthday gift for our niece Emily. It hasn't arrived yet, but here is a taste:

Emily's room is the epitome of girly; pastel pink & green and she loves yellow. I had a hard time picking it out since I tend to be drawn to either muted colors or monochromatics rather than pastels and flowers. Since I had to order it in 1/2 yards, I'll have a bunch of leftover fabric so I also plan on making a pillowcase, matching doll quilt and pillow, and getting her a doll bed too. Possibly, if I have time left over, I'll make her an outfit or two for her Olive doll too. I have until October so I think it is totally doable.

a sew happy christmas for me!

Scott bought me a viking for Christmas!!!
Michelle and Holly helped point him in the right direction...and Michelle got me some sewing accessories. My mother-in-law got me pinking sheers, a new cutting mat and rotery cutter.
I can't wait to start my first project :)

In other news, Kaylee loves the blanket that Jo made her. She's fond of wearing it around her head at night.

Olive doll for Emily

I whipped up an Olive doll as a last minute Christmas gift for our niece Emily (her favorite color is yellow). It was a lot more challenging than I anticipated and about halfway through I was sure this doll was out to get me. My seam ripper got tons of use and at one point the needle even fell out of the machine (seriously?!). But, for a last minute scrappy project, I think it turned out pretty darn cute. I’m looking forward to making the complete make-a-long set for Kaylee, although I’ll use wool felt rather than the synthetic that Emily’s Olive is made out of. The synthetic didn't stuff well and I know it will not hold up over time. It's too bad wool felt is so expensive.

Lucy's soft book!

Thanks to many of you for your expert opinions and thoughts about the creation of Lucy's soft book! The idea for the book came from Sew liberated and was featured on Pozie get cozy  blog.

The book was actually very fun to make and like, Julie, I find embroidery to be relaxing! Thanks to Michelle's pinking shears I was able to get this project done in a couple days in time for Christmas! Next time I will begin my project sooner and try to enjoy each stitch a little bit more! Michelle also found a great source for felt (Purls) which will make each successive book a little easier to construct though i am finding that based on the Alabama stitch book, cotton t-shirts are fun to sew with as well! I used the same fabric that her bibs were made from so there is some continuity but mostly orange and green!!

Thoughts for next time - the patterns in the book were easy to use. The embroidery is done with a hoop on 12x12 sheets of fabric and then cut for the book. Had i read the directions all the way THROUGH (hah) uniformity of size would have been accomplished through placement of the pieces. As it was some of the animals were off - notice the cat's tail has the orange stitching running thought it .. ok yeah- good thing there is going to to another chance to perfect my skills in direction reading! I am also going to be more purposeful about shopping earlier for Good Will sweaters so i can make my own felting. I found just one $2.50 sweater from GW- but the felting was a lot easier to sew with and much stronger! Yup next time will be better!
Thanks for your support - you guys are awesome!
*Addendum- lucy didnt even notice the misplaced stitches or hard to read words from poor embroidery skills! hahhh! she just love it! hah!

I finished Kaylee's quilt!!!

I finished Kaylee's quilt just in time for Christmas. The linen was fab to work with and it washed up really nice. It's still a little rough but I imagine it will soften over time. This was my first time using a walking foot, and I still had trouble with the binding, but I'm happy with the end result and definitely the speed with which it all came together.

and I made a matching pillow case this morning using this tutorial too

The pillowcase was super simple and definitely something you may want to try.

More pictures and details about both projects are on my blog here.

I also finally got around to posting some details about our crafty forest wedding too.

Boxwood

Some of the quilt members and their respective daughter and mother, made the trek to Entwined in Grayslake last night to make boxwood trees. Good times were had by all!

Containers, spray painted festive gold, with foam, all ready for our creative attempts. (All supplies were included.)

Boxwood flooded the table! We were in close quarters but everyone was relaxed and cheery!

My mom's hands - I often look at my own and know how they will look in the years to come and, I like that. I love knowing that my hands also belong to my mom.

Isn't she adorable? Linda's daughter. She teaches middle school and has a wonderfully playful personality.

Mom and I.

Linda and her daughter.

The really cool thing? All of our trees looked different but were fantastic in their own little way. In January, Entwined is hosting a frozen wreath class.

F.Y.I: gutermann thread sale

Gutermann thread is on sale at Joann's for 40% off. It comes in cotton and poly, shiny, matte, variegated. I picked some up variegated pink thread for Kaylee's quilt, and I can't wait to see how it turns out.

Linen

Julie brought Kaylee's quilt in the other day - check it out! I am amazed that she did all this with a little baby on hand. And truly, the picture doesn't do it justice, the linen sashing is wonderfully crisp and the colors of the rectangles are eye-catching and rich. My favorite is the swirly fabric, lower left, from the France trip Julie and I took together a few years ago... seems like a lifetime ago.

ideas for future projects

Ok, so I'm farther along on my quilt (finished quilt top, trimmed, batting & backing & signature added - a few new pics on my blog) but that's not my reason for posting today. I have been skimming through Craft Hope. It contains lots of simple sewing projects which are intended for donation to various charities listed in the book. I was thinking, maybe we could pick one and donate as one of our projects next year. Perhaps as our summer project?

Another brain child I had - how about applying to enter the Holiday Art Sale as a group next November to sell any quilts/projects that we are willing to part with? 'Stitching in the Stacks' or something like that...We could donate a portion of the money we make to a charity, or to a group fund to pay for prizes/snacks/guest speakers and such at our meetings.

Kaylee's Quilt Update & Michelle Hats

I finally settled on a layout for the quilt top. And, while I don't have a new picture yet, I have sewn all of the 'bricks' into rows. Now I'm working on sewing the long sashing strips between the rows. I'm hoping to get the top finished this weekend and track down a flannel sheet to use as the batting. The linen is working out great by the way.

and...



Kaylee finally fits into the lovely hats that Michelle made for her. This one is my favorite :)