finally finished!!

My I-Spy quilt for Natalie's 2nd birthday, (last March!) is finally done! I'd had all the squares done, then stalled at the sashing, then stalled again at the border, and then stalled one last time at the quilting! But it is done, washed (I almost stalled there too, but bit the bullet and just made sure to use a bunch of color catchers!), and in use on her bed. I loved the idea of this quilt, and the finished product, but the next time I do it will be on a smaller scale.
I quilted each colored square with a border and bubbles. This quilting technique is also something I will only attempt again on a small scale. I couldn't believe how much thread I went through!
Natalie loves it, and it seems nice and sturdy, so I'm happy with the results!

Baby Shower Gift

Almost every mom I know is pregnant with her second baby right now, so a bunch of us got together and did a group, secret Santa style baby shower. I drew a friend of mine who isn't finding out what she's having, but luckily loves the color green, which is pretty gender neutral, so I went with it.

I quilted her a quick, cotton-chenille-lined stroller blankie.
Knitted a tiny cotton hat, (my fave!)
And tried my hand at terrycloth-lined bibs,
and burp cloths.
Top the whole thing off with a cow, and it was quite a popular gift! Phew!
Now on to all my Christmas sewing and knitting!

Birthday Party favors

Natalie's birthday was last month, and in keeping with my handmade gifts goal for the year I made handmade party favors for her little friends.

The little crayon/paper holders ended up going together pretty quickly when done in bulk. And one would really take only about half an hour or so.
Sewing the slots probably took the longest, (after choosing the fabrics from my stash!)
I personalized each one which was actually pretty easy after getting the hang of it.
Pretty cute, huh? And perfect for little toddle hands I think!

quiet book page, G and H

I recently began the huge task of creating an alphabet "quiet book" for Natatlie. It should be done by the time she's out of college. Here she is playing with the first page: G-H, (H is on the other side). I have since put button holes on the flowers in the garden.

Some parts of this project are going very smoothly. The applique letter blocks for example are much easier than I expected and are improving my applique skills and my sewing machine confidence. Other things will change in future blocks; more raw edges and felt will make appearances for one thing!

travel sewing case

I wanted a little something to carry my needles and hooks for just a couple projects, so I made this little carrier. I used some hoarded Amy Butler fabric that I ad a very tough time cutting into. It came out very well, and though I used it for knitting projects on my last trip, in the future I think it will be more for crochet and embroidery/hand sewing that I plan on taking on. It will hold floss and thread very well in the elastics under the flap. And though it folds and is functional, it doesn't look quite right when the flap is folded over the longer knitting needles!

I've been quiet, but busy!

I'm going to try to get all these pictures organized so that I can share these projects with you! First I'm going to try to get all the various handmade Christmas gifts out of the way! We'll start with just a cute little tutu I made for my niece for Christmas! Nat is modeling it for me. And here is a reversible superhero cape I made my little nephew! My DH is modeling it for me.


So that's that! I've been wanting to share those for a while now. Theres more to come. Knitting and sewing galore.