For Baby T

Our neighbors had a little boy a couple months ago.  When she told me her nursery colors were brown and green I wasn't sure how I felt about that.  Then I started putting fabrics together.  Yummm.

Another project made possible by my embarrassingly comprehensive stash.   

For the record

I DID make baby a quilt before birth after all...just never photographed it.  

 Of course now it has been washed countless times and been used to wipe, clean, cover, dry...not to mention being covered BY many unmentionable substances.  It's held up remarkably well, considering.  

 Bright colors as usual.  Mango paisley minky.  

Lots of Dots

For some reason, I have no problem picking out fabrics and patterns for quilts for everybody else, but when it comes to making something for my own kids, I'm always stumped.  I think I over think it.  I have WAY too many incredible patterns pinned and stashed and even imagined and I always want to make them that one special thing they will want to keep forever.  But the truth is...I no longer have (make?) time to do anything beyond the most basic of projects.  Maybe it's my time they will appreciate more than the thing I used my time to make for them. I know they would prefer I spent it playing Go Fish than making them heirloom quilts.

So my "baby" got his quilt for his first birthday.  Wow.  That's a slowpoke record even for me.  

 I have been in love with polka dots for a long time and one day I just binged and bought a half yard of every polka dot fabric I could find.  I decided to just go for it while I was still excited about them, so I cut them all up into squares and alternated them with natural linen (my other fabric crush right now).

 SO simple, but I LOVE how it turned out.  Once again I'm glad I took the time to quilt along the edges of each seam.  It measured 45" x 60" (standard crib size) which is the perfect size to cover the crib mattress.  It's a little smaller now that it's been washed and dried but still does the job.

 I know I took some pictures of it before I washed it but I can't seem to locate them.  It was very crisp before but I am so in love with the crinkly look of washed linen.  It has an orange shot cotton on the back and is so soft and cozy.

 I couldn't resist a striped binding.

Happy birthday, babe!

Christmas quilts

I've closed the Etsy shop. I'm not gonna lie, I miss it.  But I sort of miss it like I think I would miss crack (you know, if crack were my thing).  It's more of an addiction, I'm afraid, than anything.  Maybe I'll ramble more on that later.  The point is, I never work on stuff for MY kids, and closing my shop has given me a bit of a chance to catch up on some of the things I've wanted to make for them.  

I wanted to make my big boys snuggle quilts for Christmas...just something simple and cozy and the perfect size for them to curl up and read or watch TV with.  

 Oh...the color possibilities!!  I finally arrived at a couple of combos I am really happy with. 

Bright and happy but still very boy-ish.

 The happy recipients: they were good sports to pose for me.  

 

and...a few more...

Sorry I just can't quit with the hot pads.  My sewing time seems to be evaporating but every once in a while I get an hour or 2 that I just have to spend cutting and piecing. Rather than start anything big I know I won't be able to finish any time soon, I love making these little finished projects!

 Plus, Great Harvest ordered some more.  

Plus I have all these delicious scraps to use up.

 These are the scraps from the quilts I made my boys for Christmas.  I thought it was kind of interesting to see how a different binding and backing fabric completely changes the look of the exact same fabrics.

For holding hot pots

Time to post a few formerly top secret projects.


I wish I had counted how many pot holders I made. They were so much fun...like short attention span theater for quilters. I got to try out all kinds of little designs I've had floating around my head that I don't have the time or inclination to make into entire quilts. The hot pad is a perfect audition.


It was also the perfect home for scraps I couldn't bear to throw away. I won't say I seriously diminished my scrap pile but I made a pretty good dent in it.


Perfect neighbor/teacher/friend gift. I even made a bunch for my brother's Great Harvest, which is such a cool classy joint I was just honored to have my creations in there with all those heavenly baked goods. Then my local Great Harvest got wind of them and picked some up too, which worked out great for me since we are trading for baked goods, mmmm. If I may digress, I think trade is the way the world should work. (Specifically, I would love to find a carpenter that would like to trade built in bookshelves for pot holders. Ha!)