Friday, August 8, 2014

"Dress Me Up!" Quilt





I saw this tutorial on Dear Stella Designs here, and I immediate hunted down some of this Wee Gallery Wild fabric on Etsy, which was the only place  I could find it. I love, love, love the cuteness of these little critters.

I did changed the pattern a little by adding a little zipper pocket to the back of the quilt for the clothes that go with the quilt. Honestly, it's not my best zipper effort, but I have a pile of WIP that I want to finish before baby #2 arrives mid-September.


As Little Man gets older, I think he will really enjoy this quilt. I really enjoyed the quick quilting I did, and I think it came out so well.

To make the clothes I traced the various animals, then photocopied the outlines so we could sketch the clothes out, then cut them out. The tomato pig is my favorite. We'll gradually be adding to the wardrobe of these little guys as time goes on.


Thursday, August 7, 2014

First Canning of the Season

Well, it wouldn't be canning season if I didn't burn myself. Little Man was napping and I seized the opportunity to process the pickling cucumbers that came in my CSA share on Tuesday. I'm trying a new dill pickle this year, because I can't find the recipe from last year, which really bums me out because it was FANTASTIC!!  I hope this new one turns out, if it does, I will post a link. It should be salty with just a hint of sweet, which is what I love.

Pickles ready to go into the water bath.
As I sit here I can hear my lids popping. I always feel so accomplished when I hear that sound!

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Elk Grove Baby Quilt



I love this Elk Grove fabric by Jay-Cyn Designs for Birch Fabrics. It is adorable and the color palate is wonderful. I made this little quilt up for my new nephew. Being pregnant myself, I'm a little late (he's already almost 4 months old!), but hopefully he will love it.



I love the way the appliquéd circles came out. I wasn't sure if I should quilt around them, but I think it was the way to go. It gives the quilt really nice texture.

I used the cheater quilt block fabric from the Elk Grove line for the backing.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Getting Organized

I've been pinning cleaning chore schedules and checklists for a while now. I've tried out a few, but they never really fit because our house is so small. I finally created my own, laminated it, and taped it to the inside of one of my kitchen cupboards.  I use a dry erase crayon (stollen from my almost 2 year old), and check things off as I do them.  It really helps me keep focused while I'm cleaning, and it seems to go faster.

Here is my new chore checklist:

And now I have to actually go do some work...

Monday, April 21, 2014

Chalkboard Mugs and Mug Rugs

 


I had a fun time making up these cute mug rugs out of Cream and Sugar by Ampersand Design Studio for Windham Fabrics. I think they turned out fantastic and I'm a little disappointed that I didn't keep any for myself. I used some thermal Insul-Bright batting. I have heard from friends and family that they work great.

I also took some mugs I found for less than $2 from Crate and Barrel outlet and painted them with porcelain chalkboard paint.  I think the combination turned out great!





And here are some pictures of my one year old trying to climb the cabinets to pull them off the counter!




Monday, January 27, 2014

Quilted Christmas Stockings

I have finished the stockings for David and Little Man. I think they turned out pretty good. I did not manage to finish my own stocking by Christmas, but now I have an entire year to get that done!

I used the Thimble Blossom Merry pattern, with a few alternations to make it go together easier, and hopefully hold up better. For example, I used interfacing in the stocking cuff to give it a thicker feel more similar to the rest of the stocking. Otherwise, it just seemed too flimsy to me.

I was also really excited to use my machine's bar tack stitch for the hook loops. That's one I don't get to use very often!