Making

I'm feeling a little manic these days (maybe it's all the caffeine??). Trying to get a million things done while the kids are at school, and the ideas keep coming, coming, coming. Which is awesome, but a little overwhelming.
Now stop reading here if you or someone you know is expecting a gift from me in the near future. I don't want to spoil your surprise. But really, most of my "real life" friends don't read my blog anyways. Do yours?

I've been baking:and sewing little gifts for little birthday girls:



... and applique-ing:

Jackie insisted we use this fabric, because it was orange. And we looked through a million books searching for the right dinosaur image to use. And he wore it (even after a little girl in his class told him it was a girl's shirt)!!!

We're on baby watch around here - my sister in law is due any day now - and I'm kind of antsy with anticipation. I can't stop making soft baby blocks and bibs - here's my messy sewing table to prove it:

... and now I'm off to fold my freshly laundered thrifty fabric finds so I can show them to you tomorrow.

xoxo

Sewing

I've been keeping myself busy using all of those beautiful fabrics I bought at Quiltology a couple of weeks ago:

a 'twirly skirt' based on the tutorial by Erin at House on Hill Road:

and a matching headband:
a new tablerunner for my kitchen table:

... and some other very top secret projects that I can't write about just yet (one's for a swap, and one is a very special gift).

Speaking of sewing, Heather is giving away some of her sewn goodness over at Apples on a Stick. And Colleen is giving away some fun vintage goodies over at Fresh Vintage! Check 'em out, my little gumdrops!

Done!

Well, folks, the baby quilt is far from perfect, but I made it myself:


... and it's done!

xoxo

Work on works-in-progress Progresses

More swimming lessons, more pee-wee sports, more tumbling, more embroidery. It's become a bit of an obsession:


I finished this little piece and decided to turn it into a bib. It ended up being one of the largest projects I've undertaken thus far. The debacle that ensued requires that I name this piece "The Five Hour Bib". Yes, friends, five hours. But that of course includes the embroidery.



I transferred this sweet little pattern using a new but vintage-looking pattern from Aunt Martha's onto some cotton fabric I had lying around. Then I embroidered it. Then I added on some iron-on vinyl to make it wipable.

For the reverse side, I pieced together some patchwork using fabrics that mimicked the colors of the embroidery. They ended up all being Katie Jump Rope fabrics from Denyse Schmidt.

Then I quilted the bad boy, something I had never done before. The hardest part, for me, was to sew straight lines. It's not my strong suit.

Okay, so next I pinned the front and back together and sewed 'em up. Then came the hardest part of all - getting that damn binding around all those curves.

The end result? Not so bad:


And then it happened. I thought it might happen eventually. This is the kind of thing that happens to other people. But to me? To someone so young and vibrant? Yep, to me. I got the quilting bug.

I sat at my table yesterday and meticulously cut square after square of fabric. I wasn't even really planning to start a quilt - it just happened. I kept pulling out pile after pile of fabric and going, this will look good. Oh, and look at this one.... until I was facing a pile like this:

I'm going to make this into a baby quilt for a special little someone. I've already pieced the whole top together, and I'm going to embroider some soft flannel for the back (I'm thinking a cute little owl?). And then I think I'll make my own bias tape using one of the fabrics in the quilt.

Is there a QA group out there somewhere?

Have a happy weekend, lovelies.

xoxo

working on...

putting together a baby shower for my sister-in-law::

Eating my favorite summer salad every day(organic baby greens with apples, goat cheese, dried cranberries, walnuts, and balsamic vinaigrette)::


Embroidering some projects for my own kids (Olivia designed the shirt - "I want a guitar with wings on a PINK shirt"). Embroidery is my favorite project to work on while I wait for the kids at all of their summer lessons. So far this week, I've sewn at the pool, in a gymnasium, at the library, and in my car outside of gymnastics class::

Making birthday gifts::

and baking with the kids::
My daughter has had her eyes on those ballerinas from A.Bel Emporium for a month now. I finally took them out to put on her cake (she'll be seven tomorrow - we'll have a low key dinner tomorrow night, and her big party is the next weekend). And she can't wait to pluck them out and play with them!

I've also been working on cleaning up my studio, as always. I'm thinking of doing a tour for you when it's all cleaned up. We'll see if I can make it presentable.

xoxo

p.s. I heart (sweet) comments. Thank you so much for taking the time to leave them. Please look back in the comments section for my reply -- Blogger makes it quite difficult for me to track you down otherwise. But if you send me an email directly, I promise to get back to you.

Hey, look!

I made a child's apron, and I'm just pleased as punch about how it turned out:

It's three tiers of thrifted vintage sheets with ties made from some of the same fabric. I'm sure that's not real apron-making lingo, but hey, I'm not a real apron maker. What I love about using sheets as fabric is that the edges are already hemmed, which is seriously a nice touch.

I saw something similar at one of my favorite little shops in Minnesota last time I was in town. It was reasonably priced, but it was just so cute that I had to try making my own.

Okay, then. Now I can cross that off my list.


xoxo

New Stuff

It's taken all weekend, but I finally have some new onesies and hanky dresses for my shop (see more pictures on my Flickr page). I'll try to get them up on Etsy later today, and then I'm going to start my wholesale order of bookplates for Honey Bunch - Yay!

Yesterday, as I was floating around in my feverish...fog, I was thinking about Heather at Apples on a Stick and how, when she was sick a couple of weeks ago, she stayed in bed and embroidered all day. Oh how I wished I had the foresight to prep some quiet projects to have on hand. As it was, all I could do was shuffle from room to roof, stare at some stuff, and go back to bed. Today I'm much better but still sub-par. Still wandering around, going from project to project, not actually doing anything. Then I remembered this little bad boy tucked in a drawer:

Maybe I can handle a quiet little project. After I take the kids to go see "Surf's Up" this afternoon.

xoxo

Show and Tell

Visited with a great friend, who always brings great gifts:

(I'd link to you, El, if you had a blog, which you desperately need)

Got the seriagraph I ordered from Sugarloop (love it!):

Finished some projects:

Started some others:


Wore the most uncomortable shoes in the world:

Worked on prizes from the Sweepstakes (and some new logo design):

And now I'm off to the chiropractor.

xoxo

I stopped in at a church 'garage sale' yesterday and was disappointed to find that it was much smaller than I had hoped it would be. But then I found all of these owl treasures (some fabric, some sort of dish, and a cookie cutter!), and that more than made up for it. Then I went to two more sales and didn't find anything at all. Nothin. Bupkus. But then I went to the Goodwill and found more stuff. Hmmm... and I wonder why I can't find any time to fold the laundry.

I'm starting to realize that my flea-marketing/garage-sailing/antiquing/thrift-shopping has become a bit of an obsession of late. It's more like a part-time job at this point. Except without, you know, the paycheck. So I'm thinking I should start selling some of my finds. I mean, I'm going to keep buying them; It's just that I can't keep keeping all of them. Any suggestions on a format for this venture? It'll give me something to think about this weekend.
I hope your weekend is just swell!

xoxo

good mail

have you seen the new "Katie Jump Rope" line of Fabric From Denyse Schmidt? It was too hard to decide which to order...
so I bought a fat quarter of each and every one of them from Cia's Palette. I just ordered it yesterday, and here it is in my studio this afternoon. That's superfast shipping - "What can brown do for you?" Oh, and the shipping was free!!

Aren't they fanfrickintastic?
(sorry, but we're trying to curb the potty mouth around here. Which is why I say - okay, type - things like "holy moly" and "jeez louise". It's because I'm a lady, not a drunken sailor. I just have to remind myself of that sometimes.)

moving on.

I also received a lovely lovely print from Jen of Swallowfield earlier this week:

I'm loving her collages! It was really hard to choose which print to buy. I think I'll have to have more of them at some point. And, of course, I'll frame this one. I just wanted to show it to you.

xoxo

stuff I made / what I'm making

Working on...
fabric covered push pins::



recycled book journals::
new curtains for the playroom::
(from my favorite vintage sheets)

matchbooks with illustrations from vintage reference books::

That should keep me busy for today. I should have at least some of this in my Etsy shop by this evening.

edit: a few of the pushpin sets were added to my shop at noon CST.

xoxo

a perfect weekend

Went for a bike ride around the new neighborhood ::


Went out for a lovely dinner with a few girlfriends, and drank some good wine ::

Took the husband and kids to the zoo on the most beautiful day ever::
and got to see the baby giraffe ::
hung my new tote bag from a tree (my husband said "that's normal") ::
made a notepad cozy (a nod to Jill Bliss) ::
and used it for directions to get to an antique market with Melissa on Sunday ::
Scored a ton of cloth covered golden books at said antique market (well worth the 60+ mile drive into farm country) ::
and also these, which have great illustrations for cutting up, or for, I suppose - educating myself and/or my children ::
And some treasures for the Old School Swap (including this spelling & counting board) ::
And then I watched a movie on the couch with my husband, cleaned the kitchen, showered up the kids and got in our pajamas, and we all went to the Oberweis drive-thru for ice cream (I had a turtle candy sundae. yum). It was a perfect weekend.

a tote or two

busy sewing::