Another shirt

Another shirt from Simplicity 2907, size 2T. This one is made with shirting fabric, so I think it's a little more comfortable than the first shirt. Isaac says it works well for jumping.

HST challenge

I finished a small baby quilt last year, as part of the Minneapolis Modern Quilt Guild's half-square triangle challenge using Kona Cotton charm packs. I used all except the grey and white squares in the charm pack. There were a ton of greens!

 


I made flying geese blocks out of my HSTs, using a grey Kona cotton for the background.





Isaac has been using this quilt for a while, but he is starting to outgrow it already. Plans are in the works for a toddler bed quilt.

Sailboat top

I finished a sailboat top (pattern by Oliver and S) for Isaac using Liesl sailboat fabric from Joann's. I think I made the 2T size, although it could've been 18-24 months. It's been sitting in his drawer finished for months. It's a little big through the shoulders and the sleeves are long, but he'll grow into it.

The next one will be solid fabric, with contrast stitching and shorter sleeves. Extra long sleeves on this kiddo requires extra stain-sticking later.

 

He had a busy afternoon of digging in the yard and distributing dandelion seeds at the neighborhood park.

Crib quilt #5

Last month I mailed the fifth (and I think final) crib quilt for this year to its owner, my new niece. I fussy cut pieces of Peacock Lane Menagerie in brown and added borders of Kona Cotton solids and coordinating leftovers from the big pink quilt I made a few years back.

 



This is the first pieced quilt I've made with so much negative space. It was a challenge to piece the negative space efficiently - I hate wasting fabric. At first I tried to do the math to plan the exact dimensions of each piece of brown fabric... but I realized it would take f-o-r-e-v-e-r to accurately cut pieces. Instead I cut strips of brown fabric in varying widths and used those to fill in the space around the blocks. The end result is not *exactly* the layout I had planned, but it's pretty close. I'm happy with the end result, and not much fabric was wasted. Win, win!





The only part I'm not happy with is how some of the quilting lines pulled the fabric. I can tell that some lines really pulled the fabric in the direction of stitching, so the pink stripes on the back are not as straight as I'd like. I hope that I'm the only one that notices. Sigh. I think I tried to get by with too few basting pins this time, and didn't pull the fabric as taught as usual when I taped it to the floor.



I really love the pink + brown combo, and I'm pleased with the way the fussy-cut blocks turned out. I know it will be appreciated in its new home.

The cutest hat this year

It's hat weather again in Minnesota. Isaac is sporting his new fall hat, which is super cute. It fits him well - snug enough to stay on and cover his ears, but not too snug that it bothers him. The yarn is soft and warm enough for fall, but not for winter. I'll have to knit the kiddo a warmer hat, probably in alpaca or merino, for winter.

He's already worn the hat a few times, sometimes for stretches of more than an hour. He's even asked to wear it - a total 180 from this summer when he took his hat off every chance he got.



Pattern: Quynn by Woolly Wormhead (ravelry)

Yarn: Be Sweet Bambino Taffy

Needles: US7 DPN

Size: to fit 20" noggin

You! Make me another shirt!

I wish he was saying "You! Make me another shirt!" Instead he his mimicking me, saying "You! Get down!"



This is the first of many shirts I'll be making with the Simplicity 2907 pattern.  This one is size 2T, made of organic quilting cotton I found at SR Harris. It's super cute and we get a lot of compliments on it. I finished the shirt in an afternoon, and it cost less than button-down shirts at target - it was $6 for fabric and buttons. The only change I will make in the next shirts is to make the bottom three button holes vertical. I think horizontal button holes look weird and they're also awkward to button, especially on a toddler.

Ravellenic games

For the 2012 Ravellenic games I worked on a well stocked pantry to go with Isaac's little wooden toy kitchen. And a couple Doctor Who toys, plus a hedgehog. Am I the only one who was surprised that Doctor Who wasn't in the opening ceremony for the Olympics?



First Row:

1. Corn

2. Knitted 'Shrooms

3. TARDIS

4. Pear



Second Row:

1. Cherries

2. Adipose

3.  Mrs. Saucy Apple

4. Celery from Time Crash



Third row:

1. Bacon

2. Little Lulu

3.  Happy Fried Egg

4. Little Oddment Hedgehog

Baby lattice quilt

My newest nephew arrived last month. We visited him over the weekend, he is super cute and doing well.

Back in May I made him a quilt using a layer cake of Lily and Will II fabrics and the baby lattice quilt pattern from Moda Bakeshop. I love how it turned out!

 

I'm especially happy with the way the quilting lines are (mostly) parallel and really pop out on the back.



Four baby quilts down, one to go!

Pallet table

Last year Far Out Flora posted about a DIY pallet table. Theirs was a regular size table with a planter of succulents in the middle. I started to work on my own shortly after that, when I found a discarded pallet in our neighborhood. One pallet was just enough to make the top for a small, short table for our patio. It's handy for bbq's, and doubles as a toddler table. Isaac was thrilled to be able to snack AND pick flowers at the same time. You can see how he discarded his lovey in exchange for a pile of cheddar bunnies.

 

I planted pansies instead of succulents in my table this April. They are still holding up quite well, despite the fact that I've only remembered to water them a few times. I think next year I'll try mint, other herbs or strawberries.



I covered the table with two coats of a mineral-oil based solution that was recommended by a local "green" home goods store. It was $30 for a pint, but there was enough to coat our other patio furniture and still have quite a bit left over for next year. It's working well - when it rains (or when I remember to water the pansies) water beads up on the boards instead of soaking in. Hopefully that means this table will be around for many more seasons!

Trimmings 2012

A few months back I ordered an Umbrella Prints Trimmings packet so I could take part in their 2012 Trimmings competition. The pinterest board with everyone's entries is here. Take a look and vote! Here's the awesomeness I received:



All the fabric is so lovely! It took me a long time to decide what to make. Here's what I came up with:



A little drawstring bag for knitting projects, an insulated wrap for my french press, two dumpling bags and a simple clutch.





These dumpling bags were made using this Michelle pattern.

Little bowtie

I whipped up a Little Guy Bowtie for Isaac using the pattern from Little Londyn. He doesn't mind wearing it at all. Which is good, because I intend to make him a few more.

Quilt three

This one is a stacked coin quilt, pattern found at Moda Bakeshop.



I used two charm packs of La Petite Ecole by French General. It is so cute! I stumbled on this fabric when it was already in the clearance section of most shops and so only managed to snag a couple charm packs. I wish I had more, especially of the alphabet and vocabulary prints. Here's a close-up of the red vocab fabric:



Perfect for a French teacher's baby, right?



The back is one more stripe of stacked coins, bordered by the same tan dot fabric I used on the front.



The quilting is slightly-wavy lines between and a little overlapping with the columns of stacked coins. I didn't want to quilt much over the stacked coins, thinking it might make the French words hard to read. Super happy with how this one turned out! I really like the more organic look of slightly wavy lines, I'm sure I'll be using this again soon.

Quilt two

The second baby quilt is a Sparkle Punch quilt, pattern by Oh, Fransson! I used a lot of negative space instead of doing an all-over star pattern.

 

I found the fabric for the stars at Joann's. I love the plaid and alphabet dots fabric. I forget the name of the fabric collection, but it was one of their "premium quilting fabrics." I bought yards of it and have been hoarding it, and the coordinates, until I the right project came along. The backgrounds for the front and back are Kona solids and the binding is something I picked up at a local fabric store.



I did random straight line quilting for this. I thought about doing a grid but just didn't think that would look right with the wonky stars. I always think that random lines will be quicker than a grid... but they are not. It's some work to get them to look balanced.



I like the back as much as the front! Here you can see that the lines aren't perfectly straight. Some of them are more wonky than others.

Quilt one

The first of the three baby quilts was inspired by a quilt by CraftBlossom. Her design is so simple yet awesome.

 

I wanted to do the same design, but with one print. I found the lovely Jay-Cyn Designs Storyboek fabric @ fabricworm. I purchased a half yard of it, and I believe a third yard of each of 8 different Kona solids: three reds, 4 greys and bone.



I randomly paired up the fabrics and sewed a bunch of 5.5 inch half square triangles.



Isaac was in a particularly snugly mood while I was photographing the quilt. I brought out one of his quilts in an effort to trade/distract, but he was not having it. All the snugly things are mine! ALL OF THEM! His favorite book, Little Lamb, is in the picture above. It's his favorite because he likes to bite the puppet.



There was just enough leftover to piece a back from the scraps. And I mean just enough. There were only a few 1" strips and spare HSTs left over. I'm especially proud that the quilting lines are parallel to the stripes on the back. I tried really really hard to make this happen, but thought things would have shifted more when I was quilting. To get the stripes to line up with the quilting, I 1)lined the seams up with the seams in our hardwood floor while I was basting the quilt, 2) put a basting pin in each HST, and 3) quilted the short seams on the front side first - the ones that run parallel to the stripes in the back.

Three babies, three quilts

Three of our friends are having babies this summer! I finished their three quilts in time for a joint baby shower a few weekends ago.

They were really fun and pretty quick to make. They are all crib quilts, roughly 36" by 50".

 



More details to follow in separate posts.

Hello, marimo!

This was my birthday present to myself - a marimo. He lives on my desk.

It's in the mail

My 4 inch hoop for the Wild Olive embroidery swap is finished, and on its way to its new home.

Winter knits

Although I didn't post during the winter, I was busy making stuff. I knit a few winter things for Isaac . Sadly (?) it looks like winter might already be over, so he may not have many more opportunities to wear them.

 

Pattern: Baby Sophisticate (ravelry)

Yarn: Rowan Cotton Jeans

Modifications: I cast on 44 stitches. Row 1: sl1, k5, pm, k7, pm, k18, pm, k7, pm, k6



Pattern: Toddler t-shirt vest (ravelry)

Yarn: Malabrigo cotton

I know I made some modifications to the pattern, but I forgot to take notes. I think this will fit him again in the fall. Maybe.



Pattern: Baby owl vest (ravelry)

Yarn: S. R. Kertzer Down to Earth Cotton

Again, I made some modifications and I forgot to write them down. This will definitely not fit again in the fall. I might have to make a larger one.

For next winter, I'm planning some hats with earflaps and ties, more vests, and at least one cardigan.

Embroidery swap

Last weekend I sketched out my design for the Wild Olive Stitch Swap. I found a free pattern at So September that was almost exactly what I had in mind. I've been using a water soluble Prismacolor pencil to sketch embroidery patterns, trace sewing patterns, etc. I found it at a local fabric store last year and it works so well I want to buy a bunch more so I'll never run out. Unfortunately the store no longer stocks them so I'll have to find a different source.

A robot backpack

I thought Isaac needed a toddler backpack, now that he's moved up to the toddler room at day care. I used the Made By Rae pattern and some imported Japanese robot fabric that I picked up on sale this winter.



I am super happy with how this turned out, it could not be cuter :)

I made just a few modifications to the pattern: making the side panels in the same fabric as the bottom, making the backpack 1/2 inch wider so that his lunch tin can sit flat in the bottom of the backpack, and I used a lot of interfacing to make sure the bag keeps its shape. I put two pieces of pellon 50 in the bottom, which I whip-stitched to the seam allowances before sewing the lining in. For the front and back panels I quilted a piece of pellon 50 and a piece of quilt batting to the outside fabric, and a piece of quilt batting to the lining fabric. Hopefully all this interfacing means the bag lasts through preschool. We'll see!

Robots + embroidery

A little robot embroidery for Isaac's room. I got the transfers from Sublime Stitching.

I realized about halfway through the robot that I had 2 similar but different shades of gray and that I had been using them interchangeably. Oops! I fixed the mixup, and organized (and labeled!) all my floss in an ArtBin. Now I'm all set for the Wild Olive Stitch Swap!