Sewing for Boutique

I've been busily making some little outfits to sell at a Holiday Boutique this Saturday the 5th from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm. Some pictures follow. If you're interested in checking it out and know where I live - it is at the house across the street from mine. If you don't know were I live send me a message and I can give you all the information. Also being sold at the boutique will be my reusable gift bags, purses and ornaments made by my neighbor, jewelry, cards, etc... Great chance to get some handmade gifts! Whatever doesn't sell I'll put in my Etsy shop.

size 12 months

size 6-12 months

size 0-3 months

Size 3T

Next is the bobble dress I crocheted for my daughter - I used a fingering weight Merino/Silk yarn from KnitPicks, called Gloss. The color is Kenai. The pictures aren't very good, maybe I'll get a better one, one of these days. Lastly, a Tshirt I made for a 3yr old's birthday (he sings a song about being a robot). The words are stenciled using fabric paint and freezer paper as a stencil. The robot is appliqued then stitched down with the machine for the bigger sections, and hand done with blanket stitch on the smaller pieces.

Now back to work for me!

Four!

My firstborn turned 4 on Tuesday and we had a great time celebrating! She got her long awaited quilt and her very own birthday crown. The crown has a charm for each of her four birthdays that goes along with the theme of that year's party.

The quilt was the log cabin pattern from the Patchwork Style book. Each square was pieced and quilted directly to squares of batting and then those quilted squared pieced together. The fabrics I used are mostly scraps from other projects and about 6 fabrics my daughter chose from the store. (Although those were the ones I felt never really fit into the style, but oh well!) The backing is a really soft sheet and I used some of the fabric strips pieced together for the binding. It was my first time doing a binding hand sewn with a blind stitch on the back. I think it came out very well and am planning on making a queen sized version for my sister's upcoming wedding. It was lots of fun to make.



We had a great day at Disneyland with Grandma & Grandpa too! The day was just about as perfect as could be. I think she felt very special and loved. As she is!

I did finish the crocheted dress on Wednesday, but haven't gotten a good picture yet.

Quilts and Cuts

Quilts - I got some flannel fabric from a friend who was clearing out her stash and it called out to me one day to make a quilt for the latest Craft Hope project. So I made up what I will call the "one afternoon quilt". It was easy and fun, if anyone is interested in how to make it I'll figure out how to post a tutorial. It literally took me only about 4 or 5 hours and that was while juggling the needs of my two little ones as well. The first picture is the only one I have of the whole thing, and it was taken before I sewed the binding on. The second shows it finished, a little closer up with the corner folder over to show the back as well.

The other quilt I just finished has not yet been photographed and will be presented to my daughter for her 4th birthday present tomorrow morning. I am so excited to show it to her, she has also been so excited to see it. Will photograph and post soon!

Cuts - We've had a couple haircuts at our house. One professional, one amateur. I decided it was time to cut my hair again (for the first time since my last haircut eight months ago). I was inspired to go short by the adorable Nataly Dawn of Pomplamoose Music on YouTube (you won't believe me, but I don't actually spend that much time on youtube - check out their music though, very fun!). I opted for a professional cut this time. I like how it came out, but I'm still figuring out how best to style it with a minimum of labor. I don't have any great pictures of myself yet, but this one that my daughter took will have to suffice.

Which leads to the amateur cut...my daughter walks into my room a couple mornings later with a wad of her hair in her hand exlaiming, "Look mom, I have short hair now, too!" I was scared to look and just covered my eyes. When I got the courage to look, I was thankful it wasn't that bad. But was very sad to have to cut the rest of her hair which had for the first time in her life grown past her shoulders. :( Needless to say from the pictures, she was not happy either. Many tears shed that morning all around.

But tomorrow, there will be no tears. We are headed to the happiest place on earth to celebrate her 4th birthday and spending the night at the Disneyland Hotel! Other birthday crafts to be completed still (yikes, I will be up late tonight!) include her birthday crown (like sister got), and crocheted bobble dress.

Praise revelation part two

Related to my recent post about praise, I had another revelation this morning. Worshipping God is such a spirit lifter because that is what we were created to do! So the back story to how this revelation came about is that I discovered a new toy- an autoharp. I know it sounds cheesy, but it's an awesome instrument. It's an instrument anyone with any amount of rhythm and a negligible amount of musical ability can play. I can even sing while playing it which is more than I can say for my guitar or piano skills. I teach 2 year olds at Community Bible Study and we are learning about David. Tomorrow's lesson is about David playing the harp to King Saul to lift his spirits. I've heard my husband had an autoharp at his school so I had him bring it home for me on Monday to show the kids this week. I realized it was horribly out of tune, so I picked up a tuning wrench at Morey's music on Tuesday and learned how to tune it. Then yesterday I looked up YouTube videos of how to play it. (I love YouTube, it taught me how to knit too.) So this morning I'm practicing a couple Psalms (5 & 121) to sing and play for the kids. I realize I haven't had any coffee and though it sounds good I don't really feel the need to drink any. I have lots of energy- even though I went to bed at 11:30 woke up at 5 then again at 6 for good. I would normally be exhausted right now. Then it came to me-that is what I was made for- worshipping God. Duh! And I think that's what I'll be doing for eternity after this earth life is over. It's gonna feel great. My other hope about heaven is that there's a gigantic craft closet. :)

Fall projects thus far

When it rains it pours, I haven't posted in almost a month and now two posts in the same day.

Latest finished projects follow -Outfit I made for a friend's 2nd birthday. I fell in love with this sunflower batik print at the quilting shop in Chico and knew it was perfect for a little girl's fall outfit. I appliqued on purchased shirt the sunflowers, used ribbon for the stems, and scraps of another green batik I had for the leaves. I embroidered her initial on the shortest of the flowers (she's the youngest of three girls) though it's hard to see. The skirt is based on the one I seem to keep making because it's simple- here and here for example. I like using a second fabric for the bottom of the skirt. It's such an easy way to finish the seam since it's just a doubled over strip of fabric sewn on then top stitched, I added a little center pleat this time as well.

Hats number 3 and 4 in my hat knitting career are done, this time in adult sizes. The pattern is Ann Norling's Spiral Rib Hat which I like because it has directions for all different sizes, gauges, yarn weights, etc.... The grey yarn is Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light- which is really soft and the black is Berroco Vintage Wool which has a nice feel too. I keep experimenting with knit & crocheted flowers and haven't found one I love yet, but I'll keep trying. I'm not permanently affixing these flowers in case the receivers of the hats choose to go without them.

Works in progress include a log cabin quilt for my soon to be 4 year old's bday, along with a crocheted dress , and her ladybug halloween costume. Fun, fun, fun!

Recent Lessons from the Spirit

In trying to realize the dual purpose of this blog to record crafting adventures and changes in my life prompted by the spirit of God, I put down one of my most recent messages that I will be trying to implement into my life.

The antidote for a bad mood, or a slump, or "I just can't get up right now!"....is praise. Telling God who He is and why He is good. Even (especially!) when you don't feel like it. Guess what?! It works! My spirit is lifted and my focus is straightened out a bit. I highly recommend it.

Catching Up

Wow, it's been way too long since I've posted anything on here. The pace of crafting has slowed with the pace of everything else picking up. I guess it's September, back to the real world. Now it's almost October, yikes! Christmas will be here before we know it and I've got a hefty list of presents to create. Latest finished projects following:

Knit baby hat, which is supposed to be a Christmas gift but it knit up smaller than I thought so I'm thinking I have to give it now so the baby can actually get some use out of it. This hat was the inspiration for learning to knit and that I blogged about here. I planned to put a tulip flower from the pattern on the top, but it didn't turn out right so I improvised the one shown.

I've sewn a few more of my GreenGift bags that I've posted on Etsy. My favorite one is pictured here. I haven't sold any yet, though. I haven't been able to make/post any new ones for a while, though. I've heard the key is posting new stuff frequently. Need more time to sew!


Speaking of sewing - My friend and I made a new cover for our friend's car seat. She's having a girl and we wanted to spruce up her blue car seat that her son used. So we took a fabric that she used to make a diaper bag as our inspiration. It's from Amy Butler's Midwest Modern Collection - Garden Maze in Olive. The quilting I did on it gave me the confidence to try making a real quilt with my little Singer sewing machine. She was very surprised and loved it.


Lastly, I've been baking lots of fresh bread lately - daunted not by the heat waves we've been having. The book I've been using is Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. While I haven't yet followed any recipe to the T (I never can!) I have made some pretty yummy breads, and I love the concept that the book has taught me. Making large batches of dough that you store in the fridge and can easily make 3-4 loafs from with very little active working time. Pictured is the first loaf I made from the book. It was super yummy, especially dipped in olive oil & balsamic vinegar.

Lots and lots of projects in the queue. The one I'm most excited about is a quilt requested by my soon to be 4 year old for her birthday. It's going to be tough to keep it all a surprise though...lots of late night sewing in the next 6 weeks! I'm also knitting more hats, adult ones this time with (removable) flowers on them. And I want to crochet this adorable dress, I've ordered the yarn for it.

Ok, watch out world, I'm on Etsy

So I got a "bee in my bonnet" tonight to finally open an Etsy account to sell things I make. Wish me luck! I've only got one item in my store so far, but you gotta start somewhere, right? My genius idea (actually my genius mom's idea) is 'green' fabric gift bags that are reusable. I think I'm going to take the world by storm. I also want to sell cute baby stuff like burp cloths and clothes, but there is tons of competition in that area, so I'm hoping I may have a niche with my GreenGift bags. (No that is not copyrighted and I'm probably infringing on someone else's copyright so I'm hoping not to get sued)

My other latest FO is an outfit for a very special little boy. I used fusible webbing to applique on a T-shirt from Target and made the Huck Finn pants from Weekend Sewing again. Most of the fabric is from Honey Run Quilters in Chico and the bear is wool felt. The tent/pants fabric is really soft, perfect for a little one.

I'm also in the middle of a couple knitting projects - both hats. I stocked up on some yarn at Heartstrings in Chico and hope to do some knitting for Christmas gifts.

Speaking of Chico, we're home now after two months up north. It was a fabulous time, and I thought I would be somewhat sad after coming home. But I am perfectly content to be back. I haven't fully unpacked/recovered the house, yet, but I'm working on it (I got a little side-tracked with Etsy project). The summer is rapidly coming to an end and the year's activities are gearing up, but I'm looking forward to it. We hadthe chance to truly relax and have fun together as a family, and I'm ready for whatever comes next! I'm most looking forward to starting back up in CBS Bible Study, I get so much out of it and love all the women that are in it, too. Can't wait to see what God has in store for our family this coming school year.

More Summer Fun

The last couple weeks have been filled with more fun. Swimming in the rivers, bike rides around town, a visit from my sister & b.i.l., a week up at Lake Almanor boating, off-roading, hiking, and just hangin out. Lots of good food as well including spanakopita (a great one to make ahead and freeze!), gyros in town, cucumber salad made with amazing chinese cucumbers from farmers market (i'll never be able to eat a store cuke again! I'm going to have to grow them.), wild blackberry sorbet, peaches and gorgeous heirloom tomatoes from the neighbor, I could go on and on....

Pictured below is the family in Upper Bidwell Park at a waterfall hiking down to a swimming hole, our little rock climber, and my 3 latest finished projects detailed below:

Appliqued owl inspired by Amazing Mae. The pants are the Huck Finn pants I made before here from Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross. This outfit is for a special little boy (I am starting on Christmas already, I am so impressed with myself). I couldn't pass up the argyle print when I saw it at Honey Run Quilters - but it may be a little over-the-top. Good thing the pants are so easy to sew up- I won't be crushed if they don't get worn.

My first real Stash Basket from The Purl Bee. I love the colors - though they don't come across great in the photo. As I was crocheting in the car on the way up to Lake Almanor my husband noticed that it was all the colors of the forest surrounding us. Love it! Now all I need is an actual stash of yarn to fill up my stash basket. My measly two full skeins and about 3 partial ones required the bear to help fill it up. I'm contemplating the adorable bobble dress as a future project, but I better catch up with my other list a little first.

Finally my pretty sad little second attempt at the butterfly hat is probably not worth picturing but I hope to fix it so maybe my end product will be a little more impressive ?? I still don't have the hang of adapting crochet patterns. This hat fits my husband as well as my three year old so I'll have to take out about 6-8 rows and try again.

Roses, turkeys, tomatoes & yarn among other things

Vacation has been humming along merrily. We had a great bike ride and swimming in the Feather River on our 7th wedding anniversary. I also got some beautiful roses and my rings professionally cleaned. Our 3 year old took the photo of us at a burger place we stopped on our bike ride for lunch. We have also visited a farm for retired and rescued animals - the turkeys were a favorite with our littlest turkey. Our 3 year old is becoming quite the fish and has started floating, swimming on her own, diving, etc... all in the course of the last 4 weeks. Pictured below she's running through the fountains at the park. She also did her longest hike yet, three miles to see Boiling Hot Springs Lake in the Lassen National Forest. She even carried a little backpack the whole way.

We continue to make yummy food using produce from farmers' markets and our neighbor's fruit trees. Some of which are roasted vegetable torte, caprese salad, homemade apricot ginger gelato, strawberry sorbet, rocky road ice cream, homemade granola, sticky ribs.

During my creative interludes I've made a little clutch bag inspired by a project in Bend the Rules Sewing by Amy Karol, a burp cloth, my first knitting finished project - a little infant hat, and matching dresses for the girls that coordinates with my green one from a couple posts ago.

The little one is either blowing a kiss, signing hot, eat or water...I think I'm going to go with blowing a kiss.

Uh-oh, I got suckered into a new hobby

As I've been dabbling in crochet, I saw this adorable butterfly hat. So I had to make one. It will not be pictured here for several reasons - I tried to adjust the size to fit my one year old and it ended up looking more like a yarmulke. I added a few rows and then realized that I had messed up the first stitch on each round and long story short, it's probably a piece of trash. But definitely a learning experience. I'm discovering that, like baking, I need to stick to the recipe. So I went to the Heartstrings Yarn Studio to get some yarn to try the hat again. I fell in love with a beautiful yarn. It's Sublime baby cashmere merino silk. It is sooo soft and matches the fabric I had just picked up at Honey Run Quilters for a baby gift clothing project. So I had to get it, but then realized it was a different size yarn than the pattern the butterfly hat called for so I went to browse through other patterns and found this one which has very cute crocheted flowers on them. You can knit or crochet the caps then add the crocheted flowers. The knit caps looked so much nicer than the crocheted ones....so one thing led to another and thanks to the very helpful lady at the shop I am sitting here with size 5 (waaay smaller than the only one other pair of knitting needles I've ever used- they look more like cuticle pushing sticks) circular knitting needles in my hand and watching You Tube video tutorials on how to knit. (I bought some cheaper yarn to practice on, first. And I did find some yarn to try again on the butterfly hat). I also have the following to thank for knitting becoming a label in my blog - my husband indulging my desire to visit these shops without the kids, the large iced coffee I had just consumed, and the high I was on from the beautiful fabrics I had just ogled over at the quilting shop. But it was probably bound to happen at one time or another.

Other fabrics for baby gift projects- clothing & applique, along with my needles & first attempt at casting on. The only other thing I've ever knit- a scarf 3 or 4 years ago - my mom cast on for me then showed me the knit stitch. Although I finished the scarf I didn't start anything else.



I'm also working on the smocked dresses for my girls from Weekend Sewing. The fabric is the same as the dress I made for myself in last post, only in pink.



Also brewing is a spiritual blog post, I just finished reading The Shack and loved it.

Week Three

We're now in week three of vacation and have had two sets of houseguests. We've been camping in Lake Tahoe, back and forth from Lake Almanor to Chico twice, went to a baseball game, pony rides, went fishing, have been on several hikes and swimming adventures, and have started both girls in their first swim classes. We've also been to several farmers' markets and made lots of good food out of the fresh seasonal produce including apricot chicken, ratatouille and strawberry ice cream.

In the crafting realm I've finished the Mendocino Sundress pictured below (after trying to pose several self-taken pictures which were hideous I opted for the headless look.) It was simple and fun to make. I actually never printed out the pattern but just drew it out approximately on the fabric. My favorite part is the pockets! I finished the crocheted stash basket. Although it doesn't quite look like the pattern because I unintentionally improvised when I made a lot of "progress" in the car without the pattern. After visiting the Heartstrings Yarn Studio in Chico and buying some yarn specifically for making the basket I hurriedly finished it off instead of fixing it and began a new one. I am trying to stick to the pattern this time. I made matching skirts and pants for my girls, niece & nephew while they were out. The skirts are adapted from the lazy days skirt which I've made before with a doubled over strip of fabric as the hem instead of the ribbon trim. The pants are the Huck Finn pants from Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross. Both super quick and simple projects. I love how the pants turned out. I think I'll have to make some more of those for other little boys I know.

yes, she had to go potty.

Fathers Day & Vacation has begun

We had a fun Father's Day, despite the fact that we drove straight from Long Beach to Chico starting Saturday night at 6:45 pm and arriving at 4:35 am on Sunday. The girls were so excited to see their cute "new" room that grandma had fun decorating that it took a little while to get them back to sleep once we got there. But we eventually did and had a VERY leisurely day. We gave daddy the handprint art we made. Then we took our first family of four bike ride with one in the bike seat and the other in the trailer and mommy riding for the first time since she was pregnant (about two years - I'm not so coordinated, so never wanted to chance it) We rode from the house to downtown and had bagels for breakfast/lunch, stopped by a used bookstore (where I bought The Shack and couldn't find Breaking Dawn), and a park with playground. Then mom and dad took turns taking naps and watching the girls, followed by a late afternoon swim in the pool.

We are officially on vacation! Some ways I can tell...

1) The watch is off my wrist!

2) The afternoon cup of coffee has been replaced with an afternoon nap.

3) I considered getting up after feeding the baby at 5:40 am to do some sewing while the house was quiet because I knew I would get an afternoon nap. I considered it...then went back to sleep.

4) I have actually been cleaning up after myself and my kids because I'm not rushing to get somewhere else.

5) I have been going to bed before midnight, because I can!

I have been working on my crocheted basket. And finished the outfit I made for my neice due to be born any time now. I used this pattern and you may recognize the fabric from our Easter dresses. I actually originally bought the fabric with my new niece in mind, but got lots of it to make something for everyone because I liked it so much. It's supposed to be size 1-3 months, but looks a little big to me. I'm hoping it works, because from October on it's pretty cold in Buffalo, NY. I think my favorite part of the outfit is the little gathered sleeves, they kill me they're so cute. I really wish I had a better camera and was a better photographer. My pictures never look as good as the real thing.

We're heading out to Lake Tahoe tomorrow to go camping with friends. It is my first time there, though I think we've "planned" a Tahoe trip every year since we've been married. (7 years next month) I'll let you know if we actually make it there this time.

Summer Projects

I have high hopes for this summer in the creating department. We're heading out of town Saturday to Chico for a couple months to stay at my in-laws' house. The sewing machine and fabric are going along too with a list of summer projects that includes but is not limited to the following:
-For my girls - A couple lazy days skirts , this pattern of skirt, pants, dress and this top & pants. Fabrics pictured below with my daughter who helped to pick them out.
-Matching pillowcase dresses for my girls from a pair of pillowcases I picked up at a thrift boutique.
-More animals out of Sock & Glove- elephant & cat, at least. See dog made from the book pictured below. He used to be a pair of cashmere gloves from New Zealand.
-Make yard sale skirt, trapeze dress, coordinating shirred sundresses for girls & I, summer blouse all from Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross. I got this book from my sister for my bday and I love it. I have yet to sew from it, but have done lots of drooling and planning. Fabrics pictured below.
-Make felt dolls for girls, like the ones made for Craft Hope. (pictured below)
-Finish a few sewing projects for nieces and nephews. One of which is this pattern.
-Finishing crocheting this basket. My first ever crochet project.

I hope to have some of these projects completed and posted here for proof in the near future.


Also going with us on our trip is my new ice cream maker which I am very excited about. So far I've made Mascarpone Ice Cream topped with Roasted peaches (recipe from Food & Wine Magazine) and Blueberry Medley Frozen Yogurt. Both winners!

Below pics are fabrics to be used, several of which I just picked up at M&L Fabric Store in Anaheim. I am hoping there will be some cool shops in Chico, too from which to acquire more fun stuff.

Lastly, below are felt dolls my friend and I made for the Craft Hope. I recommend you read the beautiful post about the 405 dolls made for this project.