Welcome, Baby Gwen!!!

Happy Friday everyone! I can't even begin to describe how awesome my week has been! I absolutely LOVE not having a ton of things to do and I think I have needed that. It has just been so busy lately, my body has needed this week to rest up. I still have a lot of things to blog, so hopefully things will stay fairly slow (there's not much on the calendar, so cross your fingers!). We are going to enjoy a ladybug birthday party and Clovis Fest to see the hot air balloons (I think Ethan will LOVE it!). Have a great weekend everyone!

My sewing machine has been really busy lately. A lot of my friends have been having babies, so I have been getting excited about these projects.

This set of girls stuff was made for my friend Regina, who just gave birth to a little girl, Gwen.

My favorite thing, we the little girls onesie (children's place) with embroidered circle of coordinating fabric from the line that I made the burpies and giraffe from.

Here are the burpies. .. I love doing the patchwork to break it up a bit. The giraffe is once again from a Lotta Jansdotter pattern.
Happy sewing!!!!

Welcome, Baby Braden!!!

A little over a week ago, our new little nephew was welcomed into the world. He is such a cutie (even though, when I got to hold him, he cried a "hungry and you're not my mommy" cry)!

This little guy gave me the opportunity to make another quilt. I am so excited about this one, because I absolutely fell in love with the fabric line "Chirp" by Robert Kaufman and I really wanted to try the Disappearing 9 Patch over at Cluck Cluck Sew (it's a super easy tutorial for Free!!!)

This is the final result. I used a soft fabric for my lining and a very thin batting. It ended up being very snuggly, which was what I wanted. I also tied it with yarn every so many squares just to hold the middle together.

Here's a close up of how awesome the fabric is!

To match, I made her some burpies, a bib, and a giraffe rattle. So much fun!

Happy Saturday everyone! I realized yesterday that it has been over a week since I last posted something . . . and man, I have an entire camera full of stuff to share with you all! So, first, I apologize for slacking off. Because in sooo many ways I have been so lazy! But, also, I have been so incredibly distracted. You see, Spring is here. . . yes! I may have posted something recently about how spring has sprung. In the past few weeks I have planted my very first garden full of cute little rows of strawberries, sugar snap peas, tomatoes, squash, potatoes, broccoli, and lettuce. I am so very excited about reaping my harvest this summer. I can already see a little broccoli growing and some sugar snap peas developing. My strawberries are getting big. . . still a little green (i think the birds may be eying them. . . so if you have any suggestions on how to keep birds out of a garden, please comment. . . i need help!). I have also been tackling the weed problem (Let me clarify. . . I mean the weeds that are overtaking my yard. . . not the illegal plant LOL). I am absolutely loving my yard. .. it is a haven of green! I have also started cleaning carpets and taking down wallpaper in our kitchen. Last night, we bought paint for our kitchen and front bathroom. I am so excited! Our front bathroom has been blessed with nice blue tiles, sinks, and a tub. Yes, blue. The former owners also painted the walls BLUE! no joke! I am going to paint them a color, called "sand between your toes." In other words, I have a nautical theme going on there and I think a sand-like color will be a nice contrast. Out kitchen has this ugly green leafy, floral wall paper and border around it and I am slowly taking it down during nap time. I hope to start painting it a grey color this week. I am so excited about painting! I have lots of projects in my brain that just can't wait to get started!

Okay, so at the top of this post, I placed a picture of a recent diaper pouch I made using some Michael Miller fabric. I had so much fun making this for a friend. I was told to make it boy-like and green and brown. I found this fabric and couldn't resist. I also played around with a business card because this was a gift for her friend. I would love to start selling more of them.

And finally, I will leave you with a recipe that I made this week. They were eaten far too quickly for a picture to be taken. . . they were delicious. This recipe was featured in Rachel Ray's magazine a few months ago, when she did a feature on classic recipes. Being a fan of Oatmeal Raisin, I just couldn't resist. So, I made them and delicious they were! You can find the recipe here. There's also a picture there, so you can see just how tasty the are too!

I hope to be on here very soon. . . hopefully I won't get lost in the wallpaper and paint! Have a fantastic SPRING weekend!

My first baby gift of the year. . .

Saturday marked the first baby shower of the twenty-ten. So, I must unveil my first sewing of the year. I have to confess that it felt good to sew. The past two months have been fairly chaotic and it was so nice to sit in my own space and sew during Ethan's nap time. And, when I was done. . . I didn't have to put my machine away so we could eat. . . it just stayed right where I had it set up. Let me just say. . . it was so NICE! So, in honor of my sewing space I must show you what I've been working on. It was my friend Lindsay's shower, so I had to make her a diaper pouch. . . she would need it in the church nursery (the workers LOVE them!), a taggie, two chenille burpies, and a matching rattle. It was also really nice to use some girly colors. . . for a change. My next set of baby stuff will be boy. . . fun stuff!

MOPS centerpieces

Thursday night, our MOPS group dove into the topics of Infertility, Miscarriage, and Adoption. Three guest speakers came and shared the sorrow, as well as the joy, as they told the stories of their experiences. Earlier I had been approached by my friend Stacy to help with the centerpieces for night. We put together these hand sewn baby gifts with burpies, diaper pouch, and bib for people to enjoy as they ate, listened, and fellowshiped, and then had the opportunity to buy (they went fast!). Here are how each of them came out!

A gift for baby boy Gerking!

Lisa's shower was Saturday, so I can finally post some of the things I have been working on. This summer, I was on a search for some really neat boy fabric for BBGerking's quilt. The fabric I had wanted, was not available until the end of July, so, on a quick stop in Cedar City, Utah, we found this really neat baby fabric at a Ace Hardware/Quilt Shop. I have to say, Jon picked out the fabric and he did a great job! The fabric is blue owls, blue birds, blue and white stripes, and blue chenile. It made a great combination.

Lisa and her quilt. Her card: Stampin' Up Just My Type stamps, Brocade Blue and Chocolate Chip, Stampin' Up Designer Series Paper (don't remember the name. . . don't think they carry it anymore), white button brads, and brown grossgrain ribbon

Diaper Pouch: holds several dipaers and some wipes.

Diaper Changing Pad

Tag Blanket

Giraffe Rattle: Pattern from Lotta Jansdotter's book, Simple Sewing for Baby.

Quilt (again). The Pattern is from Lotta Jansdotter's book also.

sew. . . I have done something besides bake.

I really have been doing something other than filling my house with baked goods. Here is something that I can share with you and give me MOPS buddies a sneak peak (Shhh!).

My diaper pouch has been such a hit in the realm of church-life that we decided to make some for a future Mops event (coming soon!). Last week, I sewed seven of the little guys up very quickly. . . they don't take long.

Our church has so many babies in the nursery, that there have been too many diaper bags to store. These pouches have been so nice to just stick in a basket and clip Ethan's name on it. I usually just make sure it has at least 2 diapers and his Binky in it. The pouch is very roomy, so if I need to pack a Ziploc of some snacks and some wipes, I can do that too.

Diaper pouch

There are so many times I have quick errands to run, and just don't feel like hauling my diaper bag around. This pouch is a cute way to store some wipes, a diaper, and even a binky all in one place that even fits in your purse (with the exception of those who can manage to carry around a small purse that barely fits their wallet).

My sister bought me the fabric to make something for Ethan. It is a heavier fabric, which will make this pouch even more durable. I got the pattern from Lotta Jansdotter's book, Simple Sewing For Baby and then modified it to fit my needs. Lotta Jansdotter reccomended using a velcro strip. But I used an elastic and button to close mine. I was hoping to find a neat car button, but the yellow one did the trick.