In Full Bloom

The rose garden at the park is in full bloom. A sweet smell of roses is drafting down the road, especially with all the rain we have been getting. This weekend dear hubby and I made window boxes for the house. We filled them to the brim with hanging petunias in purple and white, and also some hanging vines. Hubby got a rickety ladder out of the basement and carefully, while I pleaded for him to not get hurt, put the window boxes on the thick stone ledges. Today we noticed bees and a hummingbird visiting the new flowers.                      

We also planted some more herbs and a white peony bush that I can't wait to bloom big frothy ruffled flowers. Onyx the cat is loving the catnip plant, maybe just a little too much - he's currently sleeping it off on the couch. 

There was also some more wallpaper stripping - Ugh it's one project that I wouldn't mind ending. We only have the downstairs hallway and our room left. It's the hardest paper of all. Thick, shiny, and doesn't like to peel off easily even with water/fabric softener mixture. Paint swatches have been hung up just in anticipation. A deep dark navy blue for just one wall of our bedroom - called Midnight. Tuxedo Tie, Lunar Eclipse, Belle Grove White, and Snowday are just a couple other colors we like for other rooms. 

My back is starting to feel better, and I am really grateful. I've always known that I like to keep busy, but I never realized how much until I was stuck to the couch for a couple days. Honestly I can say I am not a television person. But with all that thinking time, there was a lot of planning. Crafty things that I just can't wait to start. 

Mid-March

It seems very hard for me to believe it is the middle of March. There are gusty winds that shake the house and make the floor boards creak. Gray cloudy days with not much warmth. Fingers are crossed that soon windows can be opened, flowers will start to creep up from the ground, and coats can be put away for a couple months.

Every night I've been lighting a couple candles, getting cozy, and putting my crafty thoughts into action. A simple star garland for the window at the top of the stairs. I have plans to make more and put them in the shop - although I'm not 100% happy with the clay after it baked, it felt more plastic than clay like. So a new trial for those, before they get there. Also getting fabrics ready for a quilt. This one will be Odyn's and while florals are not his 'thing', I'm finding it very difficult to stay away from them. 

Package for Felix

Awhile ago I couldn't contain myself and shared with you the Hexagon Bib that I made for a lovely friend and her soon to be little girl. What I didn't show, because I promised myself that I would wait till it was delivered, was the baby quilt, embroidered bib, and crochet booties. 

I debated over the blanket for a little bit. Usually I like to make children's blankets something they can grow into and use on a toddler bed or even a throw blanket but this time I made it smaller. Small enough to take on car rides, carry around the house, or fold into a large tote. The inspiration came from my youngest son Odyn. To this day he still has his "fuzzy", a small blanket that doesn't cover him anymore, that is WELL worn, and often gets toted around the house even up and down the stairs. "Fuzzy" has a hard time getting put into the washing machine, getting left behind, or not being slept with at night - in Odyn's own words - it's his best friend. If this blanket should be special enough to be a best friend to my friend's daughter, than it would need small enough to go many places. 

As for the fabric, I used Hideaway by Moda for one side. It's a nice cheerful collection of pretty chateau villages, gingham, cuckoo clocks, and sweet woodland deer. The other side I wanted to be a bit softer so I used soft white fuzzy dot fabric, pretty vintage floral sheet fabric, small red strawberries, butterflies, and bicycles - a nice random mix of fun patterns all in the same color pallet of yellows, oranges, whites, and pinks.

There was a bit of horror story with the second bib. One that had me gasping and praying that once washed everything would be fine. I know my sweet friend is naming her daughter Felix (love that name for a girl!) so I decided to embroider an F on the bib. I picked out a very Old English Script font and traced it onto the fabric with...pen. Let me right now, not recommend regular ink pen to do this. I stitched away, added the cute little flowers to the side. I sewed the bib all together and even added the pretty turquoise snap. Noticing that some of the ink tracing was sticking out a little from where I stitched I decided to try to remove it. With rubbing alcohol and q-tip in hand I slowly began to rub the ink away, a trick I have used many times before. This time, however, the ink began to bleed and go everywhere. It wasn't looking pretty. So with one last effort I poured a larger amount of rubbing alcohol on all the ink, rubbed it a little bit together, and quickly put it in the wash. I didn't even have the heart to look at it before drying it - so into the dryer it went. As you can see from the final result, it all ended well, but was very close to being scrapped.

The little Maryjane booties I made from a pattern I found on Ravelry. Without the little bit of paper stuffed in them they kind of lose their shape. It could have just been the yarn I used though - not sure. But who can resist baby shoes and tiny baby feet?!? They were a must to put into this sweet little package. Also not pictured were my favorite cookies, the mom to be's favorite cookies, and some tea that I swear caused my water to break when I past my due date with Odyn (don't worry I put the story on the sleeve containing the tea).

I had so much fun creating this package. Hope my vintage soul sister loves it just as much. 

Binding

Looking around today I noticed my house is a bit out of order. There are dishes that have piled way too high, thirsty children with an almost empty juice container in the fridge, heaping piles of laundry, and a dog that seems very content with making a clone of himself by shedding. So I pulled up my big girl pants this morning,  and tried my best to put things back in order.
Lately my free time has been spent sewing. Dear hubby even remarked this weekend that he hasn't seen me this crafty in awhile. It feels good to get back in that mood. Soon I will need to start organizing the studio into boxes and pairing down some supplies, but for now their is a bit of last minute creativity happening.

Jackie's Quilt

 Odyn will be starting preschool soon - and with the sweet comes the sour because we will no longer be seeing his speech therapist Jackie every week. We first met when Aries needed services and we knew she would be back if Odyn decided to wait awhile to talk. She has become a friend and we often chat about things unrelated to how Odyn is pronouncing things. This time it will be much harder to say thank you because there are no other little ones that may bring her back to our door.

Aries was very delayed in speaking. We joked that Damien did all the talking for her. When she turned 2, and only knew how to say momma and dadda, we knew she would need someone to help her. Then Jackie came into play. Everyday that she pulled into our drive way Aries would be there greeting her at the door. In just a few months Aries was able to tell me with words what she wanted.

While Aries had her lessons, Odyn was only a couple months old, sitting in his seat quietly watching. The day came where Aries started preschool and Jackie had to go help other children. When Odyn turned 2 we again knew Jackie would be paying our family a visit. He was much different than Aries. She was bit more stubborn , not wanting to try new things or say new words. Odyn on the other hand was willing to try everything.

Today was Jackie's last visit. Next week Odyn will be 3 and ride the bus to preschool. How do you give thanks to someone who gave you the ability to understand your children? Because of her Odyn was able to tell her that the present she gave him for his birthday was, in his exact words, Awesome! So to pay thanks I broke out the sewing machine and got to work. Taking ques from her clothes, love for Anthropologie, and cute blue polka dotted clipboard - I picked the perfect fabric (Heather Bailey's Freshcuts). 

What came about was a lovely quilt, just big enough to keep at the foot of the bed or on the back of the couch. My hope is every time Jackie feels the slightest chill she reaches for this blanket for warmth, thinking of us. She has warmed our hearts in more than one way.

Denise's Quilt

Denise's Quilt 

Fabric: Joanne's, Fabric Depot, Osgoods

Embroidery Pattern: Here

Block Pattern: Modern Blocks

Pink polka dots, purple flowers, a sweet bird print, and metallic stripes. The fabric for this quilt just sang little girl while I was looking through my cabinet. It's not the perfect quilt, there are uneven seems, one or two blocks isn't correct, there is bunching, and the sweet note on the back is a bit crooked. While many of us try to be perfect, make everything even, and just right - it's not always necessary. 

The quilt is not any less beautiful with it's imperfections. It's made with love, the most important thing. While I must admit that when I started quilting and saw that the message was getting pulled up, making it look uneven,   my heart sank. Taking a break and stepping back to think what could be done to solve the problem, I realized I didn't want to solve it. 

Remembering those class trips about colonial times and the ladies that use to sit down and embroider by the light of candle or fireplace, and how they use to make mistakes in their work on purpose. They use to embroider an "e" backwards or spell a word wrong because some thought that it being perfect would bring out evil jealousy. 

While this to me sounded like those girls had a lot of self esteem, and thought very highly of themselves, this is not the reason I left the mistakes in my work. Instead I thought of a sweet little girl cuddling with her quilt on the couch when she's not feeling well, it laying on top of her while she dreams the most precious dreams, or hanging on her nursery wall for her to admire. 

Just like everyone at the shower, Denise isn't going to care that the seams aren't perfect, that it's not lines up even everywhere, or that the message of love is crooked. The thing that will be perfect is the sweet baby that will be welcomed into the family. We are so looking forward to meeting her.

Hand Embroidery

Thank you all for the well wishes. I still have this sinus head congestion but what better to do than hand embroidery. Last night I stitched away while watching a movie and tonight I plan on doing the same thing. This square will be the middle of the quilt top for the baby quilt. Crossing my fingers - after this it will go faster. Somewhere in the mix I lost my rotary cutter which has been making cutting the fabric take a little longer. We searched the entire house... still can't find the rotary cutter but I know that once this quilt is done it will magically appear. The funny thing is I know I put it somewhere where little hands couldn't reach it, somewhere safe. Somewhere I can't remember. Do you ever do that?
Just a friendly reminder about my font swap ... last day to sign up is Feb 4th. If you did sign up, don't forget to fill out your profile with a little bit about what you like and don't like.

Baby Quilt Blocks

These blocks will soon be a part of a gift to my new niece. Being an only child, the possibility of being an aunt would only happen if I married a man who had siblings. Growing up with lots of aunts and uncles, and cousins to play with I never questioned that my children wouldn't have these same family experiences. It wasn't until I actually had children that I realized this wouldn't really be a part of their childhood like it was mine. 

My cousins and I would spend days in the dirt building finger painted roads in the sand for our matchbox cars. Some of my cousins were in high school when I was younger and would babysit me, take me to concerts, and even introduce me to the fashions like rolling the cuffs or your pants or how to properly tease your hair to new heights. When I was in high school, everything came around full circle and the cousin that had watched me had a son, and I babysat him.

Baby Denise, who is due to arrive the end of March, will be my children's first cousin. She will make me an aunt and my husband an uncle for the very first time. We can't wait to meet her, smell her magical baby smell, and tickle those tiny little feet. I hope our children create cousin memories that will outlast the life of this quilt. 

Happy Mail

Absolutely love opening my mailbox to happy mail!! There were two things to be excited about this time.
First was an ornament from my dear vintage soul sister. She gets me.

It was a total surprise. If only she could see my reaction when I opened it. Isn't it just beautiful!!! The ornament is from Jupiter Designs - and I adore everything about it.

Thanks so much Micaela!!!

The other surprise in my mailbox was a giveaway I won over at NanaCompany. Lady luck must have been on my side that day because there were a lot of entries. What I won was an amazing quilt blocks book called "Modern Blocks" and Amy herself has two blocks that she designed featured in the book. Just flipping through this book gave me tons of ideas.

Amy also included some great little extras as well. Can't wait to use those trims! The handmade trivet is beautiful.

See all those tiny little hand sewn stitches?! Thanks so much Amy. I don't think it will be mine for much longer though. Someone, who will remain nameless...but not pictureless, has already proclaimed it hers. This is the very reason she didn't see me open my package from Micaela :)