Library Bag

It only took planning my first trip to the library with two kids and a newborn for me to realize that things had to change. Normally, I carried the library bag and the kids loaded it with upwards of 30 books and a DVD each. Lately, my son started adding a weekly book on tape. I decided that there was no way that I was lugging that bag and the baby so I told my kids that it was time for them to each carry their own library bag which they could then keep in their bedroom with their own stash of library books. My son chose Robert Kaufman's "Stargazers" print for his bag. It is lined with the same material and then he decided that he wanted the word "Books" appliqued on the side. At 6 he already knows what appliques are...gotta love that :) I made his bag first since he was happy with this new "carry your own books" arrangement. He carried his bag with pride today and stuffed it with more books than I thought he could carry. But he carried it and didn't complain at all! His sister hasn't entirely warmed up to the idea yet. She chose some material that I think is kind of ugly but it was red tag clearance and she loves it so, it works. It is blue with bulldogs all over it. Yup, bulldogs. Go figure. I was hoping for a pretty patchwork bag in shades of pink! As long as she likes the bag enough to carry her own books in it though, I will be happy! I lined the bag with interfacing and the straps too so it feels pretty hefty. Time will tell. I will start Lily's as soon as her sister takes a good nap.

I nearly forgot. My favorite part of this project was that I got to add to my selvage stash! The Kaufman print provided a nice one yard long selvage with 14 dots of color on it!

Week 9 Blocks for Quilt Along

I added some of this green gingham this week because I was running short on material and wasn't going to end up with enough blocks. I like how it works with the other fabrics. I will have enough blocks but not enough to make the scrappy border...such is life!

Handmade Gifts for Me!

OK, so the gifts aren't for me exactly, they are for Penny, but I enjoyed receiving them! I don't tend to receive many homemade gifts. I think it's because people assume that I will make something myself if I want it. So, that makes these gifts extra special to me. The top frame and letter "P" were decoupaged by friends of ours with four kids, all of whom helped. Wasn't that a great idea? And the papers are so neat too. The bottom frame was painted by Lily's godmother.

"Peanut the Wee Elephant" for my Wee Neighbor

One of our little neighbors, Sarah, is turning one this week. I decided to make her Hillary Lang's "Peanut the Wee Elephant" from Joelle Hoverson's Last Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts. The planets all aligned and the two big kids were having quiet time in their rooms while the baby slept. I should probably use the opportunity to clean and do laundry next time....

Pillow It Is

Mom decided that she would like the embroidery turned into a pillow for her living room. She requested a flat edging with the coordinating material, rather than a ruffle. I completely agreed that a ruffled edging wouldn't look right. The pillow is on my couch here. It should look great on hers which is navy with a small pattern in a golden color.
Thanks for the great idea to embroider Penelope's footprint on the back. I would have loved to but wasn't convinced that I could do a good job so I left well enough alone!

Capturing a Moment in Time

Before my oldest child was born, I was given a craft kit with some foam that you push the baby's foot into in order to capture its imprint. It was a great gift and the footprint and baby picture hang in my son's room. I bought something similar when Lily was born. This time, I didn't have anything and the thought of going to the craft store with the three kids, 10 days postpartum, wasn't appealing. I got out the washable ink pad and made little prints of Penelope's feet. You wouldn't believe her sobbing. She doesn't like to be cool for even a moment so simply taking her feet out of her clothing set her off! But her tears didn't scare off the big kids. They wanted to make their prints for their scrapbooks as well. I'm sure we will treasure them.

Father's Day Handkerchiefs

I saw this idea posted on the Sew, Mama, Sew forum (http://bluebirdstudio.blogspot.com/2009/05/papa-kerchief.html ) and knew it would be the perfect gift for my mother's husband for Father's Day. My kids call him Pepere John. My son wrote his full name and I taught my three year old to write just the "J." The kids wrote on the handkerchiefs with their washable markers and then I embroidered over the marker and washed. The marker came right out. Pepere John is the perfect recipient of this gift because he actually uses handkerchiefs on a routine basis. I think he liked them and the kids were very proud.

Quilt Along Week 8

Here are my blocks for week 8. It will be time to start the sashing soon. I hope that my tailbone gets better soon so I can do it! I work best laying things out on the floor and bending without pain is still a challenge! It is getting better though so I am hopeful that it will resolve itself on its own like the doctors said.

Sashiko Embroidery--Part Two!

This one is for Lululiz who, before Penelope was born, wrote:

Lululiz said...
Thinking of you and wishing you all the best. Back to sewing the day after then, right?

I made the most of my time in the hospital while waiting for Penelope to be born. The doctors were chuckling at me as they came in and found me sewing. I had to stop shortly after my water broke and I got an epidural! This embroidery is a gift for my mom in return for helping to take care of the kids while I was at doctor's appointments and at the hospital. I bought the Japanese material to coordinate and need her to decide if she wants a pillow or to just have the embroidery bordered by the material like I did with mine. Any other ideas?

Hawaiian Shirt

So today was the big day, the kindergarten Hawaiian luau. Timothy had a great time tasting tropical fruits, drinking through a straw with a pineapple decoration and playing limbo. He was happy to model the shirt I made but had to be a bit corny with the little umbrellas used as bunny ears...what do you expect from a six year old? He loves his shirt. He had it all set aside and ready the night before. He is excited because I told him that now he can wear it whenever he wants. He wasn't allowed to wear it until today just in case it got ruined somehow!

Penelope, Day 5

Here is a new picture of my sweetie. I just took this while she was napping. I'll be back later today with pictures of my big boy dressed for his kindergarten luau party!

We are home!

Meet Penelope Rose, our not so little bundle of joy! After 20 hours of induced labor, she entered the world on June 13th at 3:45 in the morning. I have a badly bruised tailbone and something called foot drop (meaning my foot is pretty numb and it is very hard to walk) thanks to birthing this 9 lb. 6 ounce baby! I think that given the late date of delivery and the large birth weight, there really isn't a winner of the baby guessing contest! I am not even going to bother to try to figure it out! She is adorable. I don't think that this picture does her justice. I will try to get a better one in the next couple of days. Thank you for all the well wishes.

Quilt Along Week 7

I am posting my quilt along blocks for week 7 a few days early because I will be off to the hospital in the morning. It is time for this baby to be born! I was looking over the guesses from the May Giveaway Day and most people were kind and guessed that the baby would be born at the end of May or beginning of June, as I too had hoped. However, there were two who guessed pretty close to what will ultimately be the birthdate. There was one guess for the 10th and one for the 11th. I guess it will be hard to call a winner. Maybe I will have to go by the birthweight! Who knew that this baby was so comfortable and would make me wait so long? Hopefully we will have baby news to post within the next day or two, as soon as we are able. Wish us luck! I am nervous as can be!

Sashiko Embroidery

What does one do while overdue? Sashiko embroidery was my answer for keeping sane this week. I found a kit in my local quilting store. I had such a hard time picking my favorite design and ultimately went with this one. The pattern is printed right onto the linen in a water soluble ink. All you need to do is follow the lines and make little straight stitches and, in this case, a few French knots. It is easy as pie and good to do while keeping swollen feet up! The kit comes with another piece of linen to hide the backside of the embroidery so it can be used as a pillow cover perhaps. I gave this some serious thought because this embroidery with the pretty variegated Sashiko thread, would match my living room precisely. But it wasn't all that long ago that I removed 4 decorative pillows from my couches and stored them in the attic, leaving only the pillows that came with the couch, because this kids can not seem to resist playing with them. I swear that the couch pillows are among their favorite toys. They get stacked, jumped on, etc. and spend more time on the floor than on the couch. I decided that I couldn't do that to my embroidery so I bought a half yard cut of Japanese fabric that reminds me of watercolors and sewed a 3 1/2" border to the edges of the embroidery and to the backing fabric and then stitched them together, turned and edge stitched. I think I will just use it on the side table of my dining room or displayed hanging out of a basket. What a good find this was!

SMS April Bag

I decided to try out Elizabeth's shoulder bag tutorial that was featured on the Sew, Mama, Sew blog. I made it as a gift for my son's classroom aide. I used Alexander Henry's "kleo" floral print for the bag, some solid pale pink for the handle and a coordinating dot for the lining. I love the fabric choices together. The bag was very simple and quick to make and would be a perfect project for a beginner. I do think that the opening, especially with the deep slits on the side, is pretty large and I worry that things will fall out of the bag. I think I would modify it some how if I made it again.

Blooms and Baby Update

Everyone wants to know where the baby is. I do too! I am still pregnant with one failed induction under my belt. We are going to hope she comes on her own this week or else we try another induction on Friday. That would be a full 2 weeks overdue. In the meantime, I am enjoying these flowers in my garden this weekend.

Quilt Along Week 6

Here are my blocks for week 6 of the quilt along. My favorite from this week is on the bottom.

Doggie Nightgown

Today it was my daughter's turn. Her project was a lot easier than her brother's! A few weeks ago she moaned, "I want a nightgown. Everyone has one but me." I guess everyone equals me because her dad and brother certainly don't wear them! I was delighted that she wanted a nightie though and was excited to make one...until she announced that only doggie material would do. I was hoping for floral, frilly, lace and ruffles. I don't care for prints like this and on top of that, why is it that all dog prints have to look boyish and all cat prints have to look girlish? I have a boy who has a favorite stuffed animal cat and therefore adores all things cat. And I have a daughter who has a favorite stuffed animal dog and adores all things dog. It makes it very difficult! I went ahead and used the doggie material as requested and made a few changes to a McCalls M5355 pattern. I removed the sleeves and made it a sleeveless version for summer and made it nearly a foot shorter. I added the bow to try to dress it up a little. At first she said no to the ruffle but after I said "But it is a doggie nightgown and that is a "RUFF-le" (get the 3 year old humor?) she agreed as long as the ruffle was only at the bottom and not on the sleeves. Fine, it is sleeveless!

And yes, I am still pregnant and officially overdue.

Kindergarten Hawaiian Luau Shirt

Well the shirt made from the material from the now infamous trip to JoAnns is complete. Now my son has his Hawaiian shirt to wear to the Kindergarten Luau. I made the shirt using the Simplicity 5581 pattern. I took my son's measurements and they were on the upper edge of the size medium range. I decided to go with large, hoping it wouldn't look too big now and that he could wear it again next summer. Well, it fits him perfectly so I am so glad that I didn't go with the medium because I would have been furious! The shirt gave me a bit of trouble. I was confused by the directions for the collar but my mom was nice enough to help me figure it out. Then the sleeves were a little tricky to set in because there was so much material to try to ease in without letting it gather up. I had to put it down several times and come back to it because I was getting upset! I think that I could make another one much more easily now that I got through this one. I made the mistake of saying that out loud and my husband said, "Oh good, I was hoping you'd say that because I would like a matching one." Ugh! I said I could make another but not that I wanted to! He is jealous that I used the blue hexagonal buttons from my button bag on the shirt because he likes them and I only have two left now, not enough for a second shirt. There is no chance of getting more because I bought them in high school when our local Piece Goods Shop was closing and they were on clearance.

I didn't want to force my son into a photo session so I will wait and take his picture in the shirt on the big luau day and post it then!

Sewing Machine Meme

Sew, Mama, Sew! is celebrating Sewing Machine month in June. They have asked for sewing machine reviews so I thought I would write about my machine today. http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/?p=812

What brand and model do you have? I have a Husqvarna Viking Sew Easy 350 Computer

How long have you had it? Since August 1998 (11 years)

How much does that machine cost (approximately)? It was purchased for $630.

What types of things do you sew (i.e. quilting, clothing, handbags, home dec projects, etc.)? I have used my machine to sew clothing, curtains, chair cushions, gifts, purses, dolls clothing, etc. as well as for quilting. It has probably been used them most for sewing children's clothing and costumes.

How much do you sew? How much wear and tear does the machine get? My sewing comes and goes in surges. My machine gets used the most before holidays and less in the summer when I spend time gardening. I would say that I nearly always have a project in the works though.

Do you like/love/hate your machine? Are you ambivalent? Passionate? Does she have a name? I have been very happy with this machine. I haven't named her though.

What features does your machine have that work well for you? I love the buttonhole feature. I also love all the presser feet that I can use with it. I have the 6 standard feet that came with the machine and I have added the free motion, walking, hemming and pintuck feet to my collection. It is very easy to thread and I like the drop in bobbin. It has a few nice embroidery stitches that are fun options though I use them very infrequently.

Is there anything that drives you nuts about your machine? I now wish that it had a longer arm for quilting but that certainly isn't the machine's fault. I didn't quilt when we bought it. I would say that the machine's greatest fault is temperamental tension. It seems that tension is the only problem that I ever have with it though and I can eventually adjust it correctly.

Do you have a great story to share about your machine (i.e., Found it under the Christmas tree? Dropped it on the kitchen floor? Sewed your fingernail to your zipper?, Got it from your Great Grandma?, etc.!)? We want to hear it! My sewing machine was the first big purchase that my husband and I made together after getting married. We had only been married a month before we bought it! I convinced him that I needed it to sew curtains for the two whole windows in our apartment and that it would save us money in the long run. I don't think he has ever regretted the purchase. I knew he was a keeper!

Would you recommend the machine to others? Why? I don't think that this model is sold any more since the machine is 11 years old. I would recommend the brand to others though because my machine has been a real work horse. I hate to be parted with it so it has seen very little by way of service and yet it keeps chugging along. It is also very intuitive. I have rarely had to turn to the manual in order to figure out how to do something.

What factors do you think are important to consider when looking for a new machine? I think it is important to buy a machine that you can bring to your local non chain store for servicing and assistance. You also need to really think about how you sew and what your actual needs are.

Do you have a dream machine? At this point, my dream machine would simply be newer with a few bells and whistles that my machine does not have. I would love one with an automatic back stitch and thread cutter. I would also like a longer arm for quilting. Someday I think I might like embroidery capabilities.

May Giveaway Day Winner

Congratulations to the May Giveway Day Winner, Chancy from http://createdbychancy.blogspot.com/. Thank you all for entering! I can't believe how many kind comments and well wishes I received. I will declare an unofficial winner of the baby stats guessing game as soon as my little one makes her long awaited appearance!