Finished Projects

So I DID complete that ladybug quilt within the week.  I sent it out on Wednesday (I think) and Tiffany got it on Friday.  It turned out to be a good day for her to receive it because she's had a hard week- I mean, come on... she just had a baby, of course she had a hard week- and this was just the pick-me-up she needed.  At least, that's what she tells me. (It makes me all the more excited about a project I've done when the person I gave it to loves it so much!)  I'm still not very good at doing the edging on baby quilts, but I think that's more because I don't have the patience to actually do it right (with doing the hand stitching to hide the machine stitch from the other side).  Overall, I think it turned out really cute though.

Not bad for my first hand-quilting job, eh?

a corner for a little better view of details

another corner to show edging job

I really liked working on this blanket, and I had a few bits of the fabric leftover.  I was hoping to be able to make a baby blanket for my landlord who's having a girl in July, but there was enough to actually make an entire blanket.  So, after a little bit of thought and deliberation with a sewing-savvy auntie, I decided to quilt a few burp rags.

I used inspiration from this website, however not following her directions strictly, I came up with this:

made this template (trimmed from the one on the above website)

The same checker look of the fabrics from the quilt on the reverse side

The set of 3 together turned out really cute!

Once I was done with these, I realized just how thick they are, which may end up making them not so great burp cloths because they are somewhat stiff.  Oh well!  They're still cute and really absorbent, so that's what really matters.  Hey, and if she really doesn't like using them as burp cloths, then she's got a few over-sized oven pads.  Mark said, "Once you finish a project, you're supposed to wait a couple weeks, not just start right into another one."  Yeah, that was before I told him I was almost done with them.  I whipped these little babies out in just 2 days!  I know they're not perfect (due to the thickness factor), but I'm still pretty proud of myself for turning these babies out so quickly!!

P.S. Hey Noel, here's a shout-out to you!  Is it too late to still accrue points for your contest?  :-P

Happy Mothers' Day!

Today we celebrate the wonderful blessings of motherhood. I have truly loved being a mother and all that it teaches me...the wonderful compliments of how adorable my son is (which I never get tired of hearing, by the way!)...and all the responsibilities it lays at my feet to teach my children. Of all the things I did/didn't expect about being a mother, I didn't realize just how busy I'd be as a stay-at-home mother. (I know, I know! How naive!!)

Well, I love to have a project to work on, and Mark really likes that I enjoy doing little projects. The down-side is that often when I have a project, I rarely get other things done around the house. So, I've been trying really hard to spend my daytime hour(s) when I don't need to be watching Canon really closely doing housework. That only leaves me a few hours at night, after Canon goes to bed but before we go to sleep, to work on my project. Hence the lack of time spent blogging. However, I am nearly done with my project, so I thought I'd show how it's coming.

My sister-in-law Tiffany just had a baby on Tuesday May 3. Lily Paige Dahl was born at 7:53am weighing 6 lbs. 14 oz. and was 19 inches long. I decided to make a quilt for her since I'd never done one for a family member before, and I can use the practice. I was hoping to have it done by Easter to send in an Easter package. Then I was hoping to have it done by the time the baby was born. Then I was hoping to send it by the time they got home from the hospital. Obviously that didn't happen because it's still not completed, but I'm close. Here's my progress:

(Tiffany, if you want to be surprised by the look of the quilt, this is where you STOP READING!! Happy baby!)

Remember this fabric from the puppy quilt I just did for a baby shower?

A pink version of the same stuff...

and an even lighter pink version...

and these adorable lady bugs....

Put them all together, and you have some potential for a baby girl's quilt.

Block type 1

Block type 2

Alternate them, and you can see the pattern coming to life.

a closer look at pattern

I've finished the quilting! Now I need to trim the edges and  add the edging.

 This is the first time that I've ever actually quilted.  All of my other quilts I just tied with yarn.  This blanket I stitched straight lines through all the checkered squares and decided to quilt little pictures of ladybugs on the ladybug fabric. This took me a long time, but I think they turned out really cute.

Ladybug Type 1

Ladybug Type 2

Ladybug Type 3

Ladybug Type 4

Here's to hoping that I can get it done within the week and get it to her before the baby outgrows the other stuff I want to send with the blanket!  :-)