Easter

I hope everyone had a happy Easter!  I know I had a blast--my parents, sister, and future brother-in-law came out to Toledo for a visit.  Since we live in Ohio and they live in Wisconsin, we don't get to see our families as much as I know we'd like to so we definitely had lots of fun.  Peter got to go swimming at the hotel, Grandpa gave him his first soda (and said it was "orange juice" when he asked if I let Pete have soda and replied, "No.").

To prepare for Easter, I had sewn up a couple of toys to put in Pete's basket.  The first one was the "Eddie" doll from Hillary Lang's book, Wee Wonderfuls.

I made his little outfit out of the outfit we bought for Peter for his trip home from the hospital.  It has been hanging in his closet for over 2 years now, and I thought this would be a good way to appreciate it every day.

The other toy I whipped up was Peanut the Wee Elephant, another Hillary Lang creation.  This one, however, was in my Last Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts book by Joelle Hoverson.

I used some Joel Dewberry Modern Meadow, a little Heather Ross Mendocino, and, unfortunately, I don't know the designer or line the fabric in Peanuts little ears is.  I don't have the fabric selvage handy to look it up for you, either.

When it comes to gift giving, I am no better than a 5 year old on Christmas eve.  I was so flippin excited to get Peter's reaction to these handmades that I did not end up saving them for his basket.  He really loves his elephant, but the baby he could take or leave.  What can you do?

So....  To make up for my inability to actually save stuff for its intended purpose, I had to come up with something else to put with is Easter basket.  I settled on a giant jug of Miracle Bubbles to use in his automatic bubble machine and a container of sidewalk chalk.



Ok, so I know I'm biased, but really.  Is there any cuter little face on the planet?



I hope you all had a happy celebration, enjoyed a lot of delicious candy, and got a bit of spring weather over your Easter holidays.



Embroidery + Quilting = Magic

FINALLY!  I finished the Magic Quilt I started nearly two months ago.  I love it.

The quilt is a gift for a special little girl who needs a little help keeping nightmares away.  Her mom thought she would like to be able to go to sleep covered up in all of her favorite things.

One of Malia's favorite things is the swings at the park.  To make these, I used a fairly basic split stitch and back stitch, but for the grass, I brought my ends to the front of the quilt and knotted them so the floss would look super soft and tufty.  My spellchecker says "tufty" isn't a word, but I think it's wrong.

This is a little family portrait.  Malia, Rene, Danny, and Keenan.  They are such a cute family!  For Malia, Danny, and Keenan's hair, I used french knots to evoke curls.

Curly red hair, cute red dress, super fun musical--it can only mean Annie.  The best part of embroidering this square was all of the memories it brought back for me.  I totally played Annie in my high school production!  It's one of my favorite musicals.

Macaroni and cheese.  Delicious.

Rene's parents live in Arizona and Malia loves getting to fly out and visit.

Altogether, this quilt has a whimsy and charm.  I hope that Malia loves it and that it keeps all of the bad dreams far away.

A little magic...

Sometimes quilts can be magical, can't they?  This confection is a Christmas gift for a little girl who is having some trouble sleeping, so the magic of this quilt will be to keep the nightmares away.  I know it would keep mine away if it were on my bed.

Studio Sale Loot

So, in September my favorite fabric designer held her second (hopefully annual) studio sale.  When I found out that Heather Ross was doing this, I basically begged my husband to let me pretty pretty please buy something.  Fortunately for me, my husband finds me irritating enough when I get like this to just give me my way!  So, I was SO EXCITED when this package finally arrived in the mail on Saturday afternoon.

The thing about Heather's studio sale is that you don't really know what you're going to get.  You set a spending limit and she puts together a little package of awesomeness filled with things she thinks you'll like.  Imagine how excited I was to see two prints from her current line with Spoonflower that I'm refusing to buy because of the cost!  Yay!  I am absolutely loving the little clothespin dolls.

Also included were prints that are long out of print.  The mermaids and seahorses are from her last line with Westminster called Mendocino.  I love this line.  I have no idea what line(s) the green polka-dot and the yellow floral are from, but I'm sure glad to add them to my stash.  If anyone knows anything about those two fabrics, please let me know in the comments.  I'm very curious. 

In addition to the fabric Heather chose for me, she included the tiny little gems pictured above.  I adore those toadstool felt appliqued patches.  And that crocheted lobster?  So sweet!  Also included were three crocheted flowers and stems, but my picture of those turned out blurry and I'm too lazy to go take another one.  Drat.

Nate said it was weird to frame this particular item, but it's a signed print.  Personalized.  And it looks lovely in it's spot above my sewing workstation.  In case all of you think it's weird, too, I want to reassure you that I only spent $9.00 on this poster frame.  So, it's not like I went to Michael's and had it custom framed.  Yet.

I have some exciting projects on the horizon including a couple of quilts.  I can't wait to share my progress in the next few days.