A Quiet Book Finish - The Book Covers

Around Christmas of 2012, I made three quiet books for my son and my oldest two nephews.  Although they were a lot of fun to make, they were also very time consuming.  As much as I wanted to make more of these, I just didn't have the time to devote to making more.  I had also promised my husband that I wouldn't make more until I did have the time to make them without taking time away from him and Little Bear.  Fast forward to January of 2014 and now I finally have the time to make more quiet books.  I just needed someone to make a quiet book for.  It just so happened that two different people close to me both requested that I put together quiet books for their littles.  Hurray!!
I still loved many of the page layouts from the original three quiet books I made, but I wanted to add in / switch out a few page layouts for some fun pages I had come across on Pinterest.  After much deliberation, I finally narrowed the page layouts down to 10 pages plus the covers for each book.  The two books also have a few pages that are different from the other book because I wanted each book to be personal to the little receiving the book.
It took a while to get them all put together because I would work on them a little at a time in between my other projects so they wouldn't get overwhelming.  Finally, last week I finished these beauties up!  Hurray!  I decided that instead of overwhelming you with a huge post about the quiet books, I'd break it down for you.  So for today, I'm going to be showing off the covers that I made for each quiet book.
First up is the quiet book I made for a little boy:

This little guy's nursery had been done in a woodland animals type theme, so this cover seemed perfectly fitting. 

I added a buckle clip to the cover which will make it great for keeping the book all together.

I love how the tree on the front cover turned out.  I had seen a few different people make tree layouts for their quiet books and I really liked this technique of adding texture to the tree trunk and branches.

And how cute is this little hedgehog down in the corner of the front page?  I really love that the googly eye is a sew in googly eye (which by the way are surprisingly hard to find!). 

Up next is the quiet book that I made for a little girl.  Doesn't the front cover just scream girly?  I love that because I don't usually get a chance to make gifts for little girls, so putting this together was a lot of fun. 

I left the outside edge of the wings on the butterflies detached so that there is a lovely 3-D aspect to this front cover. 

For the two felt flowers, I kept them pretty simple compared to the really complex felt flowers out there that you can make.  But I like them and they still add a nice texture and pop of fun to the front cover. 

Well, that wraps up the front covers.  Stayed tuned as I'll be posting more about the rest of the pages I made for these two quiet books over the coming weeks.  

Hooded Baby Towels for Little One

Can you believe it?  I've been making so many projects lately (I'm blaming crazy pregnancy hormones and I think sewing a billion things is my crazy form of nesting), but anyways, I almost forgot to post this cute set of four towels that I made for our little one when he arrives.  My sister-in-law (who is due a couple weeks before me) had requested some baby towels be made for their little one.  Well, after some searching, I came upon this tutorial over on Just Another Day in Paradise and I knew it was exactly what I was looking for.  I ended up making two towels for my sister-in-law (which you can see here).  After making those two towels, I knew I had to make some for our own little one.

I ended up make four towels - two yellow and two blue towels.  And using the left over towel scraps, I also made 10 matching wash clothes for the little guy.  The bias tape I made for these towels ended up being really easy to make after I found this great tutorial to follow.  I literally made yards and yards of bias tape from just 1 yard of material.  I love the look of home made bias tape so much better than the stuff you get in the store. 

Husband Dear helped to pick out the animals I used to make the appliques on the hoods.  I love how cute they make the towels!  They just shout bath time fun!
Overall, I was thrilled with how easy these towels were to make and just how cute they turned out.  And a huge bonus for me, is that these towels are made from regular bath towels (which you can get for cheep at Target on sale!) which are super soft and fluffy - so much more soft and fluffy than most baby towels you buy in the store!  I can't wait now for little guy to arrive so we can enjoy bath time with these great new towels!

Tackle Bag - Take 2

Between the left ofter sense of productivity I felt from having spent last weekend at Camp Stitchalot and having a few rough days with Little Bear with week and thus needed some sewing therapy, I decided to put together another Tackle Bag by Kristin Link at Sew Mama Sew. 
Since spring seems to be rather elusive in these parts and we have seen several more inches of fresh snow in these parts this past week, I decided to go with this bright floral print I had tucked away in my fabric stash.  Isn't it just delicious?  I made me so happy to be working with this beautiful print. 

Between nap time and after bed time one evening I was able to get everything cut out and the outside pieces quilted.  It was so hard not to stay up until the wee hours of the morning working on this bag. 

 But I refrained (which ended up not being that hard to do since I realized I needed to run to JoAnn's in the morning to get the zippers for it!). Between nap time the next day and a little bit more time that next evening, I was able to finish this little beauty up! 

 I just want to smile when I look at it!  I LOVE how it turned out.  I also discovered that the second time through making this bag was much easier than the first time through. 

Too bad this adorable little bag isn't for me.  I have plans for it to find a nice home with a dear lady who has kindly be-friended me since we moved here to Michigan and who now finds her and her family re-locating to southern Michigan.  I hope she enjoys it and it brings a little hint of Spring to her. 

Cowboy Puppies and Rocking Horses

Remember this little beauty I started at Camp Stitchalot over the weekend?  I had finished putting the quilt top together during camp and I just loved how it turned out! 

Who doesn't love puppies and rocking horses and cowboys?  I know Little Bear certainly liked this print and he was the one that insisted it come home with us instead of being left abandoned on JoAnn's Red Tag shelf. 
Since I had made such great progress on getting the quilt top finished over the weekend, I didn't want to loose momentum on it and so Monday morning while Little Bear was preoccupied emptying my kitchen cupboards, I managed to get the quilt all basted and ready for quilting. 

Then between nap time Monday afternoon, Monday evening after Little Bear went to bed and a little time on Tuesday morning, I managed to get it all quilted and bound!  Tuesday evening, I snuck outside before the sun went down and managed to get some good photos of the finished quilt. 

 Even thought I do love the look of a quilt in the snow with pine trees in the background, I'm wishing I would say this picture was taken back in January and not the last week in March! 

 I quilted it using a simple straight line quilt pattern which I think really helps to set off the whole top.  I had found this fantastic brown swirly print that I just love for the backing on this quilt. 

And yes, sadly that is FRESH powdery snow on the quilt. 
If you like this quilt or know someone who might, you will soon be able to find it listed in my Etsy shop!  :)

Camp Stitchalot Weekend

Last weekend, I was a lucky girl and got to attend a sewing retreat that is hosted by Pink Castle Fabrics called Camp Stitchalot.  It was so much fun and a much needed long weekend away.  Plus we got to hang out with Sarah Lawson from Sew Sweetness and Kristin Link from Sew Mama Sew.  Both Sarah and Kristin had made a cool bag specifically for camp that they showed us how to make.  I learn some great new sewing and bag making techniques.  Sarah also gave a great explanation about the different types of interfacing used in bags which I found especially useful as I've always struggled to understand interfacing.
It was hard to narrow down all the projects I wanted to take with me for the weekend to work on during open sew times.  But I did manage to get all of my sewing stuff and projects narrowed down enough to fit into only two bags!  Hurray!  Although I think I did pack for sewing stuff than actual clothes. 

And of course, Thursday afternoon as I was packing up my bags for the weekend, I decided that I simply had to made several draw string bags in which to put things like my sewing machine pedal, pins, thread, other notions, etc. into.  During Little Bear's nap time I whipped together this batch of Line Draw String Bags using the pattern by Jeni Baker over at In Color Order.  They were so easy and fun to make - expect to see more versions of this bag showing up in the near future. 

 One of the best parts about the drive down to the Hankerd Inn Resort in Pleasant Lake, MI where camp was being held, is that they have Tim Horton's down that way!  Oh how I've missed Tim Horton's!

Friday afternoon, I got there a little early before we were scheduled to jump into any activities, so I pulled out a quilt top that I had brought with me to work on.  I had cut all the pieces out on Thursday so I was able to sit right down and start sewing the top together.  Little Bear had helped me pick out the puppy cowboy and rocking horse print from Joann's Red Tag shelf.  It just so adorable! 

Anyways, I made great progress on it and using open sew time, I was able to get the top all sewn together by mid Saturday morning.  It also helps that it's a baby sized quilt only measure 38" x 42", but still, it was great to have a nice finish early in the weekend. 

Sarah Lawson from Sew Sweetness put together a great bag called the Camp Stitchalot Bag.  She has the PDF pattern available for download in her shop.  Although a bit challenging to put together because of its size (it's large enough to put a small cutting mat into along with several sewing projects), it was a great bag to put together.  And it turned out so great!  I think though I stayed up until 1am Saturday evening to finish it up...I think at that point the crazy pregnancy hormones had taken over and I couldn't go to bed until it was done.  

Kristin Link from Sew Mama Sew also brought a great bag tutorial to share with us called the Tackle Bag.  She is hoping to release this pattern later next month.  I loved how mine turned out and it's the perfect size to use to through sewing accessories into or to use a toiletry bag or really just about anything. 

It was great to see everyone's completed Tackle bags and the fun variety of fabric and quilting techniques everyone used!

P.S.  this is what the baby belly looks like after spending 12+ hours of sewing.  So much lint and little strings! 

It was hard to stop sewing Sunday afternoon and get everything packed up and ready to go home.  I had such a lovely time getting to know some really great ladies who also just love to sew.  I loved being able to share the passion with a room full of other women and it was great to also share sewing tips and tricks with each other.  And it was also Amazing to have so much un-interrupted and toddler-free sewing time!  I got so many things sewn together - the Camp Stitchalot bag, the Tackle Bag, a drawstring bag (using the Lined Drawstring Bag pattern by Jeni Baker over at In Color Order), three wet bags, and a baby quilt quilt top. 

It was good though to get home Sunday evening.  Little Bear loved to drawstring bag I made for him to put all of his dinosaurs into.  I think it also helped him to forget that he had missed me all weekend. 

Baby Shower Gifts

It seems as though there has been a rediculously large baby boom in my extended family, my husband's extended family and among our friend the last two years.  It certainly doesn't look to be slowing down any time soon either!  I'm ok with that though because I do love babies and I love seeing the new personalities that each and every one has.  My husband's older brother and sister in law are expecting their first baby boy in a few more weeks and naturally, I just had to sew something(s) special for this special little boy.  I asked my sister-in-law if she had any ideas of what she might like and between her answers and some mamma experience, I put together a few things that will help to welcome this little boy into the world.  Now that she has had a baby shower for the little guy and received the gifts I made for him, I'm free to share all the fun things I put together. 
I just love Minky/cotton baby blankets and knew I had to made one for my nephew. Using some jungle print I had in my stash I put together this lovely.  I love the pale blue which sets off the print perfectly. 

And what baby doesn't need a whole pile of burp clothes especially in the first few months.  Don't you just love the little blue elephants on the top pile? I also put together a stack of squishy fleece blocks for the little guy to enjoy when he gets older. 

And lastly, but probably my favorite, I made two baby hooded towels for the little guy.  I used This tutorial by Larissa over at Just Another Day In Paradise.  It was a really easy tutorial to follow and I love how fluffy and plush these towels turned out.  They are approximately 29"x29" finished and the perfect size to wrap up a baby in after bath time.  I added a cute sea turtle and alligator applique to the hoods for just a little extra touch of fun.   

Can't wait to meet this very special little guy now!

Tea Time

Growing up, one of the most consistent memories I have is of my mom having a cup of tea.  Too bad she wasn't English, but she sure loved to have a nice cup of tea.  I think it is what helped to keep her sane with seven of us kids running around.  It didn't matter if it was on the run between homeschooling us kids, or keeping up with house work, or running the farm, or just a few quiet moments she would steal before breakfast, my mom loved a good cup of tea.  Now that us kids are all grown and gone, it's almost a tradition especially in the colder months when we visit to sit around my mom's kitchen table sipping on a nice cup of tea and chatting away about life.  It seems like some of the best conversations I've had with my mom are over a steaming hot cup of tea.

Now that I'm in a different state and a 10 hour drive away from my mom, I sure do miss sharing a hot cup of tea with my mom.  Which is why, when I say this new Teacup Block Tutorial from The Sewing Chick, I knew I had to use it to make something special for my mom's birthday.  I ended up going with something small and just made one block from this tutorial.  I added a boarder to make it a 7.5" square block, then I quilted and bound it to make a small mug rug, or hot mat. 

I also whipped together a set of 4 coasters from some nice neutral yarn to go with the hot mat. 

Love you, Mom! Hope you can enjoy a nice cup of hot tea and think of me when I can't be there.