Pillow Time

To say that my living room was in need of some new throw pillows would be a slight understatement.  I spotted this solid blue into JoAnn's the other day and it matches the color of our TV console almost exactly!  I thought a few new throw pillows with this blue as their base would make for the perfect addition to the living room.  I had some brown and white swirly fabric left over from a project that I never quite got around to and so I decided that I would use that fabric to cut out some various animals (mostly favorites of dear husband).  I used some heat and bond light to applique the animals onto the blue fabric.  I also added some dark red piping around the edge to add a bit of color.  Overall, I LOVE how they turned out!
I made only 4 pillows but they are double sided so there are a total of 8 different animals that I did - although there are 2 moose since they are my husbands favorite animals in the world.  

(The Pillow Fronts are on the Left and the Backs are on the Right)

Happy Spring!

Happy Spring All!  For a few brief moments, I think spring has finally come to Western New York.  I took Little Bear to the park today and they have hundreds and hundreds of daffodils in blossom right now - I love daffodils.  Little Bear "picked" them for me so of coarse they had to come home with me and have a place of honor next to the TV for a couple of days. :) 

Some Mobile Fun

Since Little Bear's 1st birthday, I have had a simple handmade paper mobile hanging above his crib but it lacked some refinement and pizazz (sorry no before picture).  But anyways, I finally got around to sprucing it up and now its just lovely and goes so well with the jungle theme in his room.  

It was really pretty easy to make and of coarse, I incorporated some sewing into its design.  I used a paper punch and punched out a ton of circles from some card stock that I had on the bottom of my paper pile.  I then ran all of the circles through my sewing machine and sewed them into a string using a basting stitch and some heavy grade quilting thread.  Then using the core of a empty plotter paper roll from work, I cover that in some cute wrapping paper and strung some bright blue thread through it as a hanger.  I hung it over Little Bear's crib, then hung the paper circle chain over the tube and taped it into place at decent intervals along the tube.  

The end effect turned out even better than I expected!  It looks like a colorful waterfall of paper falling over his crib as he sleeps at night. 

Plus, Little Bear likes to try grabbing it or blowing at it to make it move and shimmer above his head.

Babies on the Brain

Over the past several weeks, the list of important people in my life who are expecting new little bundles of joy has consistently grown longer and longer!  Which means that my list of adorable baby gifts that I wish to make has grown longer and longer as well - of coarse to my dear husband's chagrin.  hehe  

But I have been slowly working through my list and although some of the adorableness can't be shown on here for a bit, I think it's safe to show off this "makes you want to go awe!" set of Beatrix Potter baby gifts. A newer friend at church is expecting a baby girl the end of May and she has done the baby's nursery in a Beatrix Potter theme.  I found this simple and cute Beatrix Potter fabric over at Hancock's of Paducah and just knew it would make a perfect.  So - Tadda!  

 I think the little stuffed bunny and matching minky blanket are just the perfect gift to welcome a new little baby girl into the world. 

I used the stuffed bunnies tutorial from The Little Fabric Blog that I had used previously to make this darling little stuffed bunny.  

For the blanket, I used parts of tutorials from How Does She and from Greener Grass. 

Now, I can't wait until this bundle of joy comes and I get to meet her! :)

Pleating, Pipping, and Intefacing

This spring while Joann Fabric's was having their spring sale on their fabrics, I picked up some adorable floral prints in grew and yellow that just screamed spring.  I knew that this coordinating fabric deserved to be made into something special. For some time I had been looking for something to test my skills on the sewing machine and learn some new sewing techniques.  I stumbled upon this adorable pleated, lined handbag through Pinterest and it seemed like just the perfect project.  Not only would the cute fabric that I was dying to use look fantastic made into this handbag, but I could learn some new sewing techniques!!

And after 3-4 evening spent painstakingly cutting out the pattern, learning how to work with interfacing and fusible fleece, sewing in pipping, I did it!  I think it turned out pretty well and its now become my handbag of choice when running errands or going to church. I love how happy and cheerful this bag is. :)  

Hip-Hop - Its Easter Time!

In case no one could tell, the sewing bug has hit me big time this week!  I have had such a pile of projects on my list that I have been itching to do for some time now and this week, I just could not put some of them off any longer - including this cute little bunny that I just put together for little Bear's Easter Basket. 
I stumbled upon this little bunny on The Little Fabric Shop a while back and I couldn't get over how simple yet completely adorable these little bunnies were!  Knowing that Easter is coming up and my dear Husband's love of bunnies, making one of these little bunnies instantly went on my project list. 
During a bit of down time this evening, I whipped this little guy out from some scrap fabric I had.  I even put a jingle bell in the bunny's head while I was stuffing him for just a little extra fun.  He is all ready sitting happily in my little Bear's Easter basket just waiting to be loved! 

To Infinity and Spring Scarves!

We are all ready half way through March and although the calendar now says that it is spring time, spring has yet to make an appearance around here!!  Scraping snow off of my car every morning this week has put me in a mood in much need of some Spring cheering up!  I remember some cute material that I had picked up at JoAnn's a while ago on clearance ($2.50/yard!!!) and thought this would be the perfect opportunity to turn that lovely material into a couple of spring time infinity scarves!  Especially since who knows how much longer I'll be needed to wear a scarf around here.  ;) 
Of coarse little Bear wanted to help but I still managed to turn these two lovelies out in just an hour and now I'm feeling much more in a spring-like mood!  Happy Spring all!