Patchwork love

I do not consider myself a quilter. I don't think that following proper patterns and snipping thousands of little octagons and hand-piecing them together is really my thing.

 

 

 Using up what I have, making simple, pretty things, and borrowing on past successes is my thing.

 

 

Since making the patchwork Kindle case, I felt a new confidence to try my hand at patchworking again, though on a larger scale. I also had two other considerations to make:

1. I have a large bin full of scrap material that I have no interest in moving yet again. At least, I'd like to use as much as I can!
2. Anyone who knows me knows I make each of my new babies a blanket. Some have been crocheted, some knitted, and one rescued from the thrift store and given new life and service. This new wee babe needs her own blanket, just like the others.

 

I'm so pleased at the way this turned out. It's very forgiving, not showing just how crooked my seams are. It's also special, since every piece is a scrap of some other project. We've all enjoyed looking at the different pieces and remembering other things that were made or worn by and for others. "Hey, that's in Ellie's skirt!" "Remember that dress you made for Anna? That piece is from there!" Even the backing was once used as wall decoration in the previous house.

 

In spite of not really knowing what I'm doing and kind of making it up as I go along, something sweet, simple, and serviceable has been made. I'm looking forward to putting it into use.

 

 

 

A February Sweater for a May Baby

This little ditty is dedicated and was gifted to Mercy Rose, the beautiful little lady who joined her 3 older siblings in the arms of her parents late last night.

 In spite of the sweater pattern being called the February Baby Sweater, I think it'll suit this May baby just right. Made with Knit Picks Swish DK in Sugar Plum. Buttons are from my vintage collection.

I woke up at 5:30am this morning to the news "There's a new little person in the world!" I first thought, "I didn't have the baby already, did I?" My fogginess was only there for a moment, but still...

A lovely, golden day

This past Saturday was so special, such a sweet blessing to me...

For more than a month, my phone calendar had "family day special" as an event for Saturday, though I had no idea what that meant, since Toby entered it and was determined to keep things a surprise.

We started the day by heading over to see the start of the annual hot air balloon race - it's a pretty popular event!

 

 

Folks line the streets all around the air field to get a glimpse of the action, clutching their venti lattes and sporting bed head (since it starts at 7am). We were a little late smart, so we just drove around to see things from different angles.

Afterwards, we came home for breakfast, did some chores and headed out again. I was intrigued as we headed across the river into Indiana, but said nothing - I actually like being surprised and didn't want to spoil it! As we neared our destination, Toby passed me a little card with kind words of thanks for keeping up with things this year and some spending money...to spend at a fiber festival!! Be still my heart...

It was so fun. There was plenty of stuff to look at - I could barely get the girls away from the looms - though not too big, which would have been overwhelming. After I'd taken a tour around, we went outside for a picnic...

...tried on some felted hats and had some faces painted...

 

  ...and made some purchases! There were several spinning wheels around, but as they're in the hundreds of dollars and we face an impending move, I didn't think that now would be the time to start an expensive, new hobby. A drop spindle, however, has been on my list for a long time, is of minimal expense and very portable. This new hobby I could make room for! I bought some beautiful roving to go along with it - I have no idea what I'll knit with it, but knit it I shall.

 

And how's this for a bonus - seeing a time machine on the way home! 

 Some intrepid soul made a bunch of people's day that afternoon - we were totally geeking out over an actual De Lorean from Back to the Future!

I couldn't make out if they had a proper flux capacitor inside the dash, but they still get full marks for the externals!

 All in all, a good day, indeed.

All warm and pink

A friend here in Louisville asked me if I would make a baby blanket for a family member who just had a little girl three weeks early. Since this is one of my favorite blanket patterns, the choice was easy.

Made with Cascade 220 in Flamingo Pink - I love the effect of the gull stitch pattern!

Since a new baby needs a lot of love, food, and warmth, I'd say this is blanket will fulfill the third requirement, leaving the new Mom and Dad to take care of the rest.

My new Kindle case

Every so often, you complete a project that turned out just as you had hoped. This one was mine.

 I found this tutorial on Pinterest and was intrigued. Not that I need another Kindle case, but I do have some cute material to use up and I wasn't completely happy with my old case.

 I would like to point out that I have little experience with patchwork, and there are several places where my seams aren't straight, but it doesn't really matter. The sewing tips were great and the whole pattern is rather forgiving.

 Thanks to helpful instructions and some fabric that I love, I have a cute, functional case that will keep my little reader pretty and scratch-free.

Love.

More making do

I've had this remnant of upholstery fabric for a while, with no real plan of what to do with it. I also have more bath towels than this family needs. Put those two things together with a sewing machine, and you've got yourself a new mat!

 I was originally thinking this would be good in one of the bathrooms, but it's currently more needed at the kitchen sink. If you have a go, be sure to add some non-slip backing to it - I bought some at the dollar store and stitched it on by hand.

I have some more of this fabric to use, and I'm thinking of using it to freshen up some old and falling-apart-throw cushions. Watch this space!

Everyone needs a mug cozy...

So, I have this plan to use up some material I have in storage, and make some of the groovy projects I've pinned on my pinboard. I pinned this cute mug cozy ages ago, and thought "I might just have the stuff to make that". And so I did.

 I must say, felt is so easy to work with, particularly for kids, new sewers, or simply the time challenged. I fall into that last category at the moment, by the way.

There's little to do to make it neat and tidy, and since the edges don't fray, you don't need to spend a lot of time seaming and pressing and all that jazz. Just stitch the little triangles on in a fairly artful way, sew around the edges and add a button, and BOOM! You're stylin'. If you think that using a mug cozy is stylin', that is.

It does a reasonable job of keeping my beverages warm, which is nice, since it's so rare that I finish my tea or coffee while it's still hot. It's a good way to claim your mug, too - who else has such  groovy adornment? 

Maybe when folks start coveting one's mug cozy, it's a sign they need one of their own, perhaps with their own name emblazoned on the pennants for easy ID? Now there's a gift idea...

Climbing back in the saddle

It was the first baby shower for the first baby of one of the couples here at the Pastor's College, and you know how us ladies like us a good baby shower!

It appears that I have earned myself something of a reputation - if Kelly's in attendance, people expect something handmade. I wouldn't dream of disappointing...

Pattern: Eyelet Yoke Baby Cardigan (aka Old Faithful)

Yarn: Cascade, some kind of baby yarn, maybe this?

There was also the very clever suggestion that everyone get at lease one onesie and decorate their with a month of the year so that mom and dad can dress the wee babe up in her "month's" onesie and snap a picture for posterity. Everyone did a wonderful job!

 Clearly, I had month number eight. I bought a pack of 4 onesies, and since I had nothing clever planned for the other three, I decided to decorate all of them. Besides, even gorgeous babies poop all over their clothes and will need a change...

 To make, I printed off the number 8 (font size 450, I believe), traced it onto some scrap material I've got, ironed on some interfacing and got to sewing. It was easy enough to do in an evening, though cutting out a "1" or a "7" would have been easier. Just sayin'.

 I'd seen this cute idea on Pinterest for rolling up some onesie's with a sock to make them look like cupcakes. My first attempt looked rather stupid, really - rather like a wad of cloth with a sock sticking out. Perseverance paid off, however - perhaps they didn't exactly look like cupcakes, but they did look cute, instead of dumb.

Sometimes, that's about the best standard I can live up to.



Rental decorating

When we moved in, we decided that even though we have loads of pictures and paintings for the walls, we weren't going to hang them all because we (Toby) didn't want to deal with filling in lots of holes at the end of the year. At the same time, we (I) didn't want to live inside a bare shell for almost a year. So, we compromised.

There are a few of our special pieces up, but not in the kids' rooms yet. So, the kids' rooms became my first project.

In the boy's room, I made a little banner out of some leftover fabric and yarn.

 Since it was only a matter of cutting, and threading the yarn through holes poked into the corners of the triangles, this little project sits firmly in the "no-sew" category.

 In the little girls room, I used an idea I found on Pinterest to iron these little dots onto the walls using fabric circles I'd cut out for something years ago and some heat and bond fusible backing.

 Iron the circles to the backing, cut them out with the backing on and iron them to the wall. Avoid scorch marks by placing some fabric between your circle and your iron.

 The pin that served as my inspiration recommended doing it with your child's name, but that involved more than I could handle with half a dozen excited people around and bedtime approaching.

All photos taken by Anna!

Currently, Abigail and Caleb have a banner that I made years ago gracing their walls, and for now, it'll do. I'd love to do something else for them soon - just waiting for (more) inspiration to strike!

A fresh lick of paint

Before we settled down to a new school year, I wanted to jazz up some of our school surroundings. I know I was tired of looking at our functional-but-uninspiring school desks and chairs, and I think the kids were ready for some color, so a quick trip to the hardware store was in order.

It took about one and a half cans of paint to cover two desks and two chairs. The stuff touch-dried pretty quick, but took a full 24 hours to cure completely. It was pretty easy taking the chair seats and backs off, and the desks I painted as is.  

An extra benefit - the "robin's egg blue" matched perfectly with my nail polish, Essie's 'mint candy apple'. I can assure you this was total happenstance - no way am I that coordinated.

 

And here it is, waiting for eager little students to do some learning! (ahem)

 

Crayon Candles

One of the ideas on our Summer of Fun board was to make some candles out of sun-melted crayons. As it happens, being a stinking hot summer and all, the sun and accompanying heat was happy to work with us.

 The original idea is here, but I made a couple of adjustments. Rather than mixing lots of different colors, we kept like colors together (for the most part) and put them in baby food jars. Rather than getting proper candle wicking, we went with the suggestion to simply put a birthday cake candle in the middle, which worked just as well.

Each of the kids had fun making one, and it was worth it to me to get rid of some junky old crayons. Getting them to sit there peeling the paper off kept them busy, too.
We had them at the table for dinner and the kids enjoyed having the candles "race" - they don't burn especially well, so it was a competition to see who's would stay lit the longest.
For us, it was a fun afternoon activity when it's too hot to go out. If you wanted to, you could make it a cool solar energy/color combining activity, as well. It was too hot for me to be clever about it, though!

Cheery Cherry Lemon Cake

I first made this for Anna's first birthday, and it's been a fixture ever since. It's best while the cherries are in season - like now!

1. Preheat your oven to 375F. Grease a lasagna-sized baking dish.
2. Coarsely chop 1 1/2 cups pitted sweet cherries and pat dry. In a separate bowl, combine 2 1/2 cups flour, 2 1/2 tsp baking powder, 2 1/2 tsp baking soda, and 1/2 tsp salt.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat 3/4 cup soft butter on high for 30 seconds. Add 1 3/4 cup sugar and 1 1/2 tsp vanilla and beat until fluffy. Add 3 eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add dry, flour mixture and 1 1/4 cup milk alternately to beaten mixture. Stir 2 tsp shredded lemon peel. Pour batter into pan, then sprinkle the chopped cherries on top. (They will sink, mind.)
4. Bake for 30-35 min and cool completely. Cut into pieces and add a dollop of some cream cheese frosting to each piece and top with a cherry.
5. To make the cream cheese frosting, combine an 8 oz package of cream cheese, 2/3 cup butter, 2 tbsp. lemon juice. Beat well, then add up to 3 cups of sifted powdered sugar and beat well.

I never got a chance to take a picture - it went pretty fast, but Taste of Home has the recipe, as well, along with this photo:

Truly, this photo doesn't do it justice - it looks much better in the flesh (and on my plate)!

Some completed projects

Small amounts of yarn and quick projects is where I'm at, at the moment...

 

Malabrigo Mitts, with Malabrigo Worsted in Orchid.

 Simple Ribbed Cowl in Cascade 128 Superwash

The Rikke Hat is currently in process. The Mochi Plus by Crystal Palace is a lovely, soft variegated that's going to looks so good on my head. When it's cold enough, that is.