one

My baby turned one last Friday. It hardly seems possible that a year has past since this amazing sweet boy came into our lives. For the occasion, cake was made and devoured, friends came over to play, and owl-themed party favors were made.

I knit these tiny owls and put them on hair clips for the little girls and pins for the little boys.

I originally intended to make small versions of these as well, but in an especially enlightened moment I came up with the idea of making little owl bean bags instead. These are filled with organic popcorn and I will definitely be making more of them. I think Levi needs a set of 5 for tossing!

crinkly owl

I made these crinkly felt owls for Levi and his sweet cousin Isaac. When I saw the post with instructions for them, I immediately thought of Levi. He loves animals, especially ones that make noises - "Owl says whoooooo whooooo..." Sure enough, it was a big hit...especially the ears which are constantly soaking wet from being sucked on! I hope his cousin likes his owl too.

felt food

I am obsessed. I got this Japanese craft book, Felt Food, for Christmas, and I can't stop sewing felt fruits and vegetables! So far, I have made a half-pear, lemon, and two strawberries...

And an egg sandwich...though it still needs cheese!

The book has patterns for tons of veggies and fruits, and some other really cute things like pancakes with a little pat of butter on top. Somehow I don't think I'll be done making felt food until I've made nearly everything in the book. I figure someday Levi will have a seriously well-stocked play kitchen!

a little squirrely

I think I've gone a bit nuts. It all started with the squirrel dish towels on purl bee, which I immediately fell in love with. I hesitated on buying the supplies though, because I didn't want to spend the money. Well, you know how you always want what you can't have? Well, a few days after purl bee posted those dish towels, the squirrel tape in brown was completely gone. And it is discontinued, and from Japan, so there was no getting more. Once that happened, I immediately jumped on the white and red squirrel tape, and then started looking for some fabric to go with it.

In about a week's time, I had accumulated quite the collection of fabric for these towels. I did buy some of the awesome Nani Iro Double Gauze that purl bee recommended for the towels (bottom fabric in the picture above), and I bought some of this white cotton waffle fabric from a little goodness on etsy (top fabric). I figured these two fabrics would look great with the white squirrel tape, but I still needed something for the red squirrels. In the back of my mind I was thinking about a flax-colored waffle weave fabric, preferably with some linen content. I looked everywhere for something like that, and finally found this fabric on etsy. I bought the last half-yard and was so happy when it arrived because it was exactly what I had in mind.

I'm really happy with how the towels came out. I had to use a walking foot to sew the hems because the folded fabric was so thick. The two white fabrics were also both very difficult to work with. The Nani Iro fabric was just so gauzy and drapey that getting it cut into perfect rectangles was a pain. The cotton waffle weave was so squishy that it compressed when being sewn and it was hard to sew the tape on straight.

I'm thinking that these towels are way too nice to use for drying dishes, and I think I will hang them in a bathroom as hand towels. The problem is that I've gone a little squirrel crazy and am plotting all the fun things I could do to coordinate with these towels. I definitely think I want to make a bowl of needle felted acorns like these, or maybe I need a little soap dish full of acorn shaped soaps? I've gone so nutty that I'm even thinking of taking up paper cutting so I could frame this awesome squirrel valentine and add it to the squirrel themed bathroom set!

kimono for isaac

My lovely sister, Emily, had a baby boy named Isaac on December 22, 2008. So Levi has an identically-aged cousin...unfortunately, they live 16 hours away, so Levi might not get to see his cousin as much as we would like. I got a new sewing machine for Christmas (I can sew a straight line now...so my problems of the past may have been partly to blame on my awful old machine!) and I tested it out by making another kimono - one for my nephew Isaac.

Isaac's father hates birds. I have no idea how anyone could hate birds, but he claims some chicken looked at him funny one day when he was in a dark alley as a child. I, on the other hand, have devoted most of my adult life to studying birds, and I am determined to impress upon my nephew that birds are wonderful no matter what his father might tell him! So I made him a kimono with one of my favorite bird fabrics, Windham's "A Little Bird Told Me".

This kimono turned out better than the first two I made - thanks in part to my new sewing machine. I love that it is so simple, with the solid brown fabric, but made special thanks to the bird trim. I can't wait to see pictures of Isaac in his little bird kimono this summer!

felt bears

I think this might be one of my favorite recent projects. These little bears were really enjoyable to make, not terribly time-consuming, and I think they are absolutely adorable. I was browsing through the handmade gift guide on marthastewart.com and saw the "Tooth Bears" template...I have always loved the look of simple hand-stitched dolls and toys, so I started cutting.

I had intended to make the tooth bears, which have a little pocket on their chests for kids to store lost teeth in...but honestly, teeth are not front and center in my mind right now. I'm not even thinking about my baby (not even born yet) getting teeth, let alone losing them. Plus, I didn't have any good pocket colors in my felt stash and I wasn't terribly convinced that I could embroider a picture of a tooth (that anyone would be able to identify as a tooth) on the little pocket...so I thought I'd forgo the pocket and put a red heart on their chests instead.

I'm thinking of changing the pattern slightly - expanding the length of the ears and adding whiskers - to make some felt bunnies...because honestly, I enjoyed making these guys so much I can't imagine not having a hand-sewing project to work on!

baby kimonos

My friend Rachel came over today to teach me how to make a baby kimono for our (hopefully) soon-to-arrive baby. She made one for her daughter, Maeve, and I thought it was so adorable, I had to make some too.

We used a free pattern from habitual, which worked well...and despite my not-so-great sewing skills, I was able to make two kimonos that I am totally in love with. I made the 6-12 month size, so I should be able to use them for a while.

I got both of these fabrics from Superbuzzy. The gold fabric is 100% cotton, and is called Proud Lion.


And the farm scene fabric is a Japanese linen-cotton waffle weave fabric (which has a wonderful drape by the way) called Free Range. I'm really happy with how both kimonos turned out, and can't wait to see them on baby!

frustration!

When I saw this post on purl bee for the "cozy quick blankie," I immediately bought enough organic cotton fleece and rick-rack to make a blanket for myself and one for my sister. It seemed like the perfect quick but cute project for a new baby. I chose Amy Butler's midwest modern fabric for my sister's blanket, and some tree and bird fabric I had in my stash (and had intended to use for baby stuff) for myself. I figured that since I can (almost) sew a straight line, this project would be fairly simple.

Well, it wasn't.

The fleece was awful to work with. After washing, it shrunk in unpredictable ways and ended up as a big parallelogram rather than a square. So the blankets had to be smaller than I had originally hoped. Getting the two layers together smoothly proved to be even more difficult. I constructed my sister's blanket with the fleece layer on top, resulting in a puckery saggy fabric layer. Thinking I was wiser the second time around, I did mine with the fabric layer on top, and guess what? I ended up with a saggy fleece layer! The picture above is the only one in which you can't see my absolute frustration with these blankets - Adam came into the room and started taking pictures of me sewing and then I started getting mad at the blankets and mad at him!

All-in-all, I ended up with two respectable (and usable) baby blankets, but they aren't perfect. Next time (if there is one) I will tape one of the layers to the floor - like you would for basting a quilt. I think that would help. Also, I will never buy expensive organic cotton fleece again and instead would use economical 100% cotton flannel for this blanket if I ever were to make one again. Then I could make each blanket for under $10, rather than the $30 I spent on each blanket. I guess you could say it was a learning experience!

i'm free!

The dissertation is done, defended, and turned in. I'm pretty much officially free from academia for a little while. There are still papers to be submitted for publication and other little projects to work on at my leisure, but for the most part, I am free!

I thought I would want to jump right back into knitting, sewing, and cooking...but I guess my body wanted me to do nothing but sleep and lay around like a big vegetable for the past week. I think I'm finally starting to feel a little more motivation now, so hopefully I can run with it.

The lovely little butterfly above is a wee wonderfuls pattern, and was heavily influenced by Meg's interpretation of the pattern on her blog. I haven't made Meg's chrysalis yet, but I did attach the wings by velcro so I could do that at some point in the future. I ordered some brown flannel fabric that might be perfect.

My butterfly is not perfect...It was my first hand sewing project of this type and I learned a lot. My felt was slightly low quality. I ordered it thinking it was 100% wool, but it turned out to be a blend...at least it is formaldehyde free and safe for babies to gnaw on. Also, I didn't have a fine sharp needle that had a big enough eye to fit the strands of embroidery floss through. These two limitations led to much cursing as I basically mutilated the felt while trying to sew. I eventually figured out a solution - two strands of embroidery floss instead of three, with one of my small-eyed sharp needles...and the rest went much more smoothly.

Anyway, I'm really happy with this cute little project and think I'll probably make another one of these days to see if I have improved enough to make one that is a little less lopsided!

longing for freedom

I haven't had time to do ANYthing lately. My dissertation is due to my committee in a week and a half, and then I fly out to Portland for my defense on June 9th. I can't WAIT until it is over!

We were in New York City on Friday and Saturday for a wedding, and I stopped at Purl Patchwork (I've been wanting to go there for so long!). Adam went to hang out with a friend and his last words to me were "buy lots of fabric," so I did! I couldn't resist getting some of the Cake Rock Beach fabrics plus a cute little spectrum bundle of orange and yellow fabrics. I don't know how I will manage to hold off on sewing with these awesome fabrics for another month!

It is gorgeous and spring-like outside and we have a family of foxes living in our field with FIVE babies! We watched them for almost an hour last night, chasing each other and leaping into the air and rolling around in the grass. Hopefully soon I can spend more time watching foxes, gardening, sewing, and knitting!

congratulations, adam!

Adam finished his dissertation and we're heading to Portland, Oregon tomorrow for his defense. I'm so happy for him and now he will have more time to work on his wood lathe...he is learning how to turn wood bowls, and I can't wait to see what he creates! I'm also really excited to visit Portland...I miss that wonderful city!

I am hoping to do a lot of knitting on the airplane. I've almost finished knitting my bitter orange yarn into a plain garter stitch scarf (inspired by a similar scarf by jared at brooklyntweed), and now I think I'm going to make a Baby Surprise Jacket with my handspun bark yarn. Next up is the Minimalist Cardigan, which will definitely satisfy my current desire to make a sweater (which I haven't done in years), and I know it is something I will actually wear for a change! And on the sewing front, I can't wait to make some things with this new fabric line, Cake Rock Beach...I really want to make these pillows, and I have some other ideas up my sleeve too!

I have to quell some of my creative urges for a while though, because now that Adam is done with his dissertation, it is my turn to finish mine!

finished quilt!

As promised, here is my finished quilt! Like I said before, I am really happy with it, and still amazed that I did such an extensive sewing project. I quilted it in a diamond pattern, the same way it was done in the book where I got the instructions for making this quilt (Last Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts). Some of the quilting lines are a little wobbly, mainly due to my beginning sewing skills. My really old crappy sewing machine didn't help much either...my walking foot fell off more than a dozen times during the quilting, so there was a lot of stopping, carefully trying to put it back on, and getting everything lined up again so there was no obvious gap in the quilting line. I would love to get a new sewing machine some day.

I did a double-fold binding, which involves hand sewing the entire binding onto the back of the quilt. I was dreading this part because I've always heard how time consuming it is, but it was my favorite part of the whole process! I really liked the slow precise hand sewing, and it was the only part of the process where I felt somewhat in control. It didn't even take that long...basically two nights of sewing. Look how cute my little polka-dotted binding is.

Making a quilt was on my "life list," or list of things to do during my lifetime. It is always such a good feeling when I actually accomplish one of these things. And the greatest part is that I really want to keep making quilts, so this definitely will not be a one-time thing. In fact, I just bought some gorgeous fabric for my next project! There will definitely be some hand-quilting in my future too, since I enjoyed the hand sewing so much.

work in progress

Not a whole lot is going on here, and I have no finished projects to show. Most of my free time has been spent working on my quilt, which I spent all of last weekend machine quilting. I got the binding attached yesterday night, and now I just have to hand-finish the binding by blind stitching it onto the back of the quilt. There have been many points during the process where I've said "I'm never doing this again," like when my walking foot fell off of my sewing machine for the 20th time, and when my quilting lines seemed just a little too wobbly. But now that it is almost done and I realize that it actually looks pretty good, I can't wait to do it again! I have a couple small projects in mind.

The daffodils are from Adam. It always amazes me how much something so simple, like a vase of flowers, can brighten my mood! When we lived in Portland, I had fresh flowers in my house almost all the time. But here, it is really difficult to find nice flowers...and there aren't any growing outside yet since we're still buried under snow.

This is pretty much the only knitting work in progress I have going on these days. The photo is blurry, but I'm not going to take the time to re-photograph it until it is done! It's a hydrangea lace scarf in malabrigo lace, probably the softest yarn I've ever felt. I'm actually not so crazy about the lace pattern (though I do love hydrangeas!)...I grabbed the pattern and the yarn one day at Webs when I was in a hurry (code for Adam wanted to leave). They had a sample of this scarf knit in this yarn and it was gorgeous and soft. I probably could have found or designed a pattern I like more, but I'm happy enough to do something fairly mindless and I figure you can't go wrong with malabrigo lace!

tote bag

This is a prototype tote bag that I made last Saturday. I had this red fabric from Kirin & Co. that I didn't have any plans for. It came in some packs of small pieces of assorted fabric that I bought specifically for the blue ginkgo and birch forest fabrics that I used in my pillow and quilt. I also have a piece of green ginkgo fabric that I plan to make a tote bag from, but I thought I'd make this red one first so I could refine my techniques for the next one!

I roughly used the tutorial on super eggplant, except when I sewed the lining into the bag I just topstitched instead of doing the crazy inside-out thing. Mainly because I was lazy and also worried that I'd end up with handles stuck between the lining and the outside of the bag, or something crazy like that.

The brown fabric is linen & cotton, as is Lara's fabric, so it has a nice texture to it. I messed up one of the corners, but it doesn't bother me too much, and overall I think the bag looks really nice! It reminds me of summer though, so I'm having trouble using it now (it's too cheerful for March!)...but I'll get over it.

my first quilt!

I am very proud of myself that I pieced my first quilt over the past couple days! I can't believe that I actually made something so substantial (and so pretty). I never expected that everything would line up so well! I guess I just really didn't think that I could do this, but I'm glad I bit the bullet and did it anyway.

It's a stacked coins quilt that I made according to the instructions in Last Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts...I LOVE the oranges and yellows in this quilt from the book (pictured below), but I was inspired by the fabric designed by Lara Cameron of Kirin & Co., so I went with a blue-green-brown color scheme instead so I could use some of those fabrics in the quilt.

The top (and bottom) pictures, which were taken with a flash, actually make the blues in Lara's fabric look much brighter than they actually are. The picture below, taken without a flash, is more true to color (although it is fuzzy!). I used three of the fabrics from Kirin & Co., including my very favorite birch forest fabric, which I have talked about before. The rest of the fabrics I chose to coordinate, but not stand out too much...I wanted to real focus to be on the ginkgo and birch fabrics. I am really happy with how all the fabrics worked together. I love the brighter green fabric because it adds so much brightness, and the little tiny birds, and the grass fabric too...I pretty much love them all, which is good!

The quilt is around 65 inches long and 52 inches wide, so it is a good size and will hopefully someday go on a twin bed. Now I just have to figure out what I am going to do about getting it quilted. I've already decided that I will NOT be hand quilting this particular quilt...I think it would take forever, and I don't have that kind of patience right now. So either I will machine quilt it myself, or I will have it professionally machine quilted. I think I'll probably go with the last option because I'm a little daunted by the prospect of quilting it myself...maybe some day I'll work up to that, but for now I'm just so proud that I managed to piece the quilt, that I think I'll let someone else quilt it.

Update! After 24 hours of mulling over how to have this thing quilted (and asking a friend in the area how I would even go about having that done), I think I might try to quilt it myself...it could be a disaster, but it seems like it might be worth a try!

birch throw pillow

I have to admit that I am a little obsessed with this birch fabric. I first came across the birch pattern as letterpress note cards (I love letterpress cards)...the cards were a collaboration between Lynn of Satsuma Press, who did the letterpress printing, and Lara of Kirin & Co, who designed the birch scene, and I snatched up a few cards with the intention of framing one of them (still working on that!). Well...then I discovered that Lara has fabric printed in this birch pattern, and I just had to have some....even though I have barely sewed anything in my life! My fabric arrived from Australia late last week and over the weekend I whipped up this little throw pillow. It is 14x14", and has a natural colored linen/cotton fabric on the back of the pillow and the birch fabric (which is also linen/cotton) on the front. It is not perfect...my corners could have been done a bit more professionally, but I am totally thrilled with this pillow. And it definitely satisfies my desire to have something made in this fabric that I can look at all the time.