Baby Quilts

Here are the two quilts I made for our new baby's room. The smaller one uses a "fussy cut" section of that same fabric that is in the blanket on the chair. I recently learned what "fussy cut" means--cutting out a specific section of a fabric. I would have rather done an elephant, but I only had a little strip of that fabric left and the tiger was the only whole animal I could get. That same animal fabric comes in miniature print, and I used that for the bigger quilt. The bigger quilt will eventually be hung over the crib, but I just wanted to get this posted. Also, I will hang a Timothy Botts calligraphy poster of the fruits of the Spirit scripture near the quilt, because the colors just happen to be the same as in the quilt!

I'm working on a few other little projects for the room and for the baby, so I'll post those when done. So much fun!

Fresh gift idea: needlefelting inspiration

I can think of several people I'd like to give this to as a special gift . . . but I'm not sure if I have the expertise (and patience) to make it! Check out the loveliness:

http://tinyapartmentcrafts.blogspot.com/2011/02/needle-felted-succulent-terrarium.html

Here's a creative snack your little boys will love . . .

Saw this today and thought of you both (and discussion re: creative snack ideas).

http://www.notquitenigella.com/2011/02/16/broccoli-forest-cake/

Warmers, part two

It was so much fun knowing that we were making similar gifts this year, Leigh! And the fun continues--I made four more therapeutic neck warmer pillows with removable/washable covers this week. For some background for you, Sarah: last year I found this great site http://www.microwavecornbags.com/pattern.htm put together by a nurse who extensively researched fillers for these kinds of bags so that she could get them approved for use at her hospital. I knew these would be great practical AND inexpensive gifts to make: my husband had been given a few by friends in the past and we had used them for years.

So before Christmas, I went to our local feed store and bought a 50 lb. bag of her recommended filler, feed corn, for less than $15, and made pocket hand warmers for all my piano students loosely based on this tutorial http://lipstickandlaundry.blogspot.com/2009/12/hand-warmer-tutorial.html and the Sew4Home sachet tutorial. I also made neck warmers for folks in my husband's family and our neighbor using a tutorial from this awesome sewing calendar (http://www.amazon.com/Sewing-2011-Day-Day-Calendar/dp/0740797077/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1298753303&sr=8-1 ). These were great gifts for my brothers-in-law, who are the hardest ones to make homemade gifts for (dangling preposition, sorry!). I also made one for myself and use it every single night as a bed warmer to take the chill off the sheets!

Anyway, I needed to make another one for my neighbor's husband and also wanted to make a few more warmers to have around the house--one for Mando and a couple for the kids. In the spirit of reusing and re-purposing, I cut up some old curtains that I had made for our rental property back when it was our house. I was able to use both the curtain ticking fabric and the cotton lining for this project. Here is a picture of the one I made especially for Mando, with another pillow and cover in progress. I appliqued a little linen with his name written in a fabric pen (you just write, then set the ink with your iron) on it to make it extra-special. I love the way that the pillows are segmented so that the filler is equally distributed. Yours are like that too, right Leigh?

Celebrate the boy!

You two have probably already heard of Made by Rae's "Celebrate the Boy" series of tutorials (there was a separate series that ran last year as well) . . . but just in case, here's the link to her site: http://www.made-by-rae.com/2010/03/celebrate-boy-archives.html. It's a fabulous bunch of boy-oriented sewing projects . . . . I have wanted to make them all! Enjoy!

Speaking of felting . . . .

You two knitting mamas would have no problem whipping up this darling little set to get ready for Easter . . . . http://felting.craftgossip.com/2011/02/24/free-felted-knit-pattern-for-a-nest-and-eggs/

A Wealth of Crafting Knowledge

Hello fellow Craftybelles! I just wanted to share some of my favorite websites/blogs that have a wealth of ideas and inspiration for future projects--and many patterns for free!

www.wrenhandmade.com
www.purlbee.com/
creativebreathing.blogspot.com/
craftzine.com/
www.knitrowan.com
www.knitty.com (compliments of you, dear Leigh)
cache.lionbrand.com/
berroco.com/

Also, have you checked out Martha Stewart's 2 new Encyclopedias--one of Crafts and one of Sewing and Fabric Crafts? Excellent!