doll quilt 2

I finished my second doll quilt last week.  I added lace trim to this one and hand quilted it instead of machine quilting.  There are actually only a few rows of quilting on it because Tallulah was getting impatient and quite honestly, so was I. 

Of course as soon as Adelaide saw the finished blanket she tried to claim this one as hers too :)  We talked it through though and now when ever she sees it she says "Go-la's (what she calls Tallulah) blankie!"

in their natural habitat

Yesterday the kids were playing in the back yard while I sat on the deck and worked on my grocery list.  When I saw Micah up there in the tree I grabbed my camera and my zoom lens and snapped these pictures.

This is a favorite hangout for the kids, much to my neighbors chagrin :)

When Addie is in the back yard she is in one of two places- this swing or the little tykes car- no exceptions- and she does NOT like to share that swing.

mom, this one is for you :)

My mom commented about how I have not posted any pictures of the van since we brought Lanie (that is what the kids named the van) home last week, so I snapped this "in action" picture with my phone this morning when I picked my friends kids up for a play date... loving that we can bring our friends with us now!

scrap busting

I am working on a large custom bunting order and my customer wants a mini version of my scalloped bunting, so yesterday pulled out my scraps and sewed up this mini bunting as a test run.  Regan asked if she could buy it from me, so I guess that means it turned out okay :)

While I was digging through the scrap bins I decided to throw together one of these Sleepy Time Doll Quilts, just for fun.

I love the little animals peeking out over the top of the patchwork. You can buy the pattern here.  For this one I just did some lazy stitch in the ditch machine quilting, but I will hand quilt my next one...

Yep, It was so fun to put this together I am already planning another- totally different color scheme.  I'll be sure to post pictures when I am done.  And somewhere in there I will find time to work on that custom bunting order too :)

free april embroidery pattern

Appropriately it is a rainy April day and I photograph and post this next square in my calendar!  It took me awhile to get this one completed.  I just seemed to be in a bit if a rut with it, but finally those few hours to myself over the weekend sparked the creativity and energy I needed to finish it up and I think it turned out pretty cute :)

Here are a couple close ups...

And of course the pattern.  I would love to see your work if you are using my patterns to make your own little calendar- please post pictures to my flickr group!
Calendar April

Happy stitching!

getaway

I just got back from a lovely weekend in Williamsburg.  The church I grew up in and attended until we moved from the DC area had their woman's retreat down here and I was blessed to be able to attend.  I got to visit with some old friends and spent a lovely 3+ hours ALONE in my hotel room, just me and my sewing.  There was lots of food, encouraging talks and crazy karaoke late into the night! Did I mention how absolutely lovely it was?  I did not take my camera, but snapped this picture with my phone as I was settling into my 3 hours of blissful solitude :)  That is my April square that I was able to put the finishing touches on this weekend.  I will post pictures as soon as I get the pattern ready.

sweet moments

Yesterday Regan, Max, and Tallulah rode along with there dad to pick up the new van while Micah and Adelaide stayed home with me.  Micah could not wait for Addie to wake up so that he could play with her.  He was right by her side for a good 2 hours playing and reading to her.  At one point I found them snuggled up in this chair looking at a Lego magazine.  He's such a good big brother to his baby sister :)

out with the old, in with the new

Yesterday the kids washed and cleaned out the minivan...

then played in the hose as a reward for their afternoons work.

Today we ran one last errand in old blue then cleaned out the rest of our stuff from the Town and Country...

Tomorrow my hubby will drive the van to Richmond and come home with this instead.

I am super excited about all the room we will have, and am totally comfortable driving it, but I am terrified to park it!

warning- this post contains excessive cuteness

Okay, so here is an overload of Addie pictures, but they were so cute, I could not resist :)

Apparently I left my glasses on the table at lunch while Addie was still at the table.  I think they look better on her than me :)

it's that time of year again...

We hit the strawberry patch this morning for the first time this season.  We've had such a mild winter that the season has started 3 weeks earlier than usual!  It was a perfect morning for picking, warm with a nice breeze blowing and plenty of sunshine.

This first bucket we will probably just eat.  Next week I'll be making Strawberry Pie for sure!

things i don't want to forget...

How whenever Adelaide see's me lie down on the couch, she runs to her room for a blanket and comes back to curl up beside me...

The way she say's "P P Play anree burrds" (Angry Birds) every time she see's my cell phone.

How after I took this picture I hid the phone under the pillow and after searching all my pockets she asked "Is it hiding?"

Her constant asking to "G G Go out-side"

Her sing-songy voice speaking new words every day.

The list could go on and on :)

coloring on canvas

So, it has been two months since I sketched this bird onto canvas, thinking that any day I would pull out my paints and paint it... Finally after two months of never finding the time to paint it, I decided the other night to try out my Copic markers on the canvas and see how they worked.

 Although you can see the marker strokes in the background I am happy with how it turned out.  Tallulah even said it looked better than the original (it's so nice having a 5 year old around who thinks you've hung the moon).

You can see my inspiration piece in this photo.

new rug

Last week the hubby asked if we could find a rug for our living room for around $100. I did not think it was likely to find much besides a bound carpet remnant for that price, but went online to see what I could find.  It was total disbelief when I stumbled upon this hand-tufted, 5x8 wool rug on sale for $59 on Amazon.

After consulting the hubby, I quickly added it to my cart and made my purchase before someone realized that they had way under-priced this rug and even still I waited all week for the email that I knew I would receive telling me there had been a mistake.  Well, that email never came... and the rug did!  Went back on Amazon when we got the rug and the price had increased by nearly $200! 

aprons

I seem to have gone a bit apron happy this week.  I had a few yard of fabric that were just calling out to be made into aprons... so what's a girl to?

This one is the only adult apron (so far), and although it turned out cute, sewing all that bias tape around the edges was not fun, so I don't think there will be another one like this.  I do have another yard of that fabric, only in yellow, but I will do a different apron design next time.

I did make a coordinating kids apron :)

And two more kids aprons in this cute fabric.

Next I am going to dig into this fun pile of fabric that came in the mail earlier this week!

easter crafting

There was lots of behind the scenes crafting going on this Easter.  Regan put together Easter baskets for her dad and me- this owl purse was one of the many handmade goodies in those baskets.

I decoupaged this box for Regan- She has been admiring a hand painted jewelry box similar to this that was given to me as a wedding present for awhile now.  It was lots of fun to make.

I made Easter dresses for the girls... well,  dresses for Regan and Tallulah and a skirt for Addie.
(The dresses are the Mary sash dress and the Tallulah halter dress from Girl's World and the skirt is Dana's Market Skirt.)  I tried to get a picture of them wearing their outfits yesterday, but Addie would have non of it...

as I matter of fact I think this is the only picture I got with her in it, facing the camera, and not screaming!

The other big sewing project was new hooded towels for all the kids.  You can see Addie did not want to participate in this picture either, that orange towel between Tallulah and Regan is hers.

I've been enjoying all the crafting and sewing going on around here the last few weeks.  It always feels good to be doing something creative on a regular basis!

easter place cards

I made place cards and holders last night for our Easter dinner on Sunday. 

I found these printable place cards online and then drew the flowers and birdies, cut them out and glued them onto the cards.  (I used my growing collection of Copic markers to color the flowers and birdies... love my Copics!)

For the card holders I dug into that stash of wooden spools my mom brought me last month.  I used floral wire from the dollar tree and wrapped it around a marker two times, twisted it, stuck the ends through the spool and  tapped them to the bottom to secure the wire.

These were pretty simple to make and I LOVE how they turned out!