A Fab Mag and a Cute Cozy

I found myself with a few precious extra minutes at the local Joann store recently and happened upon a treasure of a magazine. It was a bit more expensive than others, but the dear little kit on the front (yes! it came with a kit!) put it over the top as far as I was concerned. I took the magazine to bed with me and marked page after page of fabulous ideas, but only after stitching up the gadget cozy last night.

Four Months' Worth of Posts...All Rolled into One

I came here to find those old Airstream links (still in love with Loobylu's afghans in campers photo set), and it hit me that I haven't posted in ages. Here's what I've been busy with...

Crocheted fingerless gloves for Susan:














Stitched an "RB" monogram onto a linen towel for Gina:














Made a hat for Deuce's trip to Latvia:














Finally turned my HomeSweet fabric into a pillow for the living room:














Hosted a 40th Anniversary dinner for Mom and Dad:


















Made a happy discovery:


















Adopted a handsome betta fish:














Got my own baby chicks!














And grew a corgi. Zeke will be 1 year old next week.

Napkins for Karen

I found this fantastic vintage '70s fabric on clearance during a ladies' weekend in St. Michaels, Md., a few years ago. Couldn't make myself cut into for the longest time, but when dinner napkins showed up on my SIL's birthday wish list, I knew what I had to do. They'll be perfect with Karen's famous homemade bread and broccoli-cheese soup. Which, by the way, is one of my favorite meals. Karen. If you're reading this.

A Sewing Lesson

During Christmas break, we invited three girls over for a sewing lesson. My niece received a sewing machine for Christmas and was eager to break it in, and two of my daughter's best friends are also interested in sewing. We used Simplicity pattern 3553 (Learn to Sew series) and some fun flannel from JoAnn Fabrics. Four hours (and one glass of wine) later, they modeled the result:










Every single one of us was tickled with those pants. I'm not sure I'd do it again with so many girls at once (four little lead feet on those pedals had me kinda stressed), but it was a wonderful feeling to see them so excited about sewing.

Car Caddy, Part II

My SIL read my last post(!) and sweetly sent a photo of Milo's car caddy.

The Missing Car Caddy and a Pillowcase

I was just enjoying Homemade by Jill's latest post, when I realized I never posted pictures of the Cozy Car Caddy I made from her
tutorial. Apparently I didn't photograph it, which is a bummer because I was tickled with how it turned out. I carried it around the house for a couple of days and forced everyone to admire before surrendering it to Milo at his birthday party. Anyway, check the tutorial out if you're so inclined; this would make a great Christmas gift for a little guy or gal who loves small cars.

Instead of Milo's car caddy, I leave you with a pillowcase I embroidered.

Doll Clothes: I'm Hooked

Well, I held out for two years. Those tiny patterns for 18" doll clothes struck me as awfully tedious and a little intimidating. Last Christmas, Mom surprised each of her older granddaughters with a full wardrobe of adorable, homemade clothes for their American Girl dolls, and I gratefully thought "Better her than me!" But after seeing the pre-printed fabric pattern kits on Spoonflower today, I finally got the urge to give it a try. Of course I'd picked up a few Simplicity doll clothes patterns years ago during one of JoAnn's $1 pattern sales, so all we had to do was select the fabric from my stash, and an hour later, a dress was born.


















Totally gratifying. I see many more of these in my future.

A couple of towels

I embroidered these towels and sent them out as gifts for friends recently. This one used Sublime Stitching's Camp Out Transfers and went to some fellow Airstream enthusiasts who've just welcomed twins to their family.














And the other is from one of Wild Olive's many cute patterns. I packed it up with a set of the new chocolate-color Fiesta ware for talented photographer (and fellow Fiesta collector) Elizabeth.














Too bad I don't share her photo skills...

Hooking

If you're on my Christmas list, be prepared to receive a scarf this year. I've been turning them out like crazy. I love the Stitch & Bitch Crochet One-Skein Scarf pattern and found some other great patterns on Ravelry.

This cowl is the Martha Cowl Scarf by Little Thingies.














Here's one of many One-Skein Scarves piling up in my sewing room.


















And I love-love-love this soft wool yarn from Italy.

Welcoming Baby Boys

We've been busy welcoming baby boys to the world. I made the Beatles outfit for baby Julien, and Snoopy for baby Jordan. The crocheted cotton caps are another pattern from Polka Dot Posh, and the pants are Made by Rae's Big Butt Baby Pants.

Booties

I'm in love with every single pattern at Polka Dot Posh. Fortunately I've needed gift ideas for several babies lately. These little green booties were my first PDP project.














The covered buttons match the fabric in the onesie.

Pilot's leash

I made this leash for a friend's dog, Pilot, using Anna Maria Horner's tutorial. The "Play Ball!" ribbon came from our local Michael's craft store.

Animal House

It's been a crazy-busy summer. Too much to do, never enough time. I went on a simplification kick and spent weeks decluttering. One of the last things on the decluttering to-do list was to donate some cat food (flavors our three cats won't eat) to the local animal shelter. I'm still not sure exactly how it happened...but we dropped off the cat food and came home with our second puppy in four months.

So much for simplifying.












Zeke and Honey

Tramping, stitching, and going home again

While we were trailer camping ("tramping") over the Memorial Day weekend, I spent one lazy afternoon in the shade, working on this linen pillow cover. The pattern caught my eye last month as I prepared a stitching project to take to an out-of-state conference for work. It reads "East or West, home is best."














The free vintage pattern is available on Flickr from Doe-C-Doe.

A quilt for Robbie

I'm sending this little quilt off today for a friend's baby boy. Have I mentioned that I'm in love with my walking foot? The tutorial for the Crazy Nine Patch blocks is from Oh, Fransson!


























Have a happy holiday weekend!

Onesie Winner and Silly Berries

Our May Giveaway Day winner is Stella from The Golden Adventures of A Very Dark Horse. I'm delighted to make a custom onesie for her adorable baby Eleanor. Congratulations, Stella! Thanks again to everyone who dropped by and left such sweet comments--and a heartfelt welcome to those who are now following the blog!

The strawberry patch at a nearby farm was loaded with beautiful berries this weekend. While Olivia and I picked two flats' worth, she got such a kick out of finding some "silly" ones and insisted that we take a picture when we got them home.














I froze most of the berries for green smoothies, but it wouldn't be berry season without a pound cake.

Monogramming everything in sight

The Great May Giveaway ends today! If you're here from Sew, Mama, Sew! and you'd like to enter my drawing, please click down to the previous post and leave a comment there. It's been fabulous hearing from so many people and discovering all sorts of delightful new blogs to admire.

I posted quite a while ago about the coffee cozies I was working on. Typically, they ended up being set aside for a just bit (okay, it's been almost a year!)...but I finally finished two as gifts for some friends. I packaged each one with a Starbucks card and sent them off yesterday, along with a custom order for a baby named Eleanor.

Onesie Giveaway

Happy May Giveaway Day! I'm delighted to participate in another of Sew, Mama, Sew's fabulous events. The Butter & Sugar giveaway prize is a free customized onesie like these in my Etsy shop. One randomly selected winner will choose their own monogram initial, onesie size, and style (long or short sleeves).

To enter, just comment here between now and 9 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Thursday, May 20. And you'll receive an extra entry by becoming a Follower. International entries are welcome. Thanks for visiting!

Towels for Mom

My mother requested more towels for Mothers Day. Here's what I gave her yesterday, hot off the sewing machine just before she arrived for our dinner out.














I'm spending my MD evening in a hotel on a business trip but received lots of pampering and love before leaving home this afternoon.

I hope all moms had a wonderful day!

Etsy shop and a bit of Honey

Seems like everyone's having babies lately! Onesies have been on my mind, and I've reopened the shop. Here's one I made yesteday for a baby with the lovely name "Sophia."






























And just for the fun of it, here's a photo of our new puppy, Honey Bee.