June's gift (well, May's replacement)

The Hungry Caterpillar quilt has been put on hold. There was some sorry drama surrounding the last part of the top construction (mainly me breaking down in the middle of a quilt store after finding out they had sold out of ALL the Eric Carle fabric they had in, then breaking down again after finding out it's been sold out everywhere and won't be reprinted by the manufacturer until mid-late June. Why oh WHY did this project go thru so many re-designs??).

Well, I ended up moving on and starting over.I had some cute fruit flannel left over from making wipes, so I decided to keep working with applique and made fruit blocks out of some cool fabric on white flannel. I used some of that wonder-under iron on stuff to adhere the fabric, then zig-zag stitched around the shapes. It didn't take long to put together (I kept the pattern super-simple after all the headache of the Caterpillar quilt).
I ended up not using batting. The weight of the flannel and the weight of the super-soft chenille fabric I used as the backing seemed like it would be enough. It's going to be summer after all and if this little babe is anything like his papa, his or her internal furnace will keep things toasty enough.I also used satin blanket binding for the first time. What a pain to work with. I'll probably go back to making my own for the next one. So, here's the final gift for the new babe. Now if only these intermittent contractions would get organized enough, we'd be in business for labor and on our way to finally meeting this little niblet!

May gift (in progress)

May's baby gift is a big one, both literally and figuratively. It's a quilt for the babe. We are quickly running out of time until we meet this little one. It seems I lost a bit of plug this weekend, which doesn't really mean much except that things are gearing up for a Birth Day.

The size of this project is a little bigger than I expected. I think I have bitten off a bit more than I should have with the time constraints I've got to deal with. But how can I resist the Eric Carle fabric?? I've redesigned the quilt a couple of times, trying to keep it simple. Hopefully I can get the quilt top pieced by the end of the weekend and get it ready to quilt.
The picture below shows the size a bit better with the zig-zag border on the top and bottom. I still have the side borders to complete as well as cobbling together a nifty backing. I have some green flannel I really love, but also a bunch of batik swatches I keep laying out next to the fabric.
My original intention was to have a bunch of accent blocks around the main panel done in "coordinating" batik prints, with the food as the sashing or border around the outside. It's funny the way things change when you get started putting things together.

So, here it is in it's picked apart and reassembled state. Verison 2.0, I guess. No guarantees it'll look the same when it's done!

April gift

April was really a month of multiple gifts. There's the family quilt that still needs a little more quilting and some binding, a little quilt for baby L and yet another quilt for baby Steamboat (photos of that one to come). The April project for the baby was slated to be a yoda sweater knitted with a soy-blend yarn. Unfortunately, I seem to be through with knitting for the present time, and so it remains in the knitting bag by the bed, missing one sleeve and front panel. Oh, well! Quilting is the new Knitting. I'm sure by the year's end, I'll be finished with sewing and be back onto string and stick construction. So, here's some super-cute flannel wipes in progress. I love the the junk food flannel!


The pink candy fabric is also awesome! I can't wait to get them finished. I think I'll have enough left over for a couple burp cloths. How appropriate!

March gift

Yeah, I know there's a bit of a delay. Here's March's gift: a sling for the baby. And look! It fits now! I used a free pattern I found online (possibly from the Maya Wrap site?) and plastic sling rings from www.slingrings.com. The batik fabric might be a little too heavy for summer use, but it's cotton and pretty breathable.


Too bad the sling doesn't support this belly that is resting in my lap as I type. Actually, I'm sitting on an exercise ball with my belly hanging down in between my legs. Just three weeks to go!

February gift

I decided to make socks for February's monthly gift for the new little one. They match the little sno-cap hat I made back in September and are ten times cuter in person.
While I was at it, I decided to make B a pair of socks for V-day. It took me until March 4th to finish them, but hey! He still got to wear them in all that snow we got last weekend. I used a pattern with a broken rib stitch on the main body of the sock, and measured B's feet so they would be a "custom" fit. I think socks will be the new fixation. I keep looking at the Big Box craft stores for good yarn to use, but I am realizing I'll have to make a special trip to My Favorite Local Yarn Store for a little bit of shopping. Darn.

I am thinking I need to switch gears soon as well. I still have a sling to make for the little squirmer and I have an idea for a quilt. The quilt I may or may not get to, but the sling I really must complete. I even have the rings, so I really don't have any excuse. I'm getting too big to help out much around the house with the construction stuff and the nesting-thing is starting to kick in. What a terrible combination for B. All the pressure with about a tenth of the help.

January gift

January's gift is another woolen soaker from a different pattern. B's been calling them Butt Sweaters. The pattern called for adding hidden rows in the tush to accommodate the bulk of a cloth diaper, which I think I did okay on. There are some gaps on the sides, but it will function just fine as it is. Again, a new technique that I know I'll be more successful with the next time I make one. This one has a smaller crotch seam than the one I made in October and cuffed legs. The pattern was actually for long pants, but I just shortened them and added the little "Charlie Brown" zig zag.
I know it will be summer, and knowing how quickly babies grow, I didn't want to make long woolens only to have the babe grow out of them before we got to use them. I have a new pattern for yet a different style--it's constructed with applix tabs in the front like a bummis cover and knitted flat. I have the perfect monkey pattern to knit onto the butt.

December gift

For December I knew I wanted to make a toy... so here he is. It's a(nother!) Jess Hutch bunny, but with a knitted on pink and red sweater. And he's smaller than mine, more the size of Burke's bunny.
There's just something great about orange bunnies. And mohair blend yarn.
It took a while to finish; The stripes were trickier than I thought they would be and didn't turn out quite even like I wanted them to. I've noticed when things don't turn out how they "should," I have the tendency to just walk away and do something else. I really had to force myself to accept the little flaws and move on. The toy will be loved to felty goodness and I'm sure the imperfections won't be noticed.

Completed is sometimes better than perfect.

November's gift

I'm still working on one project a month for the new babe. November's project was a pair of booties. Sorry the pictures are kind of crummy; I think our camera is beginning to fail. Must be all that drywall dust and concrete powder it's ingested over the past year.
I used the pattern for Saartje's Booties, and made them using thin acrylic baby yarn in variegated rainbow and then cream for the top. I found wooden buttons at a local fabric store and used those to close the straps.
They turned out pretty good for a first attempt! Next time I'll make the button loops smaller and sew up the bottom using a different method. I'm just not every good at knitting stuff flat and sewing them up. I like making things in the round much more. Less seams, less fuss. But that's just me.