Green beginnings

I was going to title this post 'New beginnings' but that would have been redundant and repetitive. So was that sentence... Anyway, this is about the colour green and they are new projects - hence the title.

I've been in a bit of a slump and I needed to make something that could be finished quickly. This is a baby quilt (for the charity) and since I have so much fabric, I decided to cut up some 5 inch white squares and after looking on my shelves, I found a whole lot of greens. I needed to put the yellow in there. It will have a yellow border all around and I plan on hand quilting it with Xs (or diagonal lines going both ways.) I don't think this is the end since I pulled a bunch of turquoise (or teal) fabrics and another pile of blues. I was thinking of pinks and reds too - with maybe a bit of orange thrown in.

Green again - but a nice soft green. My friend Marg has been crocheting hats and has put me to shame. So far, she has made 54 and counting... I picked this up yesterday and will hopefully complete it by the end of the weekend.

I'm off to a quilt show this weekend in Lindsay and am hoping to take a few photos for inspiration.

 Have a great weekend and stay safe.

Champagne Quilters - two more on the frame

We have been busy. The quilts are now bound and ready to be donated.

This got bound in the yellow. It could have been the orange but yellow was nice and bright (and there was lots of it.)

This pre-printed quilt was bound in yellow too but it's a lighter yellow.

The binding on this is a beige or light chocolate. Cute, eh?

Tonight was productive. We managed to get two quilts onto the frame. There will be stars quilted in the mauve strips.

 Once this was put on the frame, Ann started quilting it. Both quilts now have a few stitches in them.

Since we have two bigger quilts waiting to be donated to charities, we may just be using our time making baby quilts. Along with little newborn hats and flannel receiving blankets, these baby quilts are going to be donated to the Silent Children's Mission. The items go to women in third world countries who show up at birthing centres with nothing for their babies.

I'm linking up with The Needle and Thread Network and Julie's binding blitz blog.

Introducing...

the tie breaker.

This little guy, Teemu, said hello to the world early Thursday morning weighing 7 lbs. 11 oz. He is only 3 hours old in this photo. The whole family is thrilled and we here had a wonderful time holding him as he slept - not even one day old.
The paternal grandparents are also very excited as this is their first grandchild. They will meet little Teemu later this summer as they live in California.
Luckily, there is skype for them and also for his aunts in BC and England.

A few little things

I finished up a few little things that needed finishing.

The rainbow stroller blanket is totally finished with all the ends woven in. The pattern is from Lion Brand Yarns and is called Lemon Squeezy Stroller Blanket.

A little sweater in variegated yarn. (I just love the colours.) The pattern was from Mary Maxim as part of a kit.

And a cute little hoodie suitable for a newborn - ? months.

I'd like to try it on the twins to see how big or small it is for them. They are now seven months old.
The pattern and tutorial is here.

I'm linking up with The Needle and Thread Network.

Finally off the frame

The baby quilt is totally finished.

 This is the pattern that was a freebie from the Temecula Quilt Company website last fall. Some of you may have seen variations of this pattern because quite a few quilters made it. I didn't do it when it was first put out but when I was thinking of a baby quilt for the next little one, this pattern came to mind.

I quilted hearts in the border and the rainbow fabric was given to me by Marg one evening when we were quilting. She had two pieces of it and when I told her I was trying to figure out a border, she offered one of the pieces.

I bound it in the darker blue that's in the quilt. I didn't like the original size. I thought it was too small so I increased the sashing to 1.5 inches finished instead of the one inch that was suggested. My quilt finished at 38" X 43".

I didn't like the triangles that were in the original pattern either - for the 'extra' blocks. To me they didn't make sense - they were just triangles placed in different ways. I decided that little animals appliqued in the odd blocks would be a whole lot more fun. I think the bunny is my favourite.

I had a lot of fun choosing fabrics for this quilt and absolutely everyone who has seen it has liked it.

Most importantly, the future mommy and daddy like it.

 This was what part of my backyard looked like on Mother's Day.

The long shot.

The resident robin.

Have a great weekend. I still have a few baby things yet to finish and one or two more things I was hoping to make.

A new addition to the family!

No, not Tie Breaker (aka known as grandchild number five.) My friend V over at The "Bearister" Bookcase has been a bit busy of late, making Dotee Dolls. She made thirteen and has been gifting them away. I just happened to be the delighted recipient of one and she arrived safe and sound all across the country.

It looks like she's just a tad tired still after her long trip.

She does look a bit Asian in her pink outfit. The odd thing is that I just finished listening to a book on tape - The Shanghai Girls. Hmmmm - eerie.  I thought I'd name her - Cherry - short for Cherry Blossom.

Anyway, she is not alone. Her long lost cousin is here - she too is tired. Must have been all that excitement of finding a long lost relative.

Then there's the old witch but she's really quite benign. She makes sure that no evil befalls her friends.

Aren't they a happy pair?

Here's Ron Slippers with his teeny tiny friend (another gift from V.)

And here's the family - all together. Cherry fits right in - doesn't she?

My resources for baby sewing

Carly, of Good Earth Quilting, asked if I could do a post on supplies for my box of baby stuff (see the previous post.) My son Mark, and his wife, were the recipients of the first box that I put together and he told his sister that he was skeptical at first (before his twin girls were born) whether the things I made would be of use but he just said a couple of days ago that "it ALL CAME IN HANDY!!!!"

So, here's the list (I have no affiliation to any of these links - I just research a lot):
The cross stitched card was a kit I got years and years ago. If you want the pattern, I can send it to you - just email me.

The donut, or nursing pillow was a Simplicity pattern #2338 but it's out of print now.
I made it out of flannel (different on both sides) but because flannel is not that dense or stable, I backed it (or lined it) with broadcloth. This one is stuffed pretty tightly. I made one for my eldest daughter when she was expecting her first baby.
Here's a free online pattern. Here's another. And just one more here.

 The nursing cover is so easy and there are so many free tutorials online. You just have to buy a bit of boning (a half yard or metre.) Maili wanted muted fabric - not anything bright and I just happened to have some navy blue polyester that hung well and was heavy enough not to need a lining. I didn't want to have to use two pieces of fabric since the measurement is about 28" X 38".
Here's a few freebies.

http://www.craftaholicsanonymous.net/nursing-cover-pattern-with-pocket

http://www.blisstree.com/2010/06/03/sex-relationships/free-pattern-to-sew-your-own-nursing-cover/

http://www.handmade-adelaide-baby.com/nursing-cover.html

http://www.sew4home.com/projects/bath-linens/nursing-cover-secret-pocket

 It was the second and third links that I used and went with D-rings. I may have adjusted the measurements a bit and I encased the boning in a seam and sewed the straps as in the third link.

 The flannel blankets were just yardage that I cut and hemmed on a regular sewing machine. I think these may each be 1.5 metres cut in half so I got two blankets out of one piece. You can make them any size you want but the receiving blankets you buy that are 30" X 30" are just a bit too small. You can't really use that size to swaddle a newborn.

 My daughter was going to buy some flannel washcloths and I said "Hold it, don't buy anything yet." I looked at the link she sent me and I think they were 8.5 inches square. I took 3 face cloths out of my cupboard and they were all different sizes. I have a 9.5" square so that's what I used to cut up some small pieces of flannel that I have. This time I rounded the corners because it made serging the edges much easier.

I have a lot of flannel. See this post to see how much.

 Again, there are a lot of free patterns out there for baby blankets, hats, sweaters and booties. For the hats that I make, I use this site:

http://www.bevscountrycottage.com/baby-hats-booties.html
You can check out www.ravelry.com or the yarn manufacturers for other free patterns.

 I'm not into spending a lot of time cutting out and sewing up 'fitted' burp cloths. Seriously, does it matter if the burp cloth has a piece cut out of it so it fits on your shoulder? Flannel is usually about 40-44 inches wide these days, just like regular fabric. I cut it in half and cut the width about 10-11 inches wide. I purchased some inexpensive bath towels to cut up since it was cheaper than buying terrycloth fabric. I got four pieces of terrycloth out of each towel to line the flannel. Not all of these burp cloths are lined with terry cloth. I could have serged them but I'm cheap and serging takes up a lot of thread. Besides, I found that they hold their shape better if they are made pillowcase or envelope style and turned inside out. I then top stitched the ones with towelling. The ones not lined, I just hemmed and straight stitched. Easy peasy. As you can see from the photo above, I didn't bother to hem the edge that had a selvage. Why make more work for myself - it didn't need it.

These change pads were just fabric I purchased from my local Fabricland. I cut it to about 19"X27" and edged with purchased extra wide double fold bias binding. The fabric is needle punch quilted and is plastic/vinyl on both sides.

This is just a square of fabric with backing and flat batting - you can make it any size you want. Quilt the layers any way you want. I think this one started out as a 12" square. Here's the tutorial.

Here's the tutorial for this one. Again, you can make it any size you want.

I got the link from my online friend, Anneliese, who is the Stitching Lady. Many thanks Anneliese.

This post shows the first time I actually put together a baby package. It seems that my list for baby sewing increases each time a new 'first' baby is born.

The rainbow blanket is just all garter stitch and the pattern is on the Lion Brand Yarn site.

It's called the Lemon Squeezy Stroller Blanket. If the link below doesn't work, it's free to sign up.

http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/L32318.html

Well, that's it. Have fun sewing and knitting for little ones. 

I leave you with these photos of my sons Mark and Eric and my middle daughter, Maili.

Christmas time.

This past weekend.

Baby sewing

As I mentioned, I have been busy. Since my middle daughter, Maili, opened her box today, I can reveal what has kept me busy.

Here she is - due any day.

This is the cross stitched card that she is holding. Surprisingly, it didn't take me long to do.

 I call this a donut but I guess you could call it a nursing pillow.

Future daddy, Casey, thought it was a nice neck pillow.

The box.

Full to the brim.

 I guess she was a bit surprised.

I made a navy blue nursing cover.

Here she is trying it on.

Little brother Eric liked the onsie. (I didn't make it.)

Flannel blankets.

Flannel face cloths.

I had told her to take her pick of hats that I had knit.

Burp cloths.

A change pad similar to the top one - trimmed in mauve.

 A rainbow fabric basket.

 And a smaller fabric basket made with just a square of fabric.

Just a few, hopefully, useful items for mom and baby.

Now, I'm off to finish the baby quilt and the rainbow blanket. I'll take a photo of them once they are both finished.

Happy Mother's Day tomorrow!!