Handmade Gifts

As I've mentioned way too many times before, I really like giving handmade gifts but I've learned through lots of experience that not everyone appreciates getting them (which still baffles me). Yesterday was our good friend, Luke's 4th birthday party and he was definitely deserving of some one of a kind gifts. Lucky for me, he's not super into toys so I can still get away with giving clothes:)

First I made Luke and his new sister Grace matching towels... Why haven't I made these for my girls?! They're so cute and inexpensive, I have no reason not to spoil my girls with one of these. I used my Cricut to cut the letters which makes the whole project super easy.

Next I made him some preppy tie outfits. Luke's mom's taste is more preppy and classic than mine but I think these are a good balance between the two of us - not that it matters much what I like since he's not my kid, but if I'm making it, my rule is that I have to like it.

I finished my quilt top on Friday and love how it turned out. If I add one more row, it would fit on our bed. Hmmmm, decisions decisions.

Moving On

Do things look a little different around here? I officially closed my shop today and shipped my last package. I removed my business-y banner from my blog and Etsy and also got rid of a few business-y things on the side bar. I also need to work on updating my faves that are listed in the side bar because I don't think I've done that in a few years!

I spent several hours working on my quilt over the weekend and I have three rows finished. Only two more to go!
The blocks are large - about 16" - so they come together quickly and all of the progress is great for keeping me motivated.

Now I need to start thinking about the back and binding. I love the look of a pieced back but I'm fairly confident I can't get everything lined up correctly and my lines between pieces won't be straight. Does that make sense? I'm considering an all white back with some kind of patterned applique or maybe a big cluster of rolled roses. Any ideas?

I'm dreading the step I think everyone hates...pinning together all of the layers. The hardest part for me is that we live in a tiny old house with small, chopped up rooms so there isn't really a spot for me to lay everything out. I tried using basting adhesive with my last quilt and that was a DISASTER! I ended up in tears with quilt pieces stuck to my feet!

Has it really been almost two weeks since I last posted? I wish I had more to show for it. I decided to make a new quilt for cuddling up on the couch and looked at patterns on several different websites but couldn't quite find what I was looking for. I wanted something with lots of white background and blocks made from scraps. Oh, and something fairly easy since I'm impatient (I first typed "INpatient"-it's funny because it's true) and not extremely competent.

I eventually ended up in someone's flickr stream and saw this quilt posted.

Lucky for me, she posted a brief tutorial on her blog and I immediately got to work cutting scraps. I spent several hours cutting and piecing yesterday and thought I had made a good dent. When I counted, I only had 25 pieced scrap strips and I need 80. Yikes! Not even close. Luckily, I have tons of fabric so I sliced into a bunch more this morning and I'm now up to 55.

I'm loving the scrappy, random look and I think it's going to look great against the white. I also think vintage sheets would be an excellent choice for the strips but of course I didn't think of that until I had made 30 or so strips.

See my portable dvd player in the background of the picture? I think I mentioned before that I always watch something while I sew. Yeah, I already watch plenty of tv but trust me, 20 hours a week at the sewing machine would get lonely. So, I've been watching "Seinfeld" from beginning to end and am currently on Season 7 so it's coming to an end soon. Any other ideas for a long running series I could watch from start to finish? I was considering the "Gilmore Girls" but I really hated the last season.

In other news, I only have a few things left in my shop and am just about ready to close things up. I just reduced prices on what's remaining so take another peek and see if there's something you must have.