Just a quick note to say hello and let you know that all is well in our tiny corner of the world. Our sweet baby girl joined us on Tuesday, January 20th and we are in absolute love. Click into my flickr if you’d like to see more.
Archive for January, 2009
to give and to receive
January 15, 2009
When you make your own gifts, one of the best feelings is knowing that the recipient truly appreciates the handmade item that you gave them. This Christmas, one of the best moments for me was when my brother’s girlfriend opened up the apron I made her, put it on immediately, exclaimed, “now I feel like I belong in the kitchen,” and ran back to the stove to fetch the delicious mussels that she was serving as an appetizer. Such a nice reaction.
The only thing that is better than giving a well-appreciated gift is receiving something handmade for yourself. Here is where Alpine Auntie comes in. From the moment she picked our family when we divvied up the gift giving over the summer, I thought – I hope she makes us a quilt.
Well, she did. And I love it. And each family member has had a turn napping with it on the couch. So, so pretty! When I put it away every evening in the basket that sits on the floor in the living room, it is always carefully folded and placed on top. So that I can catch glimpses of it when I walk by. It makes me smile.
Of course, I have inspected her handiwork and am so impressed. I think I need a lesson from her on hand-binding. Her blind stitching is impeccable. The funny thing is, I think I may have taught her how to blind stitch. She’s certainly perfected the art.
Thank you Alpine Auntie. As you know, this beautiful quilt is already much loved in our little home. We couldn’t have received a sweeter, more thoughtful gift.
The last image is of the quilt all folded up with two special gifts I received from City Auntie and Grammy. The stack of Amy Butler August Fields fabric is destined to become a new spring bag, just for me. Wow, is it gorgeous and has such a nice weight. The pincushion, which was handmade in Guatemala and purchased free-trade, now brightens up all of my little sewing endeavors. I plan to buy a whole lot of gorgeous linen very soon with a gift card that Adventure Auntie gave me to a wonderful fabric store. And Grandmama tells me I just may become the owner of a red and white ticking skirt that I was hoping to have made for our Christmas tree. I guess it pays to have a blog. ( Ha ha.) You end up receiving the most perfect gifts!
for prosperity’s sake
January 14, 2009
This is likely the last photo this blog will see of our Little Guy as an only child. And yes, I will likely be prompted to come up with a new, ingenious nickname for him.
Christmas morning 2008. The year that Thomas (pronounced “hummus”) the Tank Engine and his numerous friends took over our home. Cheers!
handmade parade – part two – the rest of the homemade haul
January 9, 2009
Cookies for family and friends. Boxes and recipes all from Martha Stewart. Jackie sold me on the boxes. Cute labels for candied citrus peels found here. Thank goodness for talented, crafty bloggers. They make you look so much more clever than you really are.
A quilt for my brother, with a matching apron for his girlfriend. Didn’t get a good photo of the whole quilt. Or the apron. But the quilt was simple and striped using Joelle Hoverson’s Cake, Rock, Beach for Moda. Inspired by a quilt I saw in the boys section of Pottern Barn Kids.
Three Wee Wonderful dolls from the Kit, Chloe and Louise pattern. These were a collaboration with Grandmama. By collaboration, I mean that she did most of the work and I did lots of cheerleading. The one pictured above galloped off to Tampa with my beautiful goddaughter. I actually did everything on this one except cut the fabric and sew the shirt. I was terrified to embroider the face, but I had a good coach. The next two are really a product of my mom’s handicraft. She even came up with alternate hairstyles – they were not part of the pattern.
This little sewista was sent off to Hawaii for Island Baby.
And this little smartie read that stack of books before hitting the slopes in Park City with Alpine Baby.
An apron for City Auntie, who was engaged to the nicest guy on Christmas morning. WHOO HOO! The apron is one big pocket (peg apron?) and was made with linen plus cotton patchwork. Did I mention that I was asked to be in the wedding? SO HONORED AND EXCITED! CONGRATS CITY AUNTIE!
Two little doodle pad holder things for two little doodlers. Thanks Ayama for the leaf fabric. (Told you I’d use it.) I did take notes on the dimensions of the pattern pieces, so if anyone is interested, let me know and I will post them.
That’s it folks. Christmas 2008. Phew! Next project = new baby. Will let you know how that goes. Could be any day now….
handmade parade – part one – tissue holders
January 7, 2009
Our holidays were excellent – lots of fun, food, friends and family. Hope that you had a great season and are starting the new year off with happiness and good health.
I figured I would start to post some of the handmade gifts I made. I will keep the text short and rely heavily on photos for this little segment. I decided to make a bunch of tissue holders for the women in my life. Most of these little gifts were accompanied by a bird ornament. I adapted this simple and thorough tutorial. Besides the patchwork part, these were very quick and easy to make.
The tissue holder in the top photo was for our babysitter. She is a college student, so I figured she would prefer a cash tip to any other gift, but I did want to throw in something handmade. Just before I began making these, I won a set of Amy Butler Midwest Modern fat quarters from Karen Gray. Her etsy fabric shop is great and her blog is very sweet. I used some of my winnings to make that patchwork bias tape. (Thanks Karen!) The main material is linen.
OK. I will try not to drag out the holiday handmade gifts too much. My next post will show the rest of the lot (a quilt, aprons, dolls, pencil/pad portfolios) and then we will be done with it and I can show you some of the wonderful handmade gifts that I received. A gorgeous quilt from Alpine Auntie tops that list. Happy 2009!
