did i say tutorial?

This week sort of got away from me.  I shot all the photos and even took good notes while I made this belt, but I haven’t been organized enough to put together the tutorial.  Not that anyone is holding their breath, but I will do it soon.

The reason why I like this belt so much is because it is a patchwork belt that actually holds your pants up.  I know.  Shocking…. The base material is a very sturdy cotton webbing and the d-rings are also quite hefty.  There are a few good tutorials out there for patchwork belts (I like this one in particular), but I couldn’t find a tutorial for a d-ring belt that combines fabric and webbing. If you skip the patchwork and just use one cut of a favorite fabric, you can finish up one of these babies in a flash.  I made two for my boy this way.  I know it looks simple (because it is) but it took me three tries before I got this right.  Hopefully others can learn from my stupid mistakes.

she won!

Island Auntie’s proposal received the blue ribbon!   My sister wrote that she is amazed by all the support she received.  I told her that I was not.  She is an incredible person and anyone who knows her would do whatever they can to help her out. People who don’t even know her, in this case, were happy to assist too. Thanks again for helping push her into the top spot.  I promise I will stop pestering you now….

Anna at Three Sneaky Bugs was the winner of the giveaway.  Have you seen Anna’s blog? She comes up with some great activities to do with her kids and has sewing and knitting collaborations with her mom.  Her sister sews too. I still can’t say what the giveaway gift is, but I plan to post a tutorial next week. Anna, I will be in touch about your fabric preferences, etc.  

The top photo is from a recent trip to a fire station in a sizeable city nearby.  My BFF’s dad is the recently retired Deputy Chief, so the Little Guy and I got the grand tour.  It was like heaven on earth for our boy.  He got to “drive” each truck in the station, slide down the pole, and see a few trucks go out on calls.” What a fun afternoon. Here are a few more pics:

Thanks Deputy Chief! We will tagalong with you any time.

i owe you one

I am so terribly grateful for all the help everyone has given by voting for Island Auntie’s proposal which will help her off-grid home in Hawaii become even more eco-friendly and sustainable by using solar power.  Two very generous bloggy friends, Jackie and Rebecca, posted about the proposal on their blogs. Another amiga asked her entire school to vote!  The first day that I mentioned it, your votes propelled her into first place.   She has now slid back into the second spot, but she is not far behind and today is the last day that the polls are open for this round of grants.  So, here I am again, bothering you for just one more click!   Go to this link, give the page some time to load, scroll halfway down, and hit vote.  THANK YOU.

I’d like to show some true appreciation for your support, so here’s what I will do.  For the crafty folks, I will turn that pile of scraps into a neat little sewing project and will post a detailed tutorial next week so that you can make one too.  I can’t tell you what it is just yet because I am making this item for a certain birthday girl and I don’t want to ruin the surprise.   But I can tell you that it is a simple, practical gift that comes together fairly quickly.  I have not found a good tutorial for it out there in crafty blog-land, so I think it will be useful.  For those of you who read this blog to get family updates, I pledge to do everything in my power to get a few new photos of Island Baby.  Images of that beautiful little girl are hot commodities in our family!  

And for EVERYONE who comments or sends an email and lets me know that they voted again today (March 31), I will give you the chance to win one of these top secret gifts that I am making.  I wish I could tell you what it is, but I can’t.  I do promise that it won’t be lame.  Sound good?  

Thanks again, very very much.

UPDATE:  SHE WON!!!  THANK YOU!  Comments are closed–will pick a giveaway winner soon….

blogs can be so misleading

I finally got my terrific twosome in a photo together.  They look so darn SERENE in this photo.  Have no fear. Minutes later, she spit up all over him.  He screamed  ”PUKE!” directly in her left ear and proceeded to let go of her.  She survived, but the photoshoot was over.  

Thanks VERY MUCH for taking the time to vote for Island Auntie’s proposal.  The top dog is putting up a good fight, but my little sister is close behind in second place.  If you have another vote in you, please feel free to have another click. I failed to mention that folks are able to vote once a day until the voting closes on March 31.   And if you are a family member, you’d better be going back to that site each and every day to vote, or the next time we see you, I’ll get my little girl to puke on you too.

Happy St. Pat’s to you.  Hope everyone is having a great week!

celebrating…plus a small favor

This rather large bundle of fabric was my personal little way of celebrating the arrival of our baby girl.  I really have no business buying more fabric, but I have been dreaming of dresses and allowed myself to shop away.  From top to bottom:  the two dots are Patty Young’s Andalucia, then Amy Butler’s Belle, the apples and the one just below them are Sandy Henderson’s Farmers Market, followed by three from Joel Dewberry’s Aviary line, another Dewberry but this one is from the line called Chestnut Hill, more Amy Butler, plus some of Heather Bailey’s Freshcut and a bit of Tula Pink’s Flutterby.  I think the green check is Holly Holderman, but I really can’t remember.  All purchased at Quilt Home, which has a great selection and excellent customer service.  I probably won’t make any dresses smaller than a 2T because I’ll want her to wear them for longer than a month or so, but it will be fun to start developing a handmade wardrobe into which she can grow. Now, if she will just let me sleep through the night, I could get to work.  

On a totally unrelated note, could I ask you a small favor?  My sister, known in these parts as Island Auntie, has written a grant proposal that will allow her family of three to make their modest and amazingly sustainable two-bedroom home on the Big Island in Hawaii truly off-grid and more environmentally friendly.  In a word, they are seeking more solar power so that they can become less dependent on a noisy, less eco-friendly generator.  The deal with this grant is that the public chooses the recipient.  So if you have a moment, please click over to her proposal, scroll down half-way to the VOTE button, and give it a click.  You’d be helping out an amazing little family a ton and I would be extremely grateful. Here is the link.  Thank you!

not everyone loves a photoshoot

But sometimes screaming baby photos are just as cute as the smiley ones. Especially when the baby is bundled in a gown that was handmade with love by her Grandmama.  And wrapped in a blanket made by a friend from my work.  Lucky kid!

When I opened the gown, I really did not think it was homemade.  I asked my mom a couple of days later and she told me that she made it herself.  I hope to one day develop the patience and skill to embroider little details like this sweet lamb and include them in my gifts, but until that day arrives, I will leave all the super cute stuff to my mom.  She’s great at it.  Thanks Grandmama!

The handmade gift giving was extended to the big brother.  Smoothpebble sent this adorable little camo pouch to him complete with an ice cream truck that fits his Thomas the Tank Engine tracks.  Now the trains on the Island of Sodor no longer go without dessert.  Phew! Thanks so much , Jackie.  He loves his new truck and his mom has sort of hijacked the pouch for her purse.  (And that outfit you sent with the elephant print is perfect in so many ways.)

i actually finished sewing something

A very small something.  And it took me two days to complete.  And it’s just a simple 12.5″ quilt block.  But I finished it.  And it makes me happy.  

Thanks to Jacquie and her Project Improv for the inspiration.  I am not normally one to create something that isn’t carefully planned out in advance, so this was a challenge.  My little block will join others on a pink and orange quilt that will be donated to charity.  I think Jacquie has over 150 quilters working on this project, so you can imagine the amount of work she has cut out for herself.  Generous indeed.  

Back on the home-front, all is well.  Thanks to everyone who sent such nice well-wishes after my last two posts.  The baby is doing great and her big brother is very sweet to her.    He calls her “Soupy” which is kind of close to her actual name.  The little voice he uses when he calls her is just precious.  He is desperate for her to sleep in his room with him and wants to give her all his stuffed animals every evening before bedtime.  He has even offered her his special “Doggie,” though we all know he wouldn’t be able to sleep if he wasn’t snuggling with that poor ragged pup.  

Alpine Auntie and Alpine Baby came for a wonderful visit over Valentine’s Day weekend.  Lots of time for two toddling cousins to play and for an Auntie to hold a new baby.  One of the nicest moments was visiting with my godmother’s mother.  Here is what 90 years plus three weeks looks like:

And here is what three cousins squished into the back of a Subaru Outback Impreza looks like:

Good times!

new threads

A big thanks to Jen for the new onesie!  She loves it.  As does her mom, of course.

sweet

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.

to give and to receive

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!