I only had enough gumption to make one Christmas present this year. I had a lot of ideas to make more, but not enough time or energy. So, Gina got this one. These were fun Christmas pillows made entirely with applique. (guess I was on a roll after Jason's quilt.) The first pillow is Santa's laundry and the second pillow is Mrs. Claus' laundry. I promised myself not to buy any fabric for the project and so all the pieces were from scrap or stash. The kids liked helping me place all the pieces down like puzzle pieces, before I sewed them on.


These pillows are actually a bit larger than they look here. They are almost the length of a cushion and so they look fun sitting on a couch. (We enjoyed them for a couple weeks until we finally made it to the post office.) I really loved the material on both of the backs.
The long underwear was one of my favorite parts on Santa's laundry line.


And the bra and underwear were my favorite parts on Mrs. Claus' line. They were also the hardest to make since they were so small and for some reason the bra kept looking wrong every time I made it. (third time was a charm...or at least it is when I gave up.)


This was my first attempt at making a pillow and I have to admit...it was pretty straightforward to make. I just might have to make something for us one day.

Anyway, they should be getting them in the mail this week so I hope they enjoy them.

Guess whose quilt is finally done? Wait for it...
Baby....

(whew!)

This little gem was started this summer and turned out to be quite the process to put together. Alaina wanted to be very involved (imagine!) and took over the job of picking out the fabrics and designing the pattern. Here is our first draft of what she wanted. (At that point, Owen was her favorite name choice.)
Alaina then sewed together all of the main blocks. Once they were in place, I had all three of the kids draw out cars that they wanted me to put on the quilt. They were all very inventive and I had to simplify them the best I could knowing that I'd have to applique them on later. Here are some of their drawings with my scaled down versions. (However, I found it very difficult to scale down flames shooting out of the back of race-cars.)


Once I had them drawn out, the kids placed them where they wanted them to be on the quilt. They loved 'their' squares and in the end they all wanted one of their drawings to win the race. I told them it would be funnier if we had a turtle crossing the finish line first. The twins thought this was funny but Ethan is still a little sore about it, even though his race car is second.

The applique took FOREVER! I was really only ever able to accomplish one or two at a time. Every time the kids got home they were excited to see whose block was finished. Ethan became my biggest fan when I showed off my latest accomplishment each day. (It is funny, the things that make these kids tick.) Finally, after a couple of months of sewing, I finished all the applique. It was my first time doing real applique and I fell in love with the 'wonder under' iron-on adhesive that kept everything in place while I sewed them on. I didn't love all the teeny details that managed to slip by my 'simplifying' stage in the beginning.


In the end, the blanket ended up being at least three times the size I was imagining in the very beginning (more of a toddler's blanket than a baby's quilt, I'd say.) But the kids loved helping me out and still like to point out their designs.

On the back I wanted to do something very simple. (If I realized just how much applique we were going to do, I would have advised Alaina to pick out less busy prints on the front!) So, with all that craziness, I decided that when we needed a break from the chaotic front, we should be able to flip it over and have a nice calm quilt to look at. I found this green flannel which was perfect, but they only had a limited amount. The dye on the second print of the same pattern that came in was more olive green instead of the pretty lime green, so I decided to keep what I had and add rainbow down the middle. I loved how it came out.It is nice and bright without being too overwhelming. I then quilted the top in a simple zig-zag between the applique roads. I figured, it didn't need anything else too crazy to draw the eye to. Here is a little close up of the rainbow. The coloring is a little more yellow than it is in sunlight, but we haven't had sunlight for a few days and I wanted a picture. :)
I thought that this quilt wasn't quite finished until I matched one of my favorite blocks (austin's) with a stuffed softy. After I finished it, Alaina and Ethan really wanted on of their blocks done the same way, but I decided it was time to close shop on the project.
I really did love how all of the blocks came out, but here are some of my favorites. Alaina's racing fish.

And her racing buggy.
Austin's (I think...) fire-truck.

And Ethan's second-place race car with Speedy the turtle.
I even designed a few blocks myself. I dedicated the buggy with the surf-board to Robert.


And I loved my little groovy car until I sewed him up and realized he didn't really fit. Oops. (also those hearts were a nightmare to sew on!)


But now...now, we are ready for our little guy to join us. We'd prefer he waited just a little longer but as it looks right now, he might be coming in time for Christmas. I'd have to say, that would be the best Christmas present. Ever.

I've finally decided to get my Christmas presents, that I made, up on the blog. I had read on some one's blog that making pillowcases was a fast, easy, stress-free present to make, and I thought...that sounds just about perfect for me. Too bad for me, they were lying through their teeth. I'd like to state, for the record, that pillow-cases are frustrating, slow-going and stressful to make. Granted, I made a few changes that probably caused the majority of my headaches. I added applique and a french seam. The applique was a must...headache or no headache. The French seam was just more work than I needed to give myself. (for all those of you who are wondering what a French seam is--I just found out a few weeks before I made these pillowcases--they are seams that hide all of the raw edges. It looks really cool, but how cool do you need to look for a seam that nobody can see?) Still, I loved how they turned out. If enough time passes for me to forget the fact I wanted to tear them apart with my bare hands before I was finished with them...then I may decide to make some for my own clan next year. That's optimistic. Maybe the year after...

Craig & Robbyn's pillowcases


Jack & Tommy's pillowcases.


Lucy & Penny's pillowcases


And finally, Maggie's pillowcase. I really loved how this one turned out.


Here they are all stacked and ready to send...


Mom & Dad Jones got one too. Looking back, I should have done their letters in more noticeable colors. Sometimes you just don't wanna blend in.


And last, but not least, here is the quilt I made for Tonnette. I really loved the way the colors came together here. I was worried that my idea of a classy modern, contemporary quilt was going to end up too harsh but in the end, I loved the colors and materials of the bright oranges, aquas and yellows together. This was the first one that Robert told me to keep instead of sending off. He argued that Tonnette had no idea I had been making it for her, so she'd never know. Although he made a valid point, you just can't hold on to something when you have someone else in mind with each stitch. Silly Rob.


I used up a tone of my little scraps from the front to make the stripe on the back. I liked how it looked against the black background. The only disappointing part I felt about this quilt is the material I picked for the back. My options at the store were limited and in the end I trade the perfect pattern for the perfect texture. It is a trade I'm not going to make in the future. It's not worth giving up that soft silky feel for just the pattern. I wanted to rip it up and replace it with a flannel but I ran out of time and energy. I need to start planning my Christmas sooner next year...

My very spoiled daughter took a fancy to this particular strip of material. I am working on a jean-thang and this was from a pair of jeans I cut up. Every time the girl passed by she would beg to have it. She'd pick it up and hold it and rub it on her face. (Weird.) I got angry at her and told her that she wasn't going to get it and if she ever mentioned it again...time-out! Yes. I know. Quite dramatic of me. Well...Alaina wanted it. And what my Laina wants, my Laina gets. (apparently.) When she was playing with her brothers, I found a little tutorial online and thought I'd make something out of the material.

And voila! A little/big quilted purse. (Alaina thought she'd mix it up by modeling on the ground here.)


I salvaged a pocket for the other side.

And a green zipper & bright blue inside to top it off. FUN!

Yes. I know. Spoiled. But look how cute. ;)

I hurt my knee. I first hurt it while running on the hilly side of the park. It wasn't too bad but a little annoying. After resting it a couple of days plus a weekend, I tried it out again. This time while I was on the hill, it totally gave out of me. I had to walk back to the car. So, I let it heal for about a week and promised not to run on any more hills. Ever. Which lasted a couple more days until Ethan's big fall up our neighbor's very long, very steep driveway. When I ran to get him my knee decided that it was now war. I've iced it. I've rested it. Yesterday I took a whole day and did nothing. The result has been a slightly better knee but only if I walk carefully.

The result of all this knee nonsense is that I've been a little crafty lately. Of course, I mean completely, over-board, OCD crafty. I have no control over myself when it comes to my local craft store, my sewing machine and sparkly buttons. None. Worse than that is the fact that I feel no guilt about it. In fact the only feeling I get is a slight pang of embarrassment when I look back and see just how far I let myself go. Apparently, that embarrassment is either too fleeting or not strong enough to keep me from blogging pictures of my gaudy, overly-embellished projects. And this here, is one of dem blogs.

Capes.

About 7 months ago, Austin begged me to buy material to make super-hero capes for him. I caved and bought a bunch o fleece (it was winter) and promptly put it into my closet and forgot about it. A week ago I brought it out and cut out the capes. When Austin saw the scrapes of the floor he immediately declared, "You are making my cape now!" Sometimes that boy has a memory like an elephant. After that moment, the whole 'surprise' thing went out the window. Between the kids taking sneak-peeks of their own capes and those same kids trying to keep the heavy secret of what I was doing to the other capes, the whole surprise lasted about 1 evening. Regardless, they haven't had a legal look at them yet and they won't now until the twins' b-day.

Here they are.

Ethan's Cape

Ethan informed me that he LOVES Star Wars even though he has never seen it. Even though it isn't his birthday coming up, I knew it would be easier to just make all three at the same time. All three are reversible and I hate the idea of things around my babies' necks and so I tried to make the capes more like a back-pack. If I were to do them again, I would like to tinker with the shoulder strap idea a little more so they wouldn't pull the material at the side so much.

A light-saber


Space ship. I spent a whole evening trying to put together the head of Darth Vader but it turned into a total nightmare. By the end of the night I had an image of a gray-headed, goofy looking face with a terrible black mullet. I think the fact that his helmet is all black was making it hard for me. So we trashed Darth Vader and went for the Space Ship.
In the end, the space ship ended up being my favorite cape. The black is very sparkly (hard to see in the picture) and it just turned out cool.


Austin's Cape

Austin is obsessed with many things. The main two being Bolt (the movie/dog/stuffed animal) and Legos. So that is what he got.

Super Lego-Man!

You can barely see those little buttons on the right and left of super-lego man? Austin is crazy about the ABC's (still) and dogs (always). When I went to Joann's he saw these buttons and went crazy about them and so I promised I'd put them on. Here is the close up of the tiny little dog button.




And of course, the Super Bolt.


Little Laina loves unicorns. Loves them. And this one I went really crazy on. It is cuter in person with all the many, many little buttons and mushrooms.
Here is a close-up.

And she adores anything magical.


So. Just as a last note to myself. If I ever do one of these again, I'll have to remember to use cotton and not fleece. I have a very strong feeling that after a few good days of playing too roughly with these little things, the fleece is going to get all stretchy and pulled out of shape. We'll see.

But for now, my kids can romp around in fleece super-capes. Well...they can after May 30th.

Dresses for the Twinnies!

Here are the dresses I made for Sara's little twinnies. She picked out the material and I got to pick out the patterns. Tammie let me use her dream babylock machine (Thanks!) to embroider the girls' initials on the dresses. They turned out pretty fun. And look how cute my little models are!

Lizzy & Ginny - The Yellow Dress Photo Shoot

And the Flower-Power Pink dresses.

Yeah! I finished Alaina's 1st dress from a pattern. That's right. An actual pattern. Let me tell you, when is says, "easy" on the pattern...it's lying. A zipper, alone, is way up there on the "so much harder than it looks" list.
Another problem I encountered was the measuring. Now, I measured the waist, chest and height perfectly. The problem was that there weren't any head measurements. Many of you may be unaware of the fact that my daughter has a giant noggin. Off the charts. 'It's like an orange on a toothpick!' Too harsh? 'Ah, go cry on your huge pilla if you can fit through the door' (anyone NOT get that movie?) Little did I know that this massive head was going to totally throw off all the other measurements. When I finished the bodice we barely squeezed it onto her head. Once on it nearly became impossible to remove it without taking her head off with it. Total nightmare.
I had to scrap the entire thing and create my own pattern to accommodate the melon. I cut the neck larger so that it would fit Laina's head and her pageant hair. I also made the arm holes a little larger so they would be more comfortable. After that the only real problems came when I had to work that zipper in. The first attempt was a complete catastrophe and the second/last attempt works but isn't too pretty.
And the last think that I think I'll do on this dress is move the bow about an inch more towards the belly. It's an easy fix and I didn't want to bother with it before the pictures. Just imagine that it is already done. ;)


I told her to show off the skirt and she almost showed a little too much off. Such an obedient, enthusiastic child.

Okay...now that's a little better.

And here's the money shot. I refused to buy any of the kiddies school pictures this year because they all turned out so horribly. Weird, forced smiles with tacky backgrounds. Problem is, now I have a wall with year old pictures on it. Shame on me. So I think this one will go on the wall.
Since Austin hated watching all the hoop-la without being involved, I primped him up a little too. He got a little dolled up and let me take a few pictures of him.
Poor Ethan missed out on the make-over since he was at school. Here are my little sweet twinnies together.
Sweet little lambs...they just love each other so much.