bekka

sock monkey log cabin quilt

Ugh. So I wrote this December 2, 2009, but didn't have the photos on the same desktop as where I blogged from. It is very delayed, but here goes--oh, except I cannot find the photos I took of this finished quilt, or the burpy cloths I made, anywhere (!!!!). Perhaps my pc ate 'em. Sigh, so this is a photo that Kelly, Griffen's mother took of him snuggled into the quilt:

Whew. I can share this with you. I finished it in July or August for a dear friend, Kelly, who expected her fourth boy. 

I gave it to her at Elsa's first birthday party in November, along with three burp cloths I sewed up as well. I found photos of the quilt squares, but you can't see the back. It's that great brown and white pattern that is the same as the sock monkey sock. And I bound the quilt in bright red, which you can see a small bit of peeking out the left side of Griffen's carrier.

She loved them. I was glad she was so excited. She values handmade/homemade gifts as much as I do. And the best thing was that the quilt matched Griffen's carseat/carrier.

In other not-so-exciting news, I shifted my sewing machine, fabrics, and ongoing projects out of the dining room into our former guest bedroom which serves as a storage for all the things we don't have room for. The shift was so that we could have Elsa's first birthday party and entertain guests in our home. 

Luckily, the house will stay mostly clean through the holidays. We'll entertain my dad, step-mother, and half-sister on Christmas Eve. Already thinking about the menu for that. And putting up our tree, too.

tie a yellow quilt

 

 

Yet another example of my poor time of knitting/quilting/crafting these days is this stack of quilt pieces. I have a niece. She was born late in October and is sister to Mick. 

And so, naturally, I wanted to make a quilt for her. A simple quilt. One that wouldn't tax my abilities. I'm sure this piece has a name, but I am too lazy to search for it. Surely it's something simple like "Triangles?" 

I didn't start it soon enough. Since I moved my sewing machine, etc. out of the dining room, I haven't regrouped my crafty fervor and returned to it at all. She's four months old, and has no quilty-quilt from her aunty. 

I'm sure she'll appreciate it once she gets it. Now, finding time to work on it.... that's the trick. I have too many interests, too many diversions like reading too much. My sewing machine is so loud that I'm afraid it will wake Elsa when I work on the quilt after she's in bed. We have a ranch style home, so it's not like I have high ceilings and several floors separating us.

I don't have enough squares to make the full top that I wanted, so I'm going with wide borders. Just don't know what that will be, either. Don't want to be all enigmatic, I honestly have no clue.

every little thing she does is magic

Yeah, motherhood consumes me. I'm wrapped up in my baby girl and have little time for anything else. She likes chewing on everything, including my favorite tape measure. I've had it out a few times, taking measurements for batting for a baby quilt I've nearly finished.

Elsa is amazing. Being a mother is the best gift. First, just having a relationship with your child is incredible. And then learning to see the world through her eyes is a delicious, delightful joy. She's almost walking. She crawls like nobody's business and can quickly leave the room if she's not closely watched and followed. She'll be walking by herself any day. She pulls up like a champ; has been doing that for weeks now. She has four teeth. Her top two came in about two weeks ago. They're growing like gangbusters. Her rate of growth astonishes me. Simply astonishing.

These photos were taken in May, when she was six months old. She's nearly nine months, now. Her hair is slowly filling in. I suppose she's like me in that respect, I didn't have much hair until I was a year old.

Hope to have something exciting and crafty to share soon. My work with fun sock monkey fabric is almost complete. I'm ready to move on to something else more sedate because it's been like working with a barrel of monkeys. 

ladybugs & strawberries

You may recall that two posts ago--long, long ago--I mentioned pieces for a quilt top I was working on. Since then, things progressed and I managed to finish the quilt last night and then trimmed off  the excess strings this morning. Also ran a lint brush over it too, to remove the ubiquitous dog hair.

I fell in love with the fabric I used for the binding. It's Robert Kauffman. Of course. I love his fabric lines.

And, despite my normal dislike of pink, I have a grudging appreciation of it now, especially in the form of these ladybugs on a pink background. I recall from grade school, or maybe junior high--when they once were called such--someone telling me that red and pink don't go together and should never be worn together. Maybe it was my mom. But that was a hard and fast rule that I remembered, but never applied, as I owned no pink.

Besides the quilt--which I started a few days before Shelley's shower, but didn't finish--I made three burp cloths in matching fabrics. Well, almost. The yellow quasi-gingham wasn't used in the quilt at all.

In the meantime, since first starting this quilt, Shelley had her girl. The sex was known, but they kept her name secret. She was born about ten days ago and weighed over 9 lbs. We haven't met her but hope to do so when we deliver the quilt and burp cloths.

Elsa in June in Ohio

Babies are awesome. I never appreciated them until I had one of my own. Suppose it's just a personal failing of mine. But now? Oh, I love 'em. I'm interested in them, and will ask to hold them, sometimes. We met Ian's third or four cousin while we were in Ohio and he was teeny-tiny. Wow. He felt light as a feather compared to Elsa's 17-18 lbs.

oh spiderweb, my spiderweb

Pardon the brilliance of the white in this doll quilt. I couldn't get a good photo with all the rain we've had for months, it seems. This is the doll quilt I received from my partner. And the most terrible thing is that I've lost her name and address--but am waiting to hear back from my swap mama for those important details. The fabrics are fabulous and perfect for Elsa's room. Hope to find time to hang it on her wall soon.

From the first moment I saw the spiderweb block--and that was likely at crazy mom quilts--I fell in love. Even tried to make one of my own, but without the paper piecing bit, and that didn't work at all! It seems like in Febraruary I spotted them everywhere. oh fransson's! are fabulous. But they were Alissa's idea for BlockParty!

When I have more time, I'd love to explore this pattern; such possibilities!

just like candy

Last night I rifled through a bunch of available fabric--because the bulk of my fabric is unavailable after Elsa goes to sleep since it's tucked inside the closet in the nursery--pulled a few things together, but then couldn't decide on a pattern. Wracked my brain, even. Sheesh.

You see, I've got a good half dozen of baby quilts to make in the next few months. I've been lazy. Unmotivated. I'm attending a baby shower Sunday and want to take a bekka-made quilt to Shelley for her girl who is coming later this month.

Nothing spoke to me. What was quick and easy? Even paged through Quilts, Baby! to no avail. Then I spotted that Moda Sweet Roll I won from quilter's buzz long ago. Sweet Rolls are perfect for making log cabin squares because they're just pre-cut strips! Such a time-saver.

Log Cabin, Baby. It's sweet: pink, yellow, and orange featuring the traditional red center square. It's amazing how quickly I cranked these out. I'll likely use a lemon Kona fabric as the sashing and hope to get most everything done (selecting backing, buying batting, pinning & quilting, and then sewing the binding) by Sunday. I foresee late Friday and Saturday nights.

Not so sure how I'll arrange these pieces to look most pleasingly; those stripes are soooooo obnoxious. I'll also add another strip or two to each square. But sixteen seems like a good number for a baby quilt.

doll quilts, redwork pillows, & Elsa

I don't think I shared the Doll Quilt I made and sent to my partner some weeks ago. I've been consumed by the flying goose pattern of late. The fabrics belong to the same collection, artgallery fabrics. I especially love the piece I used for the borders. Its whimsical shapes and colors remind me of Dr. Seuss illustrations. 

And then there was the redwork pillow. I mentioned finishing it up in an earlier post. So here's a peek at that. It's a poppy, if you cannot tell. I loved making the center. My memory is horrible this morning and I simply cannot tell you what that stitch is called.  And I embroidered a portion of a John Keats poem in a rainbow shape along the top side. It reads: " The poppies hung Dew-dabbed on their stalks." I put a zipper in the side to make it easier to remove the pillow form.

What else? I signed up for a primitive embroidery swap via swap-bot; am giving that site another chance. But haven't had time to scour my rss feeds to see what other swaps may be going on out there. I really must stop with the swaps. I have far too many baby quilts to complete for friends and family who will have new babes by the end of the year. 

And there's the ongoing nine-patch swap I'm doing, but my photos for that are horrible. The lighting is bad, so I won't share those.

I've picked up quite a few new sewing/quilting/knitting books. They are lovely to look at but rarely inspire me to actually DO anything, unfortunately. What are your new favorites?

Elsa, of course, fares well. This was taken last month at my sister's college graduation. At this point though, Elsa is seven months old. We continually delight in her. I never have enough time to spend with her. While she sleeps I'm wistfully wishing she was awake for me to play with. I casted on for a cabled cardigan for her a few weeks back, but I'll likely rip it soon, because I didn't increase on both sides of the stitch marker.

she sells seashells by the seashore

Last week Ian and I took a day off to travel to Gatlinburg. The Weeki Wachee mermaids were performing at Ripley's Aquarium. I've wanted to see them ever since we drove over to Weeki Wachee Springs and found the attraction closed--it was fall and they're not open everyday off-season; just weekends.

Before and after performances there were photo opportunities with the mermaids. Naturally I felt that Elsa needed a tail to fully take advantage of that oportunity. Yes, she's one of those babies lacking a biological tail. If you're a big fan of Geek Love like I, then you know what I mean.

We ran by the-store-who-shall-remain-nameless and Ian selected the shiny blue fabric. By the time we returned home Elsa was ready for bed, so I measured her waist and length from her waist to her tippy-toes. Then I got to work.

Mermaid tails are easy to make. Really. I would have finished hers in under an hour, but my machine SUCKS. I probably asked it to do more than it could. The body was simply a sleeve with a bit of elastic at the top. The tail I traced onto paper and cut out 2. Also cut out 2 bits of batting and quilted each bit of batting to each side of the tail. 

The trouble came with sewing those quilted pieces together. Even tried my walking foot to no avail. I was so pissed. Honestly. After several tries the bobbin got all flakey like it is wont to do. And when I turned the tail right side out there were gaps in the seam where it wasn't stiched tight enough.

When I make Elsa's next tail I'll probably use one piece of batting, or maybe something else, to stabilize the tail and make it more substantial.

Elsa enjoyed the trip. I've always questioned those parents who bring the babies out to theme parks, especially, at an age when they cannot possibly benefit from the trip. So here I go taking my 6 month old to an aquarium. I didn't expect her to get much out of it. Ian carried her and held her close to the tanks so she could see everything. 

She loved the jellyfish, the snow crabs, and some other fish whose identity I cannot remember. The mermiad show? Eh. Not so impressed. She enjoyed staring at the red LED screen on the wall that scrolled through show times and information. Nor did she like the steel drum music that the mermaids lip-synched in time with underwater. Ian and I were impressed when one mermaid drank a coca cola from a glass bottle whilst underwater.

And she was a hit at the Aquarium. Stacy, the mermaid with whom she posed, said, "How precious!" when Ian handed Elsa to her. Random people wanted to take our photo, even. When I took Elsa into the bathroom to change her into her street clothes, two girls pointed and said, "That's the baby with the tail, squee!"

like a hole in the head

All I need is to sign up for another swap. Let's see. There was the needlecase swap on Swap-bot. There's an Amy Butler bag/purse swap, a redwork cushion swap, an owl swap, and a quilt block swap. I think that's all. Unless I've forgotten something. Oh, the mobile swap, too. And when is the next DQS? Sign ups are the end of February, I've been told. 

I was busy earlier this week finishing up the Amy Butler bag/purse swap. The fabric was AB, not the purse/bag pattern, but I ended up using AB's Swing bag pattern which I purchased long ago.  My partner loves purple, AB does not. Her second favorite is pink, so I found a pink AB fabric and then used a Kaffee Fasset fabric ironically called Bekah, for the reversible lining. How about that?

Making it was trickier than I thought. Once it was done, I actually liked it, enough so that I may make one for myself, eventually. It's deep and roomy, which can also be a problem for me because objects can easily get lost and become difficult to retrieve.

That is, once I get my sewing machines working, again. Yep, both are torn up, again. I broke needles on both working on the owl swap project and then on the AB purse. It's just me, I'm sure. I'm rough on sewing machines. They ARE Singers, and nowadays that name is synonymous with sucks, if you know what I mean. But seriously, I really want a new machine. Just one good machine.

But I couldn't resist this one. I found it at Messy Karen's. It's called Pay It Forward, and here's how it works:

Three people will be chosen to participate with me when they leave a comment on this post asking to join.

Since I signed up on Karen's blog, Karen sends a handmade item made by her to me, as well as the other two people who signed up with her. So that's where the three comes into it.

I send a handmade item made by me to the three people who sign up with me on my blog.

I get 12 months to complete this endeavor.

So, should you sign up,  you agree to post a similar announcement on your blog inviting three more people to join you.

Then you'll send a handmade item made by you to each of the three people who sign up with you.

The twelve month deadline begins once you have three people.

And just like Karen, international o.k. by me.

strippity doo dah

Tah dah! I started and finished a quilt top last night. But it was cheating anyway. It's a coin stack. I found the fabric ages ago. It's a stripe and when I saw it, I thought CHEATER! What a great way to make a coin stack without going through all the work of actually making all those coin stacks. Yeah.

So I thought I'd use this to make a small crib quilt, as well as burpie cloths and bibs for a baby on her way, Ashleigh Raeann. Her mother and I were acquainted and were pregnant at the same time. Amy, her mom, attends my Dad's church and I followed Amy's pregnancy closely because she had some problems with bleeding and cramps and early contractions and weird due dates and such. I so looked forward to meeting her little girl and hoped that she and Elsa would be great friends.

You may want to skip the next few paragraphs because it gets tragic and depressing for a bit. Start again at the *****

And then my step-mom called to tell me that Amy was in the hospital and they were on their way to visit her. Later that day they visited us. Really, Elsa, because what grandparent can stay away from their new granddaughter, and that's when they told me that Amy lost Ashleigh. I was heartbroken for her. Apparently, Amy heard Ashleigh's heartbeat early that morning and had a regular doctor's appointment that day. While she was there, they found Ashleigh's heartbeat on the Doppler, but then lost it, so they did an ultrasound and then determined that she strangled on her umbilical cord while trying to turn and ready herself for the birth canal. It's just the most tragic thing I've ever heard.

Attending Ashleigh's funeral was horrible. Listening to Amy sob for her daughter was dreadful. It made me feel both lucky and ashamed that my daughter was okay. And I was such a procrastinator that I didn't have Ashleigh's quilt made for her. I had been putting back all of Elsa's newborn clothes to give to Amy for Ashleigh to wear because once you have a baby you know how often they need changing into fresh clothes, and Amy's next door neighbor, Susan, told me that Elsa and I were the first people  Amy thought of to give Ashleigh's now unneeded things to. Oh, the irony.

*****And so I have this fabric meant for Ashleigh's crib quilt. I feel so helpless with Amy's suffering and want to make a gesture other than a card of sympathy or a casserole delivered to her doorstep, and so I thought I'd go ahead and make a quilt, but make it a lap quilt for her, instead. Now that I've finished the top, I have the rest of it to make, and you know how that goes. I'll show you the rest as I assemble it. Just had to share.