A little blanket...

I love making these little blankets. This one is for a friend I grew up with. She's having her first baby boy in January!

A baby quilt from Aunt Katie...

My sister is expecting her first child come September, which means that this child will make me an aunt! Woohoo! Even before she became pregnant, I found myself thinking about the fact that I wanted to make each of my future nieces & nephews a baby quilt. I wanted each of these "Aunt Katie Quilts" to be unique in some ways, but similar in others. I think I've come up with a way to satisfy both requirements.

The strip quilt:

I think the strip quilt is the perfect simple baby quilt for me. It is quick and easy to cut and sew and it is the perfect way to display fun, colorful, and favorite fabrics. Making this quilt top took hardly any time at all and it is so cute. Denise chose the hullabaloo fabrics for her quilt, and I love it! Perfect for a boy or a girl, I think (because Denise & Andrew, like us, have chosen not to find out their baby's gender). I can't wait to make many more of these :)

*The strip quilt idea was brought to my attention by this post via the quilting blog, Film in the Fridge (I love this blog!)

A new nursing cover...

These things never photograph very well (at least for me, which isn't saying much)...


Part of this little pregnancy nesting instinct that kicks in for me is a strong desire to purge my house of stuff . I have quite a bit of fabric stored in my stash, and the only way to purge good fabric is to USE it! So, this nursing cover was made from some great Amy Butler & Heather Bailey fabric I had purchased a long time ago. I love it...good thing too, because I'll be putting it to good use come June.

Baby shower gifts...

I made a few gifts for a friend's shower this weekend...

Little shoes:


Banner #1:


Banner #2 (with mama...her sweet baby has already arrived...8 weeks early! Baby is healthy but in the NICU...That's why mama doesn't look very pregnant :)

A baby shower gift...

...with a bunting theme. Pinks, greens, & reds...what a delightful color combination.

Tea Towel Bib...

Another bib for Henry. I feel like I can never have enough of these. Somehow this bib turned out HUGE! I used the bib pattern from Amy Butler's Little Stitches book, and boy is it a big one. That's ok though, the more coverage the better. I used my dad's old wranglers on the back and an ikea tea towel on the front.

An alphabet bib...

...for Henry's upcoming alphabet party. I'm a bit annoyed that I didn't pay more attention to my fabric placement. I purposely chose not to place an "H" in the middle, but by attempting to hold on to the randomness of the letters I ended up with a HUGE "N" smack dab in the center. I'll either add a pocket, some sort of applique or just decide to make another in order to remedy the situation. Not sure yet. Oh well, despite the large "N", it's still pretty cute.

Argyle

This was Henry's Valentine's Day shirt. Made from an old pair of my jeans (the same jeans I used to make these) and some red scraps...pretty cute, I think.

Baby Shower gifts...

...for a dear friend. (Thanks to Shelly for her leftover scrap of guitar fabric!)

A Christmas tie...

A little bucket...

...for Henry. For Christmas.

I just really love this little bucket. It would make a great gift for anyone, young or old, depending on the fabric you use. I got the idea from Shelly, who found the tutorial here.

Blocks...

...made for a friend.

Henry's new ball...

...This has to be my new favorite project. This pattern comes from Anna Maria Horner's book Seams to Me and is comprised of a variety of pentagons & hexagons. I used some of my very favorite scraps in a rainbow of colors and love the way it turned out! It was a little time consuming...I cut out the pieces while playing with Henry on the floor & sewed it together after he went to bed, but it can surely be completed in one day. The pictures below show the same ball (only one ball, not 3) from different angles so that I was able to capture the different fabrics I used. Isn't it grand?!

angle #1

angle #2

\

angle #3

As an indicator of the size of the toy, here are Henry & John holding it:

New shoes for Henry...

These were made from a scrap of an old sheet, leftover ric rac from this apron, and some green fleece I had hanging around. The best part about these shoes...they're free!

These shoes were made from one of John's old shirts. He washed a post-it note in the pocket awhile back and ruined it, so I'm giving it a second life as footwear for Henry.

Recycled Bibs...

I made Henry a few bibs out of an old pair of jeans & some leftover fabric scraps. I got the idea from this tutorial. A very rewarding *free* project. You should try it sometime.

And just because I can, I decided to give each of them a name...

"vintage appeal"

"almost Christmas"

"my favorite"

"homage to my elementary years"

New clothes...

A sling...

After trying on Jenny's sling last Monday, I knew I had to make my own. Henry is too big for the "pouch" carrying style, but carrying him on my hip with it is FANTASTIC! It was a very simple thing to sew...I followed these instructions for my measurements, and this for the actual pattern. Jenny was fancy and added cording for extra padding...I intended to, but forgot. Maybe next time.

New church clothes...

Crib Skirt completion...

I've been putting this rather simple project off for far too long. I finally finished it Monday night. It was a free project (my favorite kind)...the portion that is under the mattress was a piece of an old ripped sheet that I saved for just such projects, and the white skirt was made from the leftover pieces that I cut off of the drapes in the nursery. Totally free. I used Amy Butler's Little Stitches crib skirt pattern and I think it turned out nicely. The crib has metal pieces holding the frame beneath the mattress in place, so it doesn't hang perfectly straight, but I'm okay with that.

2 new quilts...

...from 2 very special ladies. This one is a Cindy W. special made in Olivia fabric. I absolutely LOVE it!

This next one is from Grandma Net. I used to go to her house when she was working on it and tell her how much I loved it & how I wanted my first quilt to be made out of those exact fabrics...I guess she heard me because now it is mine. LOVE IT!

Isn't this just the coolest quilt label ever? Maybe I'll make one like this on quilt #2.