Little Hexies, Orange and Aqua Style

Thanks to Heather of A La Mode Fabric, I had hexies on the brain last night as I continue to bust out baby outfits... Look what she M-A-D-E me do:

I haven't appliqued the patch to the little shirt yet...any tips for applique with Hexies?? I found some really helpful templates for several hexagon sizes HERE.

New fabric from Sew Deerly Loved arrived yesterday too, sparking my motivation even more :) It's amazing how fast nap time goes by when you're having fun....Now, it's off to Neena and Papaw's house for some weekend fun...a finished quilt to show you hopefully Monday! xo

Pillow Talk Swap 3

It's time again for the Pillow Talk Swap on Flickr!!!

There's a little time left to get your entry in by following the instructions HERE.

I've thrown together a few favorites for my secret partner...I'd love to have a new handmade pillow for baby's room!

(click on mosaic above to be directed to my flickr page, where individual links are listed)

I missed out on round 2 because of feeling so yucky, but round 1 was AWESOME! Check out the pillow I made for Amy, and also the pillow I received from Amber.

Thank You, Heather and Kerri for hosting this swap!! xo

Little Camper Bib

Just listed in the SHOP...

Little Boy

...snails and puppy dog tails...that's what little boys are made of, right?? I've sure been having fun with my little buddy in his last few months as an only child. Today, we went to the mall, just to ride the "up and downs" (elevators and escalators). He will be an amazing big brother...and quite the entertainment....

Yesterday was a good mail day, too....I was a winner on Ryan's blog, "I'm Just a Guy Who Quilts". IF you hurry, you might get in on the final week's prize too! I believe this week he's giving away a $50 gift certificate to the Fat Quarter Shop! I won a really nice hooded towel from Dwell Studio for the new baby during week 2's giveaway! ;)

Thanks, Ryan for the awesome prize and also for the cute elephant card! It's just the right colors for baby's room, so I think I'll put it in a little frame...

"Sewing Up" more for BABY

What a good weekend....it was a whirlwind for us, but a good weekend. We hosted our women's retreat at church on Saturday, with the theme, "Awaken". There's no better season to talk about being awakened to God's love, than spring. I led worship for the first time, "growing" me out of my comfort zone....but I had wonderful friends and a sweet hubby who plays guitar and drums help lead with me and that brought all the comfort in the world. God is good...and he gave us Spring to prove it, huh?

So, I've "sprung" into sewing, now that I feel so much better and am only a few months away from little man's arrival. I mentioned using up some Heather Ross scraps that were graciously sent to me by my buddy, Kerri. Without all those generous scraps, I probably wouldn't have been so excited to whip out all these baby goodies. Here's what I've been working on today:

The pieced top of a lovey for my little buddy, with an appliqued kimono-style Gerber top to match. (don't you love those side snap shirts in the beginning when you're going through a package of diapers every day??)

Another pieced quilt top for a lovey and some cutie-pie pants for my friend's baby girl, due in June....I still need to run out and get some elastic to finish the waist and some minkee to back these lovies.

Aside from all the sewing fun today, I keep stepping in wet spots on the floor because we're doing some potty training "boot camp" with Titus today....so far, lots of accidents to clean up, but he's going to be a pro by the end of the week, I believe! ;)

Homecoming Outfit for Baby

Ever since we discovered that we were expecting another boy, I had all kinds of projects on the brain that would use up some of my favorite Heather Ross scraps. I knew I wanted to try some comfy crib shoes after seeing all the cuteness Kerri had in her old etsy shop. Then, it turned into a whole outfit for my little guy's homecoming...

(the pants in this photo are made from the "Kimono PJ" set in Amy Butler's Little Stitches book. However, the crotch is extremely shallow, so I'll either have to modify it or find a different pattern...)

...then I made a couple pairs of crib shoes for upcoming baby showers

A HUGE thanks to Allison at Cluck Cluck Sew for trying and recommending Joanna's Crib Shoe Pattern, found HERE. (And, thanks Allison for giving me the idea to use some Katie Jump Rope with my Heather Ross scraps :) Joanna also has a cool pattern for a bean bag on her blog that I'd love to check out!

....And, now my sewing machine looks like this...and the hubs is once again mourning the loss of his "nice, clean, dining room table"....ooowah ah ah!

Embroidery Hoop Silhoutte

I love silhouettes. And silhouettes are all the rage right now, it seems. I wanted to try something new to create keepsakes of my little guy as he grows, and came up with this inexpensive embroidery hoop option.

I started by taking a photo of my son in profile, in front of a lit window. I printed the photo as an 8x10" on cardstock, so that his head was close to life-size. With my scissors, I cut around as many details as possible from the neck up.

Using a large embroidery hoop from JoAnn's, I cut my fabric large enough to fill the hoop and inserted it. It's also helpful to put some Elmer's glue around the inside of the hoop, to lock your fabric in place and keep it from getting loose. When it was tight like a drum head, I placed my cardstock cutout on the fabric and traced it in pen.

I already had some basic black acrylic craft paint...a small bottle will be plenty. It helped to have a small detail paintbrush for the outline and also a large craft sponge/brush to quickly fill the empty space with paint.

To help me remember how old he was in this silhouette, I'm thinking I'll attach a small hang tag from the brass top that says, "18 mos." Wouldn't it be cute to have a wall of these in the nursery of all different sizes, fabrics, and stages of growth?

For some professional silhouette keepsakes, head over to Vana's site, Le Papier Studio.

My favorites are her lockets (have one, love it!) and new vinyl wall decals.

Giveaway Month!

WHO does not love a good blog giveaway?? Okay, how about giveaways for the whole month of April??

One of my favorite quilting guy pals is hosting a giveaway month on his blog: "I'm Just a Guy Who Quilts". If you haven't seen Ryan's work, head over and peek...I dare you! And, make sure to enter this week's giveaway for a Melissa and Doug stacker....very cool. Thanks, Ryan!