Baby Elephant Walk

I love giving had made gifts!  I have been invited to a couple baby showers this winter so I have been working on ideas for baby quilts.  Using the Elephant quilt block I found here I made this baby quilt for a nephew and his wife who are expecting their first child. I needed it to be gender neutral and I think this fits the bill.  Kind of a modern edge on the standard 9 patch quilt with the bright border.  I used cotton quilt batting and the geometric print for the back side.  I like the softness of cotton batting and the way the quilt looks after a few washings.  Such a classic batting.  I quilted this little quilt using my walking foot making squares in each block and multiple lines along the border.  I stitched around the elephant using a quarter inch seam allowance. 

Now up on ETSY

A few more items have been posted on ETSY!! Thank you all for your support.

Airstream Dish Towel





Vespa Dish Towel Set

Red and White Bicycle Dish Towel Set

 

Camper Pillow

Tricycle Towel Set

 
 

Airstream Pillow

 Follow the links and see all my latest creations. 

Easy Zipper Insertion for Bags

 

A while back I came across this bag on Pinterest from Pink Stitches and wanted to do a couple test runs.  I have been looking for an easy way to do the zipper insertion and thought I would give this one a try.  My first attempt I had to cut down a zipper and I think I might have left it just a bit too long so the corners did not turn as well as I had hoped.  I made the second bag, cutting down the measurements just a bit,  and had better luck with a shorter zipper.  I like the method and the instructions are well written with great photos. 

Now on ETSY!

It has long been our desire to market some of our creations.  Life has been rather busy the last couple years and we haven't been able to devote the kind of time needed to make the dream a reality.  Things are moving forward now and I have opened a shop on ETSY called FreshMakedHome featuring handmade home décor items similar to ones that have been featured here on the blog.  Starting out with pillows, towels and some knitted items, I will be expanding the selection as we move forward with this exciting new venture.  I will keep you posted as we add new items.  Jump on over and see the entire collection. 

 

Blue Bicycle Kitchen Towel

Vintage Camper Pillow

 

 

Bicycle Pillows

Another hat

I made these hats a while back using Spud and Chloe Sweater yarn bits and pieces left from various projects. Spud and Chloe sweater is such a soft combination of wool and cotton in an easy care yarn that any kid will love to wear.  This is a variation of the Marley hats in Susan B. Anderson's "Itty Bitty Hats" book.  Susan is so creative and I love using her patterns as a jumping off point to create simple hats with the yarns I have on hand.  She includes a lot of fun adornments to make each hat unique. 

Aprons

 

I remember my grandmother always wearing an apron whenever in the kitchen.  I am not sure I have any photos of her without her apron!  She was a hard working farm wife who was always cooking or baking something.  The backdrop is my grandma's Hoosier Cupboard that was in the pantry of the old farm house.  The apron looks right at home with Grandma's cream pitcher and old mixing bowl.   On the farm in western Minnesota there were 5 meals a day....breakfast, "forenoon lunch", dinner at noon, "afternoon lunch" and supper in the evening.  It is kind of funny how things changed when I moved to the Twin Cities metro area.  The city folks had breakfast, lunch at noon and dinner in the evening.  Our forenoon and afternoon lunches became "coffee breaks" or snacks.  I smile as I think back all those years ago when this farm girl made the transition to city life.

I gifted this apron to my oldest daughter for her birthday.  I used the gift bag that Sylvia created by attaching pattern pieces to a craft bag using Mod Podge®.  She presented it to me with a gift but I think the bag was a gift too!  I passed it to Ali as I wanted to keep it in the family.  Will be interesting to see how many times it is passed among us!  

 

   

I needed a wedding shower gift earlier this fall and decided to make another apron to personalize the usual kitchen shower gift.  The fabric is a print of handwritten recipe cards.  Might be kind of fun to try the one the recipes!  The entire border is finished with bias tape making it a fast sew.  I hope the bride enjoys it. 

 

 

Baby Gift

 

A quick quilt project for a baby shower gift.  I used a pretty print for the front and a plain pink for the back side using a contrasting color thread to do the quilting.  I simply drew an arc at each corner and than followed the arc until they met in the center.  I did not worry about making them equal so they do not meet directly in the center making the design a bit more abstract.  I used my walking foot which works great for keeping the layers even and has a guide to keep the lines parallel.  I wish I had thought to take a photo of the entire back side so show off the finished quilting but it has already been gifted.   I will remember to take more photos in the future.  I had enough fabric left to include a matching bib for the new baby girl. 

Retro Romper

I did it! I have published my first "self published" knitting pattern for sale on Ravelry!  You can find it here... Retro Romper.  For you non-knitters, Ravelry is a online source for knitting and crochet patterns and provides a place to record and share your creations with the world.  I have a number of patterns that I designed for Blue Sky Alpacas on Ravelry which are available at local yarn stores that carry Blue Sky Alpacas patterns.  I will always be grateful to them for having faith in me and my ability to bring their vision for a new pattern to completion.  One of the most challenging of those designs was the Audrey Coat.  I had the privilege of attending TNNA (the yarn industry's trade show) that year and seeing my design on the runway.  I will always remember the great people I met there who were so encouraging to me. 

I love to look at vintage knitting pattern books and especially love some of the baby clothes.  This design is an updated romper using Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton.  This cotton worsted yarn works up  into a beautiful fabric that any baby will love to wear.  It is so soft.  This baby is one of my grandsons, Henry.  He has grown a bit since this photo was taken, they grow up way to fast. 

I hope you enjoy this new pattern.  This would be a quick knit for a baby boy shower gift that is a bit unique.  If you are looking for a baby sweater and quilt pattern consider the Cotton Baby Set I designed for Blue Sky Alpacas out of this same yarn.  One of my granddaughters is the model for that one!  I have another childrens pattern nearly finished and hope to get that one up soon so stay tuned. 

Dancing Princess Dress

Eliza has been asking for a "dancing princess" dress. I did some hunting and was underwhelmed with what I saw in the toy section. I grabbed some clearance satin and some tulle and dug out a pattern and got to work. She was delighted with the result!







Mods: doubled strap length and inserted elastic, tulle ruffle added to strap, attached gathered tulle to lining, replaced zipper with Velcro, gathered up hem in 2 places, no sash

In other news... my salsa turned out great. I've been enjoying it on my eggs each morning. Yum!

Fermented Salsa

Today I chopped my veggies for a new food I've been wanting to try. I've been reading about fermented foods and their numerous health benefits. This seemed like a good place to start. Next up: water kefir. I found the salsa recipe here. I left out the whey this time. I will report back after I sample the salsa.

Brown Sugar

I ran to the store the other day and realized I had forgotten the brown sugar. Ack! Packing up 2 toddlers a second time was not an option. A quick Internet search and some serious stirring yielded this:

Delightfully fresh brown sugar. You can get the recipe here.

Baby Socks

These cute baby socks are a quick project to use up some of the stash of short pieces of yarn.  They are made using Sweater from Spud and Chloe.  I love this yarn!  It is so soft and warm.  I have a cuddly sweater I made for myself out of this precious yarn and am in the process of making another sweater with a cable pattern that will be a challenge for me.  It will be worth the effort and with all the work that goes into hand knits using the best yarn that you can afford is important.  The pattern for these cute baby socks is a free one from the Spud and Chloe blog.  Jelly Bean Socks knit up fast and you can practice your sock knitting using a worsted weight yarn!   

 

One More Time!

 

I know I haven't posted for a while but not much has changed around here. Who would have thought we would be having a SNOW DAY this late in April?  This may have been the biggest snow event of the year and this late in the season it was not welcome.  We woke up to 13 inches of the white stuff this morning.  I had planned to take the day off when I heard the forecast and I think I made the right decision. 

 

 

I haven't made it up to the sewing room yet but I have another jumper project that turned out pretty cute.  I was able to find a small piece of denim in the stash so I put together a jumper for grand daughter Faith who just turned 2.  The ABC buttons have been in the button bin for years, probably since her mom was little, and I thought they looked great.  The most trouble I had with this little dress was finding yellow buttons for the shoulder tabs.  I really didn't think it would be that hard to find plain yellow buttons but I think these are perfect to complete the primary color theme for this little number. It has already been gifted to Faith and she has worn it so I know it fits.  I was worried about including the long sleeve top for underneath but this year I am not sure we will ever get out the short sleeves!  

SNOW DAY ...SEW DAY

A snowy day here in Minnesota and we are staying out of the elements.  It was the perfect excuse to clean up the cutting table and get to work on a set of jumpers for E & A.  It's a blessing to have these two little granddaughters so close by.  I have had the fabric for a while but had misplaced the pattern I planned to use so the project has been on the to do list.  Luckily, I made it to Jo Ann Fabric  during the latest pattern sale and picked up a couple simple ones so I could get the project underway.  With the snow today it was the perfect excuse to get going.  Because I had the fabric before the pattern I did not have quite enough fabric for 2 jumpers but by putting a seam at the center back of the larger size I made do with what I had.  The fabric is a thin wale corduroy so I had to take the nap into account or I might have been able to avoid the extra seam.  I added the rickrack as an afterthought as it was in the pile of trims and matched perfectly.  The second one is cut and ready to sew but I better cook supper now as I am sure the hubby will be hungry when he gets in from blowing snow.