Halloween/Thanksgiving Reversible Apron

I'm trying to do a few small projects to keep myself busy before I start preparing for Christmas in earnest. After having made large-ish quilts recently, it is SO NICE to be able to sit down and finish an entire project in a few hours! Last weekend I took some time and made this great reversible apron. A girl can never have too many!


Pattern: Emmeline Apron from Montessori by Hand / Sew Liberated
Fabric: Alexander Henry Halloween print, Snoopy fall print, and Keepsake Calico (black w/ white buttons)

Great pattern. I was a little short on the fabric for the ties, so I probably can't tie them in the front, but I love it regardless. Can't wait to wear it while handing out candy on Halloween, and on doing my best Martha Stewart impression on Thanksgiving.

Recent Baby Gift Commissions

This one was for a couple at work that are expecting a little girl at the end of this month. Buying for a girly jungle theme was a little challenging, but it turned out very sweet. Contains: approx. 60 diapers, one blanket, two wash cloths, three bibs, two pairs of socks, one pair of sandals, one shirt and pant outfit, headband, stuffed leopard, elephant activity toy, tri-fold travel grooming kit with emery boards, brush, comb, and teether.

Another Winnie the Pooh cake, this one for someone at my mother in law's workplace. Contains: approx. fifty size 3 diapers, one hooded towel, two washcloths, five onesies, one pair of slippers, one flannel receiving blanket, one massaging teether, one chillable teether, one pacifier clip, one Pooh blanket toy, and one stuffed Winnie the Pooh.

A Baby-Sized Exercise

I'm making progress on this little quilt that was started as an exercise in mixing prints. That, and I've been dying to make a zig zag quilt. It's amazing how much faster a 30" x 40" baby quilt comes together versus a 90" x 120" twin bedspread.

Can't decide how I want to quilt this one. Started out with straight lines, but I didn't love it. Tried pebbles, but I didn't think they were right either. I'll probably end up stippling -- always my favorite.

So far, no real plan for where this little quilt is going when it's finished.

On an unrelated note, I am loving the cool Pennsylvania weather this week... Can't wait for fall! Autumn is always a very domestic season for me. I'm not off to a bad start: made red velvet cupcakes and fresh strawberry ice cream for Labor Day. The National Apple Harvest Festival is coming up in a few weeks, and I'll be stocking up on bushels of apples to make gallons of applesauce. Yum!

Long Overdue Total Crafty Wedding Recap

I can't believe it's already come and gone, but our one year wedding anniversary was this past Monday! In honor of the occasion, I'm going to do my damndest to finally finish my complete wedding craft recap post that I haven't gotten around to.

Invitations - One of the first things completed for the wedding was the invitations. I knew I wanted something different, so I pulled out my brand spanking new Gocco and made my own. It was trial and a lot of error, but I completely loved the end product. Read more here, here, and here.



We had quite a few guests fill in the back of the RSVP with notes, drawings, and pictures. They were so sweet and funny that I hung them up for display at the reception. Unfortunately, I think that is the only thing that I didn't get pictures of on the big day. Take my word for it -- they were cute!


Programs - Fighting through last-minute wedding burnout, I came up with an idea for programs that was cheap and easy. Be sure to check out the tutorial here if you're interested in making your own.


Napkins - Another Gocco project, these personalized napkins were a quick project. You can just see them in the bottom right hand corner of our well-stocked booze table. Read more here.

Here's a closer shot before the wedding. The design was created in Word.


Wedding Dress - This was the Big Project, the kind of undertaking that makes your palms sweat just *thinking* about it. I didn't straight up make the dress from scratch; I combined two of the same dress into my ideal wedding frock. Read more about the design process here, and here.



Here's a little peek at the label that I embroidered. You can't tell, but it was embroidered in blue, as my 'something blue' for the day.


Shrugs - Made for my awesome bridesmaids. More details here and here.

Here's a closeup shot of my twin sister in hers. Doesn't she look amazing?


Moss Letters - Another cheap DIY wedding project. These looked awesome hanging next to the main doors of the house. More details here. I wrote a tutorial for these as well.

Here's a closer shot before the wedding.


Wedding Photo Family Tree - This is my favorite decoration created for the reception. I hunted down wedding pictures of mine and Ben's parents and grandparents, and arranged them as a sort of family tree with one of our engagement photos in the center. It was really neat to see all of our family represented, and a wonderful reminder of those grandparents that are no longer with us.


Lanterns - This was a joint venture between myself and my husband. I desperately wanted rice paper lanterns hung on the front porch. I bought a bunch at IKEA for cheap, but I couldn't think of any way to safely light them up. The wiring in the house is quite old, and could not have supported a bulb in each. What was a girl to do? Well, ask my hubby-to-be, of course. He created little lightweight hangable lights out of LEDs, betteries, and tape. Perfect! We hung a few in each lantern and they created a gorgeous glow all night long.




Flower Decorations - I wanted to pay homage to the rustic qualities of the lake house, so I purchased some birch bark tubes on Ebay. I was supposed to have a ton of them, but my husband accidentally left most of them at home. No problem, though! Our neighbor on the island graciously offered her prize-winning hydrangeas for free. We put a few each into glasses and jars, and then covered the glass with a trimmed birch bark tube.




Centerpieces - Very simple: dollar store candles in inexpensive glass containers, surrounded by large and small pinecones collected on the island the day before the wedding. We placed each glass on a brown or green duponi napkin, and sprinkled birch bark chips (on clearance at Pottery Barn) around the outside.


Cake/Cake Stand - I worked with a local baker to design our cake. While the idea was dead on (small two-tier cake with cupcakes surrounding it), the decorations weren't quite what I had imagined. (See my original idea here. However, it tasted great and fit perfectly on the cake stand that Ben and I designed and built ourselves.

Would you believe that it cost zero dollars? We made it entirely out of leftover pieces of an IKEA entertainment center.

It was really fun to work on a project together, and include him in the process with something that he actually enjoyed. I never could have made this cake stand without his expertise.


(Faux) Flowers - Another big money saver was arranging my own flowers, using silks. More details here, here, here, and here.








Out of Town Bags - So glad we took the time to do these. The guests loved them! Read more details here.


Chocolate Bar Favors - More details here and here.

Well, there you have it, folks... a complete outline of the crafty parts of my wedding! Feel free to ask questions, I'm happy to answer them.

Back From Muskoka, One Quilt Lighter

It came down to the wire -- I was finishing hand sewing on the binding while up at the lake -- but it's officially done. It was hard to give this one up now that it will live permanently at the house in Canada, but I will get to visit it every year. Not that I'm ever lacking a reason to go to Muskoka...

Finished dimensions: 90" x 120" (twin bedspread)
Made mostly with scraps, free motion quilted.

Leela loved this one! We have such a strange dog. Anyway, she's 'modeling' in two of the pictures above, completely of her own volition. Every time I turned around, she had plopped herself down on it while I was taking pictures. I guess she has good taste!

Here's a quick shot of the label, and what it looked like in progress. Click for larger images.


This quilt was the product of a quilting challenge between my mother and I. We decided to each make a quilt following a few general guidelines for the summer house. We would then put it to a vote with the guests while we were up this year, and the winner would get to pick the guidelines for next summer's Muskoka quilts. It's a pretty big incentive, because we have very different styles of quilting.

Eventually, we hope to make a quilt for each bed in the house -- 13 in all. This year, we tackled what is popularly referred to as the 'pink room,' due to its pink trim. The picture on a bed above is actually in the 'blue room,' which we'll quilt for next year. They both have two twin beds.

Stay tuned for another upcoming babycake, and a baby quilt in the works. I guess I have babies on the brain? Also, I'll dig up the pictures I took of this quilt side-by-side with my mother's entry into the challenge and reveal the winner!

Layout Ideas

I'm trucking along on the quilt for Canada -- about 1/3 done quilting and looking to finish this weekend.

While I'm not at home working on that quilt, I'm already daydreaming about my next one. See, I went to the Odyssey Quilt show in Hershey, Pa last weekend, and fell in love with some fabric for a new quilt for our bedroom. I've been meaning to redecorate and paint a bit, and this would be a nice catalyst to give me a palette to work from.

Here is the fabric, in all its glory:

And here are two different versions of the layout I'm thinking of using.


The darker one would be stretching my comfort zone a little, as I do tend to work with light sashing most if not all of the time.Thoughts?

Two Recent Diaper Cake Commissions, and Quilt Progress

I've been busy baby shopping recently, for two orders from a friend at work.

Contains: approximately 50 size 2 diapers, one fleecy blanket, seven bibs, three onesies, long-sleeved onesie and pant outfit, hat and bootie set, six washcloths, five spoons, travel sized toiletries, and a Minnie stuffed toy.


A pirate cake -- how fun is that! Harder to shop for, for sure, but it turned out pretty cute. Contains: one treasure chest playset, one bib, one pair of sneakers, travel sized toiletries, four washcloths, four spoons, one brush and comb set, one flannel receiving blanket, two shirts, two pairs of pants, one diaper cover, oneset of coveralls, and sixty diapers.


Been working on a few other things, as well -- not the least of which is the quilt diagrammed in my last post. All the blocks are done. I just need to assemble and quilt it before we leave for vacation in two weeks. No pressure...

Forgive the basement floor pic. It's the only place in my house big enough to lay out a 90" x 120" quilt without the dog laying claim to it.

I stepped outside my color comfort zone with this one, and I'm happy with the results. It's not for my home, which makes it easier to be a bit more colorful. This quilt was the product of a challenge between my mother and I, which I'll detail when I have finished pics of both.

Denyse Schmidt Equals Love

Fabric.com was having a sale this week... which resulted in a happy little package on my doorstep when I came home today. In my defense, it's hard not to go a little nuts when Denyse Schmidt home dec weight fabrics are marked down from $12.99 / yd to $3.99 / yd! And further to $2.99 when I found a coupon online for 25% off of my total purchase. I heart the net.

I bought one yard of each, except the blue leaves, which I accidentally bought 2 of. Oh, well -- the more the merrier!

While I was hemming and hawing over clicking 'PURCHASE,' someone snatched up the 3 yds of Patchwork Promenade that I had in my cart... (s)he who hesitates is lost, I guess. I'll dry my tears in my new amazing fabric.

I realize this is a slightly obscene purchase, but I do have good intentions. I found the neatest little shop in Chadds Ford -- it's kind of like Etsy, in a storefront, and the store owner is a very cool chick. I'd like to get back into the habit of making things to sell. It's been such a very long time since my last little craft show.

I am doing some crafty things as well. Here's a sneak peek of the layout for a quilt I'm working on for the house in Canada. Better get cracking: it needs to be done by the time we leave! It's a simple design, but at 90" x 120", it's going to take forever to quilt.

Finished Spiderweb Quilt

At long last, I have a finished spiderweb quilt and a sunny opportunity to show it off!

Final dimensions are 54" x 69". It's a generous lap quilt, made specifically for snuggling on the couch with Ben and the dog. I did end up running out of a few fabrics, otherwise I probably would have kept going.

The quilting went very fast. It doesn't hurt that this is roughly half the size of my last quilt, but I'd also like to think that I'm getting better at free motion quilting. There are a few tiny folds in the back, but they're barely visible after washing and drying.

I think I'll always use my silly husband as a quilt model. I love him peeking over the top in this shot.

I used the last few scraps to make one more spiderweb for the back. In hindsight, I wish I would have done more. I think it's a bit plain, but my love for the front overcomes the 'meh' about the back.

The label is probably too complicated, but I kind of like it. I embroidered a spiderweb in metallic thread first, then my name and the date over top of that. I cut out the embroidery in a medallion and appliqued it on the center of the spiderweb block. The quilting puckered the label a bit too much for my liking. The crinkly texture works well for the rest of the quilt, though.

One more artsy shot, for good measure.

I just had to show these off as well -- they were a birthday present from my sister. It's hard to get an artsy shot of one's own feet, but I think I did ok. Thank you so much, Andrea!

Now that I'm done with this rather large undertaking, I'm on to my two big summer projects -- a quilt for the house in Canada, and a mystery present. Lots to do, and not a lot of time!

Quilts and Sweaters and Baby Gifts, Oh My!

Been busy working on a little of this and a little of that. First thing's first -- I had a quilting blitz today and made some great progress on my spiderweb quilt. Many thanks to my husband, the reluctant model.

I changed the layout after seeing mle_val's spiderweb quilt on flickr. I loved the way her blocks are staggered. One 45 degree turn later, I started working on an angle and now I love it even more. Fingers crossed that I don't run out of fabric!

Last weekend, we moved my brother-in-law out of his apartment. It was a six hour trip (*one way*), so I had some time to pick up a neglected project: a Sebastian sweater from Rowan Classic Summer, Book 11. I've been working on and off on this sweater for almost two years.

With all the time in the car, plus working this week in my free time, I added six inches on to the front. Not too shabby! The sleeves are going to kill me, I just know it. Hoping to have this done in time for fall. Time will tell.

I also squeezed in one more baby cake. This one is for a vet tech at my sister's vet. They take great care of her menagerie of kitties (and rabbit), so Andrea wanted to give this woman something special now that she's expecting. Her direction was that it was to be dog themed, and baby-to-be is in fact a boy.

I found some great puppy themed baby gear, including a snuggle sleeper, socks, shoes (can't quite tell in the pic, but the have blue puppies on them), and washcloths with paw prints. My younger sister aka personal shopper found the perfect blue and brown puppy to grace the top.

All wrapped up and ready to go. Hope she likes it!