Hot off the Press(er foot)!

Ok, I guess, technically these things are hot out from under the presser foot (that's a little sewing machine humor for those who don't recognize a fine pun when they see one)...but I've been sewing like a mad woman this week! I made a couple of these nifty grocery list cozies for my mom and sister's birthdays. (The one pictured is AA's--I need to borrow mom's back since I forgot to photograph it)
My newlywed little sis had mentioned that she only had a "boring legal pad" on which to scrawl her bi-weekly grocery list, so I thought it might be fun to spice it up a little bit. She loved it! (And I'm a little jealous...avid list-maker that I am, so I might have to stitch up one of these bad boys for myself!) Gramps, if you're reading this--the button is one of the ones you gave me from the garage sale. It is a button covered in vintage lace that was obviously cut off an old outfit...and I LOVE it! (I have a few more that I'm hording for future projects!)
Mom and I also made a set of mother/ daughter/ grandmother/ granddaughter Thanksgiving aprons for the Sonshine School fund raising auction. I have some truly great memories of helping in the kitchen for Thanksgivings past, so it was fun to think that these little aprons will probably see a few wonderful family memories, as well.



I also made a couple of onesies for a good friend. The first is made to look like a nametag. (The full tag reads, "Hi I'm Creed. Fearfully and wonderfully made"--which is a nod at Psalm 139:14)
She also requested a onesie with a guitar on it. I had a great time putting this one together, and even managed to get the right number of strings stitched on it...I think. (just don't count the frets--there was only so much I could do authentically in such a small area!)
Finally, I whipped out a couple more colored pencil rolls. (One of which will be joining the aprons in the Sonshine School auction) It feels good to be "sew" productive...and I've even managed to put "Pigtails and Puddles" labels on a few things! I hope to build up a small inventory over the next month or so and launch a (small) shop on etsy. Please let me know if you can think of anything that I should try to include. Outside opinions are always appreciated!

For those who might be wondering, even with all this production taking place in Robinson County, Norah and Eli are not being totally neglected. God has blessed me with two really sweet kids, who take great naps, (and enjoy the occasional visit from Mimi) and it's amazing what can be accomplished in a couple disjointed hours a day!

Her First Verse

Jason and I noticed about a week ago that Norah is developing a fantastic memory. (It's always been good, but she's been able to remember much longer sentences/complete thoughts lately) We decided it would be a shame to let her memorization skills go to waste, so we started teaching her a Bible verse. We thought Proverbs 17:17 ("A friends loves at all times and brother is always there to help you.") would be a great start, since "friend", and "brother" are two words that she knows and really understands.

I was amazed at how quickly she committed her verse to memory. She says the first sentence very clearly. (The second is a little slurred, but she's still working hard at it). Jason and I are so proud of her! So, to commemorate her very first Bible verse, I made a keepsake pillow with her name and scripture reference on it.

I put the pillow on her bed and told her she had a surprise waiting in her room. (a "special prize", as she calls it, always gets her a little giddy)











It wasn't long before I heard her exclaim, "I found it!", followed by, "My pillow! It's so berry, berry, berry cute!" ("berry" is her current adjective of choice, especially used in multiples of three--not sure where she picked it up, but it's pretty cute when she says it)

I explained to her what her pillow said (she's also showing a lot of interest in letters/words, so she seemed really pleased by her gift) and, of course, she proudly recited her verse. Sweet girl.

It is such a neat feeling to make something special for her, and to see her receive it and appreciate it. (I don't think I did a very good job of that when my mom sewed for me growing up, and I wish so much that I could go back and be more appreciative.)

Moreover, it is so thrilling hear scripture recited by such a tiny, precious, eager voice! I can't wait to share more of God's word with her, and to watch her faith grow as she does.

Slobber Police to the Rescue

Since the appearance of tooth one, Eli's been drooling to beat the band. He seems to have decided to go ahead and cut all his teeth at once (at least he's been slobbering like there's no tomorrow), so I decided it was high time to employ a drool-repelling device (AKA "teething bib").

I had a couple of random, cotton bibs, but they get soaked in a matter of minutes, and I always hated to cover up his church clothes with bibs that didn't match. So, after a little inspiration via House on Hill Road (and Gramps' brilliant suggestion to use denim), I set to work. The bib is three layers (solid denim front, batting, and striped denim back), so it should be durable, in addition to being absorbent. I added a patchwork panel, some homemade bias binding, and of course, personalized it with little man's name.

I have been going through a bit of a "dry" spell, as far as sewing goes. Jason is helping me refinish my sewing desk, and I just have a hard time getting excited about sewing on a card table. (I'm so spoiled). This was the perfect project to get me back in the mood to sew. I really enjoyed it, and it's officially the first thing I've made for Eli. It fits, and he's already drooled all over it--which really makes me happy. Seriously. I felt like it was totally worth it to know that I made something that was functional and cute (if I do say so myself). It matches almost all of his church clothes, too! I foresee making quite a few more of these- both for Eli, and to give as gifts.
While modeling for my "new bib photoshoot", Eli struck my latest, favorite pose. (I'd been wanting a picture of it, so it killed two birds with one stone) He clasps his little hands together like this, all the time. (Honest, I didn't even have to pose him, his little hands just gravitated there on their own) Sometimes he even falls asleep with them that way (I don't remember Norah ever doing this, which makes it extra cute to me because it is "his" thing).

What's Cookin'

Here's a little taste of what's been on the back (and front) burners in Robinson County...

Norah is loving her "play kitchen", as she's dubbed it. I'm a little concerned about the health of her "play family", because she seems to think they can survive on a diet consisting solely of macaroni and cheese and cookies.





Chopping onions making you weepy? Here's Norah's solution.













The play kitchen is plenty of fun, but Norah likes cooking in "Mommy's kitchen" even better. (Which means my diabolical scheme to trick her into taking over all my household duties is working!) She is especially interested in knowing what we're cooking (which was pretty funny on this particular night, since it was jambalaya, and she was determined to pronounce it correctly). She also likes our dinner guests (ie--Daddy) to know that SHE cooked dinner. (Because everyone knows that the key to a well-seasoned meal is stirring the pot!) Her favorite thing to help with in the "real" kitchen, ironically is the same as one of her play favorites, cookies! (And I know you're probably thinking it's because I let her lick the beater, but actually Jason usually beats her to the punch...he does at least share with her! And she still eats her fair share of chocolate chips!)


This is one of my cakes from last week. It was for a baby shower for a new couple at church. (Their baby's nursery is decked out in purple with a Baby Snoopy theme) It was so much fun to make a cake so different from my "usual" requests!




And finally, this is a crib quilt that Mom and I designed and made for my cousin Helen, who, along with her sweet hubby, Clint, welcomed their firstborn, Kylie Virginia, into the family on Tuesday.

We chose the colors based on how she and Clint decorated their nursery, and tried to make it fairly similar to Kylie's bedding, so hopefully it will be a good match, and something she'll like.


Here's a close-up of my favorite square. The lines inside the flower's petals are hand-embroidered to give it a little personality. Mom hand-quilted around everything to give it that special, hand-made look.

I'm so excited that Norah and Eli will have an "almost" cousin so close in age!

Sewing Again (at last!)

Our very good friends, Scott & Sara Nickson welcomed their first-born daughter, Sydney Elizabeth, into their family on February 7th, giving me a great excuse to do a little sewing.

The best part was...drum roll, please...
Jason finished our entertainment cabinet (pictures of that coming soon), so I finally got my sewing desk back! No more sewing on that jumpy card table for me!




These little mary janes are TINY. Already too small for Eli's quickly growing feet! They were one of the most fun, new sewing projects I've tried in a long time. And the Nicksons are both Aggies, so I hope they'll enjoy a little maroon for their new baby girl. (The white on the inside is just some tissue to help keep their shape during shipping)

I have a few other fun show-and-tells to post (more sewing projects and a cake or two)...hopefully I'll get them up soon.

Explanation of Absence...

I'll be the first to admit I've been a pretty poor blogger, come lately. It wasn't intentional...just necessary. I've been busy with lots of sewing and cake decorating, not to mention the holidays are upon us!

So, this post is my explanation for my leave of absence...and an excuse to show of several of the projects I've been toiling over, but had to keep under my hat until they were given as gifts.

This was a onesie for a friend from church. Her grandma name is "Honey".




This set of owl shirts was for three brothers. Their (very unique) names are stitched on the branches the owls are perched on.

I have to admit, these shirts were one of my favorite things I've sewn in a long time. The girls who ordered them (they were early Christmas presents) told me just to have fun and do whatever I want, and the only stipulations I was given were to make them "vintage" and masculine enough for a boy to wear. It was like a blank canvas to play on, and I'd been dying to do something with owls!

This was a cake a did a couple weeks ago for my favorite checker at Wal-mart. (We've been going through her line every week since Norah was a newborn) She's always been really sweet, and I guess because I'm always buying cake supplies, she asked me if I would mind making a "girly quilt cake" for her daughter's 13th birthday party. She loved it, and said it was just what she had envisioned. (And it was fun for me to do something a little different than the norm)




Hannah initial onesie (baby gift for a friend of my sis-in-law, Paige)













Another initial onesie (also for a friend of my SIL), the name is pronounced "Lou-Cheer". It's been a month of unique names for my sewing projects...but I guess that's one of the up-sides of hand-made personalized gifts--while probably wouldn't find anything in the store that said "Luchier", it didn't take too long to make something up!




After all the sewing I'd done for other people, I got to feeling guilty for neglecting my own daughter, so I decided to make a t-shirt to go with a pair of orphaned hand-me-down pj pants we got from Jenny. I just copied the lollipop design from her pants, and stitched "Sweet Dreams" underneath for good measure (she's been waking up in the night with apparent nightmares , lately, poor thing).




Norah was so proud to wear them (which always does mommy's heart good!). She refers to them as her "Can-EE PJ's".

Now, it's on to the mountain of Christmas projects that have been piling up on me! (Not that I'm complaining, I'm loving that my machine is getting so much use!)

Fun, New Gift Idea

Yesterday was my cousin, Donna's birthday, and I was searching for a great gift idea. Inspiration struck when I visited the House on Hill Road blog and found a fun, new sewing project that would yield the perfect gift for my coffee-loving cousin!



Paper coffee sleeves might be good enough for Starbucks, but I thought Donna deserved something with a little more pizazz. Since she's a teacher and is referred to as "Mrs. Berny" all day long, I decided to personalize her first name on the front.





I added lavender buttons and loops for the closure as a finishing touch.











She loves purple, so I paired a vintage lavender paisley print lining with a chocolate brown exterior (in hopes of disguising any coffee dribbles). It also has a thin layer of batting sandwiched between the two fabrics for added insulation, and to give it a little more stability. I had so much fun with this project...I might have to make a few more!

Redwork Apron

This weekend I found this red and white fabric while I was at JoAnn's, and thought it would make a pretty background for some red work embroidery. I bought a yard and made my first red work apron. I didn't have any templates for the embroidery design, so I flipped through a Gooseberry Patch Christmas cookbook for inspiration and voila!

Our church's pre-school is having a silent auction fundraiser this week, so I made the apron my contribution, and so far, it even has a few bids! (The apron has 2 large pockets below the ties--you can't see them, but they're there.) It was such a fun project, I might just have to make a few more for Christmas gifts!

Q is for...

Quilt...One of my most favorite sewing mediums. I've also determined that I enjoy designing my own much more than following someone else's pattern. (I've never been very good at following the rules when it comes to sewing) To date, I have made five of my own (two hand-quilted, three machine-quilted) and have assisted with a sixth. One of my favorites is pictured at left. It features hand-embroidered names and the favorite scriptures of three generations of Robinsons, and was a Christmas gift to "Mom R" (she also surprised me with a beautiful hand-made quilt that very same Christmas!).

Queasy... I've been blessed not to experience morning sickness with either one of my babies. About the only thing I can think of that does make me queasy is needles. But I'm getting better. After all, it's pretty hard to ask your kids to "soldier up" and get their shots if Mommy passes out when she gets hers.

Queso...mmm....Who doesn't like spicy melted cheese? This is definitely a favorite homemade party-food...but we also enjoy it on our fajitas (in lieu of shredded cheese). I've craved the Tostitos brand queso (the kind that comes in a jar) a lot this pregnancy too, but I haven't indulged too much.

E is for...

"Eh-bow"...One of Norah's favorite words of late. Anytime she sees a bent elbow, Norah feels the need to approach it's owner and give it a gentle tap, while she enthusiastically explains to them what it is called (sometimes 5-6 times before relenting, just to make sure they "got it"). She's an equal-opportunity educator, too. She's more than happy to impart this knowledge to perfect strangers in the grocery store, post office, or parking lot of wherever else we happen to be.

Efficiency...Something I strive for, but generally fall short of attaining. I always plan errands in a way so as to use the least gas. I love it when we eat all of the left-overs in the fridge (rather than forget about them and throw them out after it's too late). And I definitely squeeze every last drop of toothpaste out of the tube before succumbing to opening a new one.

Embroidery...Growing up I never cared too much for handwork. I abhorred counted cross stitch (after one half-hearted attempt to learn it), and for that reason, I never attempted to branch out to any other embroidery mediums...That is until a few years ago when I made an heirloom quilt for Jason's mom, with the favorite scriptures of each of our family members embroidered into it. Through that experience, I discovered that I love to embroider! Since then, I have used my newfound "skill" on Gramps & Granddad's 50th Anniversary Quilt, Norah's Quilt, and numerous other gifts ranging from pillows to onesies. One other plus of embroidery...it is the best pastime I've found for a long car trip!

Tada!!

It's finally finished!! Last night I put the final stitches into Norah's quilt. She had enjoyed a couple of months' worth of playing in her special "tent" while I did my quilting, but didn't seem to mind one bit that her tent had disappeared this morning.

I stretched her quilt out on the floor so I could take a few pictures of it, and she danced on it, spun around and around in circles, and sat down to admire the "flors" (flowers).


I don't know how many memories she'll wind up having from the time that mommy spent working on her quilt. I'd like to think she'll remember the days she spent working puzzles in her little tent, or playing peek-a-boo with Mommy and Daddy under her quilt. Maybe she'll remember the gazillion times she got in trouble for stealing Mommy's thread or trying to snatch my little, purple scissors.











Even if she doesn't remember any of the above, at least she'll always have her quilt. She can look at the thousands of (sloppy) stitches and know that each one was made in love for her by her mommy.







Here is a photo of the finished product. I had to get way up high to fit the whole thing in the picture, that's why it looks like it's wider at the bottom than the top--it really is a true rectangle, honest.

The quilt back is the same color as the outer, aqua border. (Though, I hope no one will look back there at the mess I made quilting it!)












Each of the quilt blocks is bordered by an embroidery stitch. I had a lot of fun learning new stitches to keep it interesting. My favorite was one called the "herring bone". (bottom left, shown in orange)






There are 5 blocks with appliqué flowers on them. I made up the patterns for them as I went along. On the flower blocks, I did a little bit of embroidery, just to brighten them up, and then I echo quilted around them.

The flower blocks have a lot more quilting stitches in them than the plain square blocks do. I think it added a little variety and dimension to the quilt.





This completes step one in my conversion of the guest room into Norah's "big girl room". I hope to have her moved in by November at the latest, so that she can have a couple of months to get comfortable in her new nest before the baby arrives. I really want to avoid making her feel as though she is being "kicked out" of the nursery to make room for baby, so I hope to make her new room a happy, calm, special place.

Excuses, Excuses

Alright, so it's been roughly 100 years since my last post, give or take. But I'll do my best to fill you in on all that you've missed in my absence.

Norah's still growing like a weed, as you can see. I thought this first photo showed her teeth pretty well. She's up to 11 now, and we sure think they're purty.

In the time since my last update, Norah has hit a momentous milestone--she has a set bedtime, and she doesn't fight it! For a solid week, we have maintained a new routine, and she seems to really like it. Before, Jason or I would rock her to sleep and then carefully transfer into the crib, hopeing not to wake her. In the event that she did rouse, we'd either have to stand there with our hand on her back until she fell asleep again, or start over with the rocking. It was fun for a while--sweet time with just us and our baby girl...but sometimes its not a good night to rock, and you just want her to go to bed...so we decided it was time to set a routine.
So here's a break-down of what works for us:
7:30pm, bath time with the duckies.
7:45pm, put on PJs, desitin, lotion, etc.
7:50pm, commence with bedtime stories (read with lights dimmed, night light already on, and noisemaker going...for those wondering, noisemaker is set to either a gentle waterfall or chirping crickets)
8:00pm, lights out, prayer time
8:05pm, place fully awake Norah in her crib, and leave the room

As I said, for an entire week we've had great success with this routine. Sometimes she sniffles a few times when we leave the room, but it never lasts more than about 10 seconds. What an answer to prayer!



So onto my excuses for failure to blog...I've still been staying busy with Princess and Diva birthday cakes...I had a princess cake last week and I went with a little different design and really enjoyed it. You may not be able to tell from the photo, but the necklace and crown have a little rhinestone in them. I thought it turned out pretty cute.



Probably my biggest excuse for not blogging in so long is pictured here. A little over a week ago Jason came home from work exhausted. He had a double-header (softball games) at 9:15 and 10:15pm and Norah was wound up and excited to see him when he got in from work. I decided to take her out to kill some time to give Daddy a chance to take a little nap before his games. While we were out, we went to JoAnn Fabrics with no intentions of buying anything. Little did I know the muse of inspiration awaited me there.

After weeks of perusing Pottery Barn Kids, debating over whether or not to buy the overpriced quilt that had caught my eye, I found some fabric that I liked even better. And then I found several coordinating fabrics..and before I knew it, my basket was full of several bolts of fabric. I just got swatches that night, but as you can see from the photos, I didn't waste too much time in going back and buying/getting started on a quilt for Norah's future "big girl" room. Granted, I have no idea when she'll need a "big girl" room...I also don't know how long it will take me to get all the components together, and you might as well work while you're inspired, right?
Each of the flowers is embroidered, and each of the blocks also has an different embroidered border around it...or at least they all will when I finish. I'm currently up to 15 finished blocks, with a total of 24...so I'm over half-finished.

Once the embroidery is all completed, I'll sew on the outter borders of the quilt (its a solid aqua fabric) and begin hand-quilting it. I plan to quilt 3 nesting squares in each of the plain blocks, and echo-quilt around the flowers in the blocks with the appliquéd flowers in them. I have had so much fun putting this quilt together!


The fabric to the right was my previously mentioned "inspiration" fabric. I've always been a sucker for little prints, and I thought the colors were too fun. I bought more of this floral print to make a reversible duvet cover (with the stripe print from the quilt as the other side)

So, basically, my main excuse for not updating my blog in 100 years is that I've been pre-occupied with quilting. Thankfully, Norah's been in a mood to play contentedly by herself, and Grandma, Great Grandmother, and Grammy have also allowed me to have some quiet time in which to work. (I am so blessed to have such a loving family so close!)

I thought I'd close with a photo I snapped today mid-lunch. Norah had fallen asleep while she was eating---but she kept waking up and taking another bite, then falling back to sleep. It was very funny to watch, but I couldn't laugh, because I didn't want to wake her. She actually makes a habit of sleep-dining, but it never gets old to me---its still funny every time.