Category: Baby (Page 1 of 3)

More Sewing and More Planning

March 4, 2018 / Patty

There’s always more sewing and more planning. I wake up in every morning thinking about the projects that I’m working on and the projects that I want to work on and all the future projects. I wish there were more hours in the days to do all the things my head imagines. 🙂

Until then however I continue to sew what I have time for. Right now I’m working on finishing one of the first quilts that I started working on in 2012. This was before life got in the way with health issues for my daughters, and my husband and my mother’s passing. Of course there is work, home and friends as well. Some days I spend more time on the computer thinking about what I want to do instead of doing the things that I should, could and must. A tale for many of us I think.

For now however, there was Christmas sewing and some baby gifts as well as a new quilt along. The one from last year will be finished soon along with the one from 2012 and I’ll continue to work on these this year.

I’m trying some new and different baby gits. I’ve made baby hats, teething toys and bibs. I love the baby gifts because they’re fast, colorful and usually appreciated. I can also try out new things, gift them and use some of my fabric stash as well. All good things in my book.

Here are some of the hats.

Babies and oops

February 15, 2017 / Patty

Well the last post I did about babies and the latest baby gift was hacked. Apparently I didn’t get the update applied in time and the post was deleted except for one picture. I do want a record of the things I’ve made on this blog so I can have a reference so I’m going to repost some of the pictures and text.

This is the quilt I’ve made for this new little boy. He’s arrived last week and his name is Parker. Such a sweet looking little boy and I’m looking forward to holding him and smell that sweet little baby smell.

I also made some drool bibs and a tag blanket as well as some pacifier clips.

I didn’t want to forget little sister. I suspect this might be a challenge for her. She is only 20 months and her place in the family is going to feel threatened. She’s now the middle child. So here is a baby doll and a blanket just for her.

Fun times for all. Big sister got a book. I don’t want to forget anyone.

Babies Again

January 11, 2017 / Patty

Babies seem to be the theme here and this was a quilt for my niece. She had the first little boy in my brother’s family. Exciting times for sure!.

The daddy is involved in crew and repairing boats etc. so I really wanted to use some water themed fabric and I loved this Offshore line of fabric by Deena Rutter for Riley Blake The colors and the variety of prints really appealed. Of course there were a few other things I included for the new baby. I made some burp rags with appliques and also a tag blanket.

More Babies

January 6, 2017 / Patty

More babies are coming. I’ve made a number of baby quilts and things in 2016 and already working on the first ones for 2017. I do like making baby things because they are fast and I can try different patterns and colors. I can then pass it on but I never really know if they will be used and most often I don’t hear anything or see them being used. Occasionally, I do hear that a quilt I’ve made is an important part of the bedtime routine. Once it’s out of my hands whatever will be will be but it’s nice to know it’s appreciated.

This quilt and the tag blanket and pacifier clips were for a surprise baby. The baby is anxiously being waited for by the family.

More babies

November 23, 2015 / Patty

More babies. It certainly is that time for many young families. I had the pleasure of making one more baby gift before I start on the Christmas sewing. One of middle daughters good friends recently had a baby and she assured me that this friend would treasure a quilt for her new baby because no one in her family did those kinds of things.

I do like to make baby quilts. The are usually fun to make, I can try new things and it doesn’t need to be perfect. This quilt fit all of those criteria. To begin with the white fabric that I planned on using needed to be replaced when I started to sew. It was so cheap looking compared to the rest of the fabrics I just couldn’t use it. Well, I suppose I could have but it didn’t look right. I was also starting to feel a bit pressured because I knew the baby was coming and would likely be early and I seemed to be quite busy with work so didn’t feel like sewing in the evening. I started to cut the strips to use in the die cutter and made several of the strips too narrow. I could have made them work but knew the fabric was more likely to stretch when I cut the shapes. I finally got everything cut, started to sew and changed my mind on the arrangement so had to recalculate and sew some more.I decided the colors of the fabric that I was going to use on the back wouldn’t look good so I went shopping again. Yes, some of the pieces did stretch and it didn’t lay very flat when I was done piecing the top. After quilting however, and washing. It looks fine, I love the colors and I know the mom and baby will not care if all the points don’t match and it’s not perfect. It will keep the baby warm or be a good quilt to put on the floor and work fine that way too.

The bib was made to try a new quilting pattern. That worked fine too and all have been mailed and received by the new mom.

Now on to Christmas.

Fall is in the air!

September 14, 2015 / Patty

Fall is in the air here in Edmonds. After an unusually warm summer it’s time to get into the fall routines. I’m working on that for sure.

I have done lots of odds and ends of sewing here but really haven’t had the inclination to post much. I’m looking forward however to some updates here and continue to make a record of my finishes. I’ve got lots of plans for the fall so we’ll see how I do.

One of my finishes this summer has been a second baby quilt. This is for the friend of daughter #2 who is expecting her daughter #2. When I started this I really only expected to test the block idea and size but after I had finished several of the blocks I decided that I really like it and it would be perfect for this new baby. I did struggle with the binding for a bit but finally settled on this green stripe. At first after it was done I thought I had made a mistake because it’s so much bolder than I had anticipated but I do think I like it and it does go with the fabrics.

As I was searching for this picture I also found many others.

Another project from earlier in the summer was another pillowcase. This was also for a Girl Scout friend.

Baby Baby

May 21, 2015 / Patty

Baby baby, can’t you hear my heart beat… well not mine I guess but I’ve had lots of fun in the last couple of weeks sewing for my niece’s new baby girl. She actually will arrive in this world June 4th but I really didn’t want to wait. There are still more babies on the horizon. Not my own grandchildren yet, although maybe someday, but children of folks that I do know.

I made this new little girl a lovely “girlie” quilt. When I first started I knew the colors I wanted to use but when I cut the first pieces out it seemed too intense so I ended up cutting the strips of fabric and resewing and cutting again. I’m quite pleased with the result. It has produced a lovely quilt that is not too jarring but very sweet. It has this cute pink dancing bunny flannel on the back.

For the new baby there is also a tag blanket, a new burp rag and a darling sweater that my friend made for me to give her.

Baby sweater

I had some leftover blocks and decided that I needed to make some fun gifts for the big sister too. Now the big sister is two and a half and loves to help her mommy. She is also a great imitator and has a wonderful imagination. I just knew the big sister needed to have a new baby doll of her own. With that baby doll, she needed a few necessities to take good care of the baby so I also made her a doll blanket for that precious baby, as well as a few diapers with velcro, some diaper wipes, and a diaper bag. She also has a soft colorful blanket to cover that baby doll so she won’t get cold.

Chemo caps and baby blankets

May 26, 2013 / Patty

Chemo caps and baby blankets. I just never knew that the road would include sewing both at the same time. And for the same age group of people. I haven’t posted for a long time but I have thought about it. At the beginning of April my middle child had what we expected to be surgery for a mass or growth on an ovary. We were all shocked when they discovered that she had ovarian cancer. Instead of removing just the mass she had a complete hysterectomy. She is only 33. She’s moved from Portland into her old bedroom and is spending her time working, sleeping, reconnecting with old friends and doing chemo for 18 weeks after the 5 weeks recovery from the surgery. Certainly not how any of us had planned on spending the summer. She is treating this experience with grace, dignity and a positive attitude. It’s a pleasure to have her with us again while she deals with this “detour” in her life. She had been transitioning to a job with her company here in Seattle and they have been great at supporting her and that is a blessing too.

The next step of course is dealing with hair loss. This has been harder than we expected but I keep telling her it’s a good thing she has a great looking head! Some friends have sent her knitted caps which she loves. I’m not a knitter and those knitted caps are really her preference. I have tried making her some sewn caps but also know this has been mostly for me and not for her. It’s hard to know as a mom and a parent how best to support these kids when they are adults but have such huge challenges in their lives. We do the best we can. The other side of this is so many of her friends are having babies. New babies, expecting babies and all of that. Still fun but makes one stop and be grateful for the children that we do have and heartache for the things we can’t control.

All that being said, I have had fun sewing chemo caps and baby quilts and tag blankets. I’ll have several more things to share here soon. I’m in the process of baby quilts and tag blankets. I’ve made several of those for my niece because her daughter has loved them and she would like to buy some from me for her friends. So for now, here is the cap that really turned out the best.. if I can get a picture of the others I’ll do that. One of the other ones turned out well but I’m not sure it will ever get worn. And also a cap that came from a dear friend that is turning out to be a favorite. Chemo caps and baby blankets will continue here for a while. A nice diversion for our next few months.

A Christmas Stocking for Raegan

January 8, 2013 / Patty

A Christmas stocking for Raegan was a necessary addition for holiday sewing. This sweet little girl ventured into the world on December 5th. The grandparents and Mom and Dad were excited. Of course all the family and friends were pleased to have such a sweet addition to this family. I didn’t want Santa to overlook this new babe however so a stocking was created. I used a combination of a McCall’s stocking pattern and some AccuQuilt dies. The name was cut with a Slice Fabrique die. If I do this again I will make a few changes but overall, it was a successful completion. Merry Christmas Raegan.

Another finish!

December 11, 2012 / Patty

Another finish! There have been several more but it’s getting closer to Christmas and the time is slipping away. This finish is a baby quilt for my daughters friend. The new mom isn’t really a pink person so I found some other fabrics that I thought would suit a little girl so it was girly but not pink. These colors I am fond of myself. I cut 5″ squares and followed the pattern on the Accuquilt guide. I guess I didn’t take a picture of the back but it was just a tiny pink and lime green polka dot fabric. I love the way this one turned out and think the new mom was surprised and pleased.

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