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Oh baby baby gift..

May 18, 2012 / Patty

Oh baby baby gift… I love to make baby gifts but it’s so hard to make a decision. There are so many useful little things for babies like blankets, hooded towels, clothes, booties, bags, spit rags and more. I had to narrow my list this time because there wasn’t too much time. Just a few days in fact. This time I decided to make some bibs and a tag blanket. Of course this certainly involves come choices as well. What size bibs, what kind of fabric, what type of bib and what should I put on the back. These were all for a little girl with a modern mama. I decided that really, these bibs would get spilled on and slobbered on and were really for protecting the clothes so although I wanted them to look cute function was the primary purpose and even a modern mama would know that. This allowed me to do some experimenting. This is the first bib. A small bib for a little girl with a bunny on the front. The small size could be used for a small child and would be cute and functional.

The next bib is a larger bib with a wider front. This bib I backed with minky which is a polyester fabric and should allow some moisture protection for the clothing underneath. I’ve never thought of using minky for the back of a bib. It actually worked better than I expected and is quite soft. I wonder how mama will like this one?

This last bib is cute in an entirely different sort of way. It’s more like a baby apron. I know that mama likes gray and it also lets me use a bit of color so this one too is cute and should be quite functional because it covers the baby lower front and lap. I lined this one with flannel so it is soft and shapes easily to the baby shape. Oh this was a fun baby baby gift!

Remember the old hangers?

May 9, 2012 / Patty

Remember the old hangers that used to be in everyone’s closet? You know the kind I mean. The wire ones your mom got from the cleaners. Sometimes they were colored and I loved those. I remember one turquoise one that I used to have. Sometimes they were white but mostly they were gold or gray or just metal colored. The other hangers that were special were the ones with the cardboard tube at the bottom that you could use for slacks. We didn’t have too many of those and they were used only for the best pieces that you didn’t want creases in. Well in my latest sewing project I kept wishing that I had a slacks hanger. The kind I was thinking about was a wooden one that hubby had when we were first married. I think they were from his wedding suit and it not only was sturdy wood but had a moveable bar on the bottom that you could unhook to slide the slacks on and then hook it back together and put it in the closet. We have moved to mostly wash and wear and plastic hangers and I haven’t thought much about hangers until recently when I wanted to hang the latest sewing project. The project was circles of fabric that I wanted to slide over something and hang. I couldn’t justify taking the old wooden hanger that now holds other slacks of hubby but lo and behold when I opened the coat closet door, I found a secret stash in the far back. There it was, the perfect hanger! It is wire with a sturdy cardboard tube. Happy day! Now my circles are hung waiting for delivery and I am remembering more good times and special hangers.

A new hat.

April 21, 2012 / Patty

A new hat has arrived at our house! Middle daughter is a knitter. She made her dad a new hat for Christmas. Yes, I know that Christmas is long gone but due to distance and life etc. this hat has just recently made an appearance. It’s a good fit, matches the coats just fine and is very comfy. Or so I’ve been told. It will have a season or two of rest now as spring is finally arriving in our neck of the woods. All too soon however it will be hat season again the hat will live in an esteemed place!

Another baby quilt

April 15, 2012 / Patty

Another baby quilt is finished. I’ve used tumbler blocks again I’m pleased with this one. The colors are not in my normal range of color choice but I do like the way it turned out. I don’t know if the baby will be a boy or a girl. I used ten different fabrics in this quilt and it made a better mix than the previous two. The pink one had seven fabrics and the red and blue one had five fabrics. I like both of the others but this one has a better balance and will be soothing for a baby. The back was an interesting dilemma as well. I had a remnant of one of the front fabrics but I knew it was short. I ended up adding two rows of blocks from the front. They fit in well. One thing that I had not thought about when I made the choice for the back was what the plaid would look like and if I could get it on straight. I ended up washing the fabric before I started because the fabric was stretched. It did straighten out well and I was able to get it straight enough that it looks good. The binding is pieced some of the quilt fabrics and was another good choice. Hope the mom likes it. In any case, it will be a good floor quilt and wash and wear well.

It’s an Edmonds kind of day.

April 14, 2012 / Patty

It’s an Edmonds kind of day. The sun is shining, there is a bit of breeze and the spring air is fresh. What a great event for a Saturday. It makes everyone smile and rejoice in the beauty of spring.

Yard work, washing and sewing are all on the agenda today but I did make a stop by the beach to celebrate. Oh how I love the spring.

Another little zipper pouch

March 31, 2012 / Patty

Another little zipper pouch? Yes indeed another little zipper pouch! I’m having lots of fun sewing these little zippered pouches. I keep working on the zippers to get them just the way I like. This one is closer. I love this chair fabric but it was too busy to use a big piece in anything so I decided to just use a section. Then I had to decided on the size of the section and what other fabrics to pair it with. Decisions, decisions. This little pouch is a bit taller and not as wide as some but I think it would be perfect for and iPod and some ear buds. The thing I really love about these zippered pouches is that I can throw them in a bag and they don’t end up at the bottom. It’s also so much easier to find the contents and the bag when they are all together in one place. I grew up with my mother telling me “put it back where you found it!” I still try to do that because it makes my life so much easier and I’m less frustrated when I don’t have to hunt for my stuff. Zippered pouches really help.

A Water Bottle Cozy

March 28, 2012 / Patty

I need a water bottle cozy. No ifs, ands, or buts about this one. I know we are all encouraged to stay hydrated and use a water bottle but when I drink water my preference is for cold water. Like cold with ice! This can be a challenge when you’re using a water bottle. I’ve tried partially freezing the water bottles. This is successful but ultimately hard on the water bottles. They bulge, they crack and leak..oops and they can melt too slowly or too quickly depending on the weather or the activity and the amount of frozen water. I’ve tried partially freezing, tipping them on the side and freezing and even filling them halfway and freezing. It really is an ok process but does seem to shorten the life of the water bottle. I also don’t like it when they start to bulge on the bottom and then rock when they are set on a flat surface. My solution has been to fill the water bottle with ice cubes. The result of ice cubes and also of freezing is condensation. The condensation can be a mess. You get water marks on tables on clothes and if you’re outside, you can even make mud! I’ve tried various solutions. Here again, all successful to a degree but not perfect. The first one I tried was a sweat band like you would wear at the gym. Sweat bands are functional but are not really good-looking so that is a solution but not my preferred one. The next option I tried was a water bottle case. I have one that is neoprene and looks like this one. That’s ok and is a nice color but when it’s sitting on a desk or traveling in the car it’s bulky and it doesn’t fit in the drink holder. I also have one that is similar to this one. Same things here. It has a nice pattern but will not fit in the cup holder in my car. These are actually both good solutions for my straight sided water bottles. My current favorite however is a stainless steel flip top bottle that is not straight sided. It has an hourglass shape and it really doesn’t work well in any of the holders. After a visit to Starbucks it occurred to me that I needed to make a wrap type cozy for my water bottle and I could start with the shape like they use for the cardboard wrappers for the coffee cups. After several trials with paper patterns I finally decided to make a test one and see how it works. It’s not really the shape I thought I would need but works surprisingly well. I also used velcro for a closure but this helped accommodate the hourglass middle. I was able to use a more curved shape to my pattern because I realized that the place I really needed the wrap was near the bottom of the bottle. I’ve used this for several days now and am pleased with the result. I love the colors. I just strip pieced some fabric leftovers until it was larger than my pattern piece and put a layer of warm and natural batting in the middle to soak up the condensation. It still fits in the cup holder in my car and doesn’t seem to leave any condensation around the bottom to make a mess. This water bottle cozy will be useful for a long time.

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Just a little thank you.

March 26, 2012 / Patty

Just a little thank you seems appropriate when someone does something nice for you. Recently my sister-in-law referred me some business. Now I really appreciate that and wanted to thank her. It didn’t seem right to just give her a gift card. She probably would like that but she is a little more down to earth and I think would really appreciate something that I made. I’ve struggled with this for a while now. What color, what kind of fabric, what project. I’ve gone over the list so many times. Along with my “just do it” theme for the year I finally just pulled some fabrics and decided this would be fine. I cut and sewed and made a cute little zippered pouch that I think she will like. I think it turned out very nicely. She is a gardener and she loves purple so this fabric was a good marriage of both. I’m also including a photo of the inside before I put them together because I knew it would hard to snap a picture when it was finished. So here it is. Lovely I think.

Baby baby..

March 24, 2012 / Patty

Baby baby, here’s the next quilt. I love how soft this one feels after it’s come out of the dryer. I used my tumbler die and cut them from a bundle of fat quarters that I bought at Joann’s. I actually bought two stacks when they were on sale with the intent to make a baby quilt. I actually like the way it turned out although I keep wondering if the red is too “in your face”. Maybe I should have used 2 different bundles so there was more contrast. It’s hard to know. I also found yardage of one of the prints at Hancock’s and decided on that for the backing and bias border. I’m really glad that I made that choice. It looks good on the back. The border has all the colors in the quilt top and really pulls it all together.

At the end of the day this was a success. I’m going to try this again with some gender neutral fabrics and see how it looks. The size is perfect for a baby quilt. Either on the floor, in a crib or a car seat. Neither too big or too small.

Vintage Zip Pouch

March 23, 2012 / Patty

When I get the urge to sit and sew I often wish that I had things cut out so I could just “sit and sew”. it’s frustrating when you want to just sit at the machine and have to make a decision on what to sew and the fabric choice. Now really it’s about making a decision and some days it’s just too much trouble.

I came across this piece of linen that had a vintage print on it and it had already been lined with fleece. It was also a rectangle. On the spot I decided it was time to make a zip pouch. I have experimented with zipper installations. I want to know what goes the fastest and still looks good. I found some fabric for lining, cut a square of the same size, did a bit of quilting so the two were stuck together and made a zip pouch. It’s cute and I do love the fabric but am not entirely happy with the zipper. It looks ok and works fine but I like them better when they are a little more finished looking. That will be my afternoon project today. For now however, this will go in the pile of things until I need a gift of have a need for a pouch of this size.

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