Baby Shower Invitations

I started working on ideas for these invitations about a month ago. I made a few different "pockets" before I found colors and rubber stamp combinations I liked. I began with a peach/cream/brown combo, but it ended up looking too halloweenish too me. I've decided I really enjoy sewing on cards I make, and it sticks so much better than glue! Once I had the design figured out it took a few days to get them put together and printed. Yay for 32 finished invitations!

Brown Bear Quilt

This quilt went together so quickly! I bought half a yard of the animal blocks from the Brown Bear Eric Carle, 4 fat quarters, and 1/2 yard in a two different minky fabrics. I still have enough that I can make a second quilt exactly like this one. I used a pattern from the Summer 2009 edition of Quilts & More. I swapped some of the cotton fabric for minky (an interesting experience) and made 9 blocks instead of 20. This is the first time I've used minky. At first it was frustrating me because it kept stretching, but I added the walking foot and that helped keep everything lined up. At 40" square this will make a perfect baby gift!

The Washington Quilt

The fabric from this quilt came from the 2007 Western Washington Quilt Shop Hop. I started working on the blocks slowly back then, and have gradually added to the stack over the past 2 years. I used some of the patterns from previous shop hops, substituting the fabric from those other years with the Washington themed fabric from 2007. I pulled together enough fabric to fill in the sashing, boarders, backing, and binding from post shop hop sales. This quilt was fun because I had to learn how to do paper piecing, the blanket stitch, and English paper piecing.

Now it's living on the back of our large living room couch. Yes, the kitties tried it out while I was still sewing the binding on. They approve!

Above - English paper piecing

Below - paper piecing

Table & Chairs

Well, I finally finished our dining room table and chairs today! We bought this set from our friends a little over 3 years ago, shortly after moving into our condo and when they were preparing to move to Australia. I'd thought about painting them all white or all red for a few years, then decided I'd like more than just one color. I knew they needed red to tie them in with the rest of our color theme, but was not totally sure what I'd end up picking until they were finished.

Four weeks ago we lined the chairs up to take them out to the Jeep, along with the disassembled table that Tom and Missy took apart, so we could strip the finish at my parents' house. We spent about 5 hours that day trying to get the finish off with a stripping product. It worked well on the table top, but didn't do much more than make a gummy mess on the table legs and chairs. We used a pressure washer to get the gum off, then took them back home for me to work on sanding out in our front yard. I spent about a week sanding, buying more sand paper, dealing with a tendinitis flare-up, and sanding again until the chairs were all smooth and clean.

I decided it would be best to paint the table legs first so we could put the table top back together and use it if we needed it. Next I primed and began painting and finishing the chairs. I had to take a break for most of last week because it got so hot and humid in our condo. I started working on the table top last Friday. I've had so much fun with it!

I used ideas I'd drawn in my sketch book and that I have seen on the walls in the Free People clothing store. I was scared to try it free-hand, but it worked well with the Decocolor paint pens I found! I finished the table top, coated it with a semi-gloss finish, and coated the chairs as well.

What Not to Knit... Seriously

So many of you probably know that I'm a sucker for sock monkeys. I searched "sock monkeys" on google images today in an effort to find cute ideas, and thought I'd share some of the funnier pictures that popped up. They made Tom and I double over laughing, so be warned...

Don't worry. I promise never to make either of these!