Halcyone's Hexagon Bib

I saw a picture of a bib someone had made with hexagons that I got my idea from. I have no idea where the picture came from, but here is what I ended up with!

I started by making hexagons. This meathod is called English Paper Piecing. This video is an excellent tutorial if you want to give it a try! Here are the steps I followed:

• Make evenly shaped hexagons out of cardstock scraps.
• Cut fabric scraps to go over the paper. I'd recommend a little more than a 1/4" allowance.
• Baste the fabric over the hexagons.
• Lay the hexagons out to make sure you have the colors set up in a way you like.
• Whip stitch the edges of the hexagons together at the edges.
• Iron once they're all sewn together
• Remove baste stitching and pull out papers. If the papers don't look too worn, you can save and use them again.

Once I had the hexagons all sewn together, I cut a piece of fabric and sewed it across the top. I used a piece of an old skirt for the back. To get the pieces to stick together for when I cut out the pattern, I very lightly spray basted the backing, a piece of warm and natural cotton batting, and the hexagon piece together. After it dried, I pinned a pattern I made (I traced a Carter's bib, making the neck space a little bigger.) to the fabric stack and cut it out. I machine quilted the layers together. For the binding I used some bias cut binding made from more scraps I had. To finish it up, I used some great 16mm snaps (no sew!) from the Snap Source. Now I can't wait to use it!

Halcyone's First Sweater!

I started this sweater for Halcyone last Tuesday and finished sewing up the seams today! I love the way it turned out! I picked up the free pattern a little over a year ago at Ben Franklin when I saw the one they had made with some of my favorite yarn. While looking through my stash of yarn last week, I re-found my yellow Lion Brand Recycled Cotton yarn and decided to give it a try. You can still get the Nature Baby Kimono pattern free at Ben Franklin in Redmond, or download it here with a free account.

This is one of the easiest non-scarf knitting patterns I've ever done. The whole thing is made with basic knit and purl stitches, a few easy "make-1" stitches (knit one in front and one in back of the same loop), and knit 2 together stitches. I made the smallest size of the 4 given in the pattern using size 8 straight needles. This took 2 skeins of yarn (didn't use much of the 2nd skein). I think if someone used a smaller size needle for a newborn size that 1 skein would be enough.

Paddington Quilt

A couple years ago I found a couple fat quarters of this cute Paddington Bear fabric. I added to the collection as I found different pieces of it on sale. My mom also had a few pieces that I was able to use to complete this quilt!

I finished sewing the pieces together and quilting through the layers about a month ago. This is the first quilt I haven't "stitched in the ditch" on. Instead I sewed about 1/8" on either side of the seams. Tom and I both like the way it turned out, and it was much easier to keep strait. After being put on bed rest I was able to hand stitch the binding down around the back side. Hopefully Halcyone likes this quilt as much as Tom and I do!

I'll try to update this blog a little more often! I've been working on lots of hand held projects over the past couple weeks. A few of them are almost finished!

Chalkboards

A few years ago I got a can of this fun spray paint, and have since been waiting for the perfect wood panels to paint. Last summer I thought I'd found some free cupboard doors in downtown Snohomish, but when I walked back to pick them up they were already gone! About a month ago as Tom and I were pulling apart our crib for the dumpster (don't worry, we were supposed to... it had a significant recall so we mailed in its hardware for a new crib) I realized that the back side had 2 very nice panels. Tom saved them for me.

A few weekends ago I a spent the day sanding them and starting to paint. Last week I finished painting the first one and finally got it hung in our dining/living room! We love it! The second one will have a light blue frame and will hang in Baby Haly's room.

Little Booties

A few weeks ago I found out that Anna Maria Horner's new book, Homemade Beginnings, had released! I ordered it at a nice discount from Amazon and when it arrived, started looking through it for fun ideas. It's a book full of maternity, baby, toy, and nursery patterns. I haven't decided which ones I'm going to make for Baby Luce yet, but I do have a friend's baby shower coming up. I made two sets of these cute little booties in size 3-6 months this evening. For the most part, they were pretty basic to cut and sew. This is the second time I've felt that Anna Maria Horner's patterns have an awkward way of assembling a lining, but in the end I made it work! I used flannel to line the burgundy set with, and am super happy with their fluffiness.

Local Yarn Shop Tour 2010

This past Thursday through Sunday was the yarn shop hop in Western Washington. I participated last year, making it to 13 stores. This year, Baby Luce wasn't as excited about visiting yarn shops as I was, even though I promised to find things to make for him/her. I managed to make it to 4 on Thursday, and Tom drove me to 3 more before church on Sunday. There were a few more I would like have made it to, but they were all a significant drive. Making it to my favorite local ones ended up working well! The patterns the shops gave out this year (each shop creates a free one skein project and discounts the yarn they use) were not as impressive as last year. However, I did end up with a super cute crocheted scarf pattern to try.

I found a few projects to start working on in the near future. I'll post again as I finish them, but for now here are the ideas.

This yarn is for a little baby hat. If Baby Luce is a boy, then this hat will have to be a gift for someone else.

I've also recently started following the Spud & Chloë blog and keeping an eye out for their cute patterns and yarn. Hilltop Yarns East in Bellevue happened to have them! The yarn was even their project discounted variety. I picked out this cute polar bear pattern and some blue yarn to make the middle sized teddy out of.

Main Street Yarn in Mill Creek had quite a few samples of baby sweaters knit and displayed around their shop. One of my favorites is found in Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitter's Almanac, which I bought for a good deal.

Lastly I found this un-spun wool at Acorn Street Yarn in Seattle. I've been looking for some for a while to use with Wool Pets, a book my sister got me for Christmas!

Giraffe or Horse?

I made this cute horse with some giraffe patterned minky last week for a cousin's baby shower. I'm still not sure if it's a horse or a giraffe! It was a simple pattern I found at Ben Franklin. It takes about a fat quarter off a minky bolt, a few buttons, E6000 glue, yarn, a dowel, some kind of ribbon or strap for the bridle, and of course stuffing. The only problem I had with it was working around the minky stretching. Because the base of the head is turned under and gathered, it ended up not mattering that it didn't quite match.

Wedding Invitations

I made these a few months ago, and figured I can finally post them without having to edit info out since the wedding is over! These were for my sister's recent wedding. Her colors were (of course) purple, teal, and brown.

Softie Blocks

Today I went to a baby shower for my neighbor. I was looking around on etsy a few weeks ago for some fun baby gifts, and ended up deciding to make my own. I found a couple people who were selling soft stuffed baby blocks in various patterns and realized I could make them quickly and easily!

Directions:

• Cut 6 - 3"x3" squares for each block.
• Using a 3/8" seam allowance (no smaller if using minky) sew 4 squares into a loop. Start and stop seams 3/8" from edges.
• Pin 5th square around the top and sew to all sides, being careful not to make tucks where all 3 seams come together.
• Repeat with 6th block, leaving a 2" opening for turning in the center of one side.
• Turn, pushing corners out to a point.
• Stuff with a fluffy filling of your choice.
• Sew closed with a discreet whip stitch.
• Optional: Cut 2-3" pieces of sturdy ribbon or binding, fold in half, and sew into seams to create loops. Add a squeaker or bell to the center of the stuffing, making sure to leave a big enough opening for turning to fit it through.

Turtle Trio

A few months ago I bought this cute little stuffed turtle pattern from Heather Bailey.

I thought that because they were so tiny, they'd probably be a little tricky and involve quite a bit of hand sewing (not my favorite thing!). However, they only needed a couple little whip stitch seams after turning the body and shells right side out! They were pretty basic cutting, sewing, and quick to make.

Here are my three little turtles!