Christmas Makings...

I could not show some of these before Christmas due to them being presents, but I though I would share some of the gifts I made this year. I for got to take pictures of all of them.

I made these for some of my gifts this year. They had different names and saying of course. They were 8x10s and put into a thin bordered frame.

Here we have 12 pairs of pajama pants, 8 appliquéd t-shirts and a high-chair cover I made for my sister. The pajamas were given as gifts and the high-chair cover was for an old wooden high chair that was in need of some cushion. I later made the second high chair cover for her other high chair.

I also made fleece I spy bags, crayon rolls and make-up bags to give as other presents (those were the ones I forgot to get pictures of). They turned out great. I used a mixture of tutorials, I found on the web. Pick out what I liked about each one, added my take on it and came up with some great presents. I will defiantly be making more of them and hopefully remembering to take pictures. I also whipped up some cup cozies, but those were more of a distraction job for me then anything. They also turned out great after a few changes.

T-Shirt Quilt

One of my projects this summer was to make a t-shirt quilt for my little brother. He graduated from High School this year and for his gift I made him a quilt for his bed at school. I used about 19-20 t-shirts and then some fabric. For the backing I used fleece to make it nice and warm. There is medium weight batting inside, so that along with the fleece there is a little poof to it. I hand quilted it as sewing around the outside was too much of a work out for my sewing machine.

Out of two of the t-shirts (they had smaller logos) I made the girls skirts. To do this I cut the t-shirt from the bottom up to the length I wanted it+1.5 inches. After that you measure down 1.5 inches and fold it in and sew it up, leaving an opening to put the elastic in. I also sewed around the top of it before putting the elastic in. I used 3/4" elastic. Sew the hole shut and sew a few places verticaly and you have a cute little girls skirt.

On My Mind

There have been many things on my mind the last few days, OK maybe longer then that. Sometimes when I write something down or tell some one answers arise and well I could really use some answers.

It is my husbands dream to start a hunting lodge somewhere. I would not mind that, but I do not want to be super old when that happens. Also I would have to learn to cook really great food or find a really good cook I could handle working with, yikes. I know your are thinking what the heck, you don't even have land yet. I think of crazy things and really is cooking going to be the biggest factor in a hunting lodge, most likely not.

I need a new car/van/truck/SUV and well I am so afraid of picking the wrong one and dreading it for the next 8-10 years. I need a car that fits at least 6 and that has room for cargo. I have a mini-minivan right now and it works, but it SUCKS in the winter and trying to get in and out of the ally where we live. Since our winters last about 6 months of the year I am thinking of something in the AWD or 4WD category. We are looking into a 2003 Yukon xl right now and it is turning my stomach. Praying lots about this one... it would be a big purchase.

I want to start my own business. I know what I want to do and I know how to do it. I guess this one all comes down to money and if I want to take yet another chance at something that could not be as profitable as I am thinking it would be. Yes, I have failed at a few other attempts and am really thinking this one through and not just jumping in blindly.

My dryer is broke. It will not even turn on any more and that leaves me to hanging my laundry outside. I live on the corner of two very busy streets and everyone that drives be can see where the line is, I guess I will have underwear and socks hanging every where in the house. This also limits the amount of laundry I can do. I only have 30 feet of line and well that holds maybe 2 loads if I hang it right. If it is windy and sunny it drys fast, but as of lately is has been cloudy and calm, not the best drying conditions. I would tell the landlord that his dryer is broke, but I risk having our rent raised and I do not want that. I could really use that emergency fund we have been trying to start, hehe.

It is finally getting nice outside and well I love to be outside when it is sunny and nice. I have lots of sewing projects though and I am having a tough time getting started on them. I guess I should say my time management is struggling. I have so much to get done and instead of just doing it I sit on the computer secretly hoping it will just sew itself.

Those are just a few of the things on my mind that need a place to go. Here is hoping to a sunny day so I can get lots of laundry done and we can play outside, maybe even at the park.

Randomness

-I want to plant my garden... I get one this year and need to get it going. It will be little as the landlord has allowed a little part of the yard to be used. Just need to get it tilled so I can get planting.

-I have many sewing projects
*curtains for sister's basement
*blanket for Malia
*blanket for Grady
*quilt for Brendan (I need to find Yankie fabric that is cotton)
*baby wipes
*a t-shirt quilt for my brother

-We have one computer in the house. A few months ago that was fine. I had the computer during the day while Todd was at work and Gabriel was at school, but times have changed and Logan has started playing and summer is coming. I now have to sneak my way on the computer and hope nobody notices. I really need to start saving for another computer, like a laptop that I could take outside with me:)

-Malia in the last week has reached so many milestones. My baby is growing and it kind of makes me sad... no more little baby stage:(
*she crawls with speed
*she stands up to anything she can get her hands on
*she has three teeth (two on the bottom and one on top)
*she is eating baby food twice a day

-I started reading again. I am hoping Gabriel sees this and starts picking more books up himself. I think it would help more with his dad also read as he loves to do anything Todd is doing. I love to read and it drives me crazy that he is neither of them are more into it. I am reading books by Terry Pratchett right now. There are many books by this author, so I will probably be reading them at least through the summer.

Mitchell and Milly Quilts

I finished the quilts in time to take them when I went to MN this weekend. I think they turned out great. I love how they are they same, but yet different enough to be able to tell the girl one from the boys. These were both crib size quilts, made with 5 inch squares all of flannel.

I am now starting to work on a full size quilt for my nephew (Brendan). He is in to baseball and we are in search of Yankie fabric, might have to find some pants or t-shirts and cut those up. I am finding nothing but fleece right now that has NY on it. I also have a set of curtains and two other quick sew blankets to do. After that I have a t-shirt quilt that I need to start working on. I just need my brother to find me some t-shirts. He is going off to college this year and a t-shirt quilt would look really cool.

Well that is about it here. Lots of projects and not ehough time:)

Panel Skirt

I made the skirt yesterday, it was so easy and turned out so cute. Now the weather needs to get nice so my daughter can wear it. I got the pattern for this skirt off of Grace Violet and tried my hand at it. For my skirt I used and old pair of riped up jeans, bias tape for the hem and quilt binding for the waist. It turned out so cute and I am making more, one for my other daughter and my niece. Here is the pattern and directions, it is really easy and turns out so cute!

Malia's Quilt

Last night I finished her quilt... I started it last spring when I did not know what I was having and had just the binding to finish. I had done the binding once and it looked horrible, so I ripped it and and this week I got the courage to try it again... six months after my daughter was born. It looks great, yes I could pick out its mistakes and there are many, but that is what makes it unique.

Tutus

I have completed one tutu... it is so cute and Hailey loves it. It was really easy to put together, the longest part was cutting it out. Here is each girl wearing the same tutu. I know it fits Hailey much better then Malia, but I think it looks really cute on her.

Here is what I did:

Cut tulle 6" wide by 18" long(this fit my 2yo well), cut 1/4" elastic 1" smaller then waist intended for. Sew elastic ends together overlapping about 1". I used three of the tulle strips per section(just bunched them together and folded together). I folded the tulle strips in half and wrapped around elastic, by pulling the two ends through the folded hole. Pull tulle tight and continue around elastic making sure they are close together. When I make one for my baby it will be 6"x8" and a smaller waist. It was a very quick project, only taking about an hour and required minimal sewing.

Cloth Diapering-what I made

When I cloth diapered my two middle children I did not like how bulky the prefolds where on them. For my last I decided to make some fitted type diapers for her.
They had a inside and out side layer of flannel (it was flannel I had left over from making PJs one year for Christmas) and four middle layers of microfiber cloth (the rags you get in the automotive part to the store). For the first month or so these worked great. I would put that on her with a NB cover over it. After that they were getting a little small so I turned them in to a doubler by wrapping a prefold on the out side of the fitted diaper.

This is great for at night because it absorbs so much. I have 6 of these that I use. I use them along with the BumGenius diapers.

The other thing I made for our cloth diapering adventure was wipes. These were so easy and again made out of the left over flannel. I cut 6 inch squares and zigzag stitched two together. They were really quick to do and are so nice. I keep them in a wipes warmer along with water and baby bits.
They work so well and on the go I either just grab some of the wet ones and put them in a bag or take some that are dry along with a small spray bottle of the solution.




I made this stuff slowly over the last part of my pregnancy. I diapers took a little bit of working to get the pattern right and my daughter thought it was fun because after I would try them on her cabbage patch doll to see how they would fit.