More Baby Blankets

Our nephew and his wife had twins this summer - a boy and a girl.  He joked that everything should just be gray so he didn't have to worry about which was the girl and which was the boy.  I tried to take that philosophy and trend it up just a bit.  I found some matching flannel in pinks and greens.  Following Diary of a Quilter's tutorial, I made up these super soft blankets.

I will admit that I haven't perfected this type of blanket yet.  My corners are still not perfect and the blanket gets a little skewampus but you just can't beat the soft cuddle fabric.  This is probably the hardest pattern I've used so if you're looking for something quick, easy, and perfectly square, this one isn't it.  But it is so softy and cuddly!

 

Here is Anara's blanket.

And here is Brock's blanket.  

 

 Cuddles all the way around.

 

Summer time seems to equate to baby time.  And as I've said before, every baby needs its very own baby blanket, made just for him/her.

This one was for one of my son's teachers.  He selected the fabric by himself - can you tell it was a baby boy?  And this is a new pattern that I hadn't done before.  The tutorial is by Diary of a Quilter over at Shannon Fabrics.  It is a little tricky in that your measurements have to be perfectly exact to make it come out without any little puckers.  I do love the super soft cuddle fabric in the middle of soft soft flannel.  I know it looks like the cuddle fabric (green) is small, but it really does take up the majority of the center of the quilt.

This is a great baby blanket and I will be using this pattern a lot in the future.

We also needed a blanket for a little girl.  Why is it that you can never go wrong with pink?  And we "pinked" this one out.  This is my go-to ric rac blanket pattern.  I've made lots and lots of these and they are so quick and easy . . . . and they turn out so darn cute!

For some reason the options for baby girl flannels are limited right now - at least at my favorite baby flannel fabric shop.  This was a quick choice just to get me out of the store, but when I got it home, I really really loved it.  And you can't go wrong with pink polka dots!  All in all, another winner, in my humble opinion.

Baby Girl Headbands

I'm not really a girly girl and I'm actually quite glad that I only have boys because I wouldn't have known what to do if I had had a girly girl.  Bows and ribbons and flowers and sparkly things usually aren't my thing.  And quite frankly, I have never been a big fan of the flowery, feathery headbands that moms put on their baby girls.

But I finally broke down and decided to whip a few up to add to some baby gifts that were headed out from my house.  I think I could have placed a small, fairly conservative headband on a baby girl if I had gotten the opportunity.  And these couldn't have been simpler to make!!!

Let's take a closer look at these - you can buy fold over elastic in all kinds of colors and patterns.  It's so soft!

I wanted the headbands to be interchangeable so that you weren't just limited to one flower per headband.  Really easy to do!  I found this You Tube video and wanted to have it for the future if I ever decide to make these again.  

More Baby Blankets

Tis the season for babies it seems, and lots of girl babies at that.  I've been keeping busy making blankets - I think every new baby deserves their very own blankets to cuddle up in. 

This one is for the lone baby boy of the summer (at least that we know).  Son #1's best friend from school is having a baby brother over the summer and he wanted to give the family a gift.  I came across this super soft cuddle fabric and used it for a blanket. 

 At the same fabric store, I found this beautiful lime green and gray cuddle fabric.  I wanted something non-traditional for husband's niece's new baby girl and got this blanket finished this morning - - just in time for the party.

This blanket is for another of husband's nephews.  He and his wife are having #6.  This is soft flannel with a crocheted edging around it.

And one of my cousins is having twin girls this summer so I whipped up these two ric-rack baby blankets in coordinating fabrics.  I can always, always, always count on the ric-rack blankets to turn out cute!

Handmade Christmas Gifts

Now I can finally post some of the items I've been working on for Christmas gifts for this year.  There are always more things that I had hoped to get to, but I'm happy with these - and I hope my friends and family are as well.  I did have one giant handmade gift flop this year, but more to come on that one later (maybe - if I can still pull it out of the flop pile and re-work it).

First - yet another ric rack baby blanket.  This one was for my friend to give to her new grandson expected to arrive in a few weeks.  I just don't seem to tire of making these - they're easy and really adorable. 

This pack-n-play fabric doll (think paper dolls made out of fabric) set was made for another of my friends to give to her granddaughter.  I don't have any little girls in my life - but I was dying to make this.  So she is the lucky winner!  The fabric is from the Happy Ever After line by Riley Blake.  This pattern is included with the large pack-n-play set I hope to make 'en mass' this spring with my sister.  This really is such a cute line of fabric - hard to resist!
Here are all the pieces - dolls, clothes, hats, a crown, and of course, the "pack".

And the pieces all fit inside the little holder.

And it folds up all nice and neat.  Adorable.  Now - looking at this picture, I wish I would have sewn a cute pink button on the outside flap over the velcro stitching.  Oh well.

And this is an eyeglass lanyard for my mom.  I was looking at these trying to find one that I liked to order for her.  Then I slept on it, woke up the next morning and went "duh".  I can make one of these myself.  So there you have it - a long silver chain with a little embellishment and a metal circle at the end for the glasses to slide in.

Everything looks better with a few pearls and a silver bead added to it. 
Simple but just enough detail to "cute-i-fy" it!

And finally - a tote bag for a friend.  I had seen this pattern for a fat quarter tote bag from the Cottage Home and had wanted to make one.  Super easy and really fast to work up - which was good since I waited until the last second to whip it out. 

Here is the inside.  And really, can you ever have too many tote bags?  I say no!

Happy holidays.

Baby Blankets . . . . They Never Stop

The one thing you can always count on is more babies being born - and every baby deserves a new soft, cuddly blanket and a new outfit.  At least I believe that.  We have two new cousin baby boys being born this month (one is already here and I'm slow).  For this one, it had to be cowboys!  I searched and searched for this very Riley Blake fabric and could only find it in a super soft minky fabric.  So I paired it with a dark brown minky and sewed it together.  It will be a very soft and very warm blanket!  I was sweating just trying to get it top stitched.  

 The fabric is sure cute.  I should have grabbed a few more yards of this - it is very hard to find now days.

I did have enough of the cotton line to whip up these cute burp cloths to go with it.

Next up is another flannel Peak Hour blanket with large green ric rac.  Love these so much!  And I really really love the Peak Hour line. 

I have stocked up my stash of this fabric line (flannel, laminated, and cotton) - it really is one of my all time favorites.  Anyway - this blanket is so easy yet it looks so fun with the ric rac hanging out.  Off it goes to Idaho.

Note - one tip for myself.  Take the time to carefully pin the top and bottom of these blankets together after you sew the ric rac on.  The last couple that I made ended up with a pretty big pucker in them because I was just hurrying through.  But with this one I decided to take the time and it worked up beautifully.

And off I go for more crafting fun.

More Ric Rack Baby Blankets

Well more new cousin babies are on their way and as always that calls for some new baby blankets.  I decided to resort to one of my favorites - - - the ric rack receiving blankets with the tutorial from Sew Much Ado.  It's a classic . . . it's easy and quick . . . and they sure are cute. 

This one uses two Riley Blake Peak Hour flannel fabrics that I absolutely love.  I may or may not have a whole pile of this line in cotton just waiting to become a couple of pieced quilts.  Such a perfect boy print - and sometimes those can be hard to come by.  I think I may have to stash away another couple of yards of flannels for just these occasions in the future. 

And this one uses another couple of prints from Riley Blake.  Love the camping/outdoor theme. 

Both of these blankets are now with the soon-to-be parents.  I have at least one more that I can't wait to see finished - think cowboys. 

Lots of Pink - Baby Blanket

Wow - can you say pink? I live in a house full of boys - including the dog. I'm not used to seeing very much pink. But I needed another baby blanket for a gift and went to my enormous useful stash of fabric and found this incredibly cute pre-pieced quilt top and matching backing fabric. A quick seam around the edges, turn it right side out, top stitch all around again and there you have about the cutest little girl PINK blanket I may have ever "made". (I'm not sure I can really even say that I made it since it came pre-pieced - it wasn't any work at all.) The great thing about this line of fabric (from JoAnn's) is the variety of textures and the 3D effects. I hated to give this one away but a cute new niece is now the very proud owner. The backing is the green dragonfly fabric. Oh sooooo cute!

Baby Elephants

Slowly but surely I'm starting to feel the crafting groove again. We have a couple of gift-giving events coming up - a couple of new babies and a birthday party for a cousin. I was at one of my favorite fabric shops the other night looking for some fabric for the birthday gift (coming soon) and saw this adorable, super soft and cuddly fabric. It cried loudly to come home with me and so it quickly turned in to this cute little baby blanket. It is a two-sided soft minky type fabric and so all I had to do was put some pre-made quilt binding around the edges and boom - gift for a new baby boy. I wish I had chosen a different stitch for the binding - it kind of makes it a little wavy, but it will do. More to come . . . .

Catching Up and Getting Ahead

By some miracle, I made some time this week to finish up a cute little baby blanket that needs to be sent off. It goes with the "A" monogram taggie I made recently. The theme for this baby was monkeys. I had made this same blanket a year and a half or so ago for my husband's nephew's baby. They loved it and baby D carries it around with him all the time. It took me a long time to find the same fabric but I finally got it ordered and it has been sitting here, staring at me, waiting to be sewn together. So off it goes in the mail this week.

And by another miracle (or an unplanned trip to Hobby Lobby), I whipped up two of the cutest Christmas pillowcases for my boys this week. Yes, I am a little obsessed with these pillowcases. They absolutely love their Halloween pillowcases as well as their Thomas the train and Curious George pillowcases. Why not add Christmas ones? I had been looking for some cute fabric that would be "cute" to them, not just me. I found it as I was buying some frames at Hobby Lobby. These pillowcases stitch up so quickly. A huge thanks to Little Birdie Secrets for her custom pillowcase tutorial. These pillowcases are some of my favorite crafts of all time! Husband has now requested that I find Thanksgiving fabric for the boys, since they are already a little sad knowing that the Halloween pillowcases go away at the end of the month (I have to draw the line somewhere!).

My List Is Getting Pretty Long

Life never seems to get less busy! My list of chores, work, and yes, even crafts, seems to just keep getting bigger and bigger. I did manage to squeak out a Monogram Taggie for a baby gift that needs to get out in the mail soon. Of course there is a baby blanket to go with it that needs to be finished that is right on top of the PILE list of things to do.

I do love making these little things though - simple but cute!

And just so I don't seem to be completely out of touch with my crafty side, I have been spending some late nights working on jewelry projects for my friend's business. It's been good "practice" for me and fun to get some new ideas. I'm such a symmetrical jewelry maker - her designs are anything but symmetrical. Love it! Ok - I'm going to make some time this week . . . we'll see what I come up with!

Baby Stuff

Have I mentioned how much I love looking at my new blog design?

I really do but aside from that, I've been busy making little gifts for little babies. I seem to know lots of families who are adding new little ones right now. So I've started back in on ric rac blankets and some new super cute, super easy burp clothes.

A friend of mine had sent me some burp cloths like these when son #2 was born and I finally came across a great tutorial over at Just Another Hang Up and whipped up a few of my own. These are for my cousin's twin girls that were born recently. I still have a few things to add in for the final gift but I still have a few weeks before I will see them.

Then I whipped up another set of burp cloths for another cousin's pending baby boy. I had this ric rac blanket setting around waiting for a boy to be born and luckily I was able to find some coordinating Riley Blake fabric at the store still for the burpies.

Here is the ric rac blanket made a few months back - it finally gets to come out of the quilt/blanket pile to be used. Here is the link from Sew Much Ado - just to keep it close to the top of current posts so I don't have to hunt back through to find it.