Baby A's crib bedding

Baby bedding

Today I dusted off my machines.

Jenny G. took me to the DownEast clearance stores. I found a Pottery Barn twin white sheet with red stars for less than 10 bucks. I turned it into a crib sheet using Dana's crib sheet tutorial.  It is super easy-you should try it! I have some leftover and I might make a bumper or a pillow. I haven't decided. 

At another DownEast store I found a toddler duvet that was red with white stars for 5 bucks. I just needed to make an insert. I used knit fabric and batting I already had on hand. I'm so glad to put my stash to use. 

I used Ty's crib skirt which matches the red nicely and I do not have to do any painting. The skirt could use a little pressing but I probably won't worry about that. 

Baby girl won't actually use this crib for a few months but it is nice to cross it off my list. I also made closet dividers for her clothes by size. I still have lots of washing to do before she gets here but the kids room is getting a little more organized each day. 

Tag/Lovie Blanket

Again, lots of babies this year. So more tag blankets. So easy to make.

Absolutely love the birds and butterflies.

The backs are always something soft.

Rose minky swirl in aqua and minky dot in white.

Lots of new boys this year.

Super hero tag blankets for them with rugged ric rac and cotton strapping.

Baby Bibs/Apron Take 2

I have a lot of babies to sew for this year. Already three have been born and I think I've got at least 6 more to come this year. And if a certain sister-in-law wants to make any announcements I would be thrilled. Just saying. No pressure. :)

Black Friday 2011 JoAnn fabrics was having an awesome deal on flannel. I didn't know what I was going to do with it but I couldn't pass it up either. So glad I didn't! I've been making tons of bibs from my stash.

I've made these bibs before. Check out my previous bibs. I made some without the pocket front. My husband thought they needed a pocket front. On a few of the last ones I sewed I added a pocket front.

Black Polka with Hot Pink backing

Snap closure at the neck

And they can be reversible.

I fell in love with this fabric and knew just who I wanted to use it for. Kristyn is expecting her first girl and I think she will be adorable in this birdie/houndstooth fabric while she is eating her peas and carrots.

Again, totally reversible. A few with pocket front. To catch peas and carrots.

What got me started sewing these again was finding some already cut out in my stash. They would be below. A few for the boys in my life.

And you don't have to have coordinating fabrics.

Go ahead and line it with the same fabric or a plain white lining.

I have plans to make a ton of these. So far I have made 14 in the last two days. Super easy and fast to make.

Super Hero Baby Shower

My friends and I put together a Super Hero baby shower for our friend Shannon. She has three girls and found out that her fourth is a boy! Very exciting.

Our next plan was to use decor at the shower that could be used in her nursery. We crossed our fingers that she would like this plan because it was all a huge surprise.

I made a quilt and told her that if she would like I would make a bumper to match. Their last name starts with 'Z'.

I used black piping to outline the Super Z.

The back has a vintage Captain America comic book print I found at JoAnn's.

Her sister-in-law created the burp cloths and cutest shirts with super hero graphics. Another friend mod podge the wooden letters. There were enough letters to create two different names depending on what she chooses. During the shower every time some said "name" we would change the letters.

Another friend took the storage cubes and created super hero graphics for the fronts. Perfect for all those action hero toys that will be throughout her house soon.

Then there was the food! Thank you Cricut for helping to create these food tags on the mini pancake stacks.

And again, the Cricut cake was used to make the Captain America cupcake toppers.

Another friend made the mini cinnamon rolls. So yummy. I believe that she used the Pillsbury cinnamon rolls but then put them in a mini muffin tin to cook. Another friend made fresh granola that topped raspberry yogurt and she also created french toast kabobs with fresh fruit and two different syrup choices.

I stood near this quiche stand during the party. So good.

And the panels, painted by Samara, up on my wall.

Do you see that smile below? That is one happy mama! We love you Shannon and are so excited that we get to meet and hold your baby boy soon.

Crossover Pinafore

I saw the cutest little girls outfit on Smashed Peas and Carrots. So I pinned it on Pinterest. Then Cousin Jamie told me that if she has a girl she wants me to make her one. Well lucky Jamie and me because Maggie offers a free pattern!

Image from Smashed Peas and Carrots

I thought I should try it out before I make her a few (if she finds out she is having a girl).

I dug through my scraps of fabric and managed to find some black and white polka dot fabric. I wanted to line it with a cute hot pink fabric but didn't have any on hand. I did have a grey and made do. Julia helped me pick out the red buttons.

Excuse the picture on it's side.

I know that I imported it right-side up.

This was the easiest little outfit to sew! For the bloomers I used the diaper cover tutorial by Dana at Made. She also had a free pattern!

Thank you Maggie and Dana for an easy night of sewing. Now I'm crossing my fingers for Jamie or maybe Emily, Jenny, Stephanie, Shannon....... My list of preggers is pretty long this year.

Scrap: Bibs & Burp Cloths

My friend Tiffany and I decided to only use fabric and trim we had on hand to make a few bibs and burp cloths. It was so fun to sew for a little girl!

The bib pattern is one that was traced from one of my son's bibs. The burp cloths are some nice thick cloth diapers and we simply embellished the centers.

Light pink flannel was used for the backing of the pink bibs. The pink bibs have snap closures.

Jumbo Ric Rac is a great way to cover edges on the burp cloth.

Simply quilt together your coordinating fabrics until you have a chunk large enough to trace your pattern on. Such a great way to use up cute scrap fabrics.

These bibs were backed in yellow flannel. I tried Velcro on this bib and trimmed the burp cloth with pink Ric Rac that is peeking out from under the fabric center.

This bib has a ribbon closure. It was by far the easiest to put together but I still prefer snaps for boy bibs.

And, of course, I had to give a lovey!

We can't wait to meet Claudia's baby girl Isabella!

She is due today. Wonder if she will have a Memorial Day baby?

Scrap Tag Blanket

I knew I would have fabric left over from the blessing blanket I just made. So when purchasing the fabric I also bought some jumbo ric-rac, small rick-ric, and polka dot ribbon to match for a tag blanket. I was able to make two. I still have enough of the Minky Swirl fabric to make two more.

Blessing Blanket

My best friend was pregnant with baby #6. I asked her if there was anything she needed for this sweet baby and she said the only thing he was lacking was a blessing blanket. She was set on clothes because she had twin boys (baby #4 & 5).

I headed to the fabric store in search of the perfect fabric for a blessing blanket. In my mind a blessing blanket is white. My poor sister came with me and kept offering suggestions of various fabrics. I really just needed her inside my brain so she could see exactly what I was picturing. It was one of those "I'll know it when I see it" kind of days.

After spending about 30 minutes looking through all the minky fabrics I found some fabrics I was in love with. And they were not white. I thought this blanket might be used for more than a blessing and being for a boy I should probably avoid white. I went with a blue minky dot, a tan minky stripe (almost like soft giant corduroy), and a cream/brown minky swirl for the backing. Have you ever felt minky swirl? It is sooooooo soft. Like rabbit fur. Makes a big fuzzy mess when you are sewing too. :)

The only picture I got of the finished product before shipping it off! Silly me!

When my bestie called me that she was heading to the hospital to be induced I hadn't even started the blanket! She was four days past her due date. I'm a bit of a procrastinator. The race was on. Who would finish first? Working on this blanket kept me from bugging her about how things were going, hahaha!

To begin, I started out with a basic 9-square pattern block.

I needed three of these 9-square blocks for one row.

Then I kept cutting and mapped out the rest of the blocks for the blanket.

I ended up with (9) 9-square blocks.

I didn't want just a checker board topper to this blanky so I took 1 block and cut it into quarters.

Just cut in half one direction and then in half the other direction.

Should look something like this once you pull the block apart.

Do that to all the blocks in your rows.

Then you simply give a few of the quarters a 90-degree turn until you are happy with how it looks. It is a quick way to make it look a little fancier. Once you like the placement then sew it on up a little at a time. Now this is not my idea by any means. I wish I could remember who taught me to do this or where I learned this trick. Aunt Marianne maybe?

I did not have enough of the topper fabric and I did not want my blanket to be a giant square. I added on a small section of the backer fabric in between each row of blocks. This helped to extend my length of the blanket just right.

Once you have all the rows together then add on the backer. I did sew across the entire blanket so that the front was attached to the back. Not traditional quilting but to keep it together better. I used the backing as the front binding as well. Just tried my best to miter the corners.

It is the softest baby blanket I have ever made!

I can't wait to see pictures of baby Ezekiel wrapped up in this blanket.

By the way, she had Baby Ezekiel before I finished the blanket.

I finished the blanket two hours after she had him.