-birthdays-

Last week was a big birthday week in our house.  I turned...30!  I got a new lens for my DSLR for my birthday.  So there was a lot of playing around and trying it out.

Wait...why is he on the counter?

Isn't she just so sweet?  We are all pretty crazy about this little baby girl.

Then a few days after my birthday our little man turned 2!  He was all about it.  He still doesn't talk a whole lot, but the one thing he can do is sing the "Happy Birthday" song.  

He was trying sooo hard to blow out those candles, but blowing is trickier than you might think. ;0)  His birthday was full of Thomas the Tank.  The kid was decked in Thomas clothes and played with Thomas engines only to be interspersed with us reading him Thomas books.

Carefully, taking off his candles.

I am getting the itch to get a new routine going.  I am trying to go to bed early so I can wake up and not feel like zombie mommy.  One thing about nursing is that I am getting to read a whole lot more.  I have been reading The Simple Mom books and have been inspired to make things happen instead of just letting things happen.  My life is really busy right now, but I still want to find time to exercise,sew, blog and well, have fun!  If you haven't read her blog before, check it out! 

-Happy Easter!-

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter!  We started our day quite early opting to go to church for the sunrise mass instead of fighting the crowds later on in the morning.  Then we came home and rested for awhile before having brunch and an Easter egg hunt.

There were no handmade Easter dresses this year.  Just some pretty store bought dresses.  Thank you, Costco. ;0)

It is harder to get a good picture of this girl.  She always thinks the camera is a time to come up with some sort of pose!

See?

We later went and celebrated with extended family and had another Easter egg hunt!  Josiah was all about the hunt this year.  He loved gathering eggs and finding delicious candy inside.

Woops.  We forgot his Easter basket.  Doesn't he look pleased with himself though?

Just one more of him because he just looked so cute in his little Easter outfit.

There hasn't been a lick of sewing since Samantha has been on the scene.  There has been a lot of holding and snuggling though.  I forgot how much your life just goes to living moment by moment instead of having any sort of big plans.  However, it has been nice to slow down and just enjoy her.  She is starting to wake up more, and I actually got her and Josiah to take a nap at the same time this afternoon.  That was nice!  Here is to more of that!

-Samantha-

Samantha Jane is here!  

She is a wee little pip squeak, and we are all very much in love. The last few weeks of pregnancy were hard...really hard.  So happy it is over, and she is here safe and sound!

Her siblings are very much in love.

I can't believe that I have *four* beautiful little kids.

  

This guy is having the hardest time adjusting, but he likes to pat her.

In other news it appears I have lost quite a few of the photos on my blog.  I know I will be able to recover them all, but it may take me awhile to get them back up.  I will start with the tutorials and more recent posts and work my way through.  So frustrating but at least they aren't gone forever!  If you have a post that you are looking for the pictures for, please let me know and I will try to get them up soon for you.


  

-hop, hop!-

I made this little bunny for my nephew for my birthday.  Isn't he cute?!  Of course, I am way late in getting this off, but luckily one year olds don't have much of an idea of what is going on anyway. ;0p

This is a pattern by Retro Mama called Betsy and Basil.  The last time I made softies, there was a lot of trying to turn itty bitty arms and legs.  It wasn't really my cup of tea, but this pattern fortunately doesn't have that issue. ;0)  The pattern calls for corduroy which I thought I had, but must have thought wrong because I could not find it.  So I just substituted a plain tan solid, and I think it worked just fine.  For the accent pieces I used some Heather Ross dots and stripes.

I love his little fluffy tail!

Hopefully, he will be loved by his future owner!

-slower-

Life has been going at a much slower pace or rather I have been going at a much slower pace. ;0)  Between sickness and end of pregnancy I just haven't been doing much except trying to keep up with the kids and reading.  I picked up "The Hunger Games" on a whim and before you knew it I was addicted and finished all three in less than a week!  *whew*  I was having all sorts of crazy dreams while reading those!  

I did make this envelope clutch last week!  When I saw Anna's new pattern I thought it would be a great little purse for me to put in the diaper bag  I am going to have to be toting around again soon.

It was a great pattern and came together easily.  I used a fat quarter text print I picked up back in October during the shop hop at Sewing Summit.  

For the inside I used a white Moda Grunge fabric and notebook fabric for the pockets.  I had just this small amount of light pink piping that was just waiting for this clutch! 

I made the large size, and it is quite large.  Perfect for fitting all your basic necessities!  I am thinking another large one would be perfect as a diaper clutch!

-a mini complete!-

I finished my little mini quilt for The Fab Little Quilt swap over on Flickr.  I admit when I saw my partner's mosaic I was filled with anxiety.  She had picked such amazing pieces filled with details.  I didn't know what in the world I could make.  So, I started browsing through my copy of Cathy Gaubert's Doll Quilt Book.  In fact, this quilt is one of the featured minis on the cover!  It really suited so many of my partner's requests and likes.  I didn't change much.

This little quilt features fun bright colors, raw edge applique and some embroidery.  I definitely think my favorite part is the house with the birdie on top.  

Overall, I am pleased with how it turned out.  The pattern was relatively easy to follow.  The only thing that I did not like was that this quilt required 1/2" seam allowances.  I had already started cutting before I realized this, but I recommend adjusting it to 1/4" seam allowances.  There was quite a bit of bulk.  I also like to use single fold binding for small quilts and mug rugs. I have been a convert ever since reading this little tutorial.  

Lucky for me, I finished this just in time to enter it into Jennifer's Modern Mini Quilt contest!  There are some amazing prizes and lots of amazing entries!  I am getting this in just in time!  *whew*

-sewing week-

Sewing week was a success for the most part!  Yay!  Having my machine downstairs amongst all the activity definitely helped.  I am going to keep it down here for another week to try and complete a few more projects.    

I made hair bows!  I made a couple of different ones.  This pink one seems to be the favorite.  The last time I tried making hair bows they were a complete flop.  I found this tutorial that uses hand sewing, and this one "clicked" for me.  

Juliana kept smiling so hard in these pictures.  I was trying to get her to look a little more natural, so I told her not to smile for this one, and this is what I got.  I took a look at it and just busted out laughing.  

So we switched back to smiling.  Much better.

I made a simple little cover for my new Kindle Fire!  My sweet husband gave me one for Valentine's Day. I wanted one for my birthday because I know I am going to spending a lot more time sitting on the couch come April once this little baby is here.  I love it!

I used some of my treasured Far, Far Away II fabric.  I just measured around the Kindle and added some seam allowances.  Of course, the first time I sewed it together I had to completely rip it apart and use a smaller seam allowance.  

So, I moved on to baby things starting with this swaddler.  This is a pattern in Lotta Jansdotter's baby sewing book, but I found the pattern for free here.  We are big on swaddling over here, and I am sure this will get a lot of use.

I used some of Anna Maria Horner's flannel from Loulouthi line and an older Good Folks cotton fabric for the outside.

These weren't on my list, but I became obsessed with the idea of making some little newborn pants.  I used the Britches and Bloomers pattern.  Super easy and sooo cute.  It is hard to tell just how tiny they are, and it is hard to imagine they could really fit anyone!  

Here is another pair made with a sweet little birdie fabric and some eyelet.

I also found this little peasant dress tutorial through Pinterest for a newborn.  Another quickie!  I sometimes forget how fast sewing can be.  I have gotten used to all the more complicated quilting patterns I have been working with lately!

So that is what I finished!  I have started baby girl's quilt and am almost finished with my mini.  I will be back later this week to show you all!