Josiah

Josiah David is here! He arrived yesterday. He was 6 lbs. 9 oz. and 20.25 in. We are all doing well!

My three greatest creations all together. Aren't they cute?

2-8

Today I turned 28. This has probably been the best birthday loot I have ever received. Look at all these books! It looks like the bookstore came to me! I love how different they all are. I mean they all have to do with sewing and cooking, but different kinds of sewing and cooking. *grin* I have been put on partial bed rest this week. I have struggled with high blood pressure my past two pregnancies, and this one is unfortunately having similar problems. My family was so generous and took the girls this weekend, so I could rest. It looks like this little guy is going to be making an April appearance rather than a May appearance. Anyway, at least on the couch I have all this fabulous browsing!

Plus, the entire collection of Modern Meadow if fat quarters! I love it! I have plans for a quilt for our bed out of some of these. I have never gotten the entire of line of any collection. It feels so gloriously...indulgent.

Plus, some Hunky Dory! I just love how sweet these fabrics are.

My mom made me this diaper bag from Amy Butler's Sweet Harmony Tote pattern. I loved this pattern, but I really didn't want to make it myself. I love Amy's patterns, but they take so long sometimes with all the interfacing and cutting you need to do. It is so nice to have the bag I wanted with no work at all! Didn't it turn out great?

Juliana is the queen of birthdays. She loves them with a passion. She made me this bleu-ti-ful butterfly cake and was so proud. Plus, there is me in all my 38 weeks pregnant puffy face glory.

I had plans for a big birthday giveaway because I have some fabulous things collected here for that, but with all this pregnancy craziness I think it will wait until next month. Keep an eye out for it though because I have some really great patterns all ready to be given away to somebody.

Getting Ready

I have been trying to get ready for this new babe. One of my husband's co-workers gave us a glider they no longer needed. It was in great shape but needed some updating from it's faded denim look. I always forget to take before pictures of things! Anyway, I found this Anna Maria Drawing Room fabric for a song a couple of months ago, and I have always loved the couch she has in this fabric. I have never recovered anything, and I was kind of dreading it. It really wasn't bad though. I just took my seam ripper and made the pattern pieces using the old covers. The hardest part were the arms. The original ones were connected with huge snaps. I couldn't find snaps big enough, so I just bought some upholstery tacks and reattached them that way. These pieces were also more difficult because they are curved and had lots of little pleats.

For the pillow I just made a simple slip cover out of some Denyse Schmidt Country Fair that I had on hand. I was looking in my stash for this pillow and was so surprised to see how well the colors matched. The gold and teal in the little flowers are the same exact color.

I also made some little burp clothes for the little fellow. These were super easy. Just some strips of fabric added to some cloth diapers. Definitely, my kind of project. :0)

These fabrics are going to be the baby's crib quilt. I found these cute little sheets at Target, and I wanted something to coordinate. I used the color grid on Hawthorne Threads to help me pick out fabrics that would work and added a couple from my stash. The plan is to make a quilt using Oh Fransson's Canasta Quilts pattern. I am waiting for a couple of solids to get here before starting, but I am so excited for this little quilt!

Happy Easter!

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter!

I made the girls these little dolls for their Easter baskets. It is a Bit of Whimsy pattern called the Mae Doll. I actually won this pattern in a giveaway by Katie about a year ago. These were my first softies. The pattern was great, and I am pleased with how they turned out. However, my appreciation for softie makers has gone way up. Turning and stuffing those little legs and arms took forever! We named them Mary and Maggie after Mary Magdalen, as she was the first person to see Jesus after He rose.


As you can see, they were a big hit! Makes it all worth it. Is there anything sweeter than a freshly woken up face, messy bed head, and excitement over their Easter basket? I think not. Juliana has been anticipating Easter since the beginning of Lent, and three days later she is still carrying her Easter basket everywhere and waking up early just to look at it.

Felicity really got into the hunt this year, and she calls her basket her "bacon". Where is my bacon?!? Took me awhile to figure out that one.

For the kiddos

March was one of those months. Welcome April! I made this car seat canopy for the babe. I really liked this one, and I used this basic tutorial. However, she requires a yard of each. I had lots of leftover fabric from this quilt and wanted to use it up. Plus, I thought it was fitting for a car seat. So, I just cut 6 1/2" squares to make a patchwork version. I lined the back with linen, which still keeps it a light blanket but gives it a little more heft. Summers are so hot here. Think 100 degrees. I am hoping this will keep the sun off the little guy a little better and also away from prodding fingers. :0) I was going to recover our old infant seat, but decided to get a new one since the other one was going to expire at the end of the year. The FedEx man dropped it off, and Felicity was so excited. I took it out of the box, and she kept repeating, "Sanks Mama!", and she sat in it for the rest of the day reading books. Um...yeah...I don't think she is getting the new baby thing. :0)

I also finished up the girls' Claire Apron Knot dresses last week. These were going to be for Easter, but I admit I bought dresses for them. Christmas Eve was spent in a frenzy of sewing Felicity's dress, and I was dreading a repeat of that. What do you know I finished them a whole week and a half before Easter. Classic.

These dresses were a lot of fun to make. So easy with such great results. I have to say I think the Portabello Pixie Claire Pattern is one of the best patterns for little girls out there. It is so versatile. You can make four different styles, and it comes in a ton of sizes.

For both of the girls' dresses I used some Meadowsweet for the bodice and bottom. I used different accent fabrics for the trims and staps, and it is really interesting to see how much that changes the look of the whole dress. Juliana's is definitely more of an orange sherbert look, and Felicity's definitely has the pop of the pink. Both of the girls wore these dresses all day last Saturday, and not one picture of them in it! I blame it on pregnancy brain. :0)

Spring Top Week!

Spring Top Week is on its way! Rae is now accepting tops to be submitted to the Flickr pool! There are already some really great entries! Not only that, but Rae also asked me to be a judge. So flattering. So start sewing!

Are you looking for just the right top pattern? Check out my Etsy shop! I have a couple of patterns that would make great tops for spring both in my sale section and women's clothing section. In honor of Spring Top Week, I will be offering 15% off ALL (except those already on sale) WOMEN'S clothing patterns- including shirts, dresses, and skirts. Just enter "SpringTopWeek" in the comments when you purchase, and I will refund you the 15% through Paypal. This offer is good through Wednesday, April 7th.

I just love this tunic by Sew Liberated! Plus, it looks easy to boot!


Or have you seen Anna Maria Horner's new pattern? This pattern also comes with an option for a top and some slips!

I also like the simplicity of this Make It Perfect pattern. Perfect for hot summer days.

Potty Training

That is what we are attempting today. However, it is four p.m. and no success getting it on the potty yet. My girls seems to have an uncanny ability to hold it and let go the moment your back is turned.

So, I have had some blog and link reading time available as we wait by the potty for something to happen.

• Spring Top Week is coming up! I entered last year and was lucky enough to be a finalist with this shirt.
• I decided not to enter this year. Hmmm...something about being 8 months pregnant leaves me with little inspiration to make a shirt at this point. However, if you are pregnant too and want to enter, this tutorial for a maternity shirt is really cute!
• Or I used this tutorial to fix a tent like maternity t-shirt, and it is definitely much more wearable now. Just remember to really stretch the elastic as you sew it on. Quick fix that took five minutes! My kind of sewing.
• Here is a tutorial for a car seat canopy. I am working on a patchwork one.
• My little kitty pillow that I made for the girls' room was featured on One Pretty Thing today!
  
• This little girl skirt tutorial and mama skirt tutorial look really cute and easy!

Find any cute tutorials lately that you are making or on your to do list? Please do share!