For Spring!

Hi Laura!

I was doing a little SPRING cleaning at my parents a few weekends ago and I came across a latch hook kit I brought maybe seven or eight years ago. I bought it with the intention of making for a friends wife who was pregnant. Well, I guess I never finished it. When I found buried in my old room about a third was complete. I thought about just pitching it. What would I do with a Winnie the Pooh wall hanging besides "gift" it to you? :) Ha! You would of hung me from my toes!

I felt a little eco-guilt about trashing it. It's all plastic!!!! So I finished it. It took most of a long rainy weekend on the floor in my living room watching a That 70's Show marathon, but I finally finished it a few days later.

As I was packing it up, my husband asked what my plans were for the yarn monstrosity which had been consuming the living room floor for the better part of week. And in the way he asked I could tell that he had become attached to it (he hooked 4 times). So here it stays, at my new house, until I find a reason to use it (not any time soon) or my sister has kids. Its cute right?

My friend Amy and I made these Easter/SPRING baskets from Moda

http://www.modabakeshop.com/2009/03/fabric-easter-basket.html

It was fun to do something besides knitting. Although I have to admit that my hand sewing is not what it use to be, so I cheated and used hot glue. Well, my hot glue skills are not what they use to be either and the baskets kinda suck. I am pretty sure it was me and not the pattern ;)

I have done plenty more, a lot of clean up and few simple things are on tap for Mothers Day and someones 1st birthday. I wonder who?

More later, craft'in sister!

Kate

PS. The sock saga still rages on and on and on.

Princess and the Pea Napping/Sleeping Bag

Kate,

A few weeks back I blogged about the Princess and the Pea sleeping bag I wanted to make here. Well I did it! It took a few long hours at night and a few mishaps along the way, but it's completed. And I personally love it. V hasn't woken up yet to see the fabulous work, but I know she'll be excited since she's been talking about it all week.

Just for a refresher, this was the inspiration for the Princess and the Pea theme http://www.modabakeshop.com/2009/05/princess-pea-blanket.html and I was inspired to make it look similar to the Pottery Barn Kids sleeping bags. And this was sort of the tutorial I followed, except I made mine much larger, following the dimensions of the Pottery Barn Kids bags http://www.rufflesandstuff.com/2009/08/sleeping-bag-tutorial-so-fun.html.

The project started with the purchase of a honey bun, which is a just a roll of 40 - 1.5" fabric pieces. 40 is the perfect number to represent the 20 mattresses and 20 quilts from the Princess and the Pea story. I got a great deal buying it off ebay. I used the Moda Me & My Sister Clementine honey bun fabric. I wanted bright, fun colors for my little girl. My favorite part was having a girls day out last weekend with just V. We went to the fabric store and she helped pick up the purple polka dot outside fabric and the purple and white gingham flannel fabric for the inside of the sleeping bag.

So with G gone all week, I spent the evenings piecing it together. Sewing the 40 strips took FOREVER! I thought it would be quick, but with the pinning, ironing and sewing, it took almost 4 hours to just sew the strips together. I'm definately glad I opted to buy the honey bun with precut fabric, if I had to cut all that fabric, I can't imagine how long it would have been. Then I used old scraps of fabric to make the princess. It took me a few tries because in my delirious state, I ironed the face applique on TWICE (yes, twice!) with the wonder-under sticking up. So rather than adhering to the fabric, it adhered to my iron. And then it took another night just to get the applique sewed on. I had to keep switching thread colors, rethreading bobbins and readjusting the settings on the sewing machine.

But in last night I completed it. I made the sandwich of the front, back and batting and added a strap. The 2 layers of high-loft batting and the fabric made for a hard sew, but my machine made it! It's time to rest my poor machine for a bit.

So here it is.....

Princess and the Pea sleeping bag/nap sack.

The princess applique!

The pea button!

Now, here's to hoping she uses it for quiet/nap time. And maybe even take a little nap!

I'm inspired to keep making blankets or projects from storytime. They're just so darn adorable.

Laura

Cabinet Upgrades & Craft Storage Space

Kate,

With the kids sick last week, I was trapped inside all week, so I decided spring cleaning was here! I tackled the laundry room/mud room off our kitchen. A space that needs much love. Unfortunately it will be impossible to paint the walls since one and a half of the walls are unreachable due to the pipes, water filter, heater and water pump that are located against the back wall. So I decided to try and spruce it up in other ways. It's been a dump where we've been piling things up to sort later. No more later, now it's time to sort, trash, store and renovate!

Remember these kitchen cabinets and the hideous countertop (you can't see it great with the picture but it was cream with swirls of gold and silver) that we replaced a few months ago?

Well, after we replaced them I asked Greg to keep a few for my laundry room. He was a little hesitant, as always, but he let me be. Finally, I got around to redoing them. I painted them and used fabric to brighten them up. Best part, all FREE! The paint was a leftover sample I had bought for our bedroom (which didn't end up working out for the bedroom) and the fabric was from a yard I bought a while ago to make a skirt and never got around to making it. I think it worked out nicely. I'm still going back and forth on the top cabinets. I may end up painting them all cream or all blue. And yes, I did paint the countertop! It was super easy. Just a few layers of paint and then a finishing coat of spray laquer.

It may not look like much, because it's still a white beat up wall and still a storage area to an extent. But in person it's a huge improvement. Much friendlier and useful!

Here are a few more things I did (that's the most impressive part, I did it all myself! No handyman Greg helping out this time.) And it was practically free. The only cost was for extra shelves ($8) and the spray laquer ($3) and a coat rack shelf for sale from JoAnn Fabrics ($9).

Added more canning storage. Just added some more shelves so I can store the abundance of canning I still have and I know more are to come this summer. I also moved the dresser from our bedroom into the laundry room and filled it with all my fabric and sewing supplies. And moved the drawers from our hall closet, next to the dresser, full of craft items. So now all my crafting supplies are in one location. And accessible even when the kids are sleeping in my bedroom.

Now that I atleast feel like the house is a little cleaner, I can concentrate on some projects this week. Greg is away for business, which means I have a lot of free time in the evenings to be creative. I've already started on a few things, so I'll be posting more soon!

Laura

The Quilt

Laura,

I L-O-V-E it! Congrats and well done!!!!!

Kate

so you think youre crafty

Laura,

I KNOW you are crafty and I hope I am a little too. But this blog http://soyouthinkyourecrafty.blogspot.com/2010/03/kids-can-do-week-6.html
is pretty awesome. I do really like the tents, but it's the Mod Podge Hand Trees which really took me for a ride. I think this might make a nice gift for someone in the future, when her kids have longer arms.Ummmm......

I don't really have much to show, because I have been working on cross stitch. That's how I knew Spring had Sprung. For me the desire to do cross stitch is just as much a sign that spring is here as flowers are. Just think how crafty the world would be if I was mother nature. Just an idea to chew on :) So, no pic's because its really slow going on the cross stitch.

I did want to let you know that Springtime on the Bay (that's what I call it) is this month. Its a crafting event put on by the Bay Country Crafters at Baldwin Hall in Millersville, MD from March 24th to March 28th. http://www.baycountrycrafters.typepad.com/. Its pretty awesome and I love to support our local crafters. I also KNOW that these ladies are crafty too.

More soon!

Kate

Fabric Play Tents

Kate,

Remember those adorable fabric play tents you originally showed me from this blog? Well, I saw this version from So You Think Your Crafty. I love it too! I love the apple tree and how the veggies and fruits can be moved. Very interactive. Sort of makes me want to buy a bunk bed for the kids. There are so many cute ideas out there for making play tents for you kids. They do look like alot of fabric and a lot of work though. Maybe I'll add it to my dream list.

Photo from So You Think You're Crafty

Here are some other cute ones for inspiration:

Perfect for that fairy party!

Photo from http://tentsforkids.com/haba-blossom-sky-room-tent/

Photo from ikat bag

For others interested in making them, there are lots of tutorials out there, including some of the links listed here and you can also buy kits from Etsy or already made tents from Etsy as well. This is just one designer of them - http://www.etsy.com/shop/missprettypretty.

Can you tell the kiddos are sick and I'm trying to keep myself occupied while they rest and veg out? There are just so many cute ideas out there, and just not enough time (and money) to complete them all!

Laura

Seuss Quilt Complete

Kate,

Thanks to our very productive (even though short) craft session on Saturday, I made huge strides in the piecing together of R's first birthday quilt. I was super excited and motivated, so I spent a couple hours Sunday and today during the ever so rare naptime to complete it. I think it's awesome! I know R will love all the textures with the soft, bumpy fabrics, cotton and corduroy. Thank you so much for your advice, help and patience as I complete these sorts of projects. It is amazing how improved I am from the first quilt I did for V two years ago.

Here is the finished photograph. The picture doesn't capture the cuteness. I can't wait to give it to him in May!

Side note: I learrned a wonderful lesson working with this soft, bumpy fabric. Don't iron it, the bumps go away! Luckily I caught on before too much was hurt.

Now on to birthday planning,
Laura