Some (not so) Recent Projects

Here's a round up of some things I've made here and there for various occasions.  I'm going to really try to get better about posting here which also means that I need to improve my picture taking.  I have a long list of things I would really like to make so hopefully I'll be able to find some time to work on them.

These first 2 things are gifts I made for an expectant mother.  She has since had her baby and really enjoyed both gifts.  The first was a blanket and the second was a diaper pouch.  Though this is her second child she did not have a diaper pouch and was very excited about it.

These next couple are the Valentines I made for my sons school and the Valentine gift I made for the DH and my parents.  I know your probably wondering why I'm bothering to post these since it's quite late but the Valentine I made for his teachers could be used any time and what I made for the DH and my parents could easily be altered for an easy birthday gift, thank you, or just because!

The valentines for the kids.

 These are what I made for both of his teachers.  That's the lotion hand sanitizer in between and I will say they were very happy with this!  Would be a great little teacher appreciation gift, or beginning/end of school gift.

 And finally this is the cookie bouquet I made.  It seemed like it should be simple but turned into quite the project that almost didn't get finished in time!  I bought plain terra cotta pots and had my son paint them.  I filled them with floral foam (styrofoam, gravel, sand will work too) and tied a ribbon around it.  I made and decorated some cookies and rice crispy pops.  The rice crispy treats were very easy but one little tidbit I learned is that you should make them a day ahead so they have time to firm up.  The ones in the DH's bouquet fell off the stick but the one's on my parents were fine (they were delivered next day).  This was very easy minus the cooking faux pas we had and makes a great anytime gift!

I really am getting the sewing bug again, and hopefully some time to fulfill it, so more posts to come soon!

Carseat / Stroller Blankets

I have been wanting to do this small project for a while but with Christmas it got pushed back a bit. I wanted a small blanket I could easily tuck into her carseat (since I don't bother with her snowsuit unless she's outside a while) without doing origami to get it to fit! I would say I made them just in time considering the snow and crazy cold we are currently experiencing!

Of course she is the one who needed it but I knew my son would want one too so he picked out this instrument fabric (he is obsessed with all things music) and I made his first. I made his a bit longer than hers since he is 3. It measures 24 inches by 30 inches. They are both made of soft flannel with a layer of batting in between.

A close up of the fabric detail.

I made hers 24 inches by 24 inches and it's in a cute little elephant pattern.

Again a close up of the detail.

Baby Blanket

This is a blanket I put together quickly for my pregnant SIL. She is having a boy and I had a tough time finding fabric that I loved in the flannel. They live in Florida so fleece would have been too hot so I wanted flannel and the fact that it was on sale for half off was also a motivator. Well finally at the end of the row I saw this ADORABLE pattern. They also happened to have there soft, plush fabric on sale for half off and they had this vivid green that was perfect. I knew I wouldn't have time to make a true "quilt", even a simple one since I only had a handful of days before we were leaving so I just cut 2 squares the same size, sewed them together right sides facing out, and then sewed a satin quilt edging around it. The edging is actually almost the exact shade of the back but I guess since it's shiny the color didn't photograph well. Came out well and was SUPER CUTE. Best part is I got it finished in time to take with us down there. My son was a bit attached to the fabric so there may be one in a larger size in his future but we shall see.

Two More Projects Done!

Yesterday was a very good day in the crafting world. I finished up 2 projects that I was working on, one knitted and one sewn.

The first project was a knitted hat called the "Beaufort Hat". I found the pattern on Raverly and loved the fact that it seemed simple but looked very complicated. I was getting tired of knitting plain Jane hats. I also like that is almost has a cabled look but is not cabled which is good because I don't know how to do that.

I was surprised at just how quickly this hat knit up. I also discovered that I actually like knitting a hat like this where you have to constantly count K2, P3, K7, and so on more so than just a simple garter or stockinette stitch. I think I will stop being intimidated by stitch patterns because they really aren't bad and are fun to knit. Here is a picture of the completed hat.

This picture I zoomed in trying to show the detail a little better but am not quite convinced I did. I love the color of this yarn too, it's a touch lighter than the picture but pretty close. I darkened the pictures a bit to bring out the detail more.


The other project I finished yesterday was a blanket I made for Nathan. This should have been a very simple blanket but as it usually goes, it wasn't! It's been sitting on the table for about a week now in various parts of completion. I found this fleece right after I painted his room and the green is almost the exact color as his walls which is awesome and I thought it was a very cute pattern.

I decided to do things a little different than I usually do and actually edge this blanket, the first one I have ever used edging on. That is most of what made this project so difficult. Also the fact that the zigzag stitch didn't want to work certainly didn't help. I am glad I have a bunch of different "design" stitches so I just picked another one and it worked fine. Strange I know.

Anyway it was worth all the trouble because it came out pretty well and is super cute. It's perfect too now because he's outgrown all his baby blankets and we only have 2 or 3 larger ones. I do like the satin edging so I may give it another shot on one of the other blankets I am making for Nathan but I don't think I would ever do it on a larger quilt/blanket. We'll stick to crib size and toddler size.