Testing

Yes, I know my blog is sorely outdated. I am alive, crafting and raising two pretty great kids. We'll see if this blog can survive!!

Baby L2 is Here!

And he is a BOY!  I really was shocked- I thought he might be a girl for a long time!  His name is Maclain Chase (McLain is Grant's middle name- we are just spelling it a little differently).  He's such a sweet and good baby.  I've enjoyed being his mom for the last two weeks!

He came two weeks early (just like his sister) and was 6 pounds, 4 ounces and 19 inches long.  We had another great, natural birth at the Birth Center.  This labor and delivery was so very different from Coraline's and that will have to be another post.  Let's just say we made it to the Birth Center with about 40 min. to spare!!

Grant holding Maclain before we go home.

I made this little hat for him.  Each of my babies had a special piece of handmade clothing that they wore home.

She loves to hold him!

I love their slow motion "kung fu" movements.  So cute!

He was sunning a bit and Coraline decided that her dolls needed to sun too!

Chevron Ombre Crocheted Blanket

Here is my second attempt at a crocheted blanket.  I'll have to get pictures up of my first one. I love the process of crocheting because I can do it anytime and virtually anywhere.  So a row here and a row there eventually come together to create something.  It does take awhile, so patience is a must! 

I followed this blog's tutorial.  However, I made the following revisions: I did not work the back loop of the single crochet but instead worked both loops (a basic single crochet, I guess?)  I also did not do stripes; I chose to do an ombre blanket, so I used the whole skein (about 35 rows) and then moved onto the next color.

I used 1 skein each of Caron's Simply Soft yarn (6 oz.) in Country Blue, Soft Blue and White.  I loved how it turned out- really quite soft.

A New Quilt

I've been racing to get two quilts done before Baby L2 comes! Here is one that I finished just a few days ago.  A sweet mommy contacted me (after she saw a special order quilt that I had made for her cousin) and asked me to make one for her little girl's first birthday.  She wanted to incorporate a little piece of her going home outfit in the back of the quilt as well.  

She was able to pick the design and fabrics she wanted, so it was truly a collaboration.  I used the “Aviary 2 for Free Spirit” (Lilac Palette) fabric by Joel Dewberry.

I also appliqued the name of her little girl on the front of the quilt, but just for privacy sake don't have any pictures of the whole quilt. 

Finished quilt.  Don't you just love the purple and green.

The back- simple, simple.

The patchwork.

My favorite part- a small flower montage on the back that incorporates a little piece of her going home outfit and going home hat.  A sweet way to make this quilt extra special!

Hope she likes it!

Pregnancy Update (Finally)

Finally, a picture worth posting! 

Here I am at 32 weeks. 

This pregnancy is flying by!  This baby is so much lower than Coraline was, so it's making exercising and moving around a little more difficult this time around.  I'm thankful though, that s/he is head down and seems pretty snug there!  Still getting a little heartburn. But overall everything is going well!  Yay!  Only 8 (or 6) more weeks left (I'm thinking s/he will be a little early).

Snow Storm 2012

So, here is a picture of the big snow of 2012!  Well, at least we got something this year!

 I did not have any good clothes for Coraline to wear so I brought the snow in for her!  I call this the "lazy mom's way" of playing in the snow.  She really enjoyed it though and played for a good 30 minutes measuring and tasting.

New Hat for C

Well, as usual, I had great plans to make something for myself.  However, I am no expert in crocheting so the slouchy hat I was attempting to make was looking like anything but a hat as I was going along.  So, I undid a few rows and just made up my own pattern.  It ended up being a cute, little hat for Coraline instead!  I wish I had kept notes on what I was doing, but I did not.  It is essentially, an increase of double crochets and then about two rows of a decrease of double crochets and then three rows of single crochets.  I just fit it on her head to check to see if it fit.

The front.

 The side.

The back.  It reminds me a little of a train conductor's hat!

Chevron (Zig Zag) Quilt

I always say it but this may be my favorite quilt yet! 

As chevrons seem to be all the rage right now, I thought I'd make a chevron quilt.  I didn't follow any specific pattern, but this is a good tutorial on making a chevron quilt.  I made 5 inch squares, so the finished quilt is 43 x 43 inches.

I used the Sherbet Pips fabric collection by Aneela Hoey for Moda.  I have loved this fabric for quite awhile now (and have had this fabric in my stash for awhile), so I'm glad I waited to use it for this quilt.  

The back of the quilt.  I put two rows of charms through the back for a little visual interest.

The finished quilt.

I've put this up for sale in my Etsy shop. 

Pillow Cover

Here is a pillow cover I made for a friend just using some scraps I had on hand. 

The fabric is from the Wonderland (or Alice in Wonderland) line from MoMo by Moda.  I doubt you can find it anymore because I've had this lying around FOREVER.  I love it though because it's so whimsical. 

 It's an envelope style pillow with button closures.  I love this easy-to-follow tutorial for the cover.

 Just another up close of the fabric.

I'm getting my crafting back on folks!  Hold on!

Another Quilt

Here is a special order quilt I made for a friend.  I LOVE the fabric choice- pinks, reds, blacks and grays.  It is the "Lost and Found" line by Riley Blake Designs.  I used an entire layer cake for this quilt.  It's a generous size- 47 x 48.  Perfect for a growing baby.

 (such a sophisticated line)

 (classic stacked coin quilt)

(red binding to tie it all together)

I love how it turned out- simple, elegant, clean.