We're having a baby!

Like, soon. 

We're due on May 12th with our first baby girl. Much of the past year (or two or three) has been spent getting to this point and we couldn't be happier. 

I've been working on some baby projects and I will post them here as I start and finish them. I have also been using instagram more, so check out the link to the left for my instagram (craftmylifeaway) and please, friend me on there, I have like negative friends. 

Holler!

Apparently I've Been Crocheting

I hope that everyone has been enjoying their summer as much as I have been enjoying mine. 

So far this spring and summer we've been to 5 weddings, Europe, Cape Cod, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Oswego NY, and several other visits to our respective home towns. I think we've been in our own home all of 1 weekend since May 1st. PHEW it has been crazy. I don't know why but this year I have been on quite the bender, too, drinking more than my fair share of ST&L's (sapphire, tonic, & lime) at each event, staying up well into dawn. Maybe my body knows that I could be getting pregnant soon and it is allowing me to regress to the college years without too much punishment? Either way ... we have a wedding this weekend, and reunion each weekend through labor day so with those plans we will be hitting my home town in Upstate NY (Watertown), the town I grew up in on the Jersey Shore (Spring Lake) and then we are renting a huge house in Burlington with a group of college buddies for Labor Day weekend to end my summer binge on a high note. 

Ramble over. 

So I promise you that I HAVE BEEN crafting. I have been crocheting a shit-ton. It is the  most portable craft that exists, any size crocheting project really travels like a dream. It is sooooo much easier to travel with than knitting! I have mostly been working on pretty mindless crocheting patterns, which is awesome, especially after several ST&L's.

I have been working on a sweet white soon-to-be blanket. It is made with mercerized cotton and is a traditional granny square pattern. Right now it measures about 15 inches square, and I plan on crocheting it with white yarn until I run out in the center, and then ivory yarn around the outside until I run out of that as well. Naturally, the yarn I chose is now sold out so I am just going to make it as big as I can and maybe it will be a good light-weight stroller afghan.

I also started another crocheted blanket with yarn I already had in the stash. This is another traditional granny square pattern that I started uses a worsted weight wool yarn.  Honestly, I had 4 skeins of yarn and desperately wanted to use them up. I absolutely loved the way the ivory, navy, and chartreuse colors looked together and wished I had more of those colors to end the blanket there. But I had this other kind of seafoam-y color to use up and is so didn't match the chartreuse that I just planned to place is as far away from the chartreuse as possible. I don't think the result is that bad, although its not my favorite. I have about 1/4 skein each the ivory and seafoam-y color left and will stitch until I am done. I think that this will be a good sized crib blanket when I am done with it, or a small blanket for a chair or sofa. 

One of my (many) New Year's Resolutions was to make sure I wash my face every night. I am seriously so bad at keeping up with this. I don't know why its so difficult for me, I mean I can manage to brush my teeth and floss every night, why can't I just wash my face while I am at it? I digress...

So I whipped up these crocheted face cloths to entice me a little. They are definitely working! I hope to sell these in my soon-to-be-opening Etsy shop as well (more on that soon!) so I tested out several different patterns to see which one I liked best. Starting from the left, the first pattern is a traditional granny square and I think that it was a little small. The middle face cloths are a great granny square pattern I used in a blanket early this spring, and I love the size and shape. Crocheting with two colors is kind of a PITA because you have more ends to weave in, but compared to the face cloths on the far right which are the exact same pattern, the pattern stands out more in a two-color format. So we shall see which ones I whip up for the shop. 

So that's what I've been working on this busy summer. What have you been up to? Any suggestions for other crafts that travel easily? 

OH! I almost forgot to mention ... I NEED YOUR HELP!! Remember the knitting needle roll that I made? Well I made a matching crochet hook roll as well. I had grand plans of designing the pattern for a complete set of tool rolls, which would also include a double pointed needle roll, circular needle roll, an accessory bag, and a notebook cover BUT naturally my Joann's no longer carries that great red fabric that is the inside of the roll, and of course I cannot find it anywhere on their website either, after hours of searching. I know that this is a lot to ask, but if you are out at your Joann's and happen to come across this fabric, please for the love of God buy me some (like 3 yards) and I will reward you handsomely. I know that this is a long shot, I am not delusional. I e-mailed the company and sent them a picture of the fabric asking for their help but they said they cannot help without the selvedge info and that is long gone. THANK YOU IN ADVANCE.

HOLLER!

{Christmas Crafting} "Squares on Point Quilt" for Baby

The final gift to round out all of my coworker gifts this year is a baby quilt for one of the partner's in our firm, who had his first baby last May. 

I wanted to make an easy quilt with a simple pattern, but lots of color and a big impact. I also wanted to us up some Anna Maria Horner flannels and some great Linens that I got at a local estate sale. I decided to use my Squares on Point quilt pattern that I developed for a class last month. 

This quilt kind of came together as I went, and I actually ended up using 3 different linens. A nice grey linen for the quilt top, a nice dark navy linen for the backing, and then for a great punch of color I used my new favorite color on Earth, for the binding.

I just love this fabric. It is soooo nice to work with!! Seriously, go buy some Anna Maria Horner Folksy Flannels.
 

 

I actually worked on this entire quilt while I was teaching the class for the quilt. Given that I could only pay limited attention, I opted for super simple quilt lines. 

I don't think that I have ever been more proud of my binding job either, this quilt was ALMOST perfect!! Seriously, I actually did a really good job. I'm not boasting, I'm just happy that I finally have the hang of it.
 

For the backing, I used a dark navy linen. I wanted something super durable because this will likely be tossed on the floor and crawled all over. 

 

 Some more glamor shots for you!

I hope you enjoy!!

HOLLER!

Baby Shower Gift

My very good girlfriend, Jess, is having a little Baby Girl named Annabelle very soon, like... within-the-week soon. 

For her shower, I asked her if there was anything at all she wanted me to make for the nursery, that couldn't necessarily be purchased. She mentioned having these old cushions for the nursery rocking chair, that she wanted recovered. I offered to recover them for her. 

I had her pick out any heavier weight fabric from Hawthorne Threads that she wanted for the cushions. She picked this great Anna Maria Horner print called Coreopsis. I love it. It is girly without being childish.

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE MY BERNINA BINDER ATTACHMENT! IT IS AMAZINGGGG! I used it to make the ties for tying the cushion to the rocker. The previous cushion had ties, as shown. Using this foot to make the ties LITERALLY took only a few minutes, to make all 8.

I reused the old piping, and just covered it with new fabric for the new piping. 

I am a relatively new sewer and this project was really quite tough for me. It was pretty difficult to get the shape of the cushions just right, as well as sew them together, along with the quadruple piping layers, and actually keep my seam allowance accurate. It was tough.

I also tufted the cushions to finish them off. I totally forgot to take pictures of the process, but it was extremely easy. I followed this tutorial and it made the process fantastically easy. 

After the cushions, I needed an easy project to boost my confidence again. I wanted to make a little throw blanket for Annabelle's nursery as well. 

I VERY SIMPLY, took two yards of Anna Maria Horner flannels, and stitched around the edges, right sides together. I left a little hole to turn the work right sides out. Then I pressed the edges and stitched the edges to finish it off using my 1/4 foot. It was a super simple, and super cute blanket that is a great size, finishing at 32 x 42.
 

Here are some pictures of the finished cushions and throw. Keep in mind that this is my rocking chair, and not Baby Annabelle's. I don't think that her walls are swampy green!

Another project done! I am definitely learning some things along the way on this sewing journey. Only if I could accomplish more than one project a month, then maybe I would actually make a dent in My Bucket List.

HOLLER!