polkadotbug

Hoot Hoot

I love Pottery Barn Kids.  I often flip through the catalog of fantasy bedrooms and love everything I see.  There are two things I know for sure though - 1. I could never keep a room in my house that clean and tidy and 2.  I can’t afford to buy anything there.  So, that is where the craftiness comes in.  I fell in love with the owl pillows in one of the more recent catalogs.  Even if I could afford them it’s so much more rewarding making them, especially when there are so many incredible fabrics to choose from!

For some reason I also had this insane desire to make a small flock of birds.

They are so quick and fun.  There’s a free pattern for them here and one of my bloggy friends made some too.  You can see her cuties here.  Thanks for posting that Sarah! I wanted to keep going but I had to refrain. Andrew came home and seemed surprised by my excitement over them.  He asks “what are they for?”  Who the heck knows?!  They’re just so cute!  Geez, I can’t even begin to explain why I get excited about these kinds of things.

Ok, I was gonna save this for another post but I am too excited.  I made my first “quilt.”  I feel like I can’t say it for real, cause it’s not a real quilt, but it’s the closest I’ve come to one.  I made a baby size rag quilt in Patty Young’s Andalucia and a little blankie sized quilt in boy prints by Michael Miller.  I can’t stop getting harassed about the boy stuff so I am trying harder.

They’re such a good project for me because they’re quick and I’m all about quick.  I’m also kinda embarrassed for you real quilters out there to see this.  You are all so nice though and I know you won’t make fun!  :)  I completely messed up the placing of the squares but didn’t feel like undoing the stitching once I realized it.  I definitely love that you don’t have to be perfect about the stitching – because perfect I am not.

The worst part is the snipping - by far.  I didn’t think it would be too bad but my snippers were so dull and weren’t working at all.  By the time I was half way through the first quilt my wrist was popping with every squeeze and I had calluses!  Although, once it washed and dried I decided that it was definitely worth it!   I just went out a got me a brand new pair of snips today because I intend on making more of these little guys.  They are so snuggly with fuzzy flannel on the backs. I’d wrap myself right up in there - if I were 2 ft tall.

Go Buffalo

I had to do it. It seems that people around here are just eating up the Buffalo items.  There’s City Love, an entire store dedicated to Buffalo merchandise, and now the "Believe in Buffalo” apparel is rapidly becoming a hit. 

We all know that appliques are popular, so why not a buffalo in fabulous fabric on a cute little tee or onesie? 

It would be even cuter on Abby but I keep forgetting to put it on her and take a picture.

I also had a little project to work on for a friend of mine.  Her friend is having a baby boy and she wanted some gifts.  I found this adorable robot fabric by David Walker and ran with it.

I made 2 bibs, 3 burp cloths, a diaper and wipe case, and even a little ball and bunny.

Hope she likes it!

For all of you fabric and craft addicts, Fabric Family and Fun is having a great give-away.  She runs the wonderful Above All Fabric shop on Etsy that I frequently purchase from.  As always, feel free to enter and give the stuff to me if you win.  :)  I still haven’t won a give-away yet!  Too many darn eager crafters to compete with. 

Zippers!

I did it.  I conquered my fear of sewing in a zipper.

Our aunt was here for Thanksgiving (hi Jeanne!) and requested one of my tote bags, but with a zipper.  I have to admit that I did panic a bit.  I’ve been admiring and fearing them since I started sewing last year. 

I did my internet research and found a few zipper tutorials to work off of. Like here and here and here.

Then I went to the store and bought an enormous zipper.  I ended up buying a coat zipper.  I didn’t realize that until afterwards, but that’s ok.  It does its job well on a bag too.

Not too bad for my first shot.  The one thing that I couldn’t do was the top stitch.  My mighty strong Singer can’t go through both the quilted lining and the zipper.  Maybe I’ll get a stronger machine some day…

Jeanne made some good fabric choices too,from Amy Butlers Daisy Chain line. 

I was so excited that I did it that I just had to try a few little bags.  It’s cake!

Please don’t mind the wrinkles. :)  I didn’t add interfacing to the larger one so it’s quite a flopper.  It definitely makes a difference to just add a lightweight interfacing. 

On a different subject, Andrew and I are getting very excited for the trip we’re planning.  It looks like we’ll be sitting on the beach for a week on Cape Cod in July.  SWEET!!  This will be our first little family trip and I can’t wait. 

It feels so good just thinking about a beach after the past week of frigid temps.  We had to miss Andrew’s company party on Friday night.  He left work at 4:30 and didn’t get home until 7 – it’s normally a 20 minute commute.  There was no way we were getting back in the car and heading back downtown.  I had already driven the kids to Grams (in a white-out) for a sleepover to prepare for our evening out.  Kinda disappointing, but we did go out to dinner close to home.  That was followed by a movie on the couch and a night of uninterrupted sleep.  

It was a treat.  At the same time, it’s so sad going to bed and walking past the empty bedrooms.  That’s just the emotional person that I am.  We’ve never even had a babysitter outside of family.  I get laughed at a lot about that.  Call me a dork it you’d like.  Yes Caren, I am expecting a comment from you on that one.

Let the Gasps Begin

Ok, I have been tagged by the lovely Amber of Amber’s Ambry.  Oh boy.  This is a slightly embarrassing one.  First I am to show a picture of something as I normally would.  For me that would be a clean, crisp, neat picture of one of my creations up close.  You can see her above.

For the next picture, you are to take a step back and get the full surrounding.  I guess we are supposed to make each other feel better knowing that everyone has a mess.  Mine is by far the worst, so I am not feeling it.

Yes people, I have a big mess.  I swear I am going to make it better soon.  Go ahead, take a look for yourself.

Oh my.  Do you think differently of me now?!  This is the creative room.  It used to be the playroom until Mommy decided to learn to sew and then needed a spot to go.  We haven’t quite shared the space so well yet.  I just moved into this room a couple months ago so organizing is on the way, sometime.

So, here’s what we have…

a.  Notice the laptop sitting on top of a rickety ironing board.  Amber, it’s your blog on that screen!

b.  Our newest (and fabulous) purchase.  A nice tv right in front of my face so I don’t have to miss my shows when I am sewing.  It only takes me double the time to sew now because I have to keep stopping so I can hear!

c.  Poor little dolly is still sleeping on the chair amongst all the mess.

d.  Boxes and baskets of stuff that goes with me to shows.  I haven’t quite unpacked since the last show or found a good spot to put any of this stuff.

e. It’s hard to see, but that is a rotting Osage orange.  Andrew bought it for me because a farmer told him it would repel spiders.  I am very afraid of spiders.  I think I can throw it out now that it is shriveled and rotting.  Isn’t he so thoughtful?  He is, except for the story he posted on his blog about me in my half delirious state, waking from an anesthesia episode.

f.  Yikes. This is obviously the largest issue.  This was a bookshelf full of cute toys.  Then I moved in and started pushing toys out of the way and cramming fabric scraps on them.  Mess, mess, mess…

The funny part about all of this is that the other half of the room is even worse. 

I am supposed to tag 2 people so I guess I’ll try to embarrass Shannon.  If she doesn’t have a mess with 4 kids then I should really be ashamed.   Caren, I can always count on you for a mess.  :) And it may even involve Carter doing something that should’ve been done on toilet, but wasn’t.

I think I’ll end this with my dear Penelope peacefully resting on my fabric.  This is all fabric that hasn’t even been cut into yet.  Oh the fabulous Andalucia.  I love it so much that I can’t even decide what I want to do with it!

Puppy Time

Did I mention how I can’t stop wanting to try new things?!   Well, if I didn’t then I am saying it again now.  I had so much fun with the dolls that I thought I’d try a weiner dog.  I saw the pattern on Pink Chalk Fabrics and just had to try it. 

I cheated a little, of course.  I had to do some things my way (wrong) instead of following instructions (right).  The only thing I really had issues with was the hand sewing. I am just not good at it. 

Other than that, she turned out pretty cute.  I intended on giving the poor girl a bunch of puppies like the pattern shows, but I ran out of time and energy that night.  This way she can devote all of her love and attention to this little runt.  I think the pillow may be my favorite part of the set!

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!  Eat lots of yummy food and don’t worry about it.  It’s ok.

One for Me and One for You

I’ve been busy making a few aprons.  I thought I’d shoot for the mommy & me apron sets.  I did this for more than one reason.  First, because it’s really adorable and I currently have girl that still wants to be like me and second, because we’ve had a few requests.  I love to make the children’s aprons, but folks out there keep requesting adult sizes. 

Unfortunately Molly does not like to model.  How does everyone do it?  Every blog I go to has these adorable children in even more adorable clothing doing exactly what their mother asked of them. Poses and all.  I can’t even explain what Molly begins doing as soon as we put her in something I made.  That’s all I know is that it involves random body spasms, ridiculous faces, and overall chaos.

Like this.

So we had to succumb to taking the pictures without people wearing the aprons.  This is too bad because aprons look best when they are on.  Anyways, you get the drift.  They’re completely reversible aprons that match in girl and mom sizes in fun prints.

 

Here’s mommy with no me.

Time to Get Serious

I have been up to some sewing lately.  Turns out I have myself signed up for the Buffalo Indie Market on September 14^th.  I figure I better start cranking some stuff out now so I don’t have to pull any all-nighters when it gets closer.  Not only that, but another local crafter contacted me about sharing a booth with her at the Quaker Arts Festival.  The only bad (and scary) part about it is that it’s the weekend after the Indie Market!  AHH!!!  Not real sure I can make enough in time. 

My new crafty friend Shannon makes the most adorable baby items and we have very similar tastes.  I think we’ll have an awesome booth and I am so excited to make a new friend!  We’re gonna have a ton of fun.  She just started up a blog as well, so check out Babypeas.

Besides the Buffalo Bonnets, I have started making a few bags.  Most are my usual quilt lined bags in some of my favorite fabrics.  To spice it up a bit I tried a new style – the drawstring bag.

Of course I didn’t come up with it on my own.  I never do - I always seem to need a visual.  I saw something similar when spending one of my many many hours paging through all the amazing things on Flickr.   I think it’s adorable! 

Do you like the light up flowers in the background?!  I saw them at our nursery when I was spending loads of money on new plants for our garden.  They were too cute, so I had to spend some money on fake flowers as well.

 

On another note, there’s another fabulous giveaway!  This one is from Kaytiebugs and it’s for a Double Ruffle Femme Skirt.  I love it!  Check it out. 

The Beginnings of the Buffalo Bonnet

It’s a little sad to admit this but fall is on it’s way.  I’m starting to get prepared for the September Indie Market and have made the first of the Buffalo Bonnets.  I have one made from 4 of my favorite designers’ fabrics, so I thought it would be a good time to post about it.  (clockwise from top left: Sandi Henderson, Heather Bailey, Anna Maria Horner, and Amy Butler)

The Buffalo Bonnet is my usual reversible baby bonnet lined with snuggly soft fleece.  The bonnet no longer has to be a spring thing.  If you don’t know anything about me, one thing I can tell you is that I love baby bonnets.  They are just too cute.  I made one lined with fleece for my little one last winter and she wore it every day.  Andrew had the clever idea of calling it the Buffalo Bonnet, seeing as we live in Buffalo and most people associate it with cold weather (hmm… I wonder why?).  I never got a chance to sell any because my first market was in the spring.  Hopefully someone else will be as fired up about them as I am!

I love this one from Pop Garden.  I think the bright happy colors are an excellent way to cheer up the cold weather.

I have a ton of sewing to do now to get ready for the September show.  I hope the time finds me.

Club Hand

Quick post tonight just to update everyone on my wrist surgery.  I am sure you've just been dying to know.  The surgery went well, I guess.  They gave me some drugs to "relax" me and I was out cold almost the entire time.  I faded in and out towards the end just to see a big blue curtain and the tops of the doctors heads.  I was a little panicked as to what I might say in my sedated state.  After my last surgery I woke to the nurses giggling.  Apparently I had been smiling and extremely happy as they woke me from my sleep.  When they asked why I was so happy I replied "I'm making bacon."   I do love bacon, but geez, couldn't it have been something better than that!

I now have a big club cast on my arm that will be coming off Friday.  I am still being quite productive with it on, although I haven't changed a diaper since my return from the hospital.  That's kinda nice.  I took the pain meds yesterday but discontinued the use of them today.  I was a little too giddy at work yesterday and began to think that it just wasn't right to be answering emails from scientists when I felt like I had a few too many cocktails.

Molly and I made a small gift for a little friend's 1st birthday.  Molly's card was just too cute. 

We made her two new bibs and a bunch of hair clips.  Happy Birthday Eliana!

 

A Visit and a Bag

This has to be quick because I have to get packed for our trip to Boston.  This is also the second time I am writing this because the first time Typepad shut me down and I lost my post.  "BLAH," says Tina.  I am both nervous and excited about the trip.  I am nervous to leave the girls and go on an airplane.  Flying scares the you know what out of me.  I am very excited though to get back to Boston where Andrew and I had our very first real apartment and jobs, and to see old friends that we haven't seen in a while.

Anyways, I had the pleasure of going to meet Josie (and her lovely family) yesterday.  It was great getting to meet and chat in person.  This pic is of a stack of adorable fabric pieces that were part of the basket of goodies she made for me.  Don't you love the strawberry?!  She has a great tutorial for them on her blog.  Too cute!  There were also some yummy snap peas that I snacked on driving home, and some veggies for the garden.  I couldn't get a pic of them because Andrew ran right out and planted them when I got home.  Thank you for welcoming me into your home and everything else Josie!  I look forward to seeing each other more often and crafting together. 

This is the most recent bag I made. It was made for one of Andrew's co-workers.  She picked this fabric out herself and I love it.  It turned out very nicely.  I used an old vintage button for the closure.  Gotta get me some more of them!  I hope she likes it. 

Time to pack!