O is for Olivia's Owl

Tasha really liked the first owl I made last weekend, but I didn't like it enough to give to Olivia, so I gave it another go using left over fabric from Olivia's Christmas present. This attempt is much cuter and less spooky. Tasha especially liked the bizarre look of the first one, but I think this version is less likely to scare O. The tail is better placed in this version also, but you can't see it in either of these photos. I even embroidered Olivia's initials on the bum. I'm sure O will grow up loving this stuffed owl!

Things That Go Hoot In The Night

I thought I would change gears and dabble in some stuffed crafts this weekend. With the long weekend I figured it was time to try something new and do a little experimenting. This funny (almost creepy) owl is what came out of my experiment. The eyes, beak and inner ear pieces are cut from felt and hand stitched with matching embroidery thread. The hand stitching gives the doll a sort of vintage feel. The shirt and socks are made from regular cotton fabric and the head, wings, tail and part of the legs are made from corduroy. I thought the skirt might make it a little more girly, but I think I like the owl better without it. The fabrics are just a little too crazy to be put together. The tail is weird because it hangs between the legs if the doll is standing, but I couldn't figure out any other way to attach it -- it looks ok if it's sitting, though! I should probably stick to quilting after this not-so-successful crafting day!

Potted Christmas Tree Skirt

Mike and I decided to put a Christmas tree up this year, but just a little one. We went to La Sumida (a local nursery where I inspected some small trees for work last week) and bought a Dwarf Alberta Spruce. It's the perfect size to sit on top of one of the speakers. The container the tree is potted in is a green plastic, but it didn't look very festive, so I decided to make a skirt for it. I made a tube with elastic at the top and bottom to cover the actual pot and then a square skirt to wrap around the base. Now it's ready for gifts to be placed underneath :)

Sneak Peek

I've been working on Olivia's Christmas present, but I don't want to reveal too much. I want Tasha and Josh to be surprised since Olivia won't know the difference! But she'll love it. Here is a sneak peek at the fabrics and the applique I worked on today (hand sewing is not my strongest skill).

Pinwheel Quilt Complete

I got the fabric for the backing and binding in the mail on Friday so I knew what I was going to spend my time doing this weekend! I started by making my quilt sandwich and quilted it together on Saturday. For the quilting I followed the squares around the pinwheel blocks and then put an X through each block following the diagonal lines of the pinwheels. It was a little tricky getting through the middle of the pinwheels because there are so many seams that meet there. I broke the thread more than a few times while sewing the diagonal lines through the blocks. There was also a little bit of puckering near the areas where there were a lot of seams coming together. I find that really annoying, but it was hard to prevent. Overall the quilt turned out fairly flat and smooth, though. I put the binding on today to finish the quilt off. It turned out better than I was thinking and I really like the orange flower backing. Now we just have to find some time to give this to Michelle and Shawn.

I've got another quilt idea brewing in my mind. It's a big project though...stay tuned...

Pinwheel Quilt

When I was looking for baby quilt ideas for Baby Melon, I ran across a tutorial for this pinwheel quilt. I really loved it at the time but thought it would be too girly if Baby Melon turned out to be a boy , so I saved the tutorial for a later date. Our friends, Michelle and Shawn, are expecting their 3rd girl in November. I wanted to make them a quilt so I thought this would be the perfect time to use this quilt pattern. I think I like it so much because of how traditional it is and the small triangles around the pinwheels top it off for me. Pinwheel blocks are a lot of work to sew together, but the end product made the effort worth it. This quilt top took me most of today and a few hours of cutting fabric yesterday. I wasn't crazy about how it was turning out at first, but now that it's all together I think it turned out super cute. I have to get some backing and binding fabric to finish putting it together, but it shouldn't take long to finish off.

Owl Gown for Baby Melon

I bought some patterns for baby clothes awhile back and have been searching for cute (and affordable) knit fabric to use to make something for Baby Melon. I finally found some last weekend when Mike and I were in Ventura. How can you not love these little owls?!

I decided to try a gown because Tasha wants these and I haven't seen any tie gowns in the stores (they all have elastic at the bottom instead). As a first attempt I think it turned out on the ok, but not very good side. I thought the front and back pieces were the same so when I sort of messed up the hem on the front neckline side I figured it was no big deal to just switch the two pieces of fabric. Wrong! The front piece actually has a lower neckline. I didn't realize this until it was all sewn together, sleeves and all, so I guess the little overlapping shoulder pieces will just have to be on the back rather than the front. Oh well, I don't think the baby will mind too much -- or maybe it will just be embarrassed to wear the clothes Aunt Katie made?! I also made a cute little hat to go with it -- I think the hat is my favorite part of the whole thing! This was a fun project because it provided me with my first attempt at a couple sewing techniques -- like actually using a pattern. Harder than I thought, all those dots and lines really mean something! It was also the first time I've made button holes, so that was a good thing to learn, and it turned out to be really easy. I also learned it's much harder to work with stretchy fabric rather than just plain old cotton fabric. It was a good learning experience and now I'm ready to make more clothes while Mike is off in Europe, but for now this is a good start!