Girl Scout vests for American Girl Dolls

It was Christmas break and I kind of remembered I would be exchanging gifts with a family later in the week, but kind of forgot. The day before I decided I really needed to think about some gifts.

I considered doll clothes, but a lot are pretty involved and whatever I was doing would be times three. Then the idea came to me, I would make little Girl Scout vests in the appropriate colors.

The vests were pretty easy to figure out. I decided making them reversible would be the easiest. Then somehow I ended up with a little extra time. Must have been a napping baby again...

I decided I must also decorate them with badges. I researched how each level vest should look and cut out tiny embellishments. I should state for the record that I cannot draw well at all, but I can cut things out very well. So that is how these little vests came to be. Everything got glued on and off to a new home.

Unicycle Ornaments

Well this I didn't make, but I did help design it. I was looking for gifts for my unicyclists. Each search usually comes up with bicycle. So I was paging through some bicycle gift items at Etsy and thought to ask an artist if they would be interested in designing a unicycle instead.

I picked Heather Boyd because she creates wire sculptures and offers a bunch of different bicycles. She and her husband both were very happy to work with me. I actually noticed the "runner" sculpture and thought that would look neat on a unicycle. I did request too that the tire be knobby, if possible and to have spokes.

I was amazed to see my descriptions from an email come to life. After seeing the first design, I suggested a few minor changes and also asked if a smaller version could be made for my daughter.

I was so happy with the results and pleased with the process too. Thanks to Heather we have not one, but two unicycle ornaments to hang on our tree.

New Baby Carrier For Me

My first baby was born in 2000 and even before he was born I had my first ring sling sewn and ready to carry him.

Since then I have created many different carriers for myself and others, even having a small cottage business for a while.

After my second was born I learned about wrap carriers, pouch style slings, Mei Teis and Asian Baby Carriers. She was carried in all of them.

This carrier was different. This carrier was to be functional, symbolic, and creative. It also would be a labor of love. I had done some quilting in the past too and thought it would be fun to combine these skills.

In 2007 I was diagnosed with breast cancer. In 2009 I was given the ok to become pregnant. In 2010 my third baby was born. My body which had created cancer, had now created this perfect, healthy being. And I continue to sustain her through breastfeeding.

This carrier was made with love and is proudly worn daily.

Newborn Portraits

I've had a great time photographing my kids through the years. I enjoy looking at others people's photos and feel that I have a decent eye for taking pictures.

For my newest baby I wanted to take some newborn portraits. I also wanted to read up on lighting and they ideal times.

I learned that between day six and ten is the ideal time to photograph a newborn. No flash and natural light from a window in the background works well too. Another tip was to have something white to reflect the window light back to the baby's face. Most babies sleep a lot during this time and are easily positioned into cute poses.

I even purchased a pattern for my mom to knit a little photo prop for the baby to be nestled into. It worked well too. Though it almost didn't fit her over ten pound size.

I felt fairly prepared for a great newborn session. It was day 7 and I had a clean, content baby. But she was awake! My camera wasn't anything special and I didn't use a tripod. I set up in my son's room with a piece of fabric draped over his bean bag chair. Flash off, white board reflecting the light back and go!

I set up a few other sessions over the next couple weeks. Certainly she was more wiggly and therefore blurry as she got older. But I did finally get a sleeping photo of her and even caught a few smiles. Patience and persistence paid off.

Tooth Pillow

Another birthday party, another present. But this time I had time to sew. What could I make, a cape? Doll accessories? No? How about a tooth fairy pillow. I contacted the mom and found out that the child had not yet lost any teeth, but at least one was wiggly and they would love a tooth pillow.

The party invitation let us know it was a train party. In fact the invite included a train ticket to bring to the party.

Giving it some thought I designed a train tooth pillow. The pocket is in the smoke stack. Love the way it came out!

Baby Diapers

Who doesn't love cute tiny diapers?

I had made a bunch of cloth diapers when my second was in diapers. As I was pregnant with my third and already had all the diaper making supplies on hand, why not make a few more. It turned out to be five new ones. Three flannel and two terry fitted cloth diapers. Having a snap press didn't hurt either.

I Spy Quilt

A while ago I had come across a woman who made I Spy quilts for children. I thought it was a great idea. Her quilts had very intricate patterns with much smaller squares.

I had just completed some projects with some Fancy Nancy fabric and had a bit left. It was so cute I wondered what I could do with it.

I cut two 4" squares and remembered the I Spy idea. Mine would be like that but maybe more of a matching quilt with two of each pattern. I looked through my fabric stash and cut out many more 4" squares. It was really neat to remember all my old projects made with the different fabrics. This quilt was to be a gift for my third baby who would be born in a few months. What a neat history for her too.

I decided to use 2" sashing and 4" borders. The entire quilt was made from fabric I had in the house. The backing is fleece and there is no batting.

It was a lot of fun creating the pattern and figuring out how to put it all together. My kids offered their opinions and I also took a few pictures of the different configurations to help me decide.

Finally done!

Texture Quilt Revisited

I've enjoyed making different texture quilts and was planning to make one for my new baby. As I was thinking more about it, I had the idea to make the different squares into appliqués.

It was a lot of fun planning and finding images to use. I used iron on adhesive to hold the appliqués as I stitched them down. A great tip!

It turned out bigger than I initially planned, but I like it even better this way. I found a neat, soft and bumpy fabric for the backing.