New Quilt

 A new quilt for my oldest. This was "supposed" be finished in time for Christmas. Better late than never I guess. Sometimes getting gifts just because on random days is better than a holiday anyways. A nice unexpected surprise upon returning home from school.

 It's the perfect size to drag all aroundd the house wrapped on his shoulders, or a nice lap blanket while reading. It looks super cute laid across the center of his bed too. It has a nice mix of my favorites, and his favorite fabric prints. I love it for all it's colorful, crinkly goodness. I love him for his creative soul, quick whit,  and determination.

Busy hands

I've been keeping my hands busy to help quiet my mind lately. I've been feeling like I have not been "really" getting anything done, but when I see these all together here, it's much more than I realized. several others I've finished are not even here. 

I finally summoned the strength to cut into some of my most beloved {and expensive}, Heather Ross prints. I've been hoarding  saving, some for years now. I have no issue using making beautiful, expensive fabrics for Kunklebaby, or my children. The difference is I cut into these for me. I'm going to make a nice, cozy, throw quilt for me, and only me. Maybe a few pillows for my bed too. It's strange to think, I'd never spend as much money on a blanket as this one will cost. The fabric was a gift from my lovely husband... who I'll admit every once in awhile actually listens to me talk about silly things like fabric designers and the current trendy colors, or animals.

New Quilt

Just finished this for the baby & couldn't be happier. He's quickly outgrowing the baby blankets I've made him {gasp}. It's so strange to have his little feet... and legs, stick out of blankets that once {wasn't it just yesterday?} seemed enormous for his little body. {although to appease my sister here, I must say he was 9.5lbs at birth, so never "that" tiny.}

It is backed with a nice, soft, blue flannel and cotton batting = super warm, but not super heavy. I started & finished it in a few hours the other night. It's actually just a really cool fabric, ABC print {by designer, Jenn Ski} that I quilted. No sewing blocks at all. I'm really happy with the binding, and think the colors show showcase the print, perfectly. I subtly embroidered his name so that he will always know it is, 100% for him and only him. You need to remind fourth children of this sometimes, as they get lots of things that once belonged to the siblings.

This is one Christmas present ready to be wrapped up and put under the tree!

Wordless Wednesday

{Modern, Alice in Wonderland}

Made Monday: Quilt

Finally finished up the quilt I've been working on. It was a gift for the new baby that joined our friends last week. I was hoping to get it done before his birth, but... he arrived a little early, so I'm going with that as the reason. hee-hee.

I forgot to take a picture of the back. It had a really vibrant blue print with modern little cars that looked abstract from far away. I'm really happy with how it turned out. It was definitively made with lots of love! This was one of those projects that whatever could go wrong did. My walking foot broke, and on & on. In the end, I do think the binding turned out perfect though. Hand sewn binding just makes a quilt for me. I also love the texture after I washed it and it got all nice & wrinkly through the quilting. Have a happy life in your new happy home.

Creating

Lots of making going on at our home. Between Kunklebaby Christmas orders and all our holiday gifts that need made, our days have been full. I've spent the past few months knitting and we'll spend the last few weeks before Christmas sewing. The kids have their own long list of "to do's", like Christmas cookies, clay, gingerbread houses and their own gift making. Mama is finishing scarves, new dolls, quilts, ornaments and some homemade baking too.

It's such a happy time of year for us. We are all excited to see the extended family soon. With most of our relatives 2+ hours away, it's becoming a special treat.

This morning

The kids woke up to a surprise this morning.Sitting on the couch waiting for them, was three new baby doll blankets. The kids have been playing with the dolls a ton lately. It makes me excited because it's been helping {L} get used to "baby things". Playing gently, holding babies, all that goodness. He's by nature, not the gentlest child. He's been the "baby" for almost 2 years now, so I think it's going to be a little bit of a transition for him!

The funny thing about these dolls is they are always clothes free. All the other stuffed animals and dolls in the home are routinely changed in gowns and costumes, but these 3 dolls-never! If I put anything on them, I'll find them shortly back to basics-lol. Little {L} actually took offense to his doll being covered up and quickly yanked that blanket right off!

Also on a side note: After 2 weeks, {L} is completely potty trained during the day [at home]. We've been snowed in and have not ventured out of the house lately, so I'm sure "outings" will be a different story. He still wears a diaper to bed, but undies all day! I'm keeping my fingers crossed to have him as close to completely potty trained as possible, before the baby arrives. [he'll be turning 2 years old, a month prior]. Lots of praise and potty songs have been sung this week for him! He's a proud boy, and I'm a happy, proud mama!! YAY!

New Quilt

Some of you may remember this mermaid quilt I started last summer. Once I got to the binding stage, I never finished it. I knew then that I had to keep it for myself and pushed it aside for awhile. The other day I was overcome with the need to finish the blanket. I'm hoping this little baby is a girl and she can call the blanket her own.

It's hand bound in a pretty blue and white, checkered print. Every time I look at it, I smile! I love doing hand sewn bindings. The extra time and effort are worth it to me, for someone special! There are small splashes of blue throughout the quilt, so I think the blue coordinates, but also adds a sense of surprise and texture. Many people would have chosen a pink or green binding. Finding ways to use a feminine blue is my passion. I love blue, and I love blue for little girls even more!

Done!!

I finished the green quilt...and I LOVE it! This is one of favorites. The best part for me is the back. I love how the quilt looks pretty from both sides-either side "could" be the front.

I think the blanket is bright & colorful, and super fun for a little girl or boy. Making gender neutral things is really important to me. I think it's so silly that colors are assigned genders. When Mr. {D} was about 3 years old, he wanted a pair of purple shoes SO bad! Well, try explaining, they don't make purple boy shoes, only girl ones, to a toddler. It was frustrating!

I'll have the quilt with me this weekend at the Independence Day Show if anyone is interested in it.

Weekend!

After taking a look at my studio yesterday, I realized a very, very obvious thing-I need to clean! It's one of the things that keeps getting put off lately.

After everyday care of three kids, homeschooling two kids and then cleaning the house up after a family of five [+pets], I've been burnt out! I crawl into bed and actually fall right asleep. Typically, I lay there for an hour with projects, idea's and things that were said during the day, dancing through my mind, but not lately. I feel asleep with the lights on the other night!

So I have ambitious plans this weekend! I want to get everything back in it's place in the studio, and then finish a few projects I have. A blanket for a friend, 3 more quilts and a few scarves. Yep, I'll have a new line of scarves with me at the next few shows for this Fall.

Loads of fabric that is mostly ironed & folded super nice, but just packed sloppily onto the shelves. Looks like I'll have to reorganize that this weekend. Darn...playing with all my pretty fabrics?

Some folded children's scarves. I am making them for adults and kids. They are patchwork, like my quilts. So if you love my quilts, these are now wearable! I'm really excited about them.

I just signed up for The Independence Day Show on September 19th in downtown, Columbus. The scarves will make their debut there, so come down and say hello. We attended the event last year and it was really fun. Lots of artist, crafters and music!

I found this cool bowl set at a moving sale last weekend. It came with four little dishes. I have been using 2 and the lid to store my pins. It has worked out awesome. Easy to access, and looks pretty too. The best part was they cost me a whopping $0.75!

What plans does your weekend hold?

Quilts are done!

I finished up two more quilts yesterday. Hooray!! The brown one has hand sewn binding. It was able to stitch the binding while teaching the kids about adding with the number one yesterday. My favorite squares feature the dancing foxes. It's a Heather Ross Kokka import fabric. You can't tell from the picture, but it also has dancing frogs and bunnies.

The blue/green one has some cool binding also. After making this bias tape, I wanted to sew it onto everything!

I like that both of these quilts could be for a baby of either gender. I am in love with blue for girls-really, any color besides pink. Don't get me wrong, I like pink too, but overall, baby girl stuff has an overwhelming amount of it! Of course this means, my daughter has declared pink is her favorite color. Isn't that the way it always goes? Lucky for me, my boys like blue!

Today's plan are not too exciting. Mr. {D} has a doctors appointment with an ENT. Hopefully that goes well. The color of the week is red, and we are still working on T's and the numbers zero and one. {L} the littlest giant, is running through the house causing havoc and so happy about it.

What does your week hold for you?

Moo Cards

My new Moo cards arrived late last week-I LOVE them! Moo was offering a free order of their business cards. Total cost was about $6 for shipping.

The cards did have a strip of advertising for moo on the side. I designed the cards so that I could cut them off
[I'll add the strips to my next round of swag bags, as they each have a 15% off coupon]

I will be using the cards as tags for my quilts and sweater balls. Some of the other images will become bookmarks. I love that they showcase my work. I always keep a few in my purse, in case anyone asks what I do. I have regular business cards that are great to pass out, but I like having the option to actually "show" what I do, not just tell someone.

For those of you with kids, or pet babies, moo cards also make great magnets! The thick paper helps them hold up well and look expensive. They make quick & easy gifts to mail to the grandparents. I buy sheets of magnet paper from the craft store. Place the cards over the sticky side, cut out and place on your fridge, or pop in the mail to someone you love.

Check out Moo.com to order a set for yourself!

Quilt tops

Here's a peek at some of the work I've been doing. I'm getting ready for Craftin Outlaws with lots of colorful, fun new quilts. These few have been dancing around in my head for awhile, so it's exciting to see them start to come together. Blue is my favorite color [big surprise, eh?], so I'm slightly partial to the one above. I love knowing that the creations I am making, will someday make a child smile. It makes me feel connected to the world in ways, I would never have imagined. Pretty cool!

Also the show will have a new "kunklebaby item" debut!! I can't tell you what it is yet, shhhh...but I'll drop a few hints closer to the show. What I can say is it's something awesome for the older kunklebaby fans-the kids can't have all the fun!

This quilt features some awesome rocker prints and a few great Japanese imports mixed in too. Love the little pirates above.

This is my neutral blanket. Mostly shades of brown, with a few punches of color.

New Kicks!

The summer has come to an end at our house, {M} is wearing...tennis shoes! The things that make her feet sweating and achy. The things that need tied every four seconds, and fall off one foot every 24 steps. Yes.

Truthfully, I couldn't have been happier about her choice of new shoes. Typically she tried to pick out some hideously sparkly, plastered with a cartoon character [that we don't even watch], pair. YAY-red is lovely baby girl!

This weekend will be our very last before the kids start school. We are planning in taking a trip to COSI [science museum], going for a swim in the yard, and just relaxing. Hanging out and having fun!!

I started working on a few new quilts yesterday and they are fun! I have a really cool, punk/rocker one living on the sewing machine right now. I can't wait to share it! For now you can have a peek at my Lola Quilt. {M} was helping me try and get a better shot of it today.

Happy Weekend Everyone!!

Dancing Dolls Quilt Finished

Some of you might remember when I was working on this quilt a few weeks back. I had finished sewing all the pieces together[using Momo Wonderland fabric] to make the front when I realized it needed....something. I left it in the studio for about 2 weeks unfinished, as I didn't know what to do to finish it. I really liked what I had so far, but I knew it wasn't complete. After setting it aside, I started working on t-shirts, and came across the last few blocks of this great Alexander Henry print with girls from different cultures and/or time periods. PERFECT!

I added 3 blocks to the quilt with different stitches. So happy with the final result! I can't wait until this little creation finds a special girl. It also looks really great hung on the wall as a 3 dimensional art piece.

My dancing dolls quilt is currently available in the Kunklebaby shop.