Baby sewing projects : #1

I have made so many things in this last crazy month, as I wait for my little one (only 12 more days to go!)

There is no way I'm going to find time to sit and blog them all - but I want to get them up before I lose track of details.  If you want any extra info on anything, I have some info in the flickr links.  And feel free to ask questions.

All my bloggy friends out there - I haven't been reading for at least the past month.  So forgive me for not commenting on all the cool things I'm sure you're doing.

Some super fun tea and chocolate holders I made for the hostesses of my showers - and a couple more were made for teacher gifts:







The Lola Bag Diaper Bag - I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!  Made with some Echino and quilting cottons that I have been hoarding for the last four years:











The start of my cloth diaper sewing craze:

....most of the patterns can be found at this awesome web site: prefold2fitted.blogspot.com









(My serging is getting much better!)






(This was my very first cloth diaper - horrbile serging but still so cute!)


And one last photo today - Pulled my sticks back out and made a knit wool soaker.

My New {Serger}!

Look what the UPS guy left for me!

I was thinking about it for ages, then my birthday came, and I finally went for it.  I think my Bernina training class did the most to make me feel like I could use this strange, chopping thing.  I figured that if I could understand how to fix the guts, certainly I could make it stitch things together without slicing off my fingers.



Of course, with a baby girl on the way, my birthday also included lots of wonderful pink stuff.



And there was much fun with the tissue paper....



.....almost as much fun as fitting my new toy perfectly onto a shelf in my sewing room.

Now I just have to learn how to use it!  I've pinned a whole ton of stuff, scoured blogs, checked out a book - and I'll be sure to share all the new things I learn.



First up, I was planning on making some fuzzy PJ pants for Becket.  I could use several new skills on them, and being just PJs, wouldn't have to worry about them looking perfect.

My trip to Target this morning turned up exactly what I needed for them!  I found this 62x90" micro fleece blanket on the clearance shelf, only $7.48 for 2.5yards of super soft fabric.  Way better than JoAnn's with a coupon, and perfect for my first try at serging a piece of clothing.



Two of the boys were miserably sick with flu aches last week.  In between drink refills and movie changes, I actually pulled out some of my longest hoarded, most favorite fabrics.  And Cut. Them. Up.

I need a cool diaper bag for this summer!

Baby Shower Quilt {Finished}

This is the third time I've made Amy Smart's Mod Churn Dash, and I love it every time!

This was made as a baby shower gift for a friend, who was due in December.  What could be better than some summer citrus blocks to brighten up the cold months?

It was a lovely baby shower - for Jenny's 6th baby.  We gathered for an evening, and started it with a rosary together, for the intentions Jenny wished. We didn't play any goofy games, and had fun with the one request Jenny made.  It was to go around the room and offer her our favorite boy and girl names, along with the most funny movies we could think of, for watching during labor.



I picked out favorite pink, yellow, orange, and greens.  FMF green tiles made the perfect binding.

I like sewing my labels right into the pieced quilt back.  If I left it to the end and had to attach it by hand later, it would only get done about 5% of the time!

What I usually do, before I baste the quilt together, is write it out with a Pilot Fixation pen to make sure I spell everything correctly and don't have spacing issues.  Then, I go over it with a Sharpie and with a hot iron, erase the Fixation and set the Sharpie.



I've given up on trying to wrap my quilts, and go with a cute roll instead.  I usually fold it in thirds, then roll it up neatly and tie it with a length of matching fabric.

For Jenny, I also added a little burp cloth I tried out. Worked really well, and I think I'll be making a bunch for myself.