Shower Gifts Pt. 2

Good Morning, Blogolites!
Well, it's been about a month since my last post which officially makes me the worst blogger in the entire blogosphere.  In my defense, I've been having a wonderful summer.  Lots of tennis and grilling and hanging out on the porch.  We also did a lot of home improvement type stuff such as replace the water heater (excitement), get a new fridge (with an ice maker!) and have some landscaping done.  Anyway, back-to-school is fast approaching so I better finish up these shower posts before the baby goes off to college. 

Part two is going to be a baby changing set.  It consists of a fold-up-able pad and a little pouch to put diapers and wipes in.  I also made a drawstring bag to put everything in which you will see when I post the pics of the finished shower basket.  You can expect that post by Spring 2013, I'd imagine.

The changing pad tutorial was from a blog, homemade by jill.  I liked it because it had a smart little trim around the outside.  I'm a sucker for smart little trims.  For both projects I used this zoo print from Alexander Henry.  Lots of cute little animules to look at while you're wiping poo off your face or whatever kind of trials new parents have to endure. 

It's really just a double sided little blankie with a fleece batting in between the layers for cushiness.  I used polyester batting (I know, the HORROR) because I heard it cleans and dries a lot faster than natural fiber battings.  And, let's face it people, when we're dealing with numbers 1 AND possibly 2, the easier to clean, the better, no?
For this project I learned how to sew on seam binding.  It's a wonderful miraculous invention that let's one finish a seam without hemming and end up with a nice clean edging.  Here I am applying the seam binding:

Like a pro.

FYI, if you are ever trying to make something and you run across some material or technique that you really don't understand, do what I do: YouTube.  There are about a million and one videos on how to do just about everything.  It is YouTube who taught me how to buttonhole, blanket stitch, blind hem, you name it.  I honestly don't know what people did before it.  I guess they asked their mothers.  Since most mothers these days don't sew and mine lives 600 miles away it's good to know that Mother YouTube is always there. 
So here is the finished pad.

Side A

Side B

Sides A & B

There's a little loop and a little button so you can fold it all up and shove it in your diaper bag.  I imagine that new mothers do a lot of shoving of things in bags.  Just a guess.

Fold

Loop/button

Ready for shoving

Now, on to the diaper pouch!  I thought the tutorial at blog called, Noodlehead, was very cute and practical.  The pouch is lined with canvas and has little strap that attaches with velcro.  Easy access because when you need a diaper, you need one NOW.

Mit diapers.

Mit wipes.

Ready for battle.

The diapers I bought were so teeny tiny--for newborns.  I made the pouch bigger for expanding bottom sizes.  Always thinking to the future...
So here's my little set. 

Bring on the poo!

Byeeee!

Shower Gifts Pt. 1

Bibbity bibbity (that's a Family Guy reference)

So for my first shower gift I made these patchwork baby bibs.  I found the tutorial on the Sew She Sews blog here.  It's a great project to use up scraps of fabric (of which I have multitudes).  I used a flannel for the backing which made it nice and soft.  Once you download the template it's a really easy project with lots of room for improvisation. 

More baby stuff to follow!

It's Raining... Babies?

Not quite as catchy as the Weather Girls version but whatevs.

Hallelujah!
I'm here to report on a baby shower that a few of us threw for our good friend Christina.  We had a really fun time planning it and since we decided to have it at someone's house and do the majority of the work ourselves it was extra rewarding.  We think everyone had a really fun time and that the mom-to-be was happy with it.  Here are a few highlights:

Our color theme was green, yellow and grey.   Sara got the flowers from a florist friend and they turned out to be so pretty. 

We had a storybook theme so everything centered around that.  Sara made up some games for people to play.  We got the alphabet cards on Amazon and gave them to Christina after.

And everyone brought their favorite childhood book for the new baby.

We also had a craft for people to do since Christina, and the two of us of course, love crafty things.  We supplied plain onesies that people could applique their own design on. 

I was in charge of most of the food.  For apps we had a little table with cheeses, fruit, rosemary nuts and spinach cheese squares.

Aren't the flowers gorgeous?  Sara made the yellow runners out of a shower curtain.  Artsy craftsy!

For the main course I made chinese pasta salad with peanut sauce and a shrimp and mango salad in endive.  The highlight was the samosas that I bought from Christina's (and my) favorite Indian restaurant.

  Yes yes yes!

For dessert I made a baklava and carrot cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.  I got these little paper wrappers off of Etsy.  

Wrapped but with bare heads!

Frosted.

I could just lick the screen.  But that would be gross.

I decided to top off the cupcakes with little storybook flags. I got some old children's books from the book shop in the public library.

Then I went through them picking out the illustrations that would fit in my hole punch.

It's the Poky Little Puppy!

 I love Richard Scarry.

So I just punched them out.

 Until I had a whole slew of 'em.

Then I glued them onto toothpicks. I had a picture on the front and text on the back.

Here is how the dessert table looked.

Sara made up the sweetest little favors for everyone.  It was a mini Envirosax bag with an Orla Kiley notebook.  Then she got pens with each guest's initial on the top.  

A good time was had by all but I think the best part was in the planning and doing.  Christina's friend Kara supplied her house for the festivities and our other friend, Christina (aka as "other Christina") helped get supplies and prizes for the games.  We had so much fun coming up with ideas and bringing them to life.  And I guess it worked because Christina now has a beautiful, healthy girl. 

More on my gifts to her in an upcoming post.

Byeeeee!

Birdie

Good morning!
In a previous post I mentioned a quilt I had made for Ruth's baby, Babs.  This was made two years ago before she was born but, hey, better late than never to post it, right? 

The pattern I used was one by Barbara Brandenburg.  You can purchase the pattern on her website here.  It's called: Birdie Big Blocks.

I had to find a bunch of different fabrics for all the birds and their various parts.  It was quite a task picking them all out.  My favorite fabrics came from a collection by Heather Ross called West Hill.  Her stuff is just so cool.

Heather Ross's frog fabric in the front.

From the same collection: tadpoles and froggies in jars!

The retro dots are from Amy Butler.

I have a fabric problem.

So anyway, the quilt was very easy to make because most of it was done by making appliques.  No cutting of a bajillion little squares.  I brought it home with me and my mom helped me finish it and put the binding on.  I ended up just tying it rather than quilting it because a) I'm lazy and b) I didn't want to quilt over the cute birds.
And here it is!

I really like how the pinks and grays stand out on it even though there is a lot of yellow. 

Here are some birdie detail shots.

tweet.

tweet.

tweet tweet!

I hope this quilt stays with her for long time and that she loves it as much as I loved making it.  

Byeeeee!