Crafting with Children

T - Have you taken a look at the blog, Crafty Crow? I use it quite a bit, mind you, Jake is not the least bit interested in any type of crafting unless it involves some sort of dangerous equipment - glue gun, staplers, needles, etc. The Crafty Crow collects crafts by holiday and by age of the children so you get crafts for all levels.

I've used the ideas many times in the role of Jake's room mom and Nicki uses it for her kids in school too. My goal this summer is for Jake to keep a journal of all the summer activities that we do - once I'm on vacation that is.

Little Birds

We had a baby shower last week at work and the mom-to-be is doing a nature theme in the nursery. She was inspired and wanted to make this bird mobile but was running out of time.

To the rescue came my work quilt group, who secretly conspired to create the flock of birds you see below.


Quilters were asked to make just one bird but if you try the pattern, you'll see, it soon becomes addictive! What will the next combination of fabric look like? How can I personalize it best?

The mom-to-be was surprised and delighted and the little baby she will soon have, I'm sure will be enchanted as well with the cotton flock.

If you make the birds, here's a few points I would add:

• machine or hand sewing works fine, but at the top of the neck, sew just a little further along the head for a smooth line.
• turn under the tail seam before stuffing for a smoother finished look.

Julie has an awesome baby blog too. I absoujtely love her tree decals.

Did you see?

T - have you seen anything cuter? I think your new babe needs a pair of these! Information is over at the Purlbee.

Blogger's Quilt Festival

Let's take part in the Blogger's Quilt Festival!

I've been quilting for about fifteen years with stops and starts along the way. I've shared my love of quilting and sewing with my co-workers - bringing in quilts and talking about projects. Last summer, I took part in the Old Red Barn quilt-a-long and thought - wouldn't it be fun to do a quilt-a-long at work?

The seed was sewn and our little group started out - we made our first quilt and started a blog. The quilt above, is the second in our series. Inspiration came from another blog, Crazy Mom Quilts.

The quilt above is a reminder to me of how proud I am of the sewers that form our group. They cover a wide variety of ages and experiences, new sewers among them. The group is like a child - I worry about their set-backs, and laugh with delight when they overcome an obstacle. As they teeter towards quilting maturity, I see their confidence grow; they are an inspiration to me. It reminds me of how quilting has inspired creativity in others along with kinship ... friendship.

The group is entering their teen years now, they've brushed off the toddler and elementary stages - they're sewing baby bibs, stuffed birds and owls, and even hand quilting! This fall, we'll be taking on our first color experiment this fall. I can't wait to see what they turn out.

Big Sister Gift

A friend of mine told me she had her new baby give his big brother a gift when they came home from the hospital and it really helped minimize jealousy, etc. I was inspired to knit a gift for Baby D to give to Olivia. O's really into buttons, snaps, zippers, and tying shoes right now, so I modified a pattern from "The Best Dressed Knitted Bear" by Emma King (http://www.amazon.com/Best-Dressed-Knitted-Bear-Patterns-Accessories/dp/0307453820)

I'll let you know if it does the trick or not!

How does my garden grow?

Last weekend, gardening work was in high gear. Jacob helped me string lights....

The husband helped build two beds based on Uncle Joe's garden domain...

We moved mulch and dirt...

And, the boy discovered that he finally weighed enough to drive the tractor! He drove the entire weekend project list; every time we wanted to rest, he would say "c'mon mom, let's go" all for the love of tractor driving.

We finished the major projects we had outlined but alas, the sun is not shining for pictures. More to come!

I Finally Did It!

Do you remember me telling you about this shawl when it first appeared in the Knit Picks catalog eons ago? Well, I have been lusting after it for months. I finally got the courage to order it. I may be in way over my head, though! I'm not a shawl person, so I'm planning to frame it and hang it over the fire place. BTW, I have plans for the fire place too. I'm going to paint those awful granite stones and pink grout...white.

Oh, I don't get to start this project until January 1, 2011 and hope to be done with it by December 31, 2011.