Calling all Quilters

Or anyone else that might have an opinion on this.

I have been putting off making this quilt for months now, in fact it has been so long, the fabrics I chose aren't even around anymore. I thought I would wait until we either got into a new house that could fit a real crib, or until Luke upgraded to a toddler bed. As I have mentioned before, I have been desperately hanging onto the baby of my baby, but night after night of Luke climbing out of his crib repeatedly and us having to put him back into it repeatedly, we figured it was time to make the switch..  Anyhow, I have finally pieced this thing together, a much more tedious process than I anticipated, but I am really excited about it, and think when Luke has his own room that isn't borrowed from my brother, it will look great.

Now what I need help with...Katie, Brooke, Kelly, Carrie, my experienced quilter friends, and like I said, anyone else that wants to offer an opinion, what color should I chose for the binding and backing?  I have an idea for the back, but I want more feedback, and as for the binding, I'm stumped.

This is the adorable bed and boy to which it will go to:

And the quilt in progress:

In advance, I "thank you" for your suggestions.

A day in

One of the joys of not having a car is the inability to go anywhere. Luckily I had a few things to do to keep me busy and happy.

First up, baking my favorite, one time a year only, sugar cookies. Luke helped me with the first batch. After he lost interest, he found fun in stealing my rolling pin, over and over again.

I love all baked goods, but sugar cookies are some that I can't resist, even after having three. I'm pretty sure there is something addicting in them, maybe it is the soft fluffy texture, or the yummy almond cream cheese flavored frosting? Whatever it is, the last time I made them was during my 9th month of pregnancy with Luke, not really caring about the hundreds of calories I consumed daily. Knowing the problem I have of self control, I have talked myself out of making them several times. But with a new baby born and valentines around the corner, I gave in.

I tried to share my love of cookies with my boy, but even disguised as his favorite animal, he turned them down.

And a plate for my friend Andi who just had a new baby. This was the second batch I had to frost after my dad kept sneaking cookies from the plate. As always, he pleaded ignorant.

And lastly, a couple baby kimonos. I really love this Martha Stewart pattern. It's super easy and so cute on both boys and girls. I mostly love that the top can grow with the baby. Three quarter sleeves on a baby are so precious.

Marking the last

And this, I'm happy about. I love sewing, I love making new clothes, but what I don't love is my working space. I won't miss sitting on a bar stool, sewing on a 12' inch wide counter, packing up each time I want to make lunch or dinner, cutting fabric on the floor, accidentally turning on my cook-top when I set down my scissors, ironing in the middle of the kitchen, and finding thread in my food. 

I had Tom take these photos so I can always keep things in perspective. I can't wait for my own work space. A must have in our hunt for a new house.

And I had to get one more easy project in before I boxed her up. My friend Amy gave me some of her gauzy plaid fabric that I had been drooling over for weeks, and I couldn't wait to make something out of it, even amidst the boxes and mess. Luckily BBW's pattern #3835 is a snap. It's simple base provides so many options for different and unique tops, tunics, and dresses. It's my favorite of her patterns, and it only took me a couple of hours.

The lightweight loose style and fabric

of the shirt will be great for summer and layered with a light cardigan, perfect for spring.

Fall projects

It probably seems like I gave up sewing, it's been quite some time since I have posted anything I have made. But really I like to post everything at once. The intent is to pressure myself into meeting a silly deadline, but lately it really hasn't seemed to work. And it isn't because I haven't been sewing, I just am now taking a couple weeks to finish a project instead of a few hours. Too many holiday activities, too much running around, and really I am just too lazy. But I have managed to squeeze out a few things over the last couple months.

Dress # 1

This is inspired by a couple of things. I would say most of the clothes I sew are inspired by A.P.C., one of my favorite brands. Simple, and unfussy. This particular A.P.C. knockoff actually was a shirt that I thought would make a great dress. I used an old vintage pattern, and made several adjustments. I also wanted to give the dress sort of a vintage feel so I chose a replicated feedsack print I found in Utah while fabric shopping with my friend Kelly.

I will say though, as much as I love dresses, I love layering even more. I prefer most of my dresses with something over them. Much more interesting.

Dress # 2

This dress is inspired by a Phillip Lim 3.0 dress I found on ebay. Unfortunately it was too fancy and overpriced but I loved its pleated cream bib and plaid fabric. I wanted to make something similar but a little longer and with fabric that reminded me of fall. Katie actually found this fabric first but after I saw it, I knew it was exactly what I had in mind for it. The tough part was tracking down a JoAnn's that actually had more than a half a yard. I finally found some in Arizona and had it shipped. I like how it turned out but of course I would change a million things if I were to make it again.

Dress # 3

I have to preface by saying, I'm not crazy about the fabric either. Last year I saw an A.P.C. corduroy dress that I really liked, but like all dresses, it was just too short. I later saw another dress by them that was in a floral corduroy. Subtle, but nice. So since then, I have been looking forward for fall so I could make myself one. Again I found myself at JoAnn's while I was in Utah and while browsing the corduroys I apparently was possessed and bought the craziest floral pattern in the bunch. I knew after they cut it I had made a terrible choice but I went ahead with it anyway. I don't hate it, I just wish it wasn't so florally.

I used another vintage pattern for the skeleton of the dress. I added an inset with tucks, buttons, and cuffed sleeves. Unfortunately the fabric pattern hides all of the details I like so much about this dress.

I will probably only wear it layered with a black sweater.

& Shirt

This was actually a birthday gift for my sister. And I did make it in a few hours. This plaid was actually what I initially bought for my bib dress, but it just didn't seem right for it. I thought a shirt/tunic would be cuter. I used the same vintage pattern for the first dress but with several different adjustments. I thought it needed a little something extra so I also added a peter pan collar inspired by Jenny from Wiksten. She has a tutorial for the collar that you can find here. It's a little tedious but worth the effort. I love how it turned out.

Break needed

Just a few days off. The dress I am working on is stressing me out. I thought making some of these little guys would cheer me up. And they have.

They so remind me of all the Sanrio characters I love so much. Hence, the My Melody wannabe with the pink ears. I might be one of the only grown adults that still collects Hello Kitty paraphernalia. Every time I see the Hello Kitty waffle iron, phone, and alarm clock I try to imagine in my head how I could make it work with the mid-century decor we have going on. Even if I have a little girl someday, I can't see myself or Tom letting me decorate her room in pink (my favorite color) and hello kitty, even though I LOVE it. So instead, I will have little things like these as accents in my life. A little felt animal here, a hello kitty watch there, you know.

If you want to make yourself one of these cuties, they come from this book. I picked it up when I was visiting Chicago last spring, but procrastinated actually doing something with it. Glad I finally did, they're addicting.