A Gift for Erin

In keeping with my plan to make all gifts, I decided to make my dear friend Erin something for her birthday. The only problem was I had no idea what to make that she would use or appreciate. She recently started a Stroller Strides program and our friend Bethany suggested I make a water bottle holder. I found a great little tutorial and whipped one up for her. The bottle and caribiner were supplied by our other friend Lauren, and wallah!: a perfect gift.

The inside is green felt and it has a thin layer of batting in between
the outside fabric and the lining. Per the tutorial, I quickly quilted some
lines in a variety of thread colors to spruce it up a bit.

It is a snug fit, but I think it turned out really good.
The tutorial was very simple and easy to follow.

Let's Go Racin', Boys!

Several months ago my friend Sharon shared a link to a tutorial for a lap-sized race track. I knew I wanted to make at least one. It took me a while to get around to it, but thanks to some super cute race car fabric that was part of an amazing stash of fabric I inherited, I finally made not one, not two, but three race tracks recently. One was for Leif's buddy Max's birthday, another was for his friend Rayan's birthday and the third one was for Leif -finally. Sharon had given me a head's up that the tutorial was junk, so I didn't follow it at all and just went for it on my own after looking at the photos. I was very pleased with the results. Not sure if Max and Rayan love theirs, but Leif plays with his at home, on his lap in the car, at the doctor's office....

Here are a few shots:With the cars in the pockets. Leif's has 4 pockets large enough for 2 cars each.
The other 2 I did, had 5 pockets, but only room for 1 car each.

Here's a shot of the big race!

Close-up of the track and the handles.

A Kermit that Never was....

Leif was supposed to be a super hero for Halloween. Or a pirate. But 2 weeks ago he announced that he would be Kermit the Frog. No idea where that idea came from, but it stuck. For days he would ask me where his green frog suit was. He was so excited about it. He and daddy would look at pictures and videos of Kermit and the Muppets on the computer. We taught him to say, "It's not easy being green." And then I finally came up with a plan and a vision of how to create a homemade toddler Kermit costume. It took me a couple of days to finish, but it turned out great. I was so proud of myself.

And he wouldn't wear it. It was "too scary" he said. The closest we got was the hat for a little while on a couple of occasions.

So, here is the Kermit suit that wasn't meant to be. Oh and what did he end up wearing to the big party and Trick or Treating? His ghost suit from last year!

One of very few shots of him actually wearing the hat.

At our neighbor's costume party.
Mom was Miss Piggy, Dad was Animal and Leif was Kermit - sort of.

I AM A QUILTER

I am a quilter, I am a quilter, I am a quilter. This is my new mantra. I have been so focused on non-quilt projects that I feel I have lost my quilter identity!

No photos this post but I have some updates on what I have been working on:

~Craft Fair projects are DONE! For the past 2 or 3 months I have been working (albeit slowly) on several items for a small Honolulu Mommies Craft Fair. I made 15 Crayon Pouches, 14 I Spy Bags and 12 Trick or Treat Bags. In addition, I cut 200+ pennants for some banners/decorations for the Craft Fair/Halloween Party.

~Birthday Gifts. Yes, I have been true to my goal of making all gifts. This goal was made in August and so far I have made 12 toddler birthday gifts and 1 birthday gift for Cory. Photos of some of them will be up soon. I made: 3 Crayon Pouches, 1 Colored Pencil Pouch, 1 Monster, 1 Bag of Jelly Beans, 1 Backpack of Jelly Beans, 2 Race Tracks, and 3 I Spy Bags. For Cory I made a fabric Accordian Album with photos of him and Leif. It's not quite done, but will be by tomorrow, I hope. I also have 2 Super Hero Capes in the works.

~Not to leave poor Leif boy out, I just finished a Race Track for him and I have a Super Hero Cape in the works and Jelly Bean Bags, too. The cape will be done in a week or two and the Jelly Beans, who knows? It's ok, though, I think he has forgotten about them.

Side note: the race tracks are seriously super cool and I can't wait to post photos. I am over-the-top thrilled with how they turned out. And I just looked at some photos of one, didn't use a real pattern or tutorial. Can you tell I'm pleased with myself?

~I have started early on Christmas this year and have completed one Pa'u (Hawaiian hula skirt) for my niece Sophie and have one more to make for my niece Dorothy.

~ Haven't started it yet, but Leif is insisting on being Kermit the Frog for Halloween. No idea where that came from, but tomorrow I am on the hunt for a green hoody so I can get his costume done by next Wednesday.

So that may give you all a clue as to why I'm not feeling like much of a quilter these days. But, I did finish the stipling on the "Strip Off" quilt I am working on and have started quilting the inner blocks. Cory would be thrilled if I could get that done before I start anything else. But, alas, I have to start on two adorable quilts for my friend Tiffany's two little boys. They are leaving the island in December so I must get cracking. And then there's Christmas gifts to make and since I am expecting another boy in March I will very busy with quilts and such for him.

One quilting related item, though - I did attend a sewing workshop yesterday for Comfort Quilts. These quilts are made for the children of deployed soldiers. The project is sponsored by the YMCA and is all done with donations and volunteers. I really enjoyed myself - hanging out with quilters was super cool, especially since it has been so long - and I hope to make it to all their monthly workshops.

Well, that's about it. I promise to post some photos soon.

Bag of Jelly Beans

Our little friend Lilea just had her first birthday and since I am attempting to make all gifts right now, I decided to make her a bag of Jelly Beans. I got the idea from the Purl Bee and used their tutorial for the beans and the super cute, gussetted drawstring bag.

I thought they turned out great. I also made a second set and instead of a drawstring bag made a little backpack. This set is for our other friend Makaela who is having her 2nd birthday in a few weeks. I have a set to make for Leif as well.

So, I am doing pretty good with all the gift making, for now at least. We have about a million birthdays the next several months, so I am up to my ears in crayon pouches and I Spy Bags. Not to mention the fact that I am preparing a modest inventory for a holiday craft fair next month. Quilting, is that what I do? Oh I forgot. I've been so sidetracked by all the other projects...

Birthday Gifts

With the state of things at the moment, I have decided to make gifts as much as possible. We had three birthdays this weekend, so I had a lot of work to do. I made a monster and these cute little gifts for two of our neighborhood friends.

An I Spy Bag for Cailynn's first birthday:
My mom made one for Leif's first Christmas and although he wasn't really into it at the time, he really enjoys playing with it now and it makes it into the chruch bag of quiet toys every week. So, using the one we had as a guide, I made this one for Cailynn. I was able to find enough little things just around the house and had some leftover ladybug flannel and red felt for the front and back. For the plastic windows, I cut the back off a view binder and used that.


A Colored Pencil Pouch for Carissa:
I was able to use fabric and ribbon from my stash and just had to get a pack of pencils. I was going to include a coloring book, but wasn't happy with the selection at the store, so I skipped that. The pockets for the pencils are large enough to accommodate one or two pencils. I also embroidered her name on a piece of yellow felt and attached that to the ribbon, but forgot to take a picture of that before we gave her the gift last night. Oops. But trust me, it looked really cute.

Might Be A Monster....

"Might be a monster..." This is what Leif says whenever I ask if he knows who did something. For example:
Mom: "Leif, do you know who dumped out all these blocks and didn't pick them up?"
Leif: "Might be a monster, mama."

So anyway, this little creature I just made for our friend Belle's first birthday might be a monster. I used a pattern from Revoluzza, which a fellow Honolulu Mommy, Sharon, had shared with me several months ago. I think she turned out pretty cute, but the next ones I make will be a bit bigger I think. And I think she looks a little owl-ish. But that has inspired me to try to make one that is, in fact, an owl.

A little monster tooth.

Brown satin bow and polka dot pants.

And a little heart heart on her bum.