I'm Back....

So my last blog entry was in December. Bad, I know. I've been a little busy. The holidays, Leif's birthday being mega-pregnant, having a baby, having a 1 month a old, a 2 month old.... you get the picture. But Kian is now almost 5 months old and things are pretty settled, or as settled as can be with a 3 1/2 year old and a 5 month old. I have a ton of projects to post (some from before the baby and some since - yes, I've actually managed to get some sewing done.) So, I am going to spend this week getting caught up, if I can.

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a.....

Caped Super Hero!

I recently completed 4 capes for Leif's best buddies - two for superheros and two for princesses.

My original attempt looked an awful lot like a Dracula cape so, the night before the party, I scrapped it and started over using a combination of these two tutorials. I was so pleased with the results that I made the two princess ones a week later. And shhh....Leif will be getting one (superhero, not princess) for Christmas this year. Let's just hope it goes over better than the Kermit costume!

One for Ray.

And one for Ronan. Both were lined with blue.

Super Ray! Ro wasn't interested in wearing his at the party, but that's ok - there was a lot going on!

And for the two Princesses, I did flower wands with sparkly button centers and ribbons hanging down. Azure had to have purple, of course, with butterflies inside and I did a pretty pink with sweet peas inside for Julia.

For Princess Azure.

For Princess Julia.

Two pretty, pretty princesses.

Ahhhh, the Craft Fair!

Let it be known to one and all that I will never be a professional crafter! I recently participated in a Honolulu Mommies Craft Fair (in conjunction with our annual Halloween Party.) It was a lot of work and I learned that once you take something that you enjoy and do it for work, that's what it becomes: work. I learned a lot and am happy with what I was able to sell (I made enough money to be able to make Baby Boo a few quilts), but it is not something I will repeat. It was fun to work with my friends when we would get together to work on our goods and it was so fun to see what everyone created, but the fair itself was a bit of a let down. I won't go into details of why, but in the end it wasn't what any of us wanted it to be. That's ok.

I made I Spy Bags, Trick or Treat Bags and Crayon Pouches. Here are a few photos of my table.

I Spy Bags (and no, I won't make one for you!
They were a pain in the booty to make.
If you really want one, Etsy has lots to choose from, lol!)

Trick or Treat Bags

Crayon Pouches - some with elastic and some with ribbon.

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.