With a gigantic pile of thanks to my knitting helpers, Michelle, Emily and Cate, Make-a-long Chapter 5 with knitting patterns is ready to go! Olive’s sporting a pleated jumper that buttons up the back and a snazzy kerchief with neckband to keep it in place and Archie is looking dapper in his new sweater vest. What are they up to in these new outfits? Take a peek…
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with boys playing with bunnies in dresses but some moms were asking after a boy outfit…
Thanks for the house congrats! Before I get too swept up in house stuff (if that’s at all possible) I really want to focus on some wee wonderfuls projects first. Today it’s 30 degrees in Chicago but I swear it feels like 60. I’m not sure if it’s just being out of whack because of the frigid temps we’ve been having or because I’m a baby oven but I’m definitely feeling Spring-ish sensations. So how about some Spring Stitchettes talk. I was thinking it’d be super fun to get idea submissions from you stitchers out there. Maybe your son or daughter would make the perfect stitchette? I need 4 more activities, colors, hair styles, outfits and names. I’m thinking 2 boys and 2 girls again. I don’t want to repeat letters, so far B, H, W, E, P, F, C, I, R, S, A and T have been used. I’ve got a few ideas cooking that I really want to squeeze in there, birds and flowers and maypoles and other Spring things but I’d love to hear what you’d like to see.
We’ve found a wall for all Junebaby’s doll quilts! And it’s attached to a pretty nice 1958 ranch house that we went and bought for ourselves this weekend. Well, have agreed to buy for ourselves for the next 30 years. We’re feeling very lucky. It’s got so much we were looking for…a well taken care of, one owner home, some nice original mid-century mod touches left alone, updated things you want updated (roof, furnace, etc) and all the space we were hoping for – a room for each of us and an extra for the crafts. A nice funky full basement, cute yard with great trees, a wonderful grade school. It definitely needs work, especially in the kitchen/bathroom departments. And it is in the deep burbs, which must be the reason my 16 year old self is in there kicking and screaming and why I feel a bizarre urge to smoke clove cigarettes and dye my hair purple. But I think even teenaged Hillary will have to give in when she sees Oscar happily running amok in the safety of his nice suburban fenced in yard. I can’t believe we’re going to have a yard! Oscar has decided he’s going to plant bread.
Thanks everybody for your house hunting advice. Looking back, everything seemed to have happened for a reason. Guess you have to see 50 houses to know the right one when you see it. And when to know to act fast!
but I’m inside working on my flower garden…
I like to show pics of new supplies…new exciting exotic supplies. But these things I picked up this weekend are a very accurate representation of what’s going on around here so what the heck…
Bland pancake. Absolutely nothing is new. Same cold snowy weather, same stuck in the house with a toddler suffering, same no house for us anywhere story, same old.
I am doing some paper piecing. A slow pokey project for a slow pokey life.
I finished the first doll quilt. I’m in serious love with this quilt that Jen showed from the Tokyo International Quilt Festival and so I thought I’d try a teeny tiny version of it. At first I
really wanted to totally recreate it as best I could, have lots of super tiny blocks, do the same quilting design, etc. It quickly became apparent making super elaborate tiny quilts wasn’t where I wanted to go. Then I was listening to this Alex Anderson podcast Jen sent me to on doll quilts and the gal she was interviewing was talking about how doll quilts were always made very quickly and were often quite basic because they were meant to be played with by children. And that sounded a lot more on the money to me. So I made bigger squares, did real simple machine quilting and used twill tape for binding. I always have a hard time with the intentionally imperfect look but I think it turned out cute. I dig it. It’s tiny though, 15″ x 18″. Next one should be bigger. One down!
Thanks for the Stitchette love the past 2 days! I’ve been to the post office 3 times since yesterday and they should be landing at their destinations shortly. Next on the horizon, the snowsuits. And then the make-a-long knitting patterns. Speaking of which, I’m looking for a very nitpicky knitter with some time on her hands, any takers?
A captivating gang of 24 huggable, lovable creatures to sew—from classics like Margot, a topsy-turvy doll, and the button-jointed teddy bear Bjorn Bjornson, to irresistible Evelyn, a wool felt inchworm decked out in mod glasses and a kerchief, and Koji, a fiercely cute spiked softie monster. There’s something for everyone here—from kids to grown-ups and from beginning sewers to advanced dollmakers. Published by STC Craft, August, 2010.
