And then there were three

First there were pear pincushions, next came the giant pear pillow, well now I've gone and made a mini-pear ornament! I adore the wonderful retro Michael Miller Christmas tree prints, and as I've mentioned before, I'm already feeling that holiday spirit so these fit the bill quite nicely. I plan to have pear ornaments available in my etsy shop as soon as I decide whether to sell them individually or in sets. What do you think? They're 4" tall and I can fit two in a box. Three is a nicer number for a set, though, alas...

My favorite part is the ric rac hanger. Love the ric rac. And now I need to go two things:

a) Go shut the back door. Somebody (the kids) seem to think that it's perfectly fine to leave the door open when it's 45 degrees outside.

b) Make a bunch more of these ornaments; I've got lots of Christmas prints and several yards of red ric rac begging to be put to use.

Happy Wednesday!
Kim

visions of sugarplums

Continuing in the trend of making things for my family, I've embarked on sewing a quilt for my elder son (to be followed, of course, by a quilt for the younger, although hopefully, unlike the afghan I started for him, fully complete and not just 3/4 of the way). Using the flock of triangles pattern from this book, I customized the fabrics to reflect his favorite things: lots of color, and lots of typefaces. Joey has been obsessed with books since infancy, so it was an easy decision to incorporate book inspired prints for his first quilt. Maybe it will keep him from removing all the clothes from his dresser drawers to read the fake antique newspaper printed on the drawer bottoms. Probably not, but a gal can dream.

Just a peek, because I haven't finished piecing it yet

I used 21 prints and solids for the quilt, which seemed daunting at first, but after making stacks from my fabric stash I ended up actually having to pare down the selection from about 35 prints. Michael Miller has this knack of using colors that go with practically everything, including many prints from other manufacturers. Amy Butler has the same knack, and you may be able to spot some of her polka dot prints in there as well.

Anyway, I hope to have both quilts finished in time for Christmas. I'm planning to have a homemade/handmade holiday this year and I'd love to hear about your handmade holiday plans, too! We finally gave up on the big tree with breakable ornaments--it just doesn't mix well with 4 dogs and 2 rowdy boys, so we're having a small tree (located way, way up high on a shelf), with homemade paper and fabric ornaments. There will be loads of paper snowflakes and other handmade decorations and hopefully plenty of real snow. And cookies. Lots and lots of cookies.

Happy Holiday Dreaming!
Kim

A little of this, a little of that

We've lived at our new house for almost 3 months now, and though I can't claim to have unpacked all the boxes, at least I can say I have done something toward decorating the boys' playroom. Inspired by this bookshelf, I found a cube shelving unit and fabric boxes at Target, some ridiculously inexpensive vintage children's books on ebay, paintbrushes and Mod Podge from a local craft shop, a sunny day, and went for it.

There isn't very much natural light down in the basement, but you get the idea.

I didn't fuss with painting the bookshelf, mostly out of laziness, though I imagine I will end up having to do so in the future when the boys ding this one up, as is the fate of all of our furniture.

Their favorite part? Pulling out the bins to see if there are pictures behind them. (again, and again, and again, in fact they immediately pull the bins out every single time Mommy puts them on the shelves...)

Tomorrow's Lesson: Putting the Bins Back on the Shelves

Also finished this week, a drawstring backpack I made for a trade

The bag is fully lined, the pocket has a button closure, and I got to use one of my favorite fabric combos ever, Amy Butler's Linen Morning Glory and Cherry Full Moon Polka Dot prints. I love how the polka dots travel diagonally on the bias trim

Well, it's a lovely fall day and the swingset beckons....Hope everyone has an autumn-y week!

Tagged!

Yay, I've been "tagged"! I love reading fun facts about crafty bloggers, and now I get to share a few things with you and hopefully learn something new about some other gals who blog, thanks to BackwoodSophisticate. The rules are below:

1. Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share seven facts about yourself on your blog – some random, some weird.
3. Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs.

My list of random facts:

1. I was a bit of a sprinting/jumping prodigy in middle school; 100m, 200m, long jump, and 4x100 relay.
2. I didn't like going to fabric stores until college. Now I can't stop fabric shopping.
3. I love blackberry cobbler.
4. I don't eat tomatoes. Except BBQ sauce. I craved BBQ potato chips when I was pregnant with my first kiddo, but only the ruffled kind.
5. My eyes change colors. They are somewhere between grey, green, and blue. My husband calls them "mood eyes".
6. I'm allergic to cats.
7. I have lived in 20% of the states in the United States: Washington, Colorado, Minnesota, California, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, New York, Oregon, Georgia, and Wisconsin (yes, in that order--and an even more impressive tidbit: my parents were not in the military, nor on the run from the authorities)

Here are the 7 people that I'm tagging:

Amy Crankypants
Kirsten kirsten*can
Joyce Joyce Makes Art
Jennifer Deckled Edge Bindery
Maria Made By Maria
Crystal Crysto
Leah Whiffy Bean Bags