cupcakes!

Recently, our close friends had a baby (Yay, Shannon & Jerrid!) and their theme for her room is cupcakes. . . so of course I had to contribute! I've made rag quilts before but this was my first foray into the world of applique. I drew out the cupcake onto cardstock (and erased it so many times I wore through the paper) then cut them out in pieces. I used my old-school Singer sewing machine (given to me by my husband's grandma soon after we were married -- and I LOVE IT!) to "draw" on the frosting lines and affix the cupcake cups, then sewed the whole thing together. I wanted a more finished look to the edges so I put on the border pieces instead of just ragging the edges -- I've done both types of edging and like both about the same. Then into the dryer to begin the ragging.

They also wanted a couple of crocheted cupcakes for her decor so I made 4 little cupcakes, each one topped differently. I think my fave is still the swirled frosting with sparkly sprinkles.

And because I think that every little girl deserves a cupcake on her birthday, I made her this little cupcake hat. I was planning to bring it to the hospital when we went to visit her but she decided to make her appearance a little early and we were out of town. My friend Valerie saved the day and brought it to her for me.

I love that they love cupcakes as much as I do -- I had a complete blast making all this cupcake stuff. Mmmmm, cupcakes.......time for a bakery run.

a baby shower

Recently my mom and I had the pleasure of throwing a baby shower for our close friend Valerie. She was expecting her 3rd little boy (who has since arrived safe and sound, and adorable!!!) and she had most everything she really needed for the baby but I personally believe that every baby deserves a shower, no matter how many siblings he or she has, so we themed our party around restocking her diaper bag. They had no idea what to name this little guy, and no big plans for decorating his room, but Valerie wanted teal and green incorporated somehow . . . so we ran with it! I sewed the flag banners the day before the party using cloth fat quarters and bias tape. We held the party in the back room of our church (since most of the invitees attend there, we wanted a central location that was large enough for everyone . . . and the place was packed!) My mom made the blue and green puffs to hang from the ceiling and we tacked up the banners in different places. Valerie also has a deep love for argyle, so the invitations (oops, photo of those to come) were argyle paper diaper bags. And since it was a brunch party, we had fruit and juices and we made muffins and frosted them with cream cheese. The diamonds are blue and green fruit roll ups cut up and the stripes were just more cream cheese dyed with neon food coloring. The invitations explained how this was a shower to restock the diaper bad and listed ideas of things to put in it. Mom and I picked out a diaper bag set for her and were able to find it in her colors . . . score!

We were really happy with how the shower turned out! And I love the colors . . . I dreamed in teal and green for weeks afterwards!

I really wanted to do a blanket for her that fit with her argyle-ness and that was in the teal and green, but I couldn't find anything online in the way of a pattern. There were TONS of purchase-able argyle things online, but none in the colors I wanted and none in crochet. I looked for fabric that might work for a rag quilt or a tag blanket but there was NOTHING good enough. So I took matters into my own hands and came up with my own:I crocheted the squares in the colors and in brown for a background, then set to work on making the half-squares to fill in the edges. Funny thing . . . half-squares are really just triangles (yes, I sucked at geometry) but crocheting them isn't as easy as it sounds. I tore out quite a few attempts before I got one that looked right. Perserverance, right? Finally the whole thing was done and I did a simple border to finish it off:

I love that the border looks like the bottom of an argyle sweater -- total accident! I think I'll write up what I did in pattern form and list it in my Etsy store . . . I can't be the only one out there who wanted to crochet an argyle blanket.

Anyway, Valerie loved the blanket and took it to the hospital with her . . . and I got a txt picture of him wrapped up in it, which is the part of making blankets that I LOVE!

ruby's blanket, etc.

Some close friends from church had a little girl about 4 weeks ago and I got this little set finished just in time for her shower! They picked gray and white for her room, with small orange birds accenting so I came up with this giant granny (goodness, I hate that they are called Granny Squares. There's got to be a better name out there...) and added the tiny flowers for a splash of color.

I also included a tiny hat for her. When I get to shoot newborns (in my photography business) I so love it when the parents bring tiny crocheted hats . . . they add so much fabulous texture compared to the smoothness of new-baby skin!

And since the mom loves orange as much as I do, I threw in a few stripes just for her!

And of course, a tiny orange bird to hang on her door handle. . .

And when she arrived her parents took a photo of her all wrapped up in the blanket and sent it to me . . . cuddly and huggable! That's my favorite part!

recent craftiness

My husband's coworker is expecting a baby any day now so I made this little ribbon blanket and stuffed cow for her. And by her I mean the mom . . . they are waiting until the arrival to see what the sex of the baby is so I went with something that could go either way.

The cow is crocheted amigurumi -- my very first self-designed pattern! I couldn't find a pattern I liked online, which is where I usually go first, so I decided to prove that necessity is indeed the mother of invention. It turned out really cute, I think!

Sorry about the "dead cow" pose in the next photo . . . I wanted to show the little bell collar but it came out a little more morbid than I meant it to.

I think I'll write up what I did into a pattern form . . . just in case someone else needs to make a cow!