christmasy goodness...

most of what I'm working on can't be shown till after a certain upcoming holiday...
but here's what I've made to decorate my own house this year...

a tree skirt (the Bean really liked this sparkly pinecone fabric, and I couldn't think of what else to do with it... we needed a treeskirt anyway... no. we didn't. but we didn't HAVE a tree skirt, so while being unneccessary in reality, it was a fun project...)
I cut all that gingham on the bias, and then ruffled it... thank GOODNESS for my ruffle foot, which made things relatively painless...

I also whipped out this string pillow, because we can never have enough pillowcases and throw pillows, right?

Bee block catch-up!

Flying Geese: this one is totally my favorite, because a) I'm a total dork, and came up with this mathmatically based block; do you know what it is?); and b) there wasnt' enough fabric, but I totally made it work....

a rectangle in a rectangle with Flee Market Fancy (my first time working with it, LOVE it wish there was more!!)

wonky christmas stars (this was soooooo fast and easy, I def see more of these in my future!)

"green crazy patchwork"

a little gnomy-gnome....

I stitched up this gnome for D a while ago, but he asked me for a blanket and pillow for his little gnomy.
LUCKILY, I won a small charm pack from the fabric designer right around the same time, so I sewed up all the little squares (perfect 25 of them), backed them with D's favorite print, bound them with wood grain print left over from C's quilt (that D stole), and then D and I quilted it together.


The Bean totally wants one too, but I don't have any more of this fabric, and I'm assuming that D will get bored of it rather quickly, and then she can have it. she covets it greatly... (she has a small gnome, the 2nd smallest of the panels, and she has multiple doll quilts and pillows already)

here's the back, you can see the binding, which he loves.

and here's the front... it was really hard to figure out how to quilt them, quickly, and not make it look super girly... I think the layout sort of makes the pink blend, instead of being as girly as it could be...
D drew all the quilting lines for me; I held the ruler for some of them, and he traced on either side, "to make a road for his cars to drive on," and he also drew a circle (sorta, I mean, come on, he's 4) all around it, so the cars would have a track...

so some of my "uh-oh, is it too girly" worry was CLEARLY unneccessary....

Driftwood collecting...

I want to make C a driftwood wreath for Xmas, so I coerced my dad to accompany us to the beach this afternoon. D was a great helper, finding lots of driftwood bits for me, while the Bean and grandpa explored the tide pools.
I haven been posting much lately, as I'm busy being one of Santa's elves, and I don't want to spoil the surprises, but I've got lots of pics ready for just after Xmas...

busy bee...

just playing with strips....

A blue shirt for D

Baby shower!

I made these gifts a long time ago, but haven't posted because I hadn't seen the mommy-to-be...
I made a waldorfy-cuddle doll, silk and wool, dyed by my and Darren with food coloring, so it'll be safe for a little mouth to chew/suck on... D liked the tiedye effects he achieved, and the Bean liked the final result!
I also made a little clutch bag for the mom, (hi Katie!), with some Far Far Away II. It's a 2 pocket clutch, one small side and one larger side... My own design, I thought it could hold small baby stuff on one side, and small mama stuff on the other...
Also, my daughter is a ham, and loves posing for pictures.

My First Wreath!

Made from scratch! I used both Noble and Douglas Fir (trimmings from the Xmas tree lot at Lowes) and Rosemary from my garden. Smells sooooo yummy!

Pocketed pants

The Bean refuses to wear pocketless clothing. No shirts, no dresses, unless they have pockets. One is acceptable, two preferred. So this morning, while she bathed, I whipped this teal corduroy pair out. Very quick n dirty. No pattern (or hem, just a serged cuff, as she wanted them right away), but I put a yoked cargo pocket on each leg. She was underwhelmed with the bird print, but thrilled with the pockets, so I guess we both win. Her pockets are full with about 400 pennies; she rattles loudly with each step. Her flower coat has a pocket, too, just one though, so it carries some broken squeeze-rockets.

Papa Doll!

scraps of old knits and an old sweater plus some stuffing turned my Bean into a VERY happy Bean.

she got a Papa doll!

shhh, it's sleeping. just like papa would like to be.

same hair color... dark blue pants (jeans), and blue shirt... just like Papa.

that's a VERY satisfied little girl.

barrettes!

I've been playing with wool felt lately, working on ornaments for the Advent Calendar Sew Along...

Then I realized I had lots of roses and barrette shapes cut out from when I first saw the tute over at Purl, but I had stopped making them as I ran out of barrettes. A quick trip to Target solved that problem, and I had LOADS of fun whipping out all these little babies.

Of course my favorite is the one I created all by myself, this leaf one,

and I also like the apple ones, made from buttons from Momen+

the Bean and I each wore one of these yesterday. (she got the pink one)... it was awesome.

A seasonal barrette...

Wool felt, variegated embroidery floss, a hair clip, and a model who's so fluffy he doesn't notice.