Little Baby Bibs {Tutorial}

I hope I'm not being redundant by posting a second bib tutorial {you can see Kim's guest tutorial here}!  I wanted some smaller bibs for Norah, just to catch the drool...because this girl drools like crazy!  And, of course, I wanted them to be cute too, so I used some scraps, pieced them together, and came up with these bibs {you can download the pattern here!}.

I ended up buying some Shannon Cuddle/Minky locally and it is so soft {much better than the JoAnn minky I had before}, but it creates lint like no other!  Here's my easy method for making the bibs:

Helpful Tips:

• I found it creates less lint if I just use one rectangle and brush the lint off the edge.
• Trim the curves and turn it over the garbage can!
• Top stitching 1/8" from each seam creates great lines of texture on the back too.
• Make sure your Velcro is closed before washing to avoid them catching on anything

And here is my adorable model!  My mom especially liked that her hand is on her hip!

And even though this picture is from April!!  I thought it was too cute not to share!

If you make any bibs with this pattern, be sure to add them to our Flickr group too.

Goodie Pouch

I'm baking today at the Moda Bake Shop {the only kind of baking that seems to happen in our house!}.  Check out my Goodie Pouch as part of the Summer Camp for Kids!

And if you're visiting from the Moda Bake Shop, welcome!  I hope you find some things you like and decide to stay a while!

Stamping Labels

A few friends have asked me before about our Clover & Violet labels, so I thought I'd share a bit.  I actually just got a new stamp with just Clover & Violet on it {the one I had been using has our whole logo, Westies and all, and was difficult to stamp just the words}.  I ordered the new one from Paper Sushi and am much happier with it than the old one {which was some soft, sticky rubber-y stuff...but not a genuine rubber stamp}.

Why a stamp?  Well, this allows us to make a variety of labels, including quilt labels and even bee signature blocks!  The ink is ...by Kate... and seems to hold up pretty well, though, if you know of a better fabric ink, please let us know!

Do you have a favorite or tried and true label making method?

Embroidered Washi Pincushion

I'm swapping again...I know, I cannot seem to help it...this time it's the Fab Little Pincushion Swap {FLiP}. My secret partner had this pincushion in her favorites. It also reminds me of this quilt, so I thought I'd try my hand at it...in embroidery!

I used a variety of Finca Perle Cotton size 8 {the numbers are: 1889, 1742, 1166, 7636, 1232, 1062, 4812, 3810, 3400, 2615, 2606} and some Moda Crossweave {is this really being discontinued?!}.

It actually reminds me of little strips of washi tape, and I love it!  In retrospect, it is probably a good thing I didn't have time to make my partner a new pincushion, because otherwise I'd have been too tempted to keep this one.

I cut into some Henna Garden for the back {or, actually, cut up my two yards of Henna Garden and am making something else too!}, and it complimented the front well.  I'll admit, I'm kind of sad it's done already.

And, even though I sent this on Wednesday...I've saved the post for today so I join Katie's Hand Made Parade.  You can find it here:

What are you hand stitching these days?

P.S. I posted at my other blog today about blogger, Flickr, and picture size limits, check it out if you're blogging on blogger!

Balance

I'm itching to sew...yet I seem to find myself sitting on the couch, watching Curious George or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse most of the time {or walking and bouncing a hiccup-y baby!}.  So, today I got out the book my mom gave me for Mother's Day {last year!} and started a little project.  The book is Handmade Beginnings by Anna Maria Horner and it's filled with pretty patterns.  My sister gave me several pairs of baby shoes and booties for Silas...but I wanted a warm, girly pair for Norah, so I started cutting these out:

Fabric: Meadow Dot by Sandi Henderson, Bliss by Bonnie & Camille, and Hello Betty! by Chloe's Closet

It may take a week {or more!} to get them finished, but it sure feels good to get some fabric cut up!

Also, I wanted to thank everyone for your responses to my last post, I'm only a few blogs into my reading, but I'm realizing that we have some amazing readers!  I'm looking forward to getting to know you better {I will read through every blog...it is just taking a while because I don't want to just drop by and comment without checking things out thoroughly!}.

Please share your secrets: How do you find time to sew?

A Little Whimsy

It's always nice to have a little bit of instant gratification when it comes to making things, at least I think so.  I cannot seem to keep making progress on one larger project after the next with out throwing in a few pretty little things to keep me motivated.

So, I used the scraps from my recent Doll Quilt Swap {I've also just now realized I haven't drawn a winner for last month's stash project, or posted a project at all this month, where has the time gone?  I will try to get it done this weekend!}, and made up this little pouch and pincushion for my mom, to match her Madeline bag.

They turned out just right, and used up some tiny little scraps, so that was fun. And also, because apparently I am in the habit of forgetting {can I blame pregnancy brain, please?!}, here is the winner of the Little Apples Jelly Roll:

But, don't worry, we've stocked up on a few giveaway items, so there will be some more chances to win fun things coming up soon.

Now, I have a question for you, I've got a couple charm packs to make a certain baby girl a quilt, and I'm wondering if any of you have seen any fabulous tutorials out there.  I have a couple ideas myself, but I want to make sure I haven't missed anything really great!