Oliver's Quilt

I have been gone for a long time.  Not because I haven't been doing crafty things but I find getting the posts up so tedious that I gave up.  But his quilt for my cousin's first baby made me want to share.  I love this quilt.  It was adapted from a quilt in a magazine (McCall's Quick Quilts, October/November 2011) The sock monkey is an obsession.  I decided that I needed to make a bunch, as in 16!  So far I have make about 10.  The ribbon ball was made using scraps from the quilt.  The book is our favorite.  We first read it on our honeymoon is Seattle WA and I have Scott a copy for our first anniversary and he got me the bunnies!  We still have them on the shelf with our books 13 years later. The bib is a pattern taken from one of our old bibs. I made a template out of craft paper and one out of freezer paper.  I like the freezer paper because I can iron it directly to the fabric and I don't have to pin to cut it out!

Another reason I quit was photos. I am stunned by the staging and photos some people take.  But, I'm not them and I'm just happy to document the creations that are made in the house and are usually given away.  And, I have been seriously distracted by Pinterest. I mean how could I not get lost in all those amazing ideas in one place!  The monkeys are actually from a pin.  So I am making some of the things I find!

The label on the back is solid grey and it's kind of a fun shape for a label.  I think I would make it smaller next time. The backing/binding fabric is from Hobby Lobby. I think it is a Brother Sister design.

Pillows, Apron, Babies

Finally decorated the newly covered couch with a fun throw pillow. I've made another one since in the same colors but wavy lines. Maybe I'll get a picture of them when I make more throws. I took on the invisible zipper for this pillow using these directions. If you want to see the whole couch you can see it at our family blog.

Yet another apron. You will see many of these this year. Last year our birthday gift was a pillowcase and this year it's aprons. We chose lizards for the birthday boy. Maybe I should make one for Ian whose 7th birthday is Wednesday....Hmm. Yep, probably should do that.

Also this past weekend there was a baby shower for a girl. I have done a lot of boy gifts lately so it was a nice and welcome change to make something girly. A diaper clutch. Two reversible bibs. A bird (link is on the left) to chew on and a ribbon ball. The kids want me to make many more balls for them to play with. This was a quick toy to make. I was just doing a test run but next time I will add more ribbons and maybe in all the seams.