So it's that time again for a little spring cleaning! Tsh is hosting the Project: Simplify again at Simple Mom. I was noticing that I blogged quite a bit about this last spring and promptly stopped blogging. hmm. Guess I simplified that part of my life!
We'll be using the 10 steps to simplify our lives that she outlines in her book Organized Simplicity. I have this book and it is great. Straightforward and easy to read, though the steps require a lot of introspection as to the why of the stuff we have. So, it can be a bit of a challenge to do the steps, especially when there are other peoples stuff involved! (husband and children!)
I have long been a part of this Old Red Barn Co. flickr group. But I have only done one or two of the projects as quilting has taken a back seat in life with 4 kids.
Blogging also had to slow down, though maybe that is the fault of my iPhone! Anyway, Dana and the group is starting this great quilt-along on March 1st. I'm sure I can fit this in with the other 3 quilts already in progress! More on those later.
Click on the photo to go to the original instructions
Found this great site icanteachmychild.com and this fun quick project. I had it in mind for the 3 year old but our 5 almost 6 year old thought it was a little more interesting. I made mine with pictures on both side to make it a little harder to solve. If I did make them again I will try to glue/modge podge the pictures to the blocks for durability. Over all a fun use of building blocks.
I think the block size is about 1.5" x 2" so the pictures need to be sized just smaller than that to fit. We just used Microsoft clip art and typed in the animal categories we wanted for this set. This would be a fun baby shower gift...we maybe a toddler who no longer puts things in their mouths gift!
This is one of those projects that I found, pinned and made in less than 30 minutes. I should make a board for that!
Not at all sewing related but I am excited to read this new novel by Shannon Hale due out in March 2012. Midnight in Austenland. It is a sequel to Austenland. A fun read. She had written several YA novels that are fantastic. My 10 year old daughter is even reading the Bayern series and that is something because she doesn't like to read!
Here you can read Shannon Hale's words about the new book. Just looking over the books she has written I have read 8 of the 11. I have enjoyed every one of them. Which is quite something. I do love fairy tales, Jane Austen and a strong heroine so that covers a lot of ground.
Anyway, Night Writer is hosting a giveaway of the new book and it ends tomorrow night at midnight (that being the 23rd of January.)
She asked for the comment of what is one thing that you would love to do but keep saying No to for any number of reasons. Well for me there are a lot of things but in a wild dream I think it would be fun to be a fabric designer. Crazy? Yes, but we can dream.
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.
Welcome to my entry in the Blogger's Quilt Festival! I can't believe it is already here again. I really don't know where the time goes. I have no skills in getting buttons in the post but it is on the side bar!
We have dear friends that have been waiting for eight years to have a baby and this past March they were blessed to adopt a beautiful baby girl. Her colors for the nursery were eggplant and lime green! So awesome! I have had a piece of purple paisley sitting in my stash for a few years just waiting for the perfect project. The fabric was given to me by my mom who passed away in December 2009 from cancer. I thought what better place to use this than to welcome a long awaited baby into a loving family. I know she (Mom) would have adored this quilt.
I had all of the fabric in stash with the exception of one. The light green lattice was a new purchase just for this. Just a little extra pop.
The quilting was inspired by Film in the Fridge diamond quilting. While I strayed far and left some a little farther than I planned I love the way it turned out. I love how quickly it came together. I haven't made a quilt in two days in a very long time. AND I didn't have to stay all night to do it!!
I wasn't able to go the baby shower (actually a big party) because of family commitments at home. She loved the quilt and I am thrilled. In spite of all the imperfections it will be used and loved and washed and dragged around and that is perfect.
Part of the process of this quilt was drawing out the quilting in the order to quilt the lines. It changed after I started and I added more to fill in a bit. While straight line quilting is fast it doesn't mean that all the lines will actually be straight! Getting in a hurry to get this in the mail I would occasionally blink or get distracted by one of the kids. Imperfection makes a handmade gift individual and I've learned over the years that I'm okay with imperfections. If I wasn't I would never make another gift or meal or anything else for that matter! I had to mentally go through the process several times before I was ready to put the needle down. I really love it. Because the proportions of the quilt were a little different than the drawing I had to adjust as I went along. A good learning experience. Thank you Film in the Fridge for the inspiration to keep it simple! At first I didn't understand why she had drawn the lines in different colors. But it became clear very quickly that it was necessary to know which lines went where!
I decided to tackle the linen closet and the bathroom drawers and cabinets. I could have picked anything on the list of suggestions as they all need to be done. This was an easy place to start.
So to begin: the linen closet. The in between of seasons is challenging. All winter we have pulled things out and shoved them back in. Too hot one night and cold the next. ugh.
Before:
All emptied out. So nice!
Stuff that may not belong:
After:
Next was trying to tackle the drawers and the medicine cabinets. Being able to find things in the mess is not the best way to organize. Now, they are organized and we can't lay our hands on the right thing!
Before in the hall (kids) bathroom:
After:
Notice one empty drawer! I wonder how long before daughter notices all the empty wrappers and garbage are gone :) This room didn't take too long but ours...
Master Bathroom drawers before:
Drawers after:
Medicine cabinet before:
The pink bucket usually has the cloth diapers but I spared you and just washed them! I didn't think it was too bad but there was SO much stuff in there. I tossed three grocery bags of junk (expired or never used or garbage) out between here and under the sink.
After:
Are you ready? Under the sink is scary. It was organized at one time but....
After:
I put a lot of the extra things (a whole shoe box full) down with the rest of the food storage.
On another note not bathroom related I did finally get some of the things put into the household binder. I have 11 categories. Is that too many? What did I forget? Goals, schedule/calendars, birthdays, Christmas, Food Inventory (including menus, grocery list etc), Home maintenance, Garden/Yard, Home ideas, and budget/finances.
And one final finish for this week, I recovered the umbrella stroller we have had for 10 years. I could have just bought a new one but I had everything to redo it at home. Besides, we love the height of this one. Tall enough for both of us to push. I may be brave and post more process pictures. Any tutorials I found said "simply take it apart (the cover) and use it as a pattern, then reuse the piping and belts" Voila! More or less true but I would have loved a tutorial. I'm a visual learner. I ended up with 4 extra screws. Hmm.
