Crafting

Mike's little sister is expecting a little boy. When these opportunities arise, I have noticed that I take full advantage of these situations and go a bit sew crazy!

I have found that I love sewing. It find it really quite relaxing. Above is the little baby blanket that I made for little Asher James.

One of my favorite parts is picking out all the fabric. I love the cute skulls and crossbones with the peace signs. I had to include the little doggie bones!

I also made some burp clothes. These were SO freakin easy. 

Again, I used the skulls and crossbones. I just can't get enough of them! 

I bought Emily a little bag that I turned into a diaper bag. I had a bit of a hard time finding a changing pad to go into the bag. So, I decided to make one! Its pretty long and she should be able to use it for 1 or 2 years.

  

It folds up nicely and fits into the pocket of the bag that is suppose to house a laptop.

I had a really difficult time with these bibs. I used iron on vinyl and I dont think I will ever use that ever again. It was really hard to work with. The back is terrycloth and I was trying to make it so that she can just use the back of the bib to wipe off the tray or the child. I will do a few things differently next time.

Since I was the one throwing the shower, I made a little centerpiece for the table that she can take home and use in the baby's room. 

CUTE! 

We have some baby stuff that we needed for our own house, because we plan on babysitting quite a bit. I bought a changing pad on craigslist for $3 and since it was just awful, I decided to make a cute cover for it.

I love that fabric.

Pardon the cork board on the wall. I am still working on the room. We bought this crib for $30 off of someone on criagslist and I used an old full sheet and pillow cases to make the crib sheet and skirt. I have a few little adjustments to make on the skirt.

I also made a nice neutral crib quilt. 

I tried to do everything for us in neutral colors, so that when a it is time for baby Halpern #1 we will still be able to use it.

I hope you enjoyed!

My First Quilting Adventure!

For my birthday this year I got the coolest Pfaff sewing machine. I was a little hesitant at first because I had never sewn before. But I chose to dive right in and begin my first quilt!

My baby sister (youngest of 4 daughters, my poor dad) was graduating high school this year and I decided to make her a quilt for her cute little dorm room at my alma mater, Washington State University. 

This is what became of it.

Lindsey's favorite colors are bright green and gray. I decided to use these colors as the window panes in my quilt and chose to use different fabrics that reminded me of her. It really gave it a 3D effect. 

I then used some of the remnants to create a little border. 

I gave it to her last saturday at her graduation dinner and I'm assuming she loves it, because that night she sent me this picture of it on her bed already!

Here is my baby sister on her big day! So proud!

I also attended a baby shower and for that, I chose to make a baby blanket for the birth of the little girl. This is the result of that.

I had a bit of a difficult time at the end with the fringe, but I think it came out pretty cute.

As you probably read here, we went to Oregon recently to meet our new nephew, Jonah. I thought that since the last blanket came out pretty well I would make him one too.

I wasn't as happy with the way this one came out, but I think that had a lot to do with the type of fabric I purchased. The checkered blocks were made out of something other than the standard cotton and I found it quite difficult to sew. 

When it was done, I threw it in the wash to make sure it would al stay together.  Good thing too, because it did not survive. That checkered fabric decided it wasn't going to stay in place. Needless to say, it is now a dog blanket. Bummer deal!

In hindsight, I probably should have washed and dried the fabrics before hand.. Oops!

Anywho, I am having a lot more fun with this whole sewing thing than I thought I would. After seeing Lindsey's face after getting her quilt, I decided to make her a matching pillowcase from some of the scraps. I'm just winging it on that, so it should be interesting.