GRANITE!

We! Have! Counters!

I never thought that I would just sit and look at kitchen counters, of all things, and think, "Wow! That is so beautiful!" But I do.

Easter dresses

I'd been meaning to make a Maggie Mae for a while.  And while I was looking for a walking foot to make my first quilt I found this sweet sheepy fabric and promised Cupcake I would make her something with it.  Spring rolled around, and things finally fell into place.  

There wasn't enough of the lavender to make the band across the skirt, so I skipped it and lengthened the skirt to a maxi instead.  I also added piping across the top, and faced the ever-intimidating series of button holes.  But I took the time and actually read the manual for my sewing machine (after finding it online), and learned to properly do button holes.  And they turned out great!  It was amazing!  I learned later that Trina's sewing machine makes it even easier, but I can do them on my own machine, and it made me very happy.   

 

I made Sammy's blessing dress last summer with this Butterfly Dress pattern, and I really liked how it turned out.  So when I found out Snowflake was going to be a girl, I figured I'd make one for her too.  And then my friend Michelle was having a girl, and Ashley was having a girl too, so I decided to make three.  I forgot to take pictures of the others, but it's all the same dress with different fabric.  And I made a matching diaper cover for cuteness.  

zipper pouches

 My lotion exploded all over my purse. And since then, I've kept my essentials (lotion, kleenex, nail clippers, etc.) in a plastic bag, instead of scattered lose in the bottom of the purse.  But WHY?  Why use an ugly plastic bag when I can make useful zipper pouches to organize my stuff?

I found a fabulous Open Wide Zippered Pouch tutorial, and made four of them in a weekend - one in each size, plus an extra medium-sized.  I gave one to my sister full of birthday surprises, and use the rest to keep my diaper-bag organized.

What did I learn?  Zippers aren't that scary!  Take my time, use a zipper foot, and I can make neat things!

So while I was on my zipper kick, I decided I needed a camera bag, especially for traveling this summer.  Usually my camera just gets knocked around in my purse, so a little padded zipper pouch with room for batteries could come in handy.  I used one tutorial for the math, to make it exactly the size I wanted.  Then I used this tutorial to put it together, plus a little from this tutorial for the handles. 

Tag Toys

I had the sudden urge to make baby tag toys, so I did.  

Scraps of fabric (flannel and cotton) and lots of different ribbons from my stash.

And the crinkle stuff in the middle?  An empty container of baby wipes.

(I got that idea and the basic directions here.)

I think it took me more time to pick out the ribbon than it did to actually sew it.

Baby approved!