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Burp Cloths, Hooter Hiders and a Sweet Pillow...

I've been crazy busy - working, sewing, baking, cleaning, eating...wedding flowers, wedding cakes...it's enough to make my head spin...faster!  For a baby gift, I decided to make some hooter hiders (Ha!) also known as nursing covers (blah!) and then I had to make some burp cloths to go with them and then I realized that I hadn't made any for the girl so back to the machine I went! 

But first, I made this sweet, sweet pillow for someone in California!  She needed it for a shower this Friday so I had to work fast...I think it turned out very cute. 

Matching burp cloths seemed like a good idea...a new mom can never have too many of them!

These burp cloths were made by following this tutorial from MADE.  I've usually sewn burp cloths by adding cute fabric to ready-made cloth diapers...but Dana has this great tutorial for making them any size you want, still with cute fabric but without necessarily using diapers...on these burp cloths I used diaper fabric and these cloths measure 10-inches by 16-inches...not too big, not too small...just right!  Seriously easy and fast...two burp cloths take about 15 minutes, start to finish!

Eight burp cloths in an hour!!  That's pretty fast!  They make great gifts...and you can use scraps!  I backed some of these cloths with waffle fabric I had to make dish towels out of...I also had some towel fabric and I used that on a few...whatever soft, absorbent fabric you have will work.

Four hooter hiders...two for the girl, two for a gift...easy, fast and a fraction of the cost of buying them.  Plus, they are practical and used over and over and over!  There are patterns on-line but if you'd like a really easy pattern, shoot me an email and I'll send it to you.  Now I just have to finish the drapes for Elsa's nursery and make a car seat cover...today!!!  No rest for the wicked!

 

Valentine Wool Heart Pillow...

Valentine's started early around here - when the last of the Christmas lights came down - finally - the mister said, "I hope you're not planning on putting any more crap up any time soon!"  Well folks, that was all he needed to say...

Little by little I've been putting it out...not really to irritate the old buzzard but because I've got a few Valentine parties coming up - more on them soon!  Last year I made my mom a wool heart pillow (you can see it by clicking here) and I decided it was time I finished the one I started a year ago for myself.  Mine is a bit larger than mom's - only because I got carried away with making the wool rosettes - fast and fun!  You can see how to make the rosettes by clicking here, just don't add the pin.  (I used six different colors of wool, cut from thrifted wool blazers, and I also used rosettes made from a silk skirt that was headed to Good Will!)  I love how "textural" this pillow is!  The rosettes are hot-glued onto a heart-shaped pillow; you won't feel or see the glue because of how heavy the wool is.  IF you decide to make yourself one of these, make the pillow first and stuff it.  Then attach the rosettes - it's much easier this way.

I'm kind of addicted to sewing boxes - they are all over the house.  I purchased this little basket - added some trim, batting and fabric and now it's a mini-sewing box.  It holds everything I need to keep me sitting in front of the TV come game day!  The heart on the front is an old earring - it weighs a TON!  I found it in a jar of buttons I purchased at a garage sale - I can only imagine that whoever wore those earrings must have rather large earlobes - Ubangi style - not that there's anything wrong with that!

Speaking of Valentine's Day...my friends at Coupon Mountain are having a delightful giveaway...go and see for yourself, you could win a fabulous DIAMOND NECKLACE from Zales!  Just click here!

Snowman Pillow...

It seems I have more to do today to get ready for Christmas than I did a week ago!  So I'm doing my best to finish up the last minute projects/baking...this little project has been on my list for a year, ever since I saw this picture on one of my favorite blogs, Lucy's Tales From Home.  I just loved her pillow/bed/lights and wrote myself a little note to make a snowman pillow...I found the note last week and decided it was time!  My pillow is made from faux fur with felt for the eyes and nose and wool trim...thanks for the inspiration Cindy!

He looks right at home in front of another snowman pillow made by my friend Jan, who also made those red and white embroidery blocks for me a while back - which I then sewed into my favorite Christmas quilt...well, one of them! 

I did the stitching by hand - so I could sit and watch a Christmas movie - but you could churn these out like a factory on a machine! 

Tickabox...

My sister's birthday was in June...I've just finished her birthday gift.  At her request I made her 3 pillows for her bedroom du jour...you see, my sister spends her money on three things...shoes, make-up and bedding.  She buys shoes, wears them once and then tosses them in a big bag to give to me...she buys make-up right after she buys shoes...daily...her dressing table looks like a Nordstrom display...and  bedding...since she's been in her current house she's painted her bedroom about a half dozen times...oh wait, I'VE painted her bedroom a half dozen times...and she's been through at LEAST that many comforters, duvets, bedspreads, etc. - she changes her bedding more than a Hyatt Hotel!  I'm sure these pillows will be passe by the time she receives them...she's probably already replaced her bedding with new stuff...but whatever...Happy Birthday Joni...another box ticked.

Now, onto the next box that I have ticked...several years ago I bought a box of vintage Christmas fabric at a garage sale - I have loved pawing through that box and haven't done a thing with the great fabrics inside...still mulling over how to best use them.  In the bottom of the box I found a panel fabric of Pilgrims...3 panels to be exact.  I removed them from the box, laughed smugly at their hideousness and tossed them aside for the trash...but I couldn't bring myself to throw them out because the selvedge had 1970 stamped on it and that's makes it practically an antique...so I put them in the Good Will box...but I couldn't bring myself to give them away...1970 was a very good year...so I decided that I would make them up and THEN give them away - that way they'd stand a better chance of not being trashed...but really, after sewing them together - carefully matching the front and sides and stuffing them, I KNEW that no one would want them...no one but me, a collector of hideous things.

They make me smile.  I have decided to keep two of these and to give one away...to a special friend...I can't wait to see the look on her face when she opens the bag - I wonder if she'll KEEP it or toss it in HER Good Will box?   

Last box checked/ticked this week...my circle Christmas quilt - pieced LAST year...I dusted it off and got 'er done.  It's going to be a gift, too...I'm in a giving mood...don't worry, it won't last.  I love the circle with Elvis...I'lllllll ha-have-a Bluuuuuuuuue Christmas without you....thank you, thank you very much.

Valentine Pillow Part Deux...

When I cleaned out my workroom I discovered a lot of unfinished projects...this is one of them...it's made with felted wool - my new favorite material to work with...je taime, of course, means I love you in French....I showed this to the mister, who took French in 9th grade -and asked him if he knew what it said.....he said...."Jet - aim - EEEE?"  I discreetly laughed.  He tried again....mangled it some more and when he couldn't guess what it said I told him and he had the nerve to tell me that I was wrong.....so, being somewhat insecure in my embroidered French....I went on-line to the French to English Dictionary and looked it up...with him looking over my shoulders....and when I pointed out to him that ...1.  I WAS right and ....2.  He WAS wrong....he told me, somewhat apologetically that he only had TWO years of French... just when I thought he had left my workroom (aka the Nerve Center)  he reappeared and made me pull up the dictionary again because he was having an "issue" with my pillow...He said, "It does not say "vous"" .... and he then had me look up "aimer" which means "be in love with" and then he said...."I rest my case" and he left....   

"An archeologist is the best husband a woman can have; the older she gets, the more interested he is in her."  Agatha Christie - who was married to one...sadly, I am not.

Tea Pillow....

Since I've been on the topic of pillows - I had to show you my most favorite....this was a gift from my dear friend Wendy...(who's never met a stranger)...she gave this to me for my birthday - it's a "therapy" pillow.  She purchased it in Thailand while on vacation - she said a little old lady made it.

It's covered in satin with a satin cord....and it's stuffed with black tea!  It's an aromatherapy pillow...it's supposed to stop headaches and pains in the neck (aka the mister) and promote calmness and serenity, blah, blah, blah....and it works!  I've not had a headache since I started using it....I usually lay my head on it for an hour or so each night before falling asleep....I love the smell of the tea - it took me a while to get used to but now it's so relaxing - I look forward to it!

Stuffed completely with black tea...and tightly too!  I think having a pillow stuffed with lavender would be great too!  Because it's stuffed so tightly it's not a soft, cushy pillow - it's hard - but it's the aroma that makes it so wonderful!  Thanks again Wendy....I LOVE my pillow!

Valentine Pillow...

I made this little pillow out of felted wool....It's for a Valentine swap - I sure hope the stranger I'm sending this to likes it....I made one for myself as well because I like to walk into a room and catch a glimpse of something that has a little message on it...just a little reminder of good things.  This measures 7" x 18" and is hand-stitched with the blanket stitch and hand embroidered with the back stitch.  I like little pillows in chairs - they're not big enough to interfere with sitting and they're small enough to provide a little extra cushion for my back. 

Valentine's Day is truly a Hallmark holiday but....what else do we have to celebrate in February?  The deep freeze?!?  I look forward to Valentine's Day....to my annual plastic rose with the fake water droplets that the mister purchases for me....these are only sold at the finest of gas stations!  One day soon I'll have enough to open my very own plastic rose museum!   He tries...bless his heart...I suppose it's better to get plastic roses with the fake water droplets than to have a husband who drives into cemetaries looking for fresh flowers to take home to his wife....the mister would NEVER do that...that takes too much time!

Some Days It Pays To Be Me....

  Today was a GREAT day!  Any day that I come home to find a package with my name on it on my front porch is a great day!  Inside the box was this beautiful Valentine pillow - handmade by my friend in Sacramento!

Joni is my oldest friend, or I should say the friend I've had the longest since she is 9 months younger than me - we've known each other since 7th grade - and she still looks very much the same!  She's still tall and thin and beautiful and immensley talented - in fact, there is nothing she can't do except sweat - because since she is allergic to exercise she never does.  Joni sent me this darling pillow made with vintage-esque Valentine fabric...how fun to be me and have a friend like her!

  Ten minutes after opening Joni's package the doorbell rang and it was the Fed-Ex guy - he handed me a box - two in one day!  I'm telling you, things are looking up!  I might have to get off of here and go buy lottery tickets!  I opened this box to find 3 books I ordered and had forgotten about...I can't wait to dive into them!  (So much for my New Year's resolution to not buy any more cookbooks!)

  This last picture is a shot of the fabulous yarns I purchased with my daughter...the mother of my grandbaby...she was here for the weekend and I'm glad she's gone - one more day and I would have had to file bankruptcy!  Being a grandma is WAY more expensive that I had imagined!  We were in a fabric store and I saw a little boy who was wearing the cutest knit pants.  I asked his mom about them and she said she whipped them up in a weekend and they were "so easy a beginner could make them"....really?  Well, we'll see....my grandson needs a pair of those knitted pants....Being a grandma is also WAY more work that I thought too!