Happy Birthday, Marci!

Ok, so this post is overdue by about 3 months, but what else can you expect from a grad student overworked with papers and exams? :-) Thankfully all of my assignments will be completed and I will be ready for graduation by the end of March (hopefully)!

I made these placemats and napkins for Marci's birthday in December. They have a wonderful floral print on one side, with the same striped fabric from the napkins on the reverse side. I think they turned out pretty well, despite some setbacks with some trim that didn't make the final cut. Nevertheless, happy birthday, Marci!

Happy Birthday, Megan!

My "baby" sister just turned 22, so I decided to try my hand at sewing an apron and tea towel for her. The apron was a full, reversible apron finished off with some fun ruffles and ribbons. For the decorative tea towel I cut out one of the apples from the printed fabric of the apron and appliqued it onto linen, and of course added a little fun there with the beaded trim. Okay okay, I confess! I totally got enough material to make one for myself...but Megan stole my kitchen colors, so how could I resist? ;-)

J.D.'s Blanket

I finally finished J.D.'s blanket. Since I didn't know how to knit when he was born (I just learned a year ago for my second nephew's coming), I decided to make him a blanket for his 3rd birthday in September. Then I decided to wait and give it to him for Christmas. Well, he finally just got to see his blanket last weekend (it being February and all), but I promptly had to take it back and finish it. Arg! Well, I do think it turned out nicely in the end, and he'll never be cold with how heavy it is. Can you see the paw print woven into each square? Sic 'em, Bears! I LOVE YOU, J.D.!

Another Baby Blanket...

It seems like ALL of my friends are pregnant at the same time right now. Okay, okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a little bit, but it does take two hands for me to count how many people I know that are expecting or very recently had a baby. This particular blanket was in a very pretty mint green color, and was knit with stripes of seed stitch and stockinette stitch. I thought it turned out well, and it was so soft!

RJ's (and Daddy's) New Game

Aaron and Ruthie Jo have discovered a new game, and I'm not sure who has more fun playing it! Aaron's goal is to see how many times he and Ruthie can successfully "toss" the ball (AKA her pink birdie) without dropping it...I think they're up to 21 now. Ruthie's goal is to try and snatch the birdie in mid-air and run away as fast as she can so daddy can't get it back. Can you say HILARIOUS?!?!?!

Ruffles & Ribbons Aprons

These are some aprons that I made for my sweet friend Trish. It's the same pattern I used for my sis's birthday apron, but with some new WAY CUTE prints. I love this pattern because it's a full, reversible apron with all the frills that a girl needs and loves to have.





I love the sweet birds and houses (and color combo!) of this first apron. And the pink trim for the pockets made me drool so much I bought some extra for myself on future projects. YEAH!







All of the vintage "girly things" in this print, and the chandeliers on the coordinating print, caught my eye right away. And I LOVE the fan lace trim that I found to go on the pockets. It was the perfect compliment for the vintage feel.






Okay, so this FAB shoe print is what absolutely screamed "Trish!" at me as soon as I saw it. Put it together with the purple paisley print and I'm in heaven! Mom, I know you're jealous that Trish got the shoes...you'll just have to steal them from her. :-)

Merry Christmas!!

This year for Christmas I had the brilliant idea that I would make all of our Christmas presents. It worked out pretty well until the week before Christmas when I realized that I wouldn't have them all ready in time. (Thank you to my husband and the rest of my family that had to listen to my stressed out and emotional vents!...and did so with tons of encouragement and support, I might add!) BUT, my family is very gracious and waited patiently for me to finish them a couple of weeks late. Anywhoo, all the girls got scarf and hat sets - complete with pom poms and everything! Mom's was the light pink and black set, Megan's was a berry pink and lime green set, Marci's was a midnight blue and yellow set, and my mother-in-law (Sharon) got a purple set. The "big boys" (Aaron, Dad, Matt, Owen, and Michael) got "boy hats" and fingerless mitts in a nice brown/charcoal/black tweed. The "little boys" each got a froggy hat (to go with the one Matt got and loved as a little boy). Also, J.D. is getting a blanket now since I didn't know how to knit when he was born. Pics of that blanket to come soon. Well, that's pretty much it. Hope you enjoy the pics!

A quick funny story about Mom's scarf with the pink pom poms...Ruthie Jo has this pink sheep that she goes NUTS over. She will play fetch with it for hours on end if we let her. Aaron and I always give out much sooner on the game than she's ready, so she's always protesting and whining until we give in or put it away. Well, one night she was up to the endless playing, so we had to put the sheep away. But this was also the night that I was working on mom's scarf with the pink pom poms that, to a little puppy, look JUST LIKE her beloved sheep. So, she starts going into her pointer mode and whining at the pom poms trying to get us to throw them for her. She was so intent on those "sheep" that her little body was just quivering and shaking like there was an earthquake. HA!