Celebrating

This weekend, we celebrated Fiona's baptism. It was a beautiful and simple celebration, with just our family present. And we are all still feeling so joyful, two days later.

My younger brother served as her godfather, and it was so special for us to come together in this way, and for me to see my big "little" brother assume this role in my wee one's life.

I have embroidered a stole for each of my children's baptisms, and I was determined for Fiona to have one, too. I lost track of time this time -- we've had a lot going on over the last couple of weeks -- so it was churned out mostly the day before. Some of the purple air-fading ink that I used still showed on the day of the baptism (this is the same kind I used with the last two, so I'm confident it will eventually fade), but otherwise I was happy and relieved that it was ready for her.

It was a beautiful moment in time.

As spring arrives...

...I'm loving:

Little signs of spring in our lawn.

Mama-made woolies on the babe. (Proper photoshoot still needed....)

Seedlings in our kitchen window.

Tulips. So close.

Snow-melt. Aaah.

Surprise gifts. Always.

A bit of springtime sewing.

Our little Cupcake.

Hoping that your springtime is promising as much beauty and joy as mine is!

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My firstborn has a big (seven-year-old) birthday tomorrow, and I've never missed a birthday post yet, so I hope to pop in later tomorrow. Two posts in two days?! Crazy, I know. ;)

Onesie printed by Emily.

Baby's Bunting

I've been trying to finish up some projects for baby as the days keep ticking by. (At this point, I'm now pregnant longer than I have ever been!)

So, here's a bunting I started working on at the end of December. It knit up fairly quickly, and I finished it quite a while ago, although it took me until this week to sew on the buttons (which are vintage shell, from my stash).

The pattern is "Frustration is the Mother of Invention" from The Yarn Girls' Guide to Kid Knits. It was really easy, although there is an error in the book on the sleeve increases. The correction is on The Yarn Co.'s website, although I found that I needed to increase less than the correction stated to get to the right width and length. So, some playing with the sleeves might be necessary if you ever end up making this.

The yarn I used for the body was KnitPicks Andean Silk, which is super-soft, but very splitty. I wanted to knit the whole thing in Malabrigo, but I didn't think my baby would get to wear it more than a few times with such a late-winter birthday, so I decided to opt for a cheaper yarn. I do think I would like the bunting better in Malabrigo, but it's still soft and super cute. The contrast ribbing is Malabrigo worsted in sunset.

Hoping that the next time I share a project here, I'll have a baby to model it. Though, I will selfishly admit that I still don't want to share my birthday (which is the 25th of this month). Hoping baby will come before then!

A little longie

Having spent so much of this pregnancy both feeling sick and also making myself feel guilty for not completing my last few doll orders and quilt blocks, I kept putting off making things for my new baby. Well, with most of that behind me, I've settled into making-for-baby mode quite nicely over the last month or so. (And too bad I procrastinated so much on the other projects, because this is so much more fun!)

One object that I finished up in the last couple of days were these super cute diaper pants (we call it a longie in our house). This was a fast knit (two days), and I am so happy with the results.

I'd been trying to decide for quite a while between the Tiny Birds Wool Soaker Pants pattern and the Picky Pants pattern by Little Turtle Knits. Both are so cute, but I finally decided to go with the Picky Pants when I saw Amanda's cute red ones. It was the seed stitch cuff that sold me, I think.

Anyway, these were so easy and I love the result. (I think the photoshoot would have been more inspired had there been an actual baby to put into them!) The pattern has a ton of different ways to customize it -- for adding extra rise, different shaping depending on the diaper you use, different lengths, and lots and lots of finishing ideas.

Details:

These are the size Small, for 8-12 lbs (there is a newborn size for up to 8 lbs, too, but none of my babies has ever been under 8 lbs at birth). I knitted them on size 7 bamboo needles using Malabrigo Worsted in Forest. This was the yarn I originally wanted to use, but it's so soft and fuzzy that I was hesitant because of pilling. But after ordering, and subsequently returning, three other yarns for this project and not feeling that any of them would be soft enough on newborn skin, I just decided to go with my original instinct, and I'm so happy I did.

Now all we need is a baby to put in them!

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Thanks to those of you who offered to send sweaters after my last post. That very day, I had a friend drop off a whole pile of them, and I think I have an idea about how to go about this experiment. If I still need more sweaters -- and hopefully I won't! -- I will contact those of you that offered. A couple of people emailed me about this project, and I have to say that I have no idea what I'm doing or if this will even work. It is definitely an experiment that involves irreparably cutting up cashmere sweaters, so it's not something I would try on a sweater that you weren't sure you would be OK tossing at the end of the experiment! If I do come up with something that works, I will be sure to share it here!

New Knitter in the House

I mentioned last week that Elisabeth learned to knit this fall. Knitting is an important part of the first grade curriculum we're using, with the goal being a balance between head (academic), heart (artistic), and hand (coordination) in learning.

Knitting is also an extremely beneficial developmental activity for a child at this age, because both hands are used and it is a "midline crossing" skill, which is so very important for reading. (You might have heard about children who don't learn to crawl as babies having trouble learning to read later -- this works with a similar principle.)

I really wanted Elisabeth to be well-prepared for her knitting adventure (I'll admit that because I'm a knitter, I felt some pressure to teach it to her in a way that she'd really love it, and not just half-heartedly commit to it), so I sought out a sheep farm in our area that we could visit as an introduction to working with wool.

The four of us spent a really beautiful September afternoon looking at and touching sheep, watching the farmer spin, and really experiencing what wool is. The farmer was so sweet to spend so much time just showing us things, and she sent us home with some raw wool to play with. We washed it and cleaned the little bits of grass out of it and dyed a little bit of it. It was really fun to see how the wool reacted to all of this.

Then Elisabeth learned how to use a Knitting Tower (a.k.a. Knitting Mushroom, Knitting Nancy, or Knitting Spool). I was really, really surprised by how quickly she got the hang of it -- she quickly became very good at it!

We spent some time winding hanks of yarn into balls, and then we made a pair of knitting needles, using the directions from Kids Knitting by Melanie Falick. (I had intended to make size 8 needles using a 3/16" dowel because the fall issue of Living Crafts magazine had an article about teaching children to knit and one recommendation was not to use too large of needles, although size 10 with bulky yarn seems to be pretty common. But when I was buying the dowels, the 3/16" one just seemed too thin and flimsy, so we made size 10 needles with a 1/4" dowel.)

When it came time to cast on and learn the stitches, we used the verses from A First Book of Knitting for Children by Bonnie Gosse and Jill Allerton. And from there, Elisabeth has just taken off!

She had asked to knit a few times over the last year or so, and without intending to put her off, I just never got around to showing her. But I am really amazed by how quickly (and how well) she has picked it up since we actually began. Often it's the first thing she does in the morning, and she'll usually spend quite a while in the afternoon on it. She even came to me a few days ago with a circular needle and some yarn asking to make a hat for the new baby! I consulted a few resources about gauge, and then quickly made up a simple pattern. She has knit a couple inches on it already!

Anyway, we're all very excited by this new element to our days, dreaming about the many things that could be made with two knitters in the house. And James is already talking about when he gets to learn. :)

All hats, all the time

Last week, when my fingers were so itchy to knit a Thorpe hat, I took my wee ones with me to our local yarn store and we chose yarn to make a hat for each of them. The Thorpe was completed for Elisabeth by the next morning, and then this hat for James was cast on and completed on Friday.

This is one of the "Kim's Hats" (earflap variation) from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts. I loved it for its simplicity and ease (the decreases were so very basic). It is a great canvas for all sorts of design ideas. I will make this hat again. (Not this week -- I promise, no more knitted hats around here for a little while!)

I do think I liked the earflaps better on the Thorpe, though. And I think I could've knit it a bit longer -- it doesn't cover as much of the neck as I'd like. But otherwise, I love this hat, the random stripes (my method: hmm, I think I'll add a stripe now), the yarn, and the garter brim. (I absolutely love the look of garter stitch. I don't much love the row after row sameness in knitting it -- I like a bit of diversity when working a pattern! -- but the look is so satisfying to me. I think it's just that I really like all things basic and simple.)

The yarn is more Manos del Uruguay (that's what my children chose), in Olive (#55, the green) and Stellar (#110, the variegated). I knit this one on size 9 bamboo needles.

Now, photographing this hat was another story altogether. James doesn't particularly like hats -- not this one, or any other. He screams every time we put one on him (hence the handiness of the ties), even when it is 10 degrees outside (like today). Once we had it on him today for the "photo shoot", and he was happy enough for me to start snapping away, he was running all over the place and hardly stood still long enough for me to get a decent close-up of the hat. So, you may not get a very good idea of how I did the striping. (I do think I will line it, like this one, to maybe cut down on the itch -- hopefully that will help him to like wearing it better.)

Anyway, halfway through January, my children finally each have a decent hand-knit hat from their mama. What could be better? (Other than coming inside for a bit of hot cocoa?)   

Swappy

Since I posted Elisabeth's new hat yesterday, I thought it might be nice if I shared a couple of other hats I knitted in the last year. One was for Alicia's sweet N, and I posted about it here. Alicia posted about it here. Here's one more photo of my wee one wearing it, which I'm posting just to remember the amazing greenness of only a few months ago. (The hat and other items were swapped for this amazing painting for Elisabeth.)

And Erin and I did a swap in November. She has posted about our swap here and here, and I've been feeling terrible about not sharing about it from my end yet.

She sent two adorable Market Totes for my children. A cherry-appliqued one for Elisabeth, and a tomato-appliqued one for James. They hang on hooks by our front door, always at the ready to come out with us on an adventure, or for some important "toting" around the house.

And she didn't leave the mama out, either! I have really loved the clutch that she designed especially for me.

It's really one of my favorite accessories, with all that pink and brown and Joel Dewberry fabric and the fairy flying the kite on the back. Wow. (You can see more of that in Erin's post.) Right now it's where I'm stashing my Tilted Duster money. (Ssssh!)

For Erin's sweet little one, I knitted this hat, which I must say is one of my favorite handknits to date. I always get a broad smile when I see it in one of Erin's photos.

Here it is on my little model, back in late November. I remember this day so well -- he was so unhappy, and such an unwilling model that afternoon. It was really tough to convince him to let me get just a few pictures. He managed to smile a few times for me, for which I was so grateful and I remember just thinking how blessed I am to have such a sweet wee one in my life; so willing to try something to help his mama, and so generally cheerful.

The hat is knitted using some handspun, hand-dyed yarn from cassiemarie. I was so happy with this yarn, and Cassie was so sweet to do business with. I will definitely buy yarn from her again!

The pattern is The Little Flap Cap #109 by Cabin Fever, another super quick, easy, and fun pattern. I modified it slightly (to give it that elfin point) by only working the decreases at the crown until I had about eight stitches or so left, and then knit about five rows plain (I think -- don't quote me on that). I also omitted the colorwork that was in the original pattern since I was using that beautiful variegated/self-striping yarn.

Then I lined the hat using a buttery-hued, lightweight, soft cotton knit. (The fabric was actually a crib sheet that we'd had for 5 1/2 years and never used since our children don't know what cribs are.) You can see the lining in this picture of the hat on the head of the doll Sally, who had no body at that time. ;)

I love how this particular hat goes down so far on the neck -- I thought it looked a teensy bit odd as I knitted it, but once it was on an actual child, I realized how fantastic it would be to keep a little neck warm!

OK, I know it's been about a million photos (and links! the links!) in this post, so I'll just top with this last one:

But I won't end this post without first wishing a happy fifth and seventh birthday to the children of two sweet bloggy friends! Happy day, little ones! (And to you mamas, too.)

New handknits

I first saw this hat over at Leslie's (and she's knitted it a few more times!), and then at Erin's, and then I decided that I needed to knit it up right away.

It was fast and mostly easy. Casting on at the crown with one stitch on each of the four double-point needles was a bit fiddly. And I had never used a crochet hook for anything besides picking up a dropped stitch here or there, so the half-double crochet around the edge was my very first crochet attempt. I have no idea if I did it backwards or not.

But other than the slightly confusing crown and the crochet edging, it was really easy, and I knit it in probably about four hours after casting on yesterday afternoon.

The pattern is Thorpe by Kirsten Kapur, whose blog I had never seen before, but I am really loving it now! The yarn is Manos del Uruguay in Mulled Wine (#118) for the hat and Pink (#01) for the contrast edging. Elisabeth's favorite color, "prune pink", can best be described as the exact purple-pink color of this hat, so she was pretty excited about it. The needles were size 8 bamboo needles and a size I crochet hook.

Next, a new hat for James, and a sweater (and maybe a new hat, too) for Daddy, and a sweater for Mama ... Knitting never sounded so good!

Fun, Quick, Easy, Cute

So, here's the sweater I knitted up for James on Wednesday/Thursday, when I was procrastinating on making Graham. (By the way, I am so flattered and humbled by your response to him. Thank you.) The sweater is the "Like Father, Like Sons" sweater from The Yarn Girls' Guide to Kid Knits, which was my first actual knitting book (I got it a few years ago), although this is the first thing I've made from it.

The yarn is a double strand of Ironstone Yarns Harmony, and it's on size 17 needles, so when I say it knit up quickly, I am not exaggerating! It's bulky and thick and oh-so-warm. A perfect outside sweater.

When I first put it on James (last night), he wailed "Owie" over and over. But today he's seemed to like it, which is good since he's probably going to be wearing it a lot.

Knitting Stuff

Ugh, I hate the spew-y tone of yesterday's post, so I have decided to come out and do a Saturday post. Time for some sunshine! (Oh, but thank you for all of your sympathy.) Wanna see some pictures of me knitting?

I know I said some time ago that I've been doing some knitting here and there with nothing to share yet. The knitting shown here, and its deadline (today) is not really related to that. It's not exactly "pleasure knitting" (though any chance to knit is, admittedly, lovely). The story is, I was hired to teach knitting at my local Jo-Ann starting this fall. Wild, huh? Especially to me, since I still have so much to learn about knitting (in my opinion). But I know enough to teach the basic knitting classes that they offer there. Anyway, this week, I finally decided to knit up the samples for the classes as today is the class showcase/demo, where they advertise their classes and teachers to the public and try to get people to sign up. I admit, I'm rather a yarn snob. I really could not get into the "squeaky" feeling of these synthetic yarns as I knit them up (being corporate, Jo-Ann has specific projects and supplies for each class they offer).

Anyway, I am actually really looking forward to teaching these classes. It'll be a chance for me to earn a bit of craft money (must. buy. fabric.) and work on my own knitting during class. I'm a person who can easily get into a place where I dread having things "on my schedule", but this shouldn't be too bad. Only a few times a month, I'm reminding myself.

A Quilt for Claire

Elisabeth has had a little piggy bank since she was born (well, actually it was part of a game at my baby shower when I was pregnant with her, so it was actually before she was born), and although she doesn't have an allowance, we often give her change to put into her bank. Several months ago, she became really fixated on buying this doll bed for Claire, and since she had more than half of the money for it in her piggy bank already (five years of change, you know), we told her that she could buy it once she had the full amount in there. (I kind of cheated and gave her extra money from time to time.) She was very patient and never wavered in her resolve to save for that bed. So several weeks ago, she finally had enough change, and we ceremoniously brought the contents of her piggy bank to the bank to be counted in their machine. She is too little to really grasp the value of money, but she was so very thrilled to be able to buy this bed all by herself, though it doesn't matter to her if it was $7 or $70 or $700.

She was a little dismayed, however, when it arrived without the quilt, but more than satisfied when I told her that she could pick her own fabric and I'd make a quilt especially for her and Claire. I finished the quilt at the end of last week, and although it's not perfect (my first solo quilting project -- the big quilt with my mom having been set aside for the time being), she is so totally thrilled.

(These two photos are showing up really poorly in my browser, but clicking on them takes you to their individual Flickr pages, where they look more clear.)

The embroidery image is from a little paper-doll-girl rubber stamp that I stamped onto the fabric (using a fabric marker to ink the stamp). The quilt is self-bound with the backing, which was my lazy "this-is-how-I-make-blankets" way of doing the quilt binding, and a mistake I will not be repeating. Then I just ran it through my machine for some quick stitch-in-the-ditch quilting, and voila! A quilt for dolly.

hello!!

Hee, hee, I told you I'd be back pretty soon! I just can't keep away. ;)

I cannot thank all of you enough for your kindness, generosity, support, and encouragement over the last couple of weeks. It has really helped me. A lot. Words are really failing me to express my gratitude to all of you. Thank you again and again!

Updates, updates ... hmmm. Well, first, my husband took a job. It's nothing great, something he'll probably try to use as a stepping stone to something more desirable within a couple of years, but at least now we are in a position of knowing. We'll be fine, we don't have to move; he'll have a bit more of a commute, but he's OK with it.

Next, I still haven't sent my camera. My warranty expires in October, so I better send it before then! I just can't part with it, you know?

Anyway, I know I promised some time ago to share the last of the April birthday gifts. Please forgive the lighting on these ... it was one of those times where they just had to be photographed -- right before they were gifted, you know?

So, these gifts were for the first birthday of a very special little one. She's sweet C's baby sister, and was born just 5 weeks after James. It has been such fun to have these two babies so close in age and to see them grow.

The smock was made using a half-made dress (I'm thinking from the 1970's or 80's), the source of which I will talk more about soon. I designed the embroidery myself, after baby R's mama raved about the embroidery I did on Elisabeth's birthday pinafore. The doll is a very simple design which I made up myself. It is made using organic colorgrown cotton fleece. Lovely!

I really, really wish I had taken some pictures of beautiful baby R with her gifts. She is really a gorgeous baby. Perhaps her mama (a blog reader!) will indulge me ... ;)

Birthday pinafore

As I said previously, I had been planning to make a linen smock for Elisabeth's birthday for some time. When I saw this berry-picking pinafore last fall, I made my mind up to do a similar one for Elisabeth, especially since berry picking is one of our favorite family activities. Of course, knowing how much I like the cross-back smocks, I wanted to use that style again. (Elisabeth is refusing to allow this to be called "apron" or "smock", by the way, and insists that everyone say "pinafore.")

I had such fun designing and stitching the "E" embroidery on the front ~ it was definitely my favorite part of the project, and I still get excited looking at it.

I have been working really hard at making my sewing neater, straighter, & more careful lately (I've been especially motivated by this book in that area), making my backstitching and topstitching go perfectly on top of the underneath stitches, and so forth. Right now, I'm still what I would consider to be a "beginner", but I want my stuff to look handmade, not sloppy. I get easily frustrated, and have said many (many, many, many ... just ask my husband!) times how much I hate pinning and pressing and snipping threads ~ all the "extraneous" bits of sewing, right? ~ but I am trying to teach myself to enjoy even those aspects, and sometimes find myself muttering things like, "This is going to be the best pinning job I've ever done." I am not totally there yet ... enjoying the process of sewing (or anything, apparently) rather than just rushing through in anticipation of the "finished product" is challenging for me. But I'm getting better. I think the last few things I've made show my increasing attention to detail.

And I love this pinafore.

Vest

I did, in fact, complete James's Easter vest with plenty of time to spare. I really, really like it, don't you? The pattern was so easy to follow, although I thought I'd try to be smart and make it a little bigger since the measurements in the pattern were for a baby just a wee bit smaller than James. Anyway, were I to make it again, I wouldn't add quite so much length to the arm-holes. It fits him just fine, but looks a little weird at the shoulders, mainly because I just went too long.

My own mistake aside, I would highly recommend this book, and this yarn! Wonderful knitting!

Smockafore

Because I truly do need more ways to use the word "smock."

(Sorry for the photo quality on these ... it has been very gray around here of late.)

Elisabeth has a friend who is just two days younger. When the girls were little toddlers, her mother and I used to get stopped and asked if they were twins when we were out and about together. It's true that they look very much alike ~ both are tall, curly-haired, blue-eyed little ones. Both are high-intensity, strong personalities. They're so similar and yet so different. It is amazing to me to see how they have grown together.

Anyway, in addition to Easter and Elisabeth's birthday, we have sweet Miss L's birthday  this week (oh, and another little friend's birthday next week ...) So, this gift is the first of many you'll see posted in the upcoming days.

This is not the first time I've made one of these apron/smock/pinafores in the cross-back style, though it was the first time I'd done it in linen.

I'd been planning to make a linen one for Elisabeth's birthday for several months, but since Miss L's birthday party came first, I ended up making hers before starting Elisabeth's. I decided to use my favorite Stitchette pattern for the pocket, and used turquoise and purple floss in the design because they are colors which remind me of her. I'd begun the embroidery before I even thought about what fabric to use as lining. Quite serendipitously, my order of Freshcut fabric arrived this week, and the stripes matched the embroidery perfectly. I am really, really happy with the way this came out, and I hope Miss L likes it, too.

{These cross-back smocks can be seen all over the place lately; Alicia's smocket pattern is the same idea, and Amanda made some using linen recently, as well. The design is traditional, and can be seen, among other places, in an early 20th century illustration on the little brother in the book Ollie's Ski Trip by Elsa Beskow. I adapted my design from a pattern in The Children's Year when I first made one. This style of apron has also been sold at Magic Cabin in the past -- we have one of theirs from about three years ago -- although I don't know if they still carry them.}

more birthday goodness

Here's some more birthday goodness. Natural Knits for Babies and Moms, a gift from my friend Laura (who happens to be sweet C's mama, as well). This book has become an instant favorite. I am just not sure what to make first!

First off, I absolutely adore these booties. They are just perfect in their complete simplicity. I love the garter stitch on the soles.

Awww, look at that peaceful wee dreamer.

I instantly loved these mittens. Look at that stripey, mitteny goodness!

I cannot resist the cuteness of these kimono sweaters. Oh, so yummy!

And finally, the vest. I never really thought I was a vest person, until I saw my son in one at Christmas, when I promptly changed my mind. I love the subtle striping on this one. So cute! Is it calling my name for Easter?

Happy Birthday, Sweet Friend

Today is the sixth birthday of Elisabeth's first friend. We met C when she was 16 months old and Elisabeth was but a wee babe of three months. Her mama, along with two other women, formed my core of support in those early -- sometimes stumbling, sometimes jubilant -- days of motherhood. For three years, C and Elisabeth were the only girls in our collective growing brood. (Now a total of 10 children between the four of us -- 6 boys and 4 girls.) And at first, that 14 month age difference seemed huge. But the girls have grown together and I take such joy in observing their friendship.

Writing this post is a whole flood of emotions for me. Both in the realization that this girl, this one-time baby, is a big six-year-old now, and in the sheer nervous energy left from this huge project, completed yesterday:

With this having only been my third doll to complete, it was still a learning process for me. But I came to love this doll as much as the others I made. In fact, parting with this doll, whom I lovingly dubbed "Frances" during her making, was a little tragic for me as I dropped Elisabeth off at the birthday party this afternoon.

It was is a huge lesson in letting go for me. I am not just letting go of a doll, you know? Of course you know. I'm having to let go of all that crafter's anxiety: "Will my handmade gift be good enough? What if she doesn't like it? It would be like rejecting me! Or is it too much? Oh, dear, is this gift over the top? " etc. And then, there's that whole letting go of our children bit. You know, because they're actually growing up. Right before my very eyes.

More about the doll. I used the vintage strawberry fabric from the recent estate sale, orange yarn hair in honor of our little strawberry-blonde friend, vintage shell buttons on the back of her pinafore, and vintage ribbon on her knittted shoes. (All other materials are new.)

I also made her a birthday crown (100% wool felt, but not plant-dyed) to coordinate with the crown I knew C's mama was making for her this year. Not knowing what the doll's eventual name would be (C's crown has her initial on it), I just embroidered a strawberry of my own design.

You can see more pictures of the doll on my flickr page.

Happy birthday, sweet C!

addiction

I learned to knit about 20 years ago, and sometimes I'd pick up my needles and make something, but I never really did a lot with it until recently. I'm getting to a point where I actually understand patterns and can knit without looking. (Which is huge for me, because I still sometimes look while I type! Even after grad school and everything!) So, now I actually feel like I need to knit every day, or else I get withdrawal.

Anyway, I just knitted up this hat this week, and I'm really pleased with the results. The pattern is Ann Norling #54 and was super easy, even for me and my intermediate skills. ;) I used that super-soft Highlander yarn (a wool-angora blend), and was really happy working with it.

Fun! And now my head can be warm. And yes, my hair is truly that orange.

She came!

Thank you for all your first tooth love! Elisabeth was delighted this morning to discover what the Tooth Fairy left under her pillow. I was caught a little off-guard by the whole thing (her tooth had been a little loose for months, and I figured we still had months to go; then it seemed a lot looser on Wednesday, and by yesterday it was clear that she'd lose it by the end of the day), but I did make a little tooth pouch very much like the one the Tooth Fairy brought me when I lost my first tooth. The Tooth Fairy always left me a note, too, and although I have a closet full of fancy paper, I opted for the simple folded printer paper version that the Tooth Fairy used to leave for me because I am just so sentimental. There were also two quarters which have already made their way into the piggy bank to be saved for craft supplies. (That's what we both spend our money on. I am training her well.)

I am really excited that Elisabeth wanted to style and take her own photo of her surprises (not that this is the first photo she's taken -- she takes lots) to share on the blog! She wanted to share her joy with all of you!  Hmmm. I think her photo actually looks better than mine!

Quilting

This is the fabric for the quilt I'm starting with my mom. This is my very first quilting project, and her second. (She is a very experienced seamstress, though. And such a perfectionist. She is Ma Ingalls for the 21st century, I tell you.) I'm a bit intimidated by the project -- and it is to be truly my project because she is finishing her master's degree this semester, and so doesn't have a lot of time to do it with me, other than helping me get started. The pattern we're using is star at my window, a pattern my mom found at Quilter's Cache. And, it's going to be hand-quilted! Wow! I'm excited, but also a bit nervous. Here's my very first completed block:

Hopefully to be completed by this summer... We shall see. ;)