a new sundress . . .

Since Elayna's the oldest, she's been in need of some new summer clothes. And since my gals love to wear sundresses, and they're pretty easy to whip up, off to the sewing room we went. Elayna picked out the fabric, ribbon, and approved of the pattern. We had to add the ruffle and headband at her request and she was quite happy with the finished result.

Baby Booties

I made these baby booties for a contest and had one of my wonderful sisters take some pictures of them for me. They are reversible mary janes with removable flowers, a self-covered button in center, and rick rack trim. I couldn't resist making the matching outfits and headband which also has a matching flower on it.

a little outfit

Yesterday I sewed up this little outfit from this pattern. It was super quick and easy and I love the finished look. The pattern doesn't have set in sleeves, so it gives it a different look - and I just love the ties. I've been in a nice sewing groove lately and it helps when you're inspired by beautiful fabrics.

headband

I've been going back and forth on growing Elayna's bangs out for some time now and after seeing this tutorial recently - I decided to try grow them out after all. So far, so good. She loves the headband and says it feels comfortable. She even modelled it for me.

baby quilt

This is a baby quilt I made for a friend that had a baby girl a couple weeks ago. It was the simplest pattern and came together in a couple of days. I had three meters of flannel intended for a rag blanket but decided on a more finished look instead this time. It measures 32" x 39" - so it's a bit of a small crib size but fits nicely in a pack n' play. I love how the back of the quilt mimics one of the blocks from the front. My inspiration came from here.

A little dress

Ever since I saw this dress while blogging one day, I just had to make that pattern. And thanks to the new way I've been gathering and my serger, it was really quick to make. I made it in a size 2 with longer sleeves so Alyssa can wear it in the Fall to church. So it's a little big for now but she loved trying it on for me anyways. Now to make some coordinating items for it . . .

Crazy Eights Quilt

I think it's safe to post these now . . . this is a baby quilt I made for a friend's new baby boy recently. It was my first time trying the Crazy Eights pattern (really fun and easy), my first time free motion quilting (which I want to do again, and need to relax more while doing), and my first time not prewashing the fabric (it gives such a nice texture and look after you wash it).

Summer dresses

Nap times were productive for sewing this week! These will be the girls Sunday dresses for awhile. I'm hoping to get some better pics of the girls in these dresses and a family pic next week (thanks to my sis).

Amish Bread

My girls made amish bread today to break in their new aprons. They are getting better at this baking thing, I better keep it up.

And anyone want an amish bread starter? It's the bread that never ends.

Baby shoes

I've been having fun on my new serger and decided to try some baby shoes. I used this tutorial but think I'll have to find one with bigger sizes since I hate guessing with enlarging a pattern - the ones I made just fit Alyssa.

I KNOW I got spoiled for Mother's Day!

My little quilt designers

We went to a couple fabric stores yesterday and they were giving out swatches of fabric at the till - so the girls picked out three each and wanted me to make them into something. So we added some of my scraps and they each "designed" a little doll blanket. They really seem to match their tastes - Elayna's very feminine and simple and Chantel's more busy and different. Elayna's been getting close to writing her name out by herself and she had to attach it with clips to the top of her quilt. Chantel couldn't wait for me to finish the back of hers so I'll have to finish it off another day so she can play with it today.

Boy clothes

Sometimes I wonder if we'll ever be blessed with a boy one day - someone that hubby can teach golf, fishing, sports, and all the "guy" stuff to. When each of our girls was born, I know I looked to him for any signs of disappointment when the "it's a girl!" was announced and although I never saw anything but pure excitement and joy, I still felt a little bad for him that so far he hasn't had a son. Someone to share that special bond that I'll get as the girls get older and when I get to teach them the life stuff.


These are a few boy outfits for some new boys born into our congregation (first child for each couple). Although I missed the baby shower the other day (one of the girls was sick), it worked out nicely since I finished the second of the outfits today.

Auction Quilt

A girlfriend and I have been working on an auction quilt together (she's actually the same wonderful woman who taught me how to cut and press properly and got me hooked on the world of quilting). This quilt is for a fundraising auction for our kids' school. Since we both have three girls, we went through some of our stash and made a scrappy girls twin size quilt.

PLEASE VOTE FOR US!!

I entered a contest where I had to submit a story of how Brad and I met. The winner gets a $50 gift certificate for dinner. Our story got picked as one as the contestants and the story with the most comments wins. So PLEASE go to the link below and comment on our entry (#21 - has a pic of Brad & I in grade one).


THANK YOU!!
Brad & Rebecca


http://genxparents.blogspot.com/2008/04/love-genx-style-contest-entry-21.html

SCRAP N' CRAFT!!!

What can I say about a whole day out of scrapbooking and cardmaking? WONDERFUL! FUN! PRODUCTIVE! A ticket cost me $20 and it included lunch, dinner, snacks, drinks and some great scrapbooking goodies. Lunch was a salad buffet - lettuce, eggs, shredded chicken, tonnes of different veggies and toppings, dressings, and buns with yummy garlic butter. Dinner was salad, lasagna, and some more garlic butter buns. The food alone was worth the ticket cost! But I also got to enjoy a full day of socializing with some good friends, and getting some work done.

This is the mini-class we took during the day (there were lots of classes to choose from):

These are the scrapbook pages I got done on Alyssa's album (15 in total). I'm about half-way done her one year album now but need more pictures developed to finish it (plus she's not quite one yet!). For Elayna's album I had done a pink theme, for Chantel's I did purple, so for Alyssa's I chose a rose red. It was a really fun colour to work with and there are lots of wonderful coordinating things out there that helped!

All packed up . . .

Tomorrow = 12 uninterrupted hours of scrapbooking.
No kids, no husband, and lots of catching up to be accomplished.

More Fabric Shopping . . .

Well, I am no longer a "Jo-Ann's virgin". I made the cross-border trek today with a good friend and a good sis' and we hit a huge sale. My jaw dropped a few times when I saw another part of the fabric section, and then another, and then another. I could've bought ten times what I bought, but thankfully I had a bit of a shopping list and some restraint (and thankfully I wasn't in need of any scrapbooking supplies because then I could've spent the whole day there!). I am definitely going back - but I better tackle some projects first! I've been itching to start on some this past week but my sewing room is non-functional right now. But hubby and my good sis's hubby are busy putting together the desk in there tonight (which was too complicated to be a one-man job) and I am hoping to put things back to order tomorrow.Seersucker for sundresses and Summer outfits.Flannel for a rag blanket.

More than enough cottons to finish off Chantel's quilt (including the backing).

FABRIC SHOPPING!

Since the time change, my older girls have been waaaay off schedule - sleeping late, and staying awake REALLY late at night. So in order to skip their naps today and since it's too rainy to play outside, we made a trip to the fabric store. They did really well - it definitely helped that we were picking out fabric for them.

The girls picked out these pieces for aprons (they're a heavier material so they should hold up well).

I found these coordinating cottons at a great price. I'm hoping to turn them into sundresses with tiered skirts for church this summer.

Then I also picked up these seersucker fabrics for some little boy rompers for baby gifts. I liked these but had something different in mind and was really disappointed with the serious lack of boy prints in our fabric store. I was hoping to find some coordinating prints for a shirt/pant combo. I guess I'll be driving west to some bigger fabric stores to look for that next time.

I also picked up the background fabric needed for Chantel's Lucky Stars quilt. So now all I need is my craft room put back in order so that I can get going on all these projects. I painted it over the weekend and need the new-to-me desk set up and everything organized.

I love FREE stuff!

This post is to say THANK-YOU to the wonderful ladies that picked me as winners on their blog draws recently. I love everything!! Two of these I came across randomly and one of them was from the bloggy carnival hosted by Rocks in my Dryer (there were over 800 participants giving away items - so I spent way too many hours going through them finding which ones were available to Canada and entering). I love discovering other women's blogs who share my love or style of quilting, raising girls, and loving God. I am so amazed at how many Christian blogs are out there and how many are written by stay-at-home moms. It is so wonderful to find inspiration this way.

This is a diaper bag from Musings of a Housewife. It's packed full of all the girls "stuff" and I have been using it and loving it.

This is a wonderful homemade bag from Piece of Mind which is so pretty (the picture does not do justice to the quality and texture of the fabrics) and is going to look great on the wall of my craft room when I finish painting and decorating it (Ann-Margaret is not only a taleted crafter but also a Christian author). She also threw in some great fabric that my mind has been making into different projects.

This is a box full of goodies from The Random Ramblings of a Working Mom (and if you noticed that the Ritter bar is actually empty, then that's because I have no self control when it comes to chocolate).