Baby blanket

 

Today I made a receiving blanket for my soon expected grandson.  This time they are going with a bear and mountain theme.  I thought that the bears and other woodland creatures was really cute.

It's a self-binding flannel blanket like I've made before from a Missouri Star Quilt Company tutorial.  She says that it takes about 10 minutes, but time must pass at a different rate in Missouri, because it took me well over an hour.

Blanket for Gus

 

I finally did some sewing this year.  Woo-hoo!  We are expecting a new grand-baby in August and this time it's a little boy.  His parents (finally) decided on an ocean theme for the nursery, so I got this cute flannel fabric at the quilt shop and a self-binding baby blanket was born.  

 I'm having less luck finding fabric that I want for an actual quilt, though.  Hopefully I'll find something soon.  Time is ticking.

Self-binding Baby Blanket

Today I made a blanket for my granddaughter that is due to be born in December.  I followed the tutorial from Missouri Star Quilt Company, and I ordered the fabric from there as well.  Thanks to a screw-up with the USPS it took a side trip to Hawaii before the fabric made it to me, but at least I got it.  The fabric is just well traveled, that's all.  And I guess it has more traveling to do, because the baby will be born in Washington state.  Oh the places we will go...

Nursing Aides

My daughter is expecting a baby in December.  She is planning to breastfeed and asked me to make her something called Nurselets.  I had never heard of them before, but she sent me a link to what they look like.  They were really easy to make.  I just used 2-1/2 inch strips of fabric, heavy interfacing, and sew-in Velcro.  The idea is that they hold your shirt up out of baby's face while she's nursing.  When not in use, you can wear them around your wrist.  Pretty cool little invention.

Bandana Dress

On Friday, my husband and I were babysitting our one year old granddaughter while my son and daughter-in-law went out to dinner and to the movies.  While we had her, she had a total diaper blow-out - shirt, pants, high-chair, nothing was spared.  When I went to change her, I realized that the diaper bag they left with us had a spare pair of pants, but no clean shirt. 

It was a warm day and all, but we were planning to go for a stroll after dinner and I didn't want her out without some kind of shirt on.  I scoured the house for something to use and came across an old bandana that I was planning to donate.  I quickly made a make-shift bandana top for her to wear. It was really a little too small, had raw edges at the arm holes, and used cut-away selvage strips for the drawstrings - nothing to keep or use going forward.  Although she is extremely adorable wearing it.

But that really gave me the fever to make her a little bandana dress.  Something that would be cute and usable for real.  So today I went to Wal-Mart and bought 2 matching bandanas and some coordinating ribbon and made her a real bandana dress.  She loves dogs so I thought the paws and bones print was perfect for her.  I figure we can keep it here at our house for emergencies.  Bandana dresses are extremely versatile in terms of size.  As she gets bigger it just becomes a shorter dress or a blouse.  In fact, I tried it on and I can wear it as a blouse - I'd want it a little bigger if it were for me, but she can definitely use it for years to come if the necessity arises.

More grand-mommy sewing!

Yesterday I spent my sewing day making cloth wipes.  My son and daughter-in-law are planning to use cloth diaper and cloth wipes on the baby once she gets out of the absolutely newborn stage.  The picture at the top is a dozen flannel two-ply wipes that finish at 8-1/2 inches square.  The bottom picture is three smaller wipes that I made with the scraps of leftover fabric.  They are 6 x 8-1/2 inches.  I thought they would make nice face wipes.

I pre-washed the fabric in baby detergent and hot water to preshrink it and soften it up.  Then I cut out 9 inch squares.  I sewed the squares together using a 1-4 inch seam and my walking foot, leaving about a two inch gap for turning it right side out.  I turned them right side out, and then top stitched about 1/8 of an inch or less from the edge all the way around to close up gap and secure the seam.  Hopefully they will work well.  Some things I have read say they need a few washings before they really start working well.

The Grandmother Sewing Begins

My middle son is expecting his first child in April, and she will be my first grand-baby.  We just found out last week that the baby is going to be a girl, so I can start sewing for her.  I found a pattern on Pinterest for a burp cloth that used flannel and chenille fabrics.  When I went to the quilt shop I bought some chenille to try it out.  I think it turned out good, but I kinda wish the chenille was a little thicker/closer together.  Before I make any more, I am going to let the parents-to-be look at it and see if they like the feel of the fabrics.  They love dogs, so I'm sure the flannel print will be a hit.