Cat

Finally, a new project!  I've been wanting to do this project since I became the lucky owner of the book, Denyse Schmidt Quilts: 30 Colorful Quilt and Patchwork Projects five years ago.  Look how cute this little cat turned out!  I have plans to make many more of these, in different colors and fabrics.

No Camera

My husband took all the working digital cameras that we own on his trip down the Grand Canyon, which has been happening for the last three weeks.  I realized about a week ago that I have things to show you, but no camera to take photos of it all with!  Stay tuned--there's some good stuff on its way in the next few weeks.

Luckily, my sister's birthday was during this time, and I sent her a package, and she sent me some photos of what I sent her.  These little cards are a variation on a theme from this post.  Ashley had commented on how much she liked them, so I decided she needed a mini set for her birthday.

I spent the majority of my art day this week on typing up the inserts for the baby advent calendars.  There are some really good ones.  Here are a few examples of the prompts a mom-to-be would take from the pockets:

Gather kids' songs &

make a CD or playlist.

Ask your friends and family for their favorite kids' songs or lullabies. Jot down the names and then search online or in the library for recordings of the songs.  Either make a CD or a playlist for your mp3 player.

Find photographs of yourself and

your partner as babies.

Have them framed and put them on the mantle to refer to later, to see who your child looks more like!

Talk to a mom.

Whether it is your mom or someone else's, get all the details!  What is her birth story?  What was it like for her to become a mother?  How has she changed over time as a result of being a mom?  What has motherhood taught her about herself and life?  What would she have done differently?  How did she continue to connect with her partner?  What was she afraid of and how did she overcome her fear?  What is her favorite thing about being a mom?

Special thanks to Haley, Katie, and Siri (all moms or moms-to-be) for your insight and ideas for this project.  I certainly couldn't have come up with all the ideas for this on my own.

Potholder & Baby Shower Invites

I was making some Wonky Squares aprons with the black background (instead of white) a while ago and found a red-themed square that I just adored the color combination of.  So I made a second square just like it and thought I'd turn it into a pot holder.  I needed to repair another beloved potholder in my kitchen, so the two projects combined gave me a reason to buy insulated batting.  Here is how the Wonky Square potholder turned out. It is actually a pocket pot holder.  Your hand can fit in between the two layers.

A lot of time recently has been spent in preparation for a friend's upcoming baby shower.  I can't give anything else away about it just yet, since she's a loyal blog follower, but at least here is a view of the invitations, each one a little book.  They were really fun to design and then make.  My favorite part was putting all of them in the mail, a big dose of love going out into the world!