Digital Scrapbooking, Take 3

So here's my third PSE layout. Muchas Gracias to Denise for her awesome template (available at her secret new blog: neeceebeedesigns.blogspot.com)! I'm really happy with this one. I worked my way through a template tutorial and worked on my drop shadows too. I probably could have played with the pictures to match the exposures, but otherwise, I think it turned out great!

My Biggest Project of the Past Year

Thirteen months of breastmilk!! This is the very last of the milk from the freezer. I can't believe I pumped for nine whole months! And I'm so glad there was plenty to last Hayden to his first birthday and beyond. I'm so awesome. I cannot even count the hours I spent on this project and for a payoff I have the cutest one-year-old on earth!

New Year, Same Old Projects?

Baby gifts I finished in early December: two blankets and taggies for Winona, three blankets and one taggie for Jennifer, duckie blanket & taggie for Trav's cousin Jared, blanket and taggie for Tamee Jones, and firetruck blanket for Jen Walker.


So it's a new year and there hasn't been much activity here for a few months. I just didn't have time to finish Hayden's quilt. Part of me didn't want to finish it. Why else would it have been so low on my priority list? He's just too old for that style of quilt. Maybe the next baby (no, that's not any type of announcement) will have it. For now, I've packed it away and faced the fact that it was really a quilt I saved for a little girl baby.

So on to now. I've pulled out the pj's I cut out for the boys last summer and am ready to sew them up. I went through my fabric stash and freecycled a bunch that I just haven't gotten to. Once again, I resolve to only buy fabric that I love and have the time to use. I also divided what was left into a couple bins. One of them holds all projects I want to work on immediately. At the top of the stack are the cute pajamas. Next are the pillows and maybe bedskirt for our bed. I also need to make a decision about the kitchen curtains. Something must be done, but I just have to decide how expensive it will be. Then probably a couple new skirts for myself.

Then of course I have a few more baby blankets to make. I love making them. And that reminds me, I have extra fabric from all these blankets. I'm considering taking all the scraps and making a fun picnic blanket or car blanket for us. Either that or about a hundred bean bags.

Christmas this year was the best ever in a few ways. I think unpackaging the toys prior to wrapping them might be our favorite new tradition. That and having dear friends over for Christmas Eve dinner. But I didn't like the stress I created for myself by leaving a lot of projects to the last minute. So, I'm making Christmas pj's WAY early this year. Like March way early. Okay, maybe not March, but really early.

Gingerbread Boy Outfit

Hayden Block #2

Second block done!! This one was so easy. It only took an hour and a half including cutting it out. I'm excited that these blocks are coming together so quickly. I'm spending an hour a day sewing, and these blocks so far have only taken around that long. Hmmm Maybe I can finish the blocks by the end of Sept at the latest?

And what do you think, should I embroider a design in the center? I had considered an oval of some sort of vine/curling lines with Hayden's initials in the middle. It would add a bit of time onto the project though. I'll have to see how long the blocks take and then reconsider.

Square #1 is done!

I've been a major slacker, but I'm getting on the ball now. So here's the completed square. I focused in on the insertion piece, the rest of the square is just the plain white fabric along the sides. I'm going to back the insertion in blue so it shows up like in the picture. It's not perfect, but I'm happy with it. On to block #2!!

Ultimate Baby Quilt

In Fall of '05 I was visiting Mom in CA and browsing through her Sew Beautiful magazines when I found a picture of the most beautiful baby quilt ever!! It is made as almost a sampler of heirloom sewing techniques, all of which I'm dying to learn.

Of course I fell in love and made plans to sew the quilt even though Blake was a year and a half old and I didn't know when I'd have another baby. I soon convinced Krista to make the quilt as well and we bought all the supplies to make the quilt in yellow, only to put it all away for years!

So when I got pregnant this last time, I said I would make the quilt for this baby's first birthday. Now I've bought some blue fabric and am finally ready to start the most intimidating project I think I've ever tried on my own.

And now we come to today: I began the first block. Woo hoo!! It's the second one from the left on the top row. It includes this "fancy band," which is just a bunch of laces and embroideries joined together in a strip with a zig zag stitch. The middle is an embroidered insertion and on either side is lace beading (later I'll thread ribbon through this) and an English lace. I looked all over the internet and couldn't find more boy-ish laces, but I think I'll back this block in blue so it's a bit more masculine.

I ran into problems using the heirloom quality thread on my machine...which really annoyed me. For a machine that expensive, I thought it would work fine, but apparently expensive machines are picky. I think it's a tension thing, so I'm going to call the store for advice tomorrow. Otherwise, it came together pretty easily. I'm about half-way done with the block and hope to finish tomorrow.