Happy Halloween!

Here's where I show you a million pictures of my cute kids.

Ginny wanted to be Pink Minnie but when we were looking through the pattern book for a suitable Minnie dress she saw the pattern for this:

"I wear dis dess."

"You don't want to be Pink Minnie?"

"I wear dat dess."

Okay.

Ginny is more than happy for me to sew during the day if I am making something for her.  I told her I would try to finish it after she went to bed and we woke to her crying the next day, trying to get into my sewing room and yelling "I want my dess! I want my dess!"  Needless to say, she's wanted to wear it everyday since. 

The crown was already in her daily dress-up rotation.  In fact, I did a little tutorial for it on Instagram a couple of months ago.  You can find it with the hashtag #easydressupcrown.  (While you're at it, follow me, @ladyharvatine!  There's a lot more sewing and a LOT more baby pics there then there are here these days!)

Teddy was going to go as Pink Mickey to match Gin's Pink Minnie but since that was off the table I went for the obvious costume:

My Teddy Bear!

Both of these are Simplicity patterns though I don't have the numbers on hand.  Ginny's was made exactly like the pattern.  Teddy's was more for toddlers so I took in the smallest size.  I also adjusted the placement of the ears a bit, made the ear linings smaller, added the tuft of hair and the little pads to the bottom of his feet.  I also attached the feet to the onesie instead of having separate booties.

Ginny loved trick-or-treating.  Teddy was happy to go along for the ride and was asleep by the time we got home.  Gin proceeded to sample a little bit of a lot of candy.  As you can see she really lived it up.

 Harv already owned all of his costume.

 And last (maybe least?), I was Kid Sister in white overalls and a white visor that I found at the thrift store and dyed pink.  I was surprised by how many people remembered My Buddy but had never heard of Kid Sister!

Though we never had either, they definitely have equal billing in my memory (as do their jingles).

 A disparate group for sure.  Maybe next year we'll do a family costume but I have a feeling if we do it will have to revolve around Gin's whims.  She's a pretty opinionated little girl.

Happy Halloween!

Luck of the Just-a-Teeny-Bit-Irish

Although my maiden name is Kelly, I'm only a little bit Irish.  Virginia has just a touch.  I'm not sure how much but it's got to be less than an eighth.  It is the one nationality that Harv and I have in common though.  Ginny's also Polish, German, English, Danish, Slovenian and I believe Dutch but don't quote me on that one.  I think at this point we can just call her American.

I miraculously found enough time to make her a little St. Patrick's Day outfit today.  The romper is a Citronille pattern I've made a couple of times already.  I couldn't waste any time preparing a new pattern, or even this pattern in a larger size which is a bit of a bummer since she'll be too big for this soon.  But that's ok, I think it was worth it.  I just winged the bonnet pattern, based on measurements from a store bought bonnet we have.  And the inspiration for the entire endeavor, the socks, came from my sister Lauren.

We're not having our corned beef and cabbage until tomorrow night so Ginny will get a little more wear out of this get up.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like...

Harv and I won't be traveling anywhere this Christmas for obvious reasons so we actually bought a Christmas tree for the first time in several years.  We're normally in Connecticut or Minnesota for the holidays and working hard right up until it's time leave so the Christmas cheer gets put on hold and the decorations stay in storage. 

But since we're going to stay home this year I wanted to make sure we made the season last as long as possible!

I'm the oldest of four and when I went off to college my family started buying a Christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving.  The whole family was together then and wouldn't be again until Christmas break.  The tradition has stuck, even now that the youngest in the family has graduated (yipes!) so I was quite open to getting things started as soon as the Thanksgiving leftovers were in the fridge.  Of course it's much less idyllic picking a bundled up, pre-cut tree from the lot in front of Lowe's than it is taking a sleigh ride out into the middle of a Connecticut tree farm and tromping through the snow to find the perfect tree, then cutting it down yourself.  But hey, we live in Southern California, what choice do we have?  We actually did go to a Christmas tree "farm" our first winter out here.  It was underwhelming to say the least.  The trees were crazy expensive, growing in a dirt lot not too far from the freeway and you didn't even get to cut them down yourself!  Not worth it.

 

We also dug out plenty of other decorations including this somewhat sad little tree that last made an appearance in my craft room.  I'm not sure where he'll end up but he's working as a centerpiece for right now.  This little guy and the grand master tree are both in need of tree skirts so I'm putting that near the top of my list.

I want to say I'll give a prize to anyone who was reading this blog when I made these pillows but all I have to offer is Christmas cheer.  I hadn't quite worked out my style back then.  This was me trying to be Denyse Schmidt-like and not really succeeding.  But they're out on the couch anyway.  As I've learned from decorating our tree with every single ornament Harv was given or made as a child (his mom has long since moved on to a color coordinated tree) Christmas decorations are as much about memories and sentimentalism as they are about style.

But I have finished a Christmas quilt top that is more my style, using my Mod Beads pattern.  As I was designing it I knew it would make a great Christmas quilt and I can't wait to finish it up to show you.

And last but not least, if you live near a Trader Joe's go buy these right now.  They are so good.  I'm a real sucker for seasonal treats and these babies do not disappoint.

Map of the States

These are some long overdue photos of a quilt I made for Harv's mom this past Christmas.

Like I said, long overdue.

I made the blocks using the "map of the states" method at Oh, Fransson. 

This method was fussy as you-know-what but there is something nice about a technique in which all of the planning is done up front.  All of your creative decisions are made at the start so once you've made them, you're just assembling, not thinking.  Sometimes I'm really in the mood to just sew and not think.

Also, I dig puzzles.   Above you see my original, uncut templates, the pieces cut up and seperated by color, the pieces ironed to their corresponding fabric which is cut with a 1/4" seam allowance and then organized back into groups by block. 

I used nine different color groups and bought myself a lovely new box of Crayola markers for the task.  The nice thing about markers as opposed to colored pencils is you don't have to worry about anything sticking to your iron.
Coloring is fun.

This might be cheating

This mini-quilt is for a Valentine swap at tonight's LA Modern Quilt Guild meeting. I don't know if I should be sharing this yet as it's supposed to be a blind swap but, well...I guess I don't care.

Truth be told, I painted our bedroom last week and I am tempted to spend the entire day in my pretty new, non-hell pit room. Blogging is a perfect bedbound activity.

The quilt is tiny; about 9" x 12". The technique I used to make the hearts is a variation of this circle technique. The biggest difference is that I didn't sew the pieces together until I quilted it. I left them glued together and then quilted around each heart.

The label in the back is the same kind of deal. I didn't think I'd be able to match the hearts on the front and back perfectly so I didn't try. It would be a great look if I could pull it off though. Maybe next time.

Also, rounded corners! I love them.

Valentine

In the making.