Mermaid Baby Gown

One of my favorite sewing blogs to follow is See Kate Sew. Ever since I saw her mermaid baby gown I have been looking for an excuse to buy it. (My youngest was still small enough, but also so small that I couldn't find time, at least I thought I wouldn't be able to find time.)

Fast forward a bit, and my bestie pregnant with baby number 3, and it's a girl!! So, I talked myself out of being afraid of knits and the envelope neckline and bought it. And then I spent at least a month looking for the right fabrics, probably because I hadn't fully talked myself out of the fear of working with knits.

But when I finally found a fabric that I loved for this gown and got to work. It really was so easy. Kate does a great job of walking you through the steps in the pattern. I cut the pieces one night after the 3 youngest were in bed, and the next day I was able to get it all sewn together -- that's less than a day, total!! I felt pretty awesome, even though I know a huge part of it was great instructions.

Anyway, here's the finished project:

 Isn't it just the most adorable baby gown ever!?! I love it so much!
I also used some left over fabric to make a few headbands to match (one in the floral and one in the pink and gold polka dots) but I absolutely did them the day before I took the gift to her and so I didn't get a picture of them.

That's all for now,
Jo!

Baby Tank

I'm really into the denim top with patterned leggings trend for kids right now, especially for the baby.
I've bought a few sets that I love but I also knew that I had some denim left over from a skirt so I found a cute pair of leggings (at Walmart) and threw together a quick tank.

I really liked the look of the raw edge as the bottom of the tank and didn't think about the orientation as I did that. But I've decided I don't mind the sideways hearts.

That's all for now,
Jo!

New Wallet

So, I've taken quite a break from the "Creepy Quilt" but I feel like it's time to get back to it. When I left off I was trying to find a way to add my uncle's name and possible picture to the quilt. I didn't want to do an iron on transfer because those wash off pretty quickly, so I tried a few techniques I found on-line to try and transfer ink to fabric but they usually ended up fading pretty quickly (like 1-2 washes). Recently I found Kraft Tex, a "paper fabric" that looks like faux leather but can be worked with like paper. I tried running it through the printer but it's too thick, so I decided to try a few different inks. I cut myself a 3x5 piece of the Kraft Tex and wrote in Sharpie, Oil-Based Sharpie, and a Crayola fabric marker (on both sides because one is smooth and one is textured). I threw it through the washer and dryer after 24 hours and they all came out pretty good looking still. The only issue was the oil-based smeared when rubbed (which if I would have thought about before I should have known). So then I added a new mark (just a line next to their previous marked) to test how the Sharpie and fabric marker would come out on pre-washed fabric and to give the others a second cycle test. All came out well! Yeah!!

So then I decided to do a test project just to get a good feel for it and I found a cute and simple wallet pattern. The pattern used a colored version but I had bought a white and thought I would decorate it to match my purse. I used the help of my big Ks to decorate my little pieces and that makes it that much more special. Here is what my pieces looked like:
(The top row, in order left to right, are done by KK, KK, and KL.)

(At this point KL had not yet finished her second so it's sitting under the markers.)

Here's the finished product, with my purse (purchased from JCPenney's).

We used the foliage designs from the purse and kind of played with them a little. And I did choose not to add the vinyl for the ID pocket mostly because I just wanted to finish it without having to dig around looking for my vinyl. I think they look pretty great together (and I've already had one person think they were the same fabric). I love it, especially the fact that I can carry around my girls' work all the time.

I think it was pretty easy to work with, and hopefully it will work well the quilt, my biggest concern now it the texture difference between it and the rest of the quilt. I may go looking for other ideas but right now this is my best option.

That's all for now,
Jo!

New Bag

I've been pretty busy lately with school and baby, but I promise I'm not completely forgotten how to craft... just mostly.

My most recent is a clothes pin bag.

I love my clothes line, I'm pretty sure I can thank the cloth diapers for that. But, a few months ago, when I wasn't using it because it was too humid and I was too pregnant, I was outside watching the girls play and wishing I wasn't the size of a whale so I could take care of the overgrown weeds around my house and I realized there was a whole in my store-bought clothes pin bag. Upon further investigation it was actually completely falling apart and I had forgotten it outside and there was a spider egg sack on the rim too. Yuck!! I'm not really afraid of spiders but I do prefer them outside instead of in- so I grabbed a gallon sized Ziploc and brought in the clothes pins and left the torn and infested bag in the garbage can outside.

And then I scoured Pinterest and found this tutorial.

I found this duck fabric in the clearance section at Hobby Lobby (my favorite place to browse and then grabbed the closest (although not perfect) bias tape they had.

Altogether I spent less than $5 because the bias tape was 50% that day. AWESOME!! I'm pretty sure my store bought clothes pin bag was more than that and didn't leave me with left over fabric to play with.

It came together pretty quickly and soon I was here:

I have a TON of clothes pins and I was worried it wouldn't fit them all, but they're all in there and it's holding just great. (The laundry room isn't completely finished and a task we haven't gotten around to yet, because when company is over we can just close the door.)

Other than that the only thing new on my camera memory card is my beginning of the year teacher gifts.

Every year at Parent-Teacher conferences I give the teachers a bottle of Pumpkin Spice coffee syrup but the ribbon and bottle occasionally change, this was this year's packaging.

I do have a few things planned coming up. My brother's girlfriend is expecting a little girl, so I have a few little circle skirts planned. That's probably the only project you'll see because everything else on my list is repairs.

That's all for now,
Jo!

Booby Pads

With baby due any minute now, the big sisters are spending the week with Papa and Grama (or longer if KO isn't here by the end of the week).  So I decided that left time for me to get a few things done.
First, me and my husband completely rearranged the living room (he did all the heavy lifting/moving) and we got rid of a lot of the junk that had acquired unnecessarily in there.
Second, I blew through my pile of clothing repairs. It had been a while since I sat down at the sewing machine- long enough that I actually had it put away- so I had 5-6 items that needed mending. The only thing I haven't finished is a skirt sewn with elastic thread but I need to find a way to make it not fall off my daughter without butchering it (which is always a fear when you're not a professional seamstress and are just a hobbyist).

Lastly, I made these:

I went strolling on Pinterest for a pattern but wasn't super impressed with what I found.
I've used disposables before but they are either itchy or incredibly noticeable, I've not really found a brand that I liked. I took the features I did like from them into consideration: the ones that are more contoured seem to be less noticeable.
I found a contoured pattern but it was very bulky looking and I found a pattern that was flat but thinner and included a water-proof layer.  So I combined the two methods.

A few notes:
1. These come together super quick! From pulling the fabric out of the dryer to finish was less than 2 hours for a dozen pads. This also included having to move around a few times due to discomfort (remember 9 months pregnant) and refilling the bobbin and a few machine hiccups.
2. As much as I think the contouring will help with discretion, it was a bit of a pain. It pulled unevenly and caused a few problems. I'll have to see if it's worth it when they actually get use.

Here's how they came together:
First, here's my template.

I started with a 4x4 piece of paper and folded it in half from corner to corner, making an X. I then placed it over my boob with the center over my nipple and one fold down the center line of the underside; then I folded it around and folded over the excess so I knew how wide to make the notch. I then used a compass to draw a 4 inch circle around it, feel free to make it a little smaller if you think that would be too big you can see I tried smaller first and wasn't feeling too comfortable about how small it looked so I changed it. **I hope that makes sense to someone other than me.

Next I traced and cut out all the pieces. I cut 12 out of a PUL lined fabric, 12 out of a soft flannel, and 24 out of a diaper material I found online from JoAnn. My plan was to use one layer but when it arrived it seemed a little thinner than I was expecting so I added a second layer just to be safe.

Next I sewed the notch together, since I'm working with PUL I used a polyester thread. Super easy, just fold right sides together and sew down that line. I used as thin a seam as possible, about an 1/8th inch. Since the diaper fabric would be used 2 for each pad I went ahead and sewed them together at this step so I didn't have to stitch so many seams.

Then I layered them together. The PUL and the fleece will be your outsides.
I layered PUL wrong side up, then the diaper fabric, and finally the fleece right side up.
I made sure the notch seams weren't lined up to help prevent to much bulk.

 Finally I used a zigzag stitch all the way around to hold them all together. If I had a serger I'm sure this step would've been easier, but I made due.

The last step was to throw them all in the dryer to help seal the PUL around the needle holes, following the directions on the PUL packaging.

That's it- that's how easy it is. Like I mentioned earlier, unfortunately I have to wait to see how well they work, but I'm hopeful if that counts for anything.


That's all for now,
Jo!

Lonely Glove Monster

I was strolling through Pinterest a few months ago- or more, it was long enough ago that we hadn't put up the winter gloves yet- and I saw these cute little guys.

They're adorable right?
And they seemed pretty simple too. However, I don't really need anymore stuffed animals around my house because daddy has a slight addiction to grocery store crane games and it's because he's pretty good at them. I'm pretty sure that every time I clean out the toy room I end up with at least a half of a garbage bag full of stuffed animals that are ignored now and being re-homed, along with a few that end up tossed due to wear and tear.
So I decided that since it would be pretty small it would make a great toy for the Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child. It was the prefect excuse to give it a try.
Unfortunately when we finally made it through the gloves I only had one mismatch, which seemed really odd with how often I was told that there were no gloves to be found throughout winter, but what do I know.

Anyway, there's the back story- here's the result:

I took some left over floss from an old cross stitch kit (because my crafty nature refuses to let me throw away any) and used it for the hair. I think I had 3 strands and cut them into eighths, for 24 strands knotted around the seam into 48 strands of hair. That's really the biggest change I made. I did choose to and stitch everything, mostly because my pregnant belly didn't want to get up off the couch to use the sewing machine.
My KL loves it and is very upset that she does't get to keep it. I'm hoping to make a few more stuffed animals in the next couple days but we'll have to wait and see where my motivation takes me, as well as whether or not we end up with KO in that time period too.

That's all for now,
Jo!

Denim Skirt

My best friend's daughter is getting ready to turn 1 and birthdays are always a great excuse to make something. Since she's a girl, I decided a cute little skirt, neutral in color to match easily.
So I headed to JoAnn's with the thought of maybe white with a small gold print- or something similar but I ended up finding a cute dark denim with little white hearts printed on it and immediately fell in love with the thought of a denim skirt with a little white lace trim and grabbed it.

Here's how it turned out:

I love it!! (Honest moment- it wasn't quite done in this picture- there is only one side of lace attached.)

It isn't a full circle like I've been making, but I knew I would want 2 panels to keep the hearts in the right direction. So it's only 3/4 of a circle. I used a cheat sheet for the math (that I found on Pinterest) and then made a template on a large sheet of paper.

Construction was easy- I attached the two panels, and secured the hems to the sides- giving a two line seam on the sides. Then I attached the elastic waist (using another cheat sheet for waist sizes). And finished it off by attaching the lace trim, I did it in two sections (front and back) to the seams matched the skirt seams.

And to go with it I made this clustered denim flower hair clip.

It took me a while to decide I liked it- and a trim. I started with a 3-inch circle of denim, layered with a 2.5-inch circle of lace, and finally a 2-inch denim circle. I hand stitched a few lines with them folded in half one direction and a few more folded in half the other direction- so there was a little X o the back to help keep them pinched. And then stitched on a few "pearl" beads.
Here's a picture of an individual "flower":

But when I put them together they were just too big for my liking- so I trimmed the top edges so they didn't stick up too much and a little on the sides so they weren't pushing on each other as much; and I think I'm okay with it now.

I'm so excited to give it to her- she always looks cute, so I know she'll be adorable in this skirt and bow.

That's all for now,
Jo!

Infant Circle Skirts

I have to be honest, I absolutely love making circle skirts. Partly because they are just absolutely adorable, and partly because they come together so quickly. Today I've got 2 new ones to show you, following the same basic process that I have with all the others.
I made these in preparation for baby KO, and I figure they'll be so easy to just slip over a little plain white/solid colored onesie for a super cute outfit.

Here they are together.

These are the fat quarters I picked up while shopping Hancock's sale a few weekends (probably closer to months now) ago. And the pink polka dot elastic was bought there also.
This was the project I had in mind for them, so I purposely picked out coordinating colors for the ruffled hem on the skirts.

Since the ruffled hem is the only difference- here's a quick talk through, because I have a hard time remembering to take pictures through the steps and really I'm not posting anything that you can't find a pattern/tutorial for somewhere else on-line, especially since that's where I usually get my ideas.
I knew that I wanted the hem to be about an inch, so I cut 3 pieces off the long end of the fat quarter (21-22 inches, depending on the brand and shrinkage) that were 2.5 inches wide. I sewed them together to make one very long piece. Then I ironed it in half, so it was only 1.25" tall. Then I ran basting stitches to gather it to size. Then I sewed the ruffle to the skirt, using a .25" hem so I had my 1" ruffle. I don't have a serger, so I did a zigzag stitch over the exposed edge to prevent fraying. And then I ironed the ruffle down and stitched above the ruffle to secure the edge of the ruffle to the skirt, keeping it in place.
If you ask me, the gather on the pink is better than the red, but on a cute infant no one will notice.

Here are shots of them individually:

I will say, that as much as I love making circle skirts, I have a love-hate relationship with visible elastic. I'm always terrified that the amount of tension I need to attach it properly will cause uneven stitches and ugly seams. Luckily with this project, my tread matched perfectly to the elastic and is better hidden, but there have been times when I use a contrasting thread for decoration and ended up wishing I didn't. Oh well, sometimes -okay, usually, it isn't perfect, but it's still a labor of love.

That's all for now,
Jo!

Princess Leia

I showed you my Cinderella dress for KL for favorite character day- KK chose to be Princess Leia.

I know what she really wanted was to make her teacher smile and wear her hair like Leia (because every little girl loves the side buns, right?). 

I didn't even start working on a costume for her until Monday night when she needed it Tuesday- talk about procrastination!! Luckily I came up with an idea to make it super easy. 

I looked online for costume ideas, and then wondered why bother when I knew I didn't have enough plain white fabric to make anything for her- but I did find this tutorial and pattern for her belt that came together pretty easily. I had a gray sheet with a worn spot that was recently thrown into my recycle fabrics and I had dark gray (think charcoal) felt. I know her belt is more silver but I figured the gray would work just fine. I used the felt to help the "patches" on her belt stick out some (and I added length because my 10 yo does not have a 20 inch waist). I also opted for elastic instead of Velcro- it just seemed easier than adding so much length that it could potentially sit funny. 

As for the gown, I took 2 of daddy's plain white t-shirts. I cut one of them right under the sleeves and stitched  them together. No fuss, no muss, no late night run to purchase fabric (and dad will take any excuse you give him to buy new clothes). 

Now, I didn't get a photo of just her in costume, but here's a picture of all my K girls before school- and in full costume. 

I love this photo. I'm pretty sure there's a little bit of everyone's personality showing through. Even the twins are showing just how different they can be, even when dressed alike- or maybe it's just me. 

Anyway, they had a blast. KK was a little worried once we started walking to school that she would be the only one in costume, or at least a little more elaborate than everyone else (and she was) but it only took a few minutes of being in the building and getting lots of compliments before she was okay with it. My little KL kept the dress on until supper time. She didn't want to take it off!! (KK took hers off for lunch, PE, and recess so it wouldn't get messy or hinder movement.) 

That's it for costumes, but here's a quick shot I took this weekend of KL in her squared-circle skirt I finished a few weeks ago- she just looked too cute. However, she was also wrestling with daddy while I was trying to get a picture so it's kind of blurry. 

That's all for now, 

Jo! 

Niece's Skirt

Yesterday we celebrated my niece's birthday, this is the polka dot skirt I whipped up in the last weeks.
Let's start with the wrapping. I have a dislike for gift bags- I really have no idea why, part of me thinks it stems from filling a paper bag with more paper just seems wasteful, part of me think it's the feeling of obligation to use it again so it doesn't seem wasteful. I don't really know anything for sure, except the fact that I don't like them. So here's what I did:

(There was another package that I wrapped after this, but it was just a box, so nothing special.)

I have seen several different instructions on using your wrapping paper as a bag so that's what I went for. I actually used this method for Christmas gifts too, but was frustrated with the fact that they only instruct you on how to do the "bag" portion and not how to close it up, but I think it turned out great this time. (Here's a link to a tutorial on making a gift bag out of wrapping paper, with an idea of how to close.)
When it came to closing I really just folded the extra down, tucked in the sides and taped, then covered that seam with a bow.

Anyway, enough on that here's the cute niece in the skirt:

I bought the tank from Target, and you can see she's got the bow in her hair too.
I also found a cute set of 3D press on nails that came with a ring and had pretty close to the same color pallet, so I bought those for her (they were wrapped in matching paper, but it was just a box so nothing special). Here's the text I got this morning from my brother:

It's a little hard to tell, but the eyes are googly eyes, so that's the 3D part. There were also a few with jewels on them too.

I love that little girly!! And I'm glad she likes her new outfit.

That's all for now,
Jo!

Little Bow Ties

I went to Hancock's Closing Sale and found these super cute buttons, at 20% off. 

I immediately thought of my sister-in-law, who loves elephants!! 

So of course I picked them up. I had no idea what to do with them, but I knew I needed them (or, at least really, really wanted them). 

After a few days, or a week, I finally thought I would make something for her two little boys, and after a little bit longer, I decided a few cute bow ties with cute button accents. 

Today, they're not quite done, but they're close enough to show you. 

I combined a few different online tutorials, one that was designed for a clip-on bow tie, but had good directions for the tie portion and another that used a Velcro neck band, because I liked that idea better than buying clips or sliding adjusters. 

I used 6x10 rectangles for the bow, a 2x3 rectangle for the center section, and for the length of the neck I used a 2x18 (I wanted them to last for a while so there's plenty of length to grow, plus they live a few hours away, so measuring is a bit of a challenge). 

Here's how they're turning out though: 

You can see above the bows that I still have the Velcro pinned, but sewing the Velcro on is the biggest part of what I have left. After that is done I just need to slide the neck through the center loop and decide whether or not it's stable enough to stay in place. If not, I'll throw a quick stitch in the back to secure it all and they will be done. 

I think they turned out adorable and can't wait to see them on my adorable nephews!! I love sewing and creating for the people I love!

That's all for now, 

Jo! 

Finished Quiet Book & Quilt Update

I've been feeling particularly motivated lately, possibly the "Spring Cleaning" feeling telling me to "clean" up my WIPs or maybe it's the nesting telling me to get it done while I can. Who knows.

But because of it I now have a finished quiet/soft book. So here's a look:

This the the Front Cover, I thought about adding a decal or lettering, but my desire to finish it made me whip it up before I had the chance to. (This motivation is kind of win some, lose some.)

Now, I'll just go through page by page, there's not a lot of activity in them, it's really meant for toddlers or older infants- it's more of a "look" book than a "do" book. 

So here's pink: 

 Red and Orange:

 Yellow and Green:

 Blue and Purple:

 White and Black:

 Brown and a rag style Rainbow (it needs a little fluffing):

 Then there's the 1 activity page:
Matching the "crayons" to their color words, which were stitched with their respective color thread (by hand because I don't have a machine for that and they're too small to try to do with my sewing machine).
Also, I planned on attaching a pocket to hold them in, but again the desire for progress skipped a few steps. The ribbons of the crayons are sewn into the spine, not the page seam like I originally planned, but I fray checked the ends to prevent fraying and decided they could just lay in the page, no need for a pocket.

 All matched up! As you can see the color names are stitched on the "crayons" also.

The pretend play, art pallet.

 I forgot to add a pocket for the paint brush, but I was able to pull up just a little of the Heat N' Bond to store it under the pallet. (Now to find a paint brush that fits, for now, here's a corner pusher stand in.)

 Here's the spine. I sewed the cover to the pages in the direct middle (or as close as possible- there wasn't a perfect middle). And then I sewed the first and last pages to the cover also, to give the depth of the spine, you can see all 3 lines in the picture below, for the middle I stitched the whole length of the cover, for the sides I just stitched seam to seam (less a little short coming on the lower right, oops).

After finishing this last night, I also started piecing my quilt together. What started out as 21 t-shirt pieces, is now 3 large groups waiting to be put together- I was so excited to start piecing my first quilt! It was a great feeling to get that far too, I wasn't sure if I'd make it. Here's a picture of the pieces sitting next to each other before I started sewing.
Sorry it's a dark picture, it was meant to just be a quick look for the person I'm making it for, but I thought I'd share it with you. (Also, my K girls have dubbed this quilt, with what I'm sure is the utmost affection, the "Creepy Quilt".)

That's all for now,
Jo!

New Skirt, Again

Every time I finish with one skirt, another girl wants one.
The last one I did for KK was so "twirly" that KL wanted one too.

So, after some looking around I finally found a cute fabric (in the remnants mark down at Hobby Lobby- even better) and their tulle was on sale at the same time, so I decided why not tulle as the lower layer(s).

Here's the finished project:

 

Of course, she wore a dress today, so it looks a little silly, but she was so excited to try it on (not that you can tell from the photo.

One again, this is the same skirt I made for KK. It's just squares of fabric with a circle cut out for the waist, and thick elastic for the waist band. But for something so simple, it always turns out so cute!! And they love to just spin and spin and spin while wearing it.

Want proof? Here's a few more photos:

That's all for now,
Jo!

PS- I am making progress on other projects too, but I've had some sciatica acting up and nesting has been making me clean the whole house and toss a lot of garbage, which wears me out but I can't seem to stop. I've also made a few minor repairs that aren't worth blogging about. I promise I'm still crafting, just also busy with other things too.

New Furniture

I'll admit, this one is not my handy work- but it is my design. Last year I saw an idea in Better Homes and Gardens for, what I called, a free floating kitchen island. It was two sided (meaning cabinets on both sides) and was on wheels to be pushed around when needed. So I talked to my daddy, who recently retired and I didn't want him to be bored (yeah, that's it), and he told me to draw up some plans and he'll see what he can do. This weekend he delivered it. I'm so excited!! I love it!

Here is what it looks like in my kitchen right now.

Before we get into too much detail, here's what you need to know.
I LOVE being in the kitchen, well usually. I enjoy taking my break from the children to bake or cook or jut have fun in the kitchen. When we went looking to buy a house a few year back, the one we loved (and eventually bought) had a very small kitchen :( It was the only down side we could find though. Everything else we liked. So we've created a few storage solutions to help. First we changed the coat closet that was next to the kitchen into a pantry so my overabundance of cooking supplies all had room to stay and we had room to store food- because without one there is no use for the other, right? We also had a set of black metal storage shelves (that were never intended to stay) that collected all the things that we didn't have counter space for (I disassembled them once they were empty before they had the chance to collect anything else, you can see the pieces by the garbage can on the right side of the above picture).

Now for my custom island!!
The easiest place for me to sew is in the kitchen. Hopefully, one day, I can have a craft room and I'll have my own space, but for now that's just a fantasy. So the kitchen is the place that we can easily keep the little ones out of, and therefore is best to keep the sharp scissors and needles when in use.
So I planned on one side holding me sewing materials and the other to replace the black metal shelves. And since we were at it, having extra room to allow a desk space for the kids, or a snack table, or etc. seemed like a great idea. (I have purchased, but not yet received bar stools that will sit in the middle section).

Here's a few more pictures:

This is the sewing side, notice the long shelf on top to hold the ironing board, and I threw the 4 ft straight edge and longer cutting mat up there too because they're too long for the cabinets.

This is just a close up of the sewing side with cabinet open so you can see. I've got to make/buy some cute boxes to hold my fabric (right now, the cardboard box on the bottom shelf there is just my scraps and smaller cuts), my larger cuts aren't even in the cabinets because there are too many to fit. The top shelf has my patterns and the blue box there holds my needles, and feet, and pins, and chalk pencils, and etc. etc. just a bunch of the small notions. The iron is next to the blue box, and behind it is a plastic container that hold all my bias tape and elastic, and a few other small accessories that I don't even know how to classify (most of which was handed down to me from my grandmother).
In the cabinet that is closed holds my unfinished projects on the top shelf and the bottom shelf holds my recycled fabrics (old shirts and sheets mostly that haven't been cut up enough to get moved to the scrap box yet.

Here's an open cabinet shot of the "front" of the island. This side is mostly craft supplies (the top and bottom shelves) and the middle is the collection of tools that seem to be kept handy for when needed.
The other side is mostly empty. It's got my husband's lunchbox, but that will probably end up staying on top, as well as a few small boxes I like to keep in case I need to send a box somewhere (like out of state birthday or Christmas gifts), and a few recycled plastic containers that are waiting for a use. As well as the liquid starch that I forgot to put in the sewing side, so it'll be moved next time I pull the island out (if I remember).

That's all for now,
Jo!

Start of the Quiet Book

I decided to start easy when it comes to a quiet book, so my first will definitely be more for younger children who don't mind feeling the different types of fabrics with minimal activities to do.

Here's the sneak peek at what I've got planned. I figured simple pages, each of a different color.
I will admit, I am not a quilter, so sewing these together is taking a little longer than others would, but it's a great place to start and practice, because little kids don't notice (or care about) all the imperfections.

I have done a little rearranging of these pieces, but nothing major.
-On the brown square, I switched the owl and camel so the two blue backgrounds were opposite each other

-On the orange, I switched the dinosaur and he blue fish so the two fish are opposite

-On the pink page, I rotates the middle square so the black corner isn't touching the only other design wit black on it. 

I figure that as they grow up and the different "feels" isn't quite enough, it may even turn into an I-Spy kind of book. (I.E. "where's the Christmas tree?" or "find the fox") 

For these pages I really just looked through all my scrap fabrics and found as many of each color as possible. Where I needed a little help, I had an I-Spy fabric piece my grandmother gave me that I used for fussy cuts of the cute little images (she had already cut a few images out so I really couldn't have used it for much else anyway). 

This was so much fun to put together. I'm having a blast working on this project and I can't wait to finish it!! (At this point, I have all but the yellow and orange blocks actually sewn, but no pictures of them. The reason for those two being last was the fact that I had no orange thread and although I had yellow, there was no bobbin to match yet, but they will probably be finished later today and I may update again tomorrow or the next day.) 

That's all for now, 

Jo!