Friday Finds

I spend way too much time window shopping on Etsy.  If there is a limit for the favorites list, I have no doubt that I'm quickly approaching it.  The best (or worst) part is that my sister is in my Etsy circle, so I see everything see adds to her favorites list too.  Of course, I feel compelled to check out her picks, which leads me to new shops with new items to add to MY list, and so on and so on.  It's like a huge snowball rolling down a hill.  A gigantic crafty snowball.

Today isn't just any Friday.  It's the first day of fall y'all!  So in celebration of the official end of summer in Texas, I thought I would share a few of my recent Etsy finds with you today.

via tomdesign

I love these earrings by tomdesign.  But I also love this bracelet, and this necklace, and this necklace, and the list goes on and on.  I think it's safe to say that this entire shop is one of my favorites.

via claylicious

Owls are very popular right now, and these ceramic owls from claylicious are adorable!  I especially love the little turquoise guy in the back.  He would look great on my bookshelf.

via RaspberryCreekFabric

This fabric bundle by RaspeberryCreekFabric is sitting in my cart at this very moment.  It would be perfect for a quilt for a baby boy.  Now I just need to decide if I should buy fat quarters or half yard cuts?

via fabricshoppe

 This collection of fat quarters by fabricshoppe is screaming "Oh Ricki...buy me, buy me, buy me!"  It would be rude to ignore it, right?

Have a great weekend!

The Great Costume Debate

It's hard to believe that I'm already thinking about Halloween costumes for my kiddos.  Bailey is having a tough time deciding on a costume.  One minute she wants to be a cowgirl, then the next she wants to be Foofa from Yo Gabba Gabba.  Just in the last week she's also mentioned possibly being a kitty cat, Tinkerbell, or a robot ninja. Decisions, decisions!

In the past, she's been a ballerina, a bumblebee, a cheerleader, and Ming-Ming the duck from the Wonderpets.

 

Jake, on the other hand, is still at the mercy of his Mama.  Last year he was only 3 months old, so he wore a little cow print jumper and matching hat.  This year, I have so many ideas for his costume (a gnome, Yoda, Dwight from The Office, DJ Lance from Yo Gabba Gabba), but I have a feeling he will veto anything that involves glasses or a beard.  He'll most likely be the bumblebee, just like Bailey was at the same age.  Whatever he dresses up as, it'll be adorable!

Since Halloween is just around the corner, I've added a few Halloween themed bib and burp cloth sets to my Etsy shop!   

 

My First Sale!

One month ago, I sold my first quilt!  Yippee!  I had just enough scraps left over from making my son's quilt to make a small baby quilt for my Etsy shop.  I called it "Puppy Dog Tails."   

The quilt top was machine pieced in a simple patchwork design. It was backed with the last big piece of colorful puppy print.  The paw print binding was machine stitched for extra durability.

The quilting was very simple...straight lines machine quilted with light blue thread to accent the patchwork design.

It was tiny, only 23" x 23," but still the perfect size to place on the floor for newborn tummy time or to be treasured as a beloved blankie by an infant or toddler.  It will make the perfect snuggle accessory for a very lucky little baby!

 

The Noah's Ark Quilt

Well, it only took 7 months, but the Noah's Ark quilt is finally finished and is listed in my Etsy shop!  Hooray!

I found this colorful printed panel at my local Hancock Fabrics store back in November.  I had never quilted anything other than straight lines before, but I thought the picture was basic enough that I could manage to outline the shapes using my walking foot on my machine.

Over the next two weeks I spent every spare minute of my time quilting around every shape in the picture.  I was determined to get it finished before Christmas.  Ha!

What I thought would be a simple, quick project turned out to be anything but (this seems to happen to me quite a bit now that I think about it, hmm).  There are a lot of lines, curves, twists and turns in this picture.  Which meant a whole lot of starting and stopping, moving the quilt around for a better angle, clipping threads, etc.

Believe it or not, I did finish the actual quilting before the holiday.  The only thing between me and finishing this quilt was sewing the binding onto the back of the quilt, but for some reason it got pushed aside in favor of other projects.  This weekend, just a mere 6 months later, I decided to finally sew on the binding and call it finished.  The Noah's Ark quilt is officially marked off my to-do list.  

It was definitely a challenge, but knowing that a child will play on it, snuggle under it, and (hopefully) love it to pieces makes the blood, sweat, and tears I put into it totally worth it.