Pillowcases & Masks

 I sewed three more pillowcases today - these are a surprise for Julie, Kate, and Susie.

Susie gets flamingos, Kate has the bunnies, and Julie the wildlife musicians (a juxtaposition of two things she likes!)

And I made matching masks for Lisa and Tyler. I will be meeting him this weekend and wanted to have something to give him. Lisa chose the fabric.

Nature Bags for Julie, Kate, & Susie

In anticipation of Cole's family coming to visit for the July 4th weekend, I made Julie, Kate, and Susie nature bags.

Using the leftover fabric from Susie's quiet book for the shoulder strap and top of the bag, I stitched three bags that they can use while out hiking and enjoying nature.

I hope that they are strong enough to hold what they find - I triple stitched the seams on the netting. Fingers crossed!

Quiet Book Repair - Julie

Cole texted me last week with the news that Julie had torn one of her quiet book apples, was upset, and afraid that this would be the beginning of a bad Christmas.

Easy fix - I knew that I could whip one up in a half hour.

And I saw no reason to make her wait two weeks for the replacement piece, so I popped it into the mail the next day.

No bad Christmas now, sweet Julie!

Julie and Cambria's Birthday Pillowcases

Well, after a chat with Jessica, I discovered that Cambria is using a pillow now, so I have changed my mind and am going back to making the pillowcases for the two year old grandchildren.

So... here we go! It's going to be a busy year since the quads all turn two this year. Since I did some for Whitney earlier at her siblings' request, I only need to make her birthday and Thanksgiving ones to complete her set, which means I will just be making three per holiday.

I can't wait - I love this tradition!

Today I sewed Julie and Cambria's birthday pillowcases. I used fabric with cupcakes on it, and if you look closely, you can see the Very Hungry Caterpillar nibbling on a few!

And thus begins the "sewing year"!

Julie Likes It!

Emily sent me these pictures today of Julie with her quiet book.

 She is loving on the puppy that's on the first page.

 The puppy has soft fur to stroke.

Awwwwww! Makes all the hours I put into it worthwhile!

Julie's Quiet Book - Finished!

Snow days are sew days, and I was lucky enough to have four of them this month. That enabled me to complete Julie's quiet book in time for her birthday.

I always try to have the quiet book reflect the child and the family. With that in mind, I wanted to incorporate Emily's Swedish heritage with a dala horse cover. (It also reflects my love of horses!) I could not find ANY fabric with dala horses despite lengthy internet searches. I did find on Etsy a Russian woman who sewed tablecloths, and she had one with a dala print. (Bonus - some of the horses were orange!)

So, I took a big gulp and ordered a small tablecloth FROM RUSSIA which I proceeded to cut up for the cover. (Kind of a shame as her sewing was beautiful!)

 I also made a small pillow for Julie from the leftover fabric.

The cover page features an appliqué dog with an orange ribbon bow. The ribbon is from Cole and Emily's wedding.

 The apple tree reflects my family's heritage of owning and operating an apple orchard for nearly fifty years. The elephant has an Illini-orange bucket with Julie's initial (in Illini-blue) on it.

The dress up dresses come from scraps of clothes I've made for my kids. My mom had the idea of buzzing bees around the flower vase.

 She also drew the small pumpkin. Rock Star Kangaroo reflects Cole's work in the music industry.

I designed the monkeys jumping on the bed (a mishmash of Caps for Sale and Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed.) Emily's sister, Cathy, knitted the scarf for the snowman using my mother's design and instructions. I love that the book has several people important to Julie take part in its creation!

 The Illini-orange tipi has Chief Illiniwek inside. My mother drew the chief's story for it. And Katie Caterpillar, an old family favorite, reflects Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which was the theme of Julie's birthday party!

Finally, since Cole served his mission in Russia, I added some matryoshka fabric for the last page, also an old family favorite. I bought enough of it so that, should Julie get a brother or sister in the future, I can use it for that baby's quiet book cover.

Julie Opens Her Quiet Book -

Cole and Emily saved the quiet book for Julie to open last. There were a LOT of distractions that were calling her name, but Cole was able to get her attention.

 He shows her the pillow made from the same fabric as the cover.

 Look! A puppy to pet! Such soft fur!

 Apples in a basket and Jumbo the elephant.

 Picking the flowers (note that she went for the orange one!)

 Changing the pumpkin's mouth (Cole called the other mouth a mustache!)

Two special pages - monkeys (designed and drawn by me) and the snowman with the scarf knitted by Julie's Aunt Cathy.

 She'll figure out how to untie and tie it!

 Looking for Chief Illiniwek inside the tipi.

The Russian matryoshka fabric represents Cole and his mission to Yekaterinberg.

I really enjoyed sitting back and watching her open my gift. All those hours spent cutting and sewing and coloring and tracing were so worth it!