Valentines and birthdays

This year's Valentines and birthday celebrations have been slowed down a bit by recurrent (daycare-acquired) illnesses chez nous, but hopefully we are all in recovery mode. Caden and I collaborated on making Valentines for his daycare class. He did the fingerpainting:


and I made some simple luggage or bag tags, then cut his paintings into little notes to slide in behind the vinyl window. They were a fun, colorful project and only took a couple evenings to put together.

The day before Valentines Day, I went into Boston for a graduate research presentation and reading discussion group on the Northeastern campus, then to see Jane Lubchenco give a seminar at Harvard. Despite the pouring rain, it was a really fun 'field trip', and I returned home to these 'tweats' (sensu Caden) that Caden and Dada had spent the evening preparing (note: the plate of brownies was initially full!).

The next day, Matt had to go to Boston for a faculty meeting, so I had time to finish his Valentine (a Swedish woven heart card like those below, with bracken fern and pinecone fabrics) and make some golden tassies tartlets with lemon curd and whipped cream. Alas, no pictures, but they were delicious!

That following weekend, I went to a baby shower for work friends expecting their second baby. I made this nylon-backed lawn blanket/play mat out of irregularly-shaped flannel Hawaiian prints I found at the Legacy last year. Once I added a coordinating navy border, I was happy with how it tied together! It was definitely my fastest quilting project yet, completed in just a weekend!

Finally, I'm excited about this pincushion Matt gave me for my birthday last week. It's from lamplightdesigns (on Etsy) and is extra big and weighted with lentils - I can't wait to use it!

Applique-que-que

I've enjoyed designing some applique projects over the last couple of weeks, many of them with a Valentines Day theme. I had fun letting the materials inspire me. As I was sifting through fabrics, I came across one with peachy pink waves that I picked up at the Legacy (my favorite all-donation craft store that supports a local senior center) last time I was in California. I'm sure I felt guilty about getting it because I didn't have a plan for it at the time. Well, once I saw it again, I started envisioning all the little appliques that could float along in that pink ocean - not hard for a marine biologist! I've only completed this one project with it so far - a Love Boat pouch that's up in the shop.



Last weekend, I tried making sewn greeting cards for the first time. I was immediately hooked! They are the quickest and most satisfying little project I've come up with in a long time. Four of these are still in the shop...but they will be on their way to my friends and family for Valentines Day soon...

I also tried out some fancy stitching around the edges, but it's tricky to make it look nice where the stitching joins at the end. Janae just featured this pink leopard card for her blog's Fabulous Finds Friday.

And here's the project that started my applique fest - a birthday bikini pouch for my sister, who's moving to Oahu this summer to work with Teach for America. It was inspired by the darling pouches made by Lori Marie of pretty lil things.

I came up with the pattern for the bikini top, and it took a few people a bit too long to understand what they were looking at, so I think I'll need to work on this if I ever make another one as a gift.
Back to working on a custom order lunch bag - with an appliqued monogram!