Craft-Warming Gifts!

Last week I got a great present in the mail from Aunt Kathy: an Amy Butler book and 15 fat quarters from the midwest modern fabric collection. It's great timing because I'm ready to make some smaller things after that big bag and I really fell in love with these fabrics while working on the recent baby gifts.

Diaper bag #2

I finished Sarah's diaper bag last week and I'm kind of in love with it. I used this great Joel Dewberry fabric for the outside and Amy Butler Midwest Modern inside pockets. I love this fabric and I just found out they're having a girl, so the pink is more appropriate.

The accompanying changing pad is also Amy Butler Midwest Modern fabric but in teals and blues just in case it was a boy or so that Danny would feel manly while changing diapers :)

Group Quilt - my part is done!

If you remember, my small quilt group is doing a group quilt for our guild show next month. We sliced up a picture, and each of us will do one slice of the picture, then we will hang them all side-by-side to re-create the image. My "slice" of the picture is shown at the left. And now (...drum roll...) I just finished my panel and here it is:

I really had fun doing this. I used a variety of techniques, just doing one section at a time, doing whatever seemed to work for that section. I used a lot of fusible webbing, so the whole thing is stiff enough to stand up on its own! In two weeks, we're all getting together to put the quilt together and submit it for the show. I've seen most of the other sections in progress, and it's amazing how well they flow together! Of course we're all a bit nervous about how it will look and line up once we get all 7 sections together. So far it looks great, though! Stay tuned for the finished product.

Baby Gifts

This is the taggy blanket. As my friends have started to have babies, I've learned a lot. For instance, babies seem to love the silky tags found on blankets, clothing, toys, etc. Like the old story in which a kid is more interested in the box than the toy inside, babies seem to like tags as much as the toys to which they're attached. The solution: cut out the toy and give babies what they want--lots of tags.
I made this blanket for my friends Erin and Mike, who are having a baby in May. It is small (baby-sized?), only about 18x20" made of flannel and an assortment of silky ribbons that Mom and I bought at a discount fabric store in San Francisco.