Now I'm on a casserole...

A belated bday gift for a friend of mine who is always bringing meals to other people. (made with some batik that Amy brought me from Indonesia) the straps are made from a fun woven fabric that I inherited when Tori downsized... My favorite part is the pink button closure.

Apron Festival

Yesterday I emailed 2 friends to see if they were up for an impromptu sewing night... I knew we could finish the aprons in one evening, but I had to convince Kellie and Christy... we had a great time making them... even if Kellie was a little adverse to the ironing at first.
(nothing a little beer and ice cream cake couldn't fix)
The aprons turned out great, the company was even better and remind me to always have an amazing photographer on hand when I do project nights!

apparently, I was cutting really fast...

finished products

dorky models, but hey... the aprons at least look great!

Casserole carrier

Tonight was sewing night again. Christy and Kellie, two recent sewing converts - who I can apparently call on for an impromptu craft nite- were enticed by my invitation to come and make aprons. We are all apron novices and had them on our lists to try.
(photos of the CUTE aprons to follow)
At the end of the night, I decided to crank out another item that has been on my list for a while... A casserole carrier/warmer. See exhibit A: Attempted (poorly) to attach a spoon pocket AFTER
sewing the whole thing up. BIG MISTAKE. The fabric is cute, and this will certainly do the job - I'm bringing baked French toast to MOPS tomorrow.... But I'm not sold on the "envelope" styling (read: horizontal tote bag) nor the lame pocket. This may require a second
attempt.

Spinny Skirt Giveaway

Hop on over here to Designing Moms, to enter the giveaway for this adorable Libby Dibby Spinny Skirt for a little girl you love, just in time for back to school!

Summer lovin' tomatoes

Some of these yummies are already "gone" ... Even though I just took
the photo 1 minute ago.
We are going to have a tomato crop this year that will rival all in
our history. (J went a LITTLE overboard on the tomato planting... We
have 17 different plants) today's bounty looks to be the first of many.
Oh happy day! Aren't they the prettiest?

The quilters meet again

Tonight was our quilting club meeting again... This is getting interesting! You can see my 5 completed squares here... I like to make 2 of each pattern we do... The top two are called Rail Fence, the next two are one called "eight point star #4" (according to the quilters cache website), and the bottom one is called "cross and crown".
I'm interested in how a second variation will turn out...
We are planning on making a sampler from all of these squares... tune in next month for another 1 or 2 additions.

New Baby Sling Patterns listed on Etsy

I was able to find time to list the new slings today on etsy.
Oh, and some more of those great swaddle blankies, too.

Scrap box project review

Remember my Earth Day giveaway? Where more than 25 of you got a +5lb box of scraps from me when you paid the postage? Today I found a post that my friend Christy did about what she made with the scraps. Can you just die at how cute these are?
Way to go Christy!

V & Vi baby sling models

Remember when I posted that photo of my sister and her baby, Violet, in the baby sling about a year ago? Here's an update of the amazing amount of use that sling still gets. My sis sent me this image of them using it in Boston this week... Vi is a year old now and still delighted to be snuggled close to Mama. V, besides being a rockin hot mama of three girls, is super capable as a mom and is using the sling in a way I never did- with the baby facing out.
I think this is why I like the "ring" style sling that I sell best of all... It's just so flexible- with so many uses and so much room for creativity. When Mimi was 2 1/2 and we went to Mexico for a family vacation, her little feet were so small that she couldn't walk on the cobblestone streets very easily. I pulled out my trusty camo sling and strapped her onto my back for the day.

Collecting Numbers

When J and I were in Italy this summer, we got the idea to collect images of numbers that were sentimental to us for various reasons. Each of these house numbers has a specific significance to us as a family and we plan to make a fun presentation of them as a work of art for our home.