Gifts.

This year I got quite a few lovely things. Click the above photo for notes over at flickr on what everything is.

I also got a handmade Etsy gift I’ve been swooning over for quite a while now—pottery earrings from Michelle Swafford Pottery. I love their simplicity and shape. And you can’t go wrong with white.
I definitely can’t pick a favorite gift seeing as they are all so grand. I got a lot more than usual and more than I deserve. I’m so lucky to have a generous and loving family. How about you? Is there a gift you love most? Did you get what you wanted? More than you wanted? I myself was more excited about *giving* gifts this year. You too?

For a New Little One to Come in February

My cousin and his wife are expecting their second little boy in February. So I whipped up a couple bibs and a burp cloth. I used up some Harmony Art flannel scraps I had to make one bib and the burp cloth while the other two bibs are cowboy style—done in red and blue paisleys. I know they must have a ton of baby boy things already, but the way I see it, you can’t ever have too many bibs or burp cloths.
It seems everyone around me is announcing a new baby to come, so I’m going to get to work on more bibs and burp cloths once I find out the sexes. I’m thinking some little appliques to snazz them up a bit.

Again, I used the pattern from Chickpea Sewing Studio for the bib and drafted my own for the burp cloth.
Progress on Hayden’s quilt (which I started back in July) is coming along. I had it stashed away for pretty much all of October but dug it out again because I’ll be seeing her at the end of the month. Now that I have a deadline, I should work more quickly and efficiently. I do believe the next baby quilt will be machine quilted.

Gifts for Moi.

I recently received all these lovely gifts from my super sweet cousin in Michigan who was here in Jersey last week to be with her sister when she had the baby girl I mentioned in the last post. Anyway, she brought me these gifts to say thank you for helping her out with the baby shower back in April.

She knows I love black, white and red so everything is color coordinated. There is a super sturdy craft-toting tote bag (there is a pin-cushion on the side—very clever), as well as some fat quarters which I am planning many things for, including a shirt version of the most recent dress. Some very wide ribbon I thinking of folding in half and weaving into something like this.

And a sewing magazine. Just like I mentioned about craft books, it’s not something I spend my money on. So this was a nice treat. First of all, I want to make those shorts! And there is a clever, easy alternative to setting in a sleeve (which is a task I’ve always found tricky.)