Accomplished.
I received an invitation in the mail to a baby shower that my friend Susanne was throwing for my other friend Danea. I wanted to get something special for Danea's baby, because I really like Danea. She's pretty cool, even if she is Canadian ;)
Now, I love love love giving handmade gifts. I think that a handmade gift, that is well thought out (meaning it's something the recipient would enjoy and use) and mostly (HA!) well executed is way superior to just grabbing something from a chain store on the way to an event. Not that I have a problem receiving those kinds of gifts, but when I give, I want to give the recipient truly special and one of a kind that shows I care and put a lot of thought into it.
That being said, I don't give a lot of handmade gifts. For starters, I have to like the recipient enough to feel that they are worth the time and effort that I'd put into something like that. Secondly, I have to be sure that the person would appreciate a handmade gift. In our materialistic society, too often handmade is equated with being cheap and being of poor quality. People don't stop to think about the cost of materials (most don't even know what fabric/paper/good yarn costs these days!) and the amount of time that is put into a handmade gift.
So, for the majority of people, giving them a handmade gift is simply not an option for me. Danea, however, being crafty like myself, is someone who I knew would appreciate something that I made for her baby.
I decided to make a quilt. Sure, I only had a month and a half until the shower, but it was a baby quilt! I could TOTALLY pull that off! I don't know how to do fancy designs, being new to this sewing thing, but squares are pretty simple. No sweat.
Yeah. Um, Danea's baby is almost a year and a half old now. OOPS! Did I forget to mention I got that invitation in the summer of 2007? So why am I writing about this now? I'll tell you why. It's because, I finally finished that damn quilt that's been sitting in my scrapbook room for a year and a half making me feel guilty.
And you thought it took me a long time to finish the Seahawks blanket for Bubba! (Which, by the way, I totally finished a couple of days ago also). All the colors for the fabrics were pulled from the teal fabric. It's printed with cute little bugs in bright colors. It's backed with a bright green flannel for warmth. If I remember correctly (because it's been a while, I could have forgotten!) the batting is organic cotton, which should also help with warmth.
So, what took so freaking long? Well, it wasn't cutting the squares, or piecing the top. Those jobs went surprisingly fast. No, my issue was the topstitching:
Instead of just doing straight lines along the squares and being done with it, I thought it would be cute to do these borders on the individual squares. Um, yeah, it was cute until I had done a few and realized that I was stitching around each one THREE TIMES!!! This isn't a very small baby blanket either. An adult could use it as a throw.
Oh, and at one point, I ran out of green thread. That set me back a bit too.
So, anyway, it's DONE! Now let's see how long it takes me to get this thing mailed off to Danea and her little man. I'm trying to finish up all my half finished crap around here. I've finished Bubba's blanket, finished Danea's blanket, finished addressing my birth announcements, made and mailed Christmas cards, and actually started and finished the garland for the tree, which is up and decorated. I feel like I get nothing done most days, but this week hasn't been too bad when I look at it as a whole I guess. I even managed to go grocery shopping and cook dinner yesterday.
Not that Bubba's been helping. He's decided that he's a big kid now and that means that he is too big to take naps during the day. Instead, he opts to do as his father does, and doze off for 5 -15 minute intervals. Long enough that he gets a little rest here and there, but not long enough for me to actually DO anything. Today he's been sleepy though. He has napped, in the crib no less, after both feedings so far. I guess it caught up with him.
Finally, I leave you with a photo of one of my neglected kids:
Guess who discovered the Boppy?
Now, I love love love giving handmade gifts. I think that a handmade gift, that is well thought out (meaning it's something the recipient would enjoy and use) and mostly (HA!) well executed is way superior to just grabbing something from a chain store on the way to an event. Not that I have a problem receiving those kinds of gifts, but when I give, I want to give the recipient truly special and one of a kind that shows I care and put a lot of thought into it.
That being said, I don't give a lot of handmade gifts. For starters, I have to like the recipient enough to feel that they are worth the time and effort that I'd put into something like that. Secondly, I have to be sure that the person would appreciate a handmade gift. In our materialistic society, too often handmade is equated with being cheap and being of poor quality. People don't stop to think about the cost of materials (most don't even know what fabric/paper/good yarn costs these days!) and the amount of time that is put into a handmade gift.
So, for the majority of people, giving them a handmade gift is simply not an option for me. Danea, however, being crafty like myself, is someone who I knew would appreciate something that I made for her baby.
I decided to make a quilt. Sure, I only had a month and a half until the shower, but it was a baby quilt! I could TOTALLY pull that off! I don't know how to do fancy designs, being new to this sewing thing, but squares are pretty simple. No sweat.
Yeah. Um, Danea's baby is almost a year and a half old now. OOPS! Did I forget to mention I got that invitation in the summer of 2007? So why am I writing about this now? I'll tell you why. It's because, I finally finished that damn quilt that's been sitting in my scrapbook room for a year and a half making me feel guilty.
And you thought it took me a long time to finish the Seahawks blanket for Bubba! (Which, by the way, I totally finished a couple of days ago also). All the colors for the fabrics were pulled from the teal fabric. It's printed with cute little bugs in bright colors. It's backed with a bright green flannel for warmth. If I remember correctly (because it's been a while, I could have forgotten!) the batting is organic cotton, which should also help with warmth.So, what took so freaking long? Well, it wasn't cutting the squares, or piecing the top. Those jobs went surprisingly fast. No, my issue was the topstitching:
Instead of just doing straight lines along the squares and being done with it, I thought it would be cute to do these borders on the individual squares. Um, yeah, it was cute until I had done a few and realized that I was stitching around each one THREE TIMES!!! This isn't a very small baby blanket either. An adult could use it as a throw.Oh, and at one point, I ran out of green thread. That set me back a bit too.
So, anyway, it's DONE! Now let's see how long it takes me to get this thing mailed off to Danea and her little man. I'm trying to finish up all my half finished crap around here. I've finished Bubba's blanket, finished Danea's blanket, finished addressing my birth announcements, made and mailed Christmas cards, and actually started and finished the garland for the tree, which is up and decorated. I feel like I get nothing done most days, but this week hasn't been too bad when I look at it as a whole I guess. I even managed to go grocery shopping and cook dinner yesterday.
Not that Bubba's been helping. He's decided that he's a big kid now and that means that he is too big to take naps during the day. Instead, he opts to do as his father does, and doze off for 5 -15 minute intervals. Long enough that he gets a little rest here and there, but not long enough for me to actually DO anything. Today he's been sleepy though. He has napped, in the crib no less, after both feedings so far. I guess it caught up with him.
Finally, I leave you with a photo of one of my neglected kids:
Guess who discovered the Boppy?
Miss M told you so @ 1:25 PM
8 Comments:
Awwww!
Love your homemade touches!
i bet danea will love it! :)
your pooch is so dang cute!
Pretty quilt! And I got several homemade blankets when my little guy was born and they are my favorites. Those are the kinds of things people keep and pass down. I should know - little guy also has his daddy's and my blankets that people made for US when we were babies! :)
This blanket is absolutely beautiful. When you have a moment to BREATHE, you should consider setting up an Etsy store. ;)
RE: Mr. A., my colleague, you would LOVE him. Mind you, the man doesn't hear well out of one ear. Therefore, his "whispers," is our "indoor voice."
I so love that man (in a close friend kind of way).
I am so amazed about you and the Christmas cards! This is wonderful! I got my Mpix Christmas cards yesterday (they were delivered the other day, but you read about the leasing office being closed). Mpix sent me a msg. stating that your pics have shipped. I don't know if they shipped yesterday, or if they were packaged for shipping and won't be shipped until Monday.
I'll keep you posted. I apologize for the long message, but I am awake with this stinking cold. :( I am trying to work on this Oh, The Places That You'll GO!" 6x6 album for my h.s. seniors.
Seriously, you should open an Etsy store in which you offer to make custom banners (people do it all the time). Heck, I'll pay you to make one for me!
This one is BEAUTIFUL!!!
Oh my goodness that quilt is adorable, you crafty lady! I agree, in regards to the Etsy comment!
Pup in the Boppy, too cute. Is her hair in a pony tail? Hee. We have the same Boppy cover, I probably said so already, huh? Our kitties sleep in the baby's.
I am so behind on your blog and imagine my surprise when I logged on this morning. Now all I have to say is... Can I get it in orange and green instead?
Bwahahaha! I LOVE it! The colors are fantastic and your craftsmanship looks great, that stitch detail was well worth your efforst! Asa's favorite pj's are bugs, unfortunately they are summer jammies so he just carries the shirt around the house now...hehe. The blanket will work much better and will be adorable with his new Christmas chair from Santa...hehe.
Now get that thing in the mail dangit, cuz you have blanky #2 to get started on...HAHAHA!
P.S. Ya, I know you didn't get a hand made gift from me but I did put thought into it, even dh was almost unstoppable...LOL.
I've heard that little dogs love the boppy! I just know that when I have a kid this is going to a big problem with out little dog!
Good for you. What a talent you are. That thing is awesome, Sara. She's going to love it! I know what you mean about having to pick and choose who to spend that kind of time and energy on. It's not always a good idea, and sometimes, even when it is, people just need stuff off their registry or whatever. Anyway, that's a really sweet thing you did for your friend. I'm so glad you shared!
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home