Tucker's Narwal

Tucker and Chris made a narwal last winter, and when I said something about taking pictures of his pants to post on this blog, he really wanted me to add his narwal. He also wanted me to say that only he made it. But I told him I'm not a big fat liar like he is. But he was the idea man behind it, even drawing a schematic diagram.

Here's what Tucker has to say: Daddy and me made this narwal. It's made out of fabric, a plastic sunbutter jar (but you can use peanut butter if you wanna make it), and a plastic tube that's screwed in with a screw and a nut stuck into the plastic tube. Then I used markers to color it.

Socks

I have been making a lot of socks. They are amazingly comfortable. They are a portable project. They don't involve carrying around bulky wool in the summer. They look cool. They are knit on tiny needles that make me feel like a super strong bad ass when I break them mid row.

I hope to eventually have several pairs. I want to be able to wear hand knit socks every day at work.

A Quilt for Lola

The back

Lola is my goddaughter and I'll give her almost anything she wants.

So when she asked for a "Dora Blanket" I sprung into action!

I knew the exact patten I would use!

We went to the fabric store together and picked out the Dora fabric she liked best.

Then I asked her what color she saw in the Dora fabric and

she said "Orange!" so we went to the section with orange fabric
and she picked out her favorite orange...

We repeated this 2 more times and she chose blue and pink fabrics.

The pattern I used was from a Minnesota pattern book.

It was called "LeSueur"...

That is where Paula grew up and Brian and Paula met.

This is the final result... I cut it and Mom sewed it together at our

quilt retreat because she was tired of her own projects.

It turned out pretty cute!

DIY... Who needs profesionals!!!

Carol and I tore out the world's UGLIEST and dirtiest carpet

out of our guest room and put in solid oak instead!!!

We still need to stain it and put the trim up.

Pillowcases for the Grands-In-Law

I wanted to bring something personalized to my grandparents-in-law when I visited them a couple weeks ago. I thought pillowcases would be something useful, and I think they're pretty.

To make them, I cut up a 100% cotton flat king sheet that I bought when it was on sale at Target. I even measured for this project (there's nothing worse than gifting shoddy work to people who speak languages I don't understand). I cut out a big rectangle, zig-zagged the edges, then sewed the case to form the bottom and side seam. Then I ironed on the pattern, selected some colors--two shades of purple and two shades of green--and embroidered away. After I embroidered, I made the big blind hem on the end to encase the back of the stitching. Voila.

Aprons

I made this apron for a friend.
It actually covers the parts that I get dirty!

Cheyenne wasn't very happy to model but she faked it well.

The friend liked it so much she ordered 6 more!

Light-blocking curtain

We have French door in our bedroom, out to the rug porch. If anyone knows why they call it a rug porch, please share. I tell Tucker that's where you go to shake your rugs, and that seems weak, even to a five-year-old.

The door is nice during the day, but at night, lots of light comes in from the apartment building next door, and the street lights in the alley. Also, Chris can't sleep as soon as the sun comes up. And that annoys me, because if he doesn't sleep in the morning, he sleeps through the kids in the night. So I made a curtain.

It's not perfect, because I used a cloth light-blocker as a liner, instead of vinyl that really works. But it does block a lot of the light.

Here's a close-up of the fabric. Upholstery-weight Thai elephants. It was on sale.