Trip to the Fire Station!

Our playgroup visited the fire station today:

and I used it as an excuse to purchase and stitchout a new applique design! :)
This actually is the first fire truck design I've used. I've never had a request or need, but I've always been on the lookout for a good SIMPLE one to have on standby. When I saw this design I thought, "This is it!" Isn't it cute?

The Fire Truck design is from Happytown Embroidery. I've had the pleasure of getting to know Lori through forums and groups. She does beautiful applique work and has recently started selling her own designs! There are lots in her shop that I'm admiring, check it out! I really liked the fill stitch pattern used in the bumpers and tires, it adds extra texture.

I added Dashiell's name with 8CP's Burst. Nice font with tall/thin letters so I could fit an 8-letter name in that space. :) I debated for a while what color to use for his name. I really like aqua and red together, so I picked that. And look what accent color is on our firetrucks in town!

We had lots of fun today, look at the delight in this little face :)

Cute crab!

When Designs by JuJu shared this crab applique last week I wanted to use it right away. I decided to put it on something for myself -- my cover-up! I love aqua and red together...

This cute crab has been around for years as a part of DBJJ's Critters of the Sea set. What's new though is that it is all applique (legs aren't filled), and it's a freebie on DBJJ's Facebook page! I picked the zig zag version with eyelashes, isn't she cute! Oh, and I finally cut into my RB tone-on-tone dots. They are so pretty and have just been sitting there decorating my shelf. :)

I added my monogram with 8CP's Monogram Three. My close-up of it didn't turn out well. You know me and red...  I'll try again another time. It's pretty though!

Happy Birthday, Nathan!

Nathan is celebrating his birthday Toy Story style. When his mommy showed him a couple options (like Maddox's Space Explorer shirt, or Jimmie and Jackson's birthday shirts) he picked the number four design!

The Box Font numbers are from Itch 2 Stitch. I added his name with 8CP's Tiny. We found the fabric at Hobby Lobby.

April Showers bring May Flowers!

When I saw this Watering Can with Flower Garden design for Lynnie Pinnie, I remembered Annaliese's four layer skirt that didn't have a matching shirt. (Gasp!) We spent time on a Sat afternoon looking through my fabric stash (these are odd colors!) and found four 5" charms from my Fairy Frost set that worked great!

My plan was to make her shirt after she went to bed. That afternoon something exciting happened, I got a package from Blanks Boutique with a new ruffle shirt for her AND American Girl doll size shirts! Woo-hoo! I was able to not only use the 6x10 size for Annaliese...

 

but also the 4x4 size for Anna! YES, a full 4" long design fit on the doll shirt! No resizing required!

 

Isn't this a cute set?

 

So fun... I love getting to do this. :)

Now, we both have a blue/aqua/mint 4 layer skirt that need matching shirts... still waiting for something perfect for those. :)

Burp cloths for Orin

Rebecca asked me to make a baby gift for a friend of hers who is using the Forest Friends crib bedding by Carters (it's so cute!). We picked these designs to coordinate:

I knew right away I'd use Lynnie Pinnie's raccoon design! I added his name with 8CP's Bobby.

I also had a cute fox design on my wishlist so I used this project as an opportunity to buy it. :) The Fox Applique is from A Creative Medley, and I added his name with 8CP's Woof.

Both components of this design are from Embroidery Boutique. I used EB's Dotty Alphabet for the O and merged the owl from the Owl Branch design on top.

Name Banner for Kylie

Kylie's birthday gift this year turned out to be pretty easy and straight forward... I made a name banner using the same fabrics from the name pillow I made her last year! Now, that didn't stop her mommy and me from wasting time brainstorming all sorts of other possibilities though. ;) What can I say... it's what we do. :)

I used the Frayed Block Letters from Hang To Dry to create the banner. (I shared how I tied the letters to the ribbon here.)

Kylie's big gift this year is a bedroom makeover. It's so pretty completed with aqua walls, new bedding, and her pillow/banner in place!

Monogrammed Totes

My daughter had a little gathering with four of her dear friends today to celebrate her birthday, and as a party favor I monogrammed these totes (they will be perfect for trips to the pool in a couple of months!)

I used the Corinthia Script from Katelyn's Kreative Stitches. I had purchased it when it was briefly available back in 2010, but now it's back with additional sizes! When I redownloaded the files I felt like my investment had doubled in value! I used the 3" size for the initial and 1.5" size for the names. I used hot pink on the lime totes, and aqua on the red totes.

 

I'm looking forward to using this font more!

In-The-Hoop Bib and Burp Cloth!

Earlier in the week I shared a big gift set I made for Caden, but none of those items were from *me*. After two onesies (plus a gift certificate for another), two shirts for big brother, three burp cloths and a bib, I was running out of ideas for my shower gift. Then in walked Carolynn of Zippy DesignZ to save the day!

Have you seen her new Peeker Bibs and Peeker Burp Cloths? Go take a peek, they are cute!
Well, unbeknownst to me, in her ShowNTell directions she referenced my blog post about using confetti dot material, and as a thank you sent me these new designs! I was so excited to try in the hoop bibs/burp cloths for the first time, and the timing was PERFECT. Thank you Carolynn!! (Boy, sometimes when you least expect it, it pays off to blog!)
Now, because I was very short on time and this was my first attempt, I took the easy route... I actually didn't stitch the peeker, just the Rik Rak, and added Caden's name with 8CP's Nicole. I used cotton on the front (love that sports ball fabric) and a hand towel on the back.

I like how they turned out. It challenged me to finally open my SnapSetter, wow using that was easy peasy, I'm not sure why I hadn't tried it before!

 My largest hoop is 6x10, so these are kind of small. (Now I have hoop envy!) But I anticipate the bib being the perfect size for a newborn. Lots of the mommies at the baby shower thought the size of the burp cloth was handy (or would make a good lovey if I used Minky on the back!) I'm anxious for Caden arrive and get some feedback from his mommy. :)

Changing plans midstream

Well this "quick" project did not turn out like I originally envisioned, but I think it's even better!

I found this skirt at Walmart for Annaliese and picked up a blank gray shirt to go with it. I decided to just monogram the pocket area, and remembered GG Designs' free multi circles dot frame. I picked 8CP's Madison for the A, grabbed my matching threads and headed to the machine. This was my plan:

As the frame was stitching, I noticed that my stabilizer was shifting. Each of the dots stitched PERFECTLY, there was no issue with the design:

But for whatever reason (fast sloppy hooping?!) my shirt did not stay flat and I got this really poufy center. ACK!

I stopped there, I knew if I stitched the letter on top it would be permanently wrinkled and look terrible. I had to get rid of that excess knit... Reverse applique to the rescue!
I went back to my computer and digitized a small triple bean stitch circle to place inside the dot frame, and changed the size of the A slightly.
I hooped sticky stabilizer, laid down a piece of purple fabric and embroidered the A:

Then I laid the shirt back on top of my hoop, pinning in place, and stitched the triple bean stitch circle. I cut away the poofy knit, revealing smooth monogrammed fabric!

 Woo-hoo! Disaster averted!

I'm thankful that a year ago I read Tasha's blog post about using reverse applique to redeem a project. It came in handy for me on this! Go check it out: New Project: Reverse Applique at The Plaid Pineapple.

Annaliese is NINE!

Today my girl is NINE! I can't believe it!

This year we selected Itch2Stitch's Cupcake Box design for her birthday shirt, primarily because it came with a 2.5" version just perfect for an American Girl doll shirt. Color palette was picked to match these shorts.

We contemplated putting a 9 in the cupcake wrapper, but Annaliese decided to go with something more subtle, so we added nine sprinkles to the cupcake. I used Quirky from I2S to add their names.

This doll shirt is from ARB Blanks:

I made Annaliese and Anna's shirts last week, so proud of myself for getting them done early! Over the weekend we went to Build-A-Bear and she made a Rainbow Dash. Once we were home she asked if she had any shirts that matched BAB shirts. Sadly, she's outgrown all the things I made a few years ago when she got her first BAB. So I whipped up a little surprise for her this morning, a "shirt" for Rainbow Dash. :)

I had to be creative, dressing a pony with wings is very different than a traditional teddy bear! I have some 0-3 month side snap shirts in my stash, and thought that would be easy since it wraps around. I cut slits for the wings and tail, and appliqued the cake patch right where her cutie mark is. It's not perfect, but it got the job done. :)

 I have two more of those shirts so you might see some more in the future!

Welcoming Baby Caden

Caden's grandmother has been keeping me busy! Baby shower was today, so now I can show my work:

First, a set of sibling shirts:

The big brother and little brother patches are both from Applique Momma. I added their name with Jolson's Architect. I think I have finally figured out a fabric/thread/font combo that I LOVE with this design. Yay!

Matching monogrammed shirts using 8CP's Baseball Stitch Applique alphabet (oh, and the bib, too!)

And a couple burp cloths. I was told to do whatever I wanted, so I used it as an opportunity to finally use some cute designs that have been sitting in my stash! The Puppy Patch is from Applique Cafe -- isn't this precious?! I added his name with 8CP's Bobby.

And MCA's Jungle Jungle Applique Alphabet. Looking forward to using this again in larger sizes!

Whew! Add to that an additional burp cloth from Michelle, and I did a lot of sewing for little Caden recently. THEN I had to come up with my own gift. EKK! What's left?? Well, I'll save that for a separate blog post. :)
Michelle requested 8CP's Split Banner Applique Font

Opening Day 2013

Well, it's that time of year again... Baseball season has begun, and these kids needed new shirts to celebrate!

I've made opening day shirts for them several times (2008, 2009, 2010, 2012), and this year their mommies selected East Coast Applique's Baseball alphabet. I added their names with Embird Alphabet #4.

This year we finally managed to get their baseball designs on raglan tees!

We've tried in the past, but I struggled finding a brand that had all the right sizes. The older three are now big enough to wear the XS Soffe brand that I got at Sports Authority. But I was afraid it was going to be a dress on Simon, so we ordered a toddler size six from American Apparel. But when it was in my hands, I was afraid it would be too small! Since he's currently in Bangkok... I couldn't exactly try it on him first. :) So for good measure I made two, knowing eventually he would grow into the other!
Check out this enormous size difference between a toddler size 6 and a youth 6/7. ACK!

Some company needs to product raglan shirts from infant onesie through toddler, youth and adult sizes. All the same brand so families can match! And if it could happen before next April, it would make my life easier. ;)