Tag Blanket Tutorial

I'm crazy about this baby!

I made a tag blanket for my grandson. I can't remember if I told you my step-daughter and her husband gave us our first grandchild in November? Well they did and we are having so much fun being grandparents. He has incredible fine motor skills and he loves to play with the tags on his toys. That got me thinking that he might like a tag blanket. They are so easy to make. I made this one with minky. If you are not familiar with minky it is a soft and cuddly machine washable chenille that is perfect for use in baby blankets.

I'm sure there are a million tutorials on this, but here is my version. It will make a 17 inch square blanket not including the ribbons.



First you will need some supplies:
1/2 yard of minky
1/4 yard each of 16 different ribbons
thread
pins
scissors
sewing machine
tweezers (if you use wire ribbon)


If you use wire ribbon you will want to take out the wire. This is so easy. Just use a tweezer to pull out the wire. It should slide right out. Then cut each ribbon into two pieces. Make them all different lengths so that some ribbons are longer than others.

Cut two 18 inch squares out of the minky.


Fold each ribbon in half and pin the raw edge of ribbon to the edge of the right side of one of the pieces of minky. I pinned 8 different ribbons to each side in varying distances apart starting an inch away from the edges. Ribbons should face inside. (see photo above)

Baste the ribbons down using your sewing machine with a 3/8 seam allowance.



Now put right sides together of the minky squares. Pin together making sure ribbons are inside.



Now, using a 1/2 inch seam allowance machine sew together leaving a 4 inch opening for turning.



Clip all edges and corners leaving a 1/4 inch raw edge. Turn right side out.



Pin the 4 inch opening closed tucking in the raw edge.



Top stitch around entire blanket using a 3/8 inch seam allowance.



Then I machine washed and dried the blanket because I know my grandson will try to eat it. Well it does look like candy.

The tutorial can also be found on my sidebar under free patterns.

Tuck

Today, I hosted a little afternoon tea for my mother, sister and nephews. It was a cleaning out of the fridge of sorts. The salad was delicious - spinach, goat cheese, salmon, red peppers, and some pesto and artichoke orzo. The adults liked it.

I wore Tuck, so that my sister could take pictures for me.

It has been done for over a week, but I just haven't had a chance to take any pictures. This was a quick knit and watching the shaping come to life through the tucks and folds was interesting.

Tuck
By Norah Gaughn
Volume 4
Berroco Mica, 1128
6 Skeins
US 6 staight needles

Mods: Did not do the tucks in the back of the vest.

Have a wonderful weekend!

My life....my life...

Just dropping in to give you a quick glimpse of what it is like to live with a sixteen year old who thinks he is a comedian.

Me: calling home on my cell phone
Son: Strategic Air Command!
Me: Can I speak to your father?
Son: I'm sorry the General is not here right now.
Me: Is he at Lowe's?
Son: That is classified information.
Me: I'm authorized to hear classified information. (Might as well play along at this point.)
Son: Oh, um yeah, he is at Lowe's.
Me: Thank you.

I promise to update on knitting shortly! =)

Thanksgiving

This is a turkey candle holder that my husband made for his mother many, many years ago. We still use it at Thanksgiving. Amanda from Joli House was looking forward to hearing about our holiday traditions in the upcoming weeks. That got me thinking about some of the Thanksgiving traditions our family has as I was preparing for Thursday. Of course we have the traditional New England Thanksgiving dinner of turkey, stuffing, potatoes, squash, cranberry sauce, and apple pie, but we also carry on a few smaller traditions too.



My mother-in-law always set a beautiful table at the holidays, and she always had a little handmade favor at each place setting, so we carry on that tradition each Thanksgiving with some little favor. Sometimes it's handmade. Sometimes it is store bought chocolate, but it is always there. This year it is pumpkin shaped sugar cookies drizzled with chocolate.



The other tradition we have is using the turkey plates that were handed down to us from my mother-in-law. I love them. They are so special. I only have eight, so sometimes the kids get to use them, and sometimes it is the lucky adults.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and thank you for stopping by and leaving me messages. They always make my day. Thanks also for all the inspiration you have given me from your blogs and websites too!

Weekend Wedding

This weekend we went to Cape Cod to celebrate my step daughter's wedding. It was one of those beautiful fall weekends when the weather is just perfect. The wedding was on the beach in Wellfleet just before sunset. It was a very sweet, personal and beautiful wedding, and it was great to spend time with family and see lots of old friends too. They are off on a fabulous honeymoon to Australia. I wish them lots of love and happiness.

I will be back in a few days with some knitting content!

Son's Offically a Junior!

Back to School Check List

Pencils - check

Notebook - check

Backpack - check

New underwear and socks - check

Finish Summer Reading Book - check

I guess it's official. Son is entering his junior year today, and I really can't believe it! This year he will turn 16, learn how to drive, and start looking at colleges. I do miss the early years, but I'm really enjoying watching him grow into the kind, funny and very intelligent young man that he is becoming.

Good Luck, Son!

Family and Small Closet Syndrome

When I married my husband over 17 years ago, he came with a starter family. He had three beautiful little girls. Well, they kindly accepted me (and all my flaws - not knowing anything about children except for being one once) into the family. They were even excited when a little brother was added to the mix a few years later.

They are each so special to me in different ways. We have shared many, many laughs over the years, and we've shed a few tears together too. They have grown into beautiful, intelligent and kind women. They each live out on their own now and I am very proud of them. I've come to cherish any time we get to spend together.

My oldest step daughter is a professional organizer, and has her own business. She also started a blog, and posts some really great organization tips. She came over yesterday to help me with my closets. Living in New England, it is quite common to come down with a case of Small Closet Syndrome, and I have a bad case of it. We have plenty of closets, but they are all small. HM has his own closet and I have two that I've made some lame attempts to organize. I'm a little embarrassed to show you my before pictures, but here it goes:
Important note: Please don't judge me by these pictures, I am a nice person and do try to keep a clean house. : )

Now you've seen the skeleton's in my closet. Embarrassing, I know, but you've got to understand that someone who enjoys crafts as much as I do, doesn't have time to clean closets too! Now for the less embarrassing after shots:

I really love how they turned out. I'm totally in love with the shoe organizer, clear bins and double closet rod. I think it will be much easier to keep clean and organized now, not to mention find things! Thank You, Wendy!

I hope you'll will pop over to her blog, and leave a message. She has some great tips, and if you ask her a question, let's just say about a craft space, she is happy to answer it.

Summer Reading

Son told me that the summer reading book, Kite Runner, was not mandatory. You could read a different book of your choice instead if you wanted. Well, I saw the assistant principal the other day, and ask her, "Oh, by the way, is Kite Runner a mandatory summer read." She replied, "Yes, they will be evaluated on it when they return from summer break." Kids! I should have know better. I ran out and picked up a copy. I figured out he has to read 20 pages a day in order to finish it in the next few weeks.

I was cleaning up all the scraps from my last project, and thinking about the book that needed to be read, and an idea came to me. I layered a scrap of fabric right side up, a layer of batting, and then a scrap of fabric right side down. I did a little random quilting playing with the stitches on my machine. Then I cut the scraps into one inch strips and then cut the strip into 6" lengths. I zig zag stitched around the edges and I had a book mark! I showed son the book mark I made for him, and you know what he did, he gave me a big, genuine smile and said, "You made this for me, thank you." I love that kid.

Of course I couldn't just stop at one.
This would be a great project for a child who is comfortable with their mother's sewing machine, and needs a one hour project. Playing with the different machine stitches was fun. But you don't need fancy stitches, straight stitches and zig zag stitches would work just fine.

I promise my next post will be about knitting! Maybe I should have called myself Lucky Crafter!

Picnic Blanket with Rock Pockets

When I saw this Sew Mama Sew tutorial from Erin of House on Hill Road fame, I knew immediately I wanted to try it. This is something my son would have loved when he was little. He was always collecting rocks. Whenever I did the laundry, I always had to be sure to check all his pockets. I would always find his treasures in those pockets - rocks, bottle caps, sticks, elastics, a half eaten cracker - just to name a few of the things I would find.

My brother and his wife have an eighteen month old son who reminds me so much of my son. We were at a family birthday party a few weeks ago, and he kept showing me the rocks he would find - so cute! So I decided to make this picnic blanket for them. I know it will get lots of use, because they are always going to the park, and I know the pockets will get filled with all kinds of treasures found during the day.

Erin did a great job on this tutorial. It is very detailed and includes lots of pictures. This would make a wonderful first quilt project, because it is pretty easy. While I was making it on my dining room table, I thought it would make a beautiful tablecloth. It would also be big enough for a childs bed quilt (60" x 60"). I used scraps for the back, which makes it reversible. Totaly by mistake, the rock pockets ended up on what I would call the front, and I thought about fixing it for a few minutes, but then decided it was okay because the blanket is reversible.


Thank you, Erin!

Oh Happy Day!

I had Saturday all to myself. HM was at an all day golf tournament, and Son was at a friends birthday party for the day. I really enjoyed my day. I didn't cook. I ate salad for dinner. I love salad. HM and Son would not consider salad a very good meal! I had chocolate for dessert. I watched recorded episodes of The Office on the "good" TV, and of course did some sewing and knitting. It's really nice to have a day like that every once in while.

One of the things I made was a flower pincushion. It's a pattern from Better Homes and Gardens written by Anna Maria Horner. She designs beautiful fabric, and has a sewing book, Seams to Me, coming out this fall. She has a wonderful blog where she shares free patterns, and lots of great pictures. I made the pincushion out of some Amy Butler scraps I had left over from another project, but I intend to pick up some of Anna Maria Horner's Garden Party fabric just as soon as I can.



I started the Spiral Boot Socks by Veronik Avery from the Interweave Knits Summer 2007 issue. It is considered an "easy" pattern, which I'm sure it is, but I'll have more on that later.



Flair still needs sleeves. It's just too darn hot to knit a sweater out of worsted weight Malabrigo wool at the moment.

Today my nephew is coming to visit for a few days, so I baked some cupcakes for the occasion.

Just a Betty Crocker mix, but I did make real butter cream frosting. I better try one to make sure they are okay! ; )

Memories

Oh, I'm having so much trouble with my computer. So Ill just leave you with this short post. My husband, we'll call him HandyMan, inherited this chess board from his father. His father made it about 70 years ago. He hand carved each chess piece. He made a wooden carrying case that also acted as the board. He painted and stained it too. He would play chess in the train on the way to Boston. He was going to Wentworth College. My husband, HM, also played with this same board in high school and college, so now the tradition is being passed down to Son. HM and Son have been playing chess together making new memories. Oh the stories this board could tell. It's a family treasure for sure.

Destination: Blue Hill, Maine

Highlights from our vacation:

Fourth of July!

Beautiful views of the bay.


Boating

Some knitting of course!

Sunglasses anyone?

Yard sale finds.

Finished Monkey Socks, pattern by Cookie A., yarn Regia Canyon Color Mineral on sale at Jimmy Beans Wool. Loved the pattern, but I guess I'm not the only one. I am the 5917th project on Ravelry. Clearly I'm a follower, not a leader! The pattern was easy to follow, and easy to remember, so it was a good traveling pattern.

Dog Daze of Summer

We are really enjoying the more relaxed atmosphere that summer brings. We've been staying up later, and therefore sleeping in later. We've been watching baseball games. We've been grilling casual dinners, and eating them outside on the deck. We've been enjoying the fresh summer fruit and berries, and the flowers that are popping up in the garden. Oh, we love summer. Even our dog is more relaxed!

She doesn't like having her picture taken either.

Have a great weekend!

Last Day of School!

WHOOPIE!

We are celebrating with my son's favorite - Whoopie Pie's! He is so happy.

Hormones

Okay, so I've been lurking in the blog world for about six months now, and feel I know many of you through your shared stories. It only seems fair that I give you a glimpse into my everyday life. So, here it goes.


Me: Son?
Son: WHAT?!!!
Me: Um, I.., I.., I was just wondering if you would like a cupcake?
Son: Oh, Okay sure.

10 minutes later

Son: Mom?
Me: WHAT?!!!
Son: I love you.
Me: Oh, okay, I love you too.

10 more minutes later

Me: Son?
Son: What?
Me: Um, I forgot what I was going to say.

10 more minutes later again

Me: Oh yeah - I remember. Did you do that, you know, the stuff the teachers give you to do at home?
Son: Homework?
Me: Yeah, homework. Did you do your homework?
Son: (shakes head and walks away)

Does that mean he didn't do his homework, or does it mean he thinks I'm crazy? Probably both!

It's those damn hormones. Well, back to knitting. Tomorrow I'll post a FO. I just have to find my camera!