charlie x 2

i pulled these fabrics together

back over the summer

when two sets of friends had baby boys

both named

charlie!

i had long-loved david walker's boys will be boys fabric line

and decided to make the kiddos 

stroller blankets

half-finished they'd been buried

until the weekend

when i finally finished and photographed

phew! 

charlie (x2) will have his quilt before his first birthday!

i'm a total sucker for kids with accents

have you seen this #1 youtube video?!

CHARLIE!

toddler trousers

my favorite little boy on the block

turns one this week

so over the weekend

i tried out anna maria horner's reversible quick change trouser pattern

in big-boy appropriate

prints from the new ds quilts line

for his birthday gift

i was so impressed with this new line- so many fun little prints and patterns to mix and match
i can't wait to cut into a few more!

...
happy birthday, sidney!
xoxo

ahoy matey!

this little pirate

turned three

this week

...

so i offered to make the cupcakes

for the jake and the neverland pirates lover

yo ho ho!

skully the parrot

a little lass

and gentleman of fortune

...

a few sketches

while they baked

and a quick iphone pic

before dropping them off

happy birthday, benny!

xoxo

summer fun

theresa and i

made the most of an overcast day

last week

to get down on paper

all the plans we've been dreaming and scheming for the summer

we've only got a few short weeks left

before it's back to the bronx...

words for the week

girls on the run

girls on the run

down in north carolina

at training for

the first season of

girls on the run

in

RHODE ISLAND!

i'll be one of the coaches

for our inaugural season

spring 2012

...

it's a long way off

but my life has already been changed

and i cannot wait

to pass it on.

wiped.

just back from a few days in NYC
and chaperoning the fresh air fund bus
loaded with city kids headed to cape cod
for a summer vacation...

adventures to come.

school's out for summer!

my sewing girls finished up a couple of weeks ago
just in time to go off to camp
in new outfits
completely designed and sewn by themselves!

it was a multi-week process
project runway - style
starting with drawings, a trip to the fabric store, muslin prototypes, label design and a photoshoot
the finished products were so impressive and the girls extremely proud- rightly so!

a few other spring projects to catch up on...

hand-sewn snails
(using a wee wonderfuls pattern)


patchwork pillows
for mother's day!




bunting banners
using the triangular fabric scrape left over from the floor pouf project!



it's been a productive spring for these little ladies!

born this way

Ahhh- MAZING cover of lady gaga's latest...

love this little anthem for today's youth!

sewing class: winter jammies and quick gift

our last sewing class in 2010

was just before christmas...

the girls finished up cozy flannel pj sets

(which they reportedly didn't take off for much of vacation)

...

then, we broke into the scrap bag

choosing remnants of past projects

to make gifts for parents and siblings

from the wonderful last minute patchwork + quilted gifts

they personalized kraft moleskine journals

and even improved upon the pattern-

adding a ribbon to the front that extended to serve as a bookmark

they little ladies always amaze me with their creativity!

family members were thrilled, of course

and they even have a few commissions for more...

proving nothing is better than a homemade gift!

love.

everything about this...

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catch up - sewing class: halloween costumes

i'm a bit behind-the-ball

posting these halloween costumes

my sewing class girls

made

but

i wanted to get them up before december!

...

the girls spent some time brainstorming

before we started drafting patterns and sewing

and i am blown away at how close to their original sketches the costumes turned out!

medusa

the vampire

hair love

willow smith's first video dropped yesterday to HUGE media buzz...

yes, she is fierce. agreed.

but she is also only NINE years old.

too much?

i'm thinkin'...

coincidentally (or not) sesame street aired this yesterday...

adorable. thank. you.

back to class

my kid's sewing class started up again last week...

i wanted a project that would ease them back

something relatively simple

but where they could also learn a new skill.

over our summer sewing getaway

my sister made her daughter a smocked dress

using heather ross' pattern.

it was adorable.

we roughly followed the same.

and they came together very easily...

the girls are thrilled

and thought the elastic thread smocking was way-cool.

...

here is my niece in her top made by mama

up next... halloween costumes!

summer love

wow.

it's august.

AUGUST.

i really cannot believe this much of summer has already slipped by...

catching up on my blogger roll and came to this video, posted on one of my fave photo blogs

30 days of grateful - 'summer' from hailey bartholomew on Vimeo.

ah, the simple things. the split-second moments.

all around us. all the time.

i really can't wait for the day that we have kids and can experience these things with them for the first time. summer just seems sweeter with kids in the mix, no?

right now,

i am grateful for a moment to put my feet up on the couch

and have perfect quiet

(except for nellie snoring, but that too is bliss)

sibling quilts

my sister and i have been compiling lists and projects and fabrics for months now in anticipation of a sewing weekend this summer (more to come on that later)...

at the top of her list are quilts for anya and evan (my niece and nephew).

miss anya is nearly ready to graduate from her crib to a "big girl bed" and luckily meggin scored two mis-matched wooden twin beds at last summer's church bazaar that she plans to paint in high-gloss white for the kids.

they'd rather not re-paint the kid's shared bedroom, so we have been coming up with a color palette for the quilts that can work with the current colors, just "grow it up" a bit...

the current bedroom

the new, expanded color palette

i have had this awesome quilt bookmarked for.ever. and when i passed the link along to my sister as a suggestion, it happened to be the one she had remembered and had been hunting for!

meggin came across this zig zag tutorial that we plan to use (it seems to be the most straight forward)

we are each going to tackle one of the quilts at the same time

yesterday i attacked my stash to see what i could donate to the cause...

we both like the idea of having the one chunk of navy.

and we decided that we would use a blue + white seersucker for the binding... possibly the back for one with a navy + white polka dot binding and vice-versa for the other.

i, personally, think the quilts should be fairly different from each other but work togteher color-wise and share some similar fabrics.

for evan's, i love the idea of doing more blues, with orange and just small bits of turquoise:

for the little lady, i like a softer color palette of the lighter blues, turquoise, greens, with bits of orange and darker blue:

thoughts?

anyone have any zig-zag tutorials that are tried and true?

sewing class: project #5

with mother's day fast approaching,

i wanted to get in a project the girls could proudly give to their mammas

in just two sessions...

a summer tunic!

in a heavenly anna maria horner voile

from this pattern (written for use with knits, but will work fine for a woven)

finishing touches.

lovies are next... any pattern suggestions?

little designers

the girls in my sewing class have finished another project...

floor poufs!

the project was quick, pretty easy, and super fun

(though i never thought i'd see so much POLYESTER in my studio! ha!)

their choices in fabrics perfectly matched their personalities and all they talked about the whole time was where they were going to put them/ what they would use them for in their bedrooms.

one girl is even getting her own room for the first time and was thrilled to have her first addition.

not only are they learning to sew, but developing their own little interior design perspectives.

i love it!

dream (doll) house

while i love the ultra-modern aesthetic, i can't say i'd want to live in a glass house...

but i could certainly play in one!

the "listing" reads:

Newly listed, the Emerson House is the perfect home for the modern family. The home has six rooms including a living room, kitchen, library/office, master bedroom, bathroom and child's bedroom. With its large, open floor plan and floor-to-ceiling windows, the Emerson House enjoys year-round sunlight. The modern house features many extras including mitered-glass corners, two fireplaces, sliding glass doors, solar panels, and recessed LED lights. Finally, the house is easy on the environment with only non-toxic and lead-free wood stains and paints.

so cool, i'm sure the jolie-pitts already have one.

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