Good Mail Day!
Posted by Nina on Aug 4, 2010
I’ve been so sick for the past two weeks! I’ve come down with some sort of a double cold (not quite getting over the first one when the second one settles in) and I have basically lived on cough drops and cough medicine.. so I was REALLY happy to wake up and see an awesome package from my friend Jess!!!!
she wrapped everything in little red tissue paper with lion paw stickers all over them! We’re playing in the Harry Potter house cup together and shes also in Gryffindor! I was so excited to open everything and when I did… I was amazed at her talent and her thoughtfulness! Jess, you really do rock!!!!
She hand dyed me some spinning fiber and made it all ready for color blending when I spin!, she hand made a lion orifice hook for my spinning wheels!!!, a notebook to keep track of knitting and fiber stuffs, a sorting hat bookmark, an AWESOME cup which I LOVE!, 2 stitch markers, a Harry Potter snitch sticker set, lemon drops (they were Dumbledore’s favorite you know!), and a cute tote bag to carry it all in! I got spoiled!!!
Jessica, thank you again so much for all of your wonderful goodies! I am amazed at your talent, humbled by your kindness, and blessed by you friendship! The friendships I have made in this little (or not so little!) group of ours have been amazing and I am so glad that you are one of them!!
Moda Quilt Kits
Posted by Nina on Jul 7, 2010
Awhile back I purchased the first quarter of the quilt kits Moda is offering from the scrap basket (jelly roll) line and the first kit is AMAZING! The fabric is Fresh Cottons from Fig Tree Quilts. I love everything about this!! Both the semi-vintage feel of the pattern and fabric but the colors are just amazing! I want to order a bunch more of this fabric just to stash away for future projects!! I can’t wait to get started on this quilt.. it just might be my most favorite quilt ever!
They also have released Septembers upcoming kit… I have mixed feelings about this. I was hoping for a more autumn themed quilt and this one just isn’t it.. and it really isn’t even my style. The fabrics and pattern are pretty, I just don’t care for them together. I think I might order some Awesome by Sandy Gervais for an autumn quilt and stash this fabric for something else. I am hoping I love Decembers kit a bit more. September’s really is beautiful, it just is a bit too dark for me.. or maybe I will make it and gift it… we’ll see!
P.S. I can’t seem to fix the txt by the photos, either it posts the photos very large and blown out or the text.. so I chose the text, sorry about that! it’s a weird wordpress format issue 
Newborn Props & Stuff
Posted by Nina on Jun 28, 2010
My favorite sessions are almost always newborn sessions.. There is just something so fun about brand new parents and teeny tiny little babies, and most parents are eager to let you put them in cute little costumes and funny hats. I’ve had a lot of little boys born this year so I needed plenty of gender neutral props so I started with this cute little hammock.
It’s a perfect prop for newborns. They just fit in the center and there isn’t a lot of fabric for the baby to get lost in. Most of my props that moms choose are neutral colored so I decided to keep this hammock in creams and browns. I do want to knit a couple more in different colors and possibly add some fringe to them.
Next is this adorable little pea pod! How cute is this!?!? I finished this set right before this newborn session only to find that the father hates peas with a passion! It was a total coincidence but we used it anyway! I am sure this is one sweet pea that the father will love… or so I hope!
Last but not least are these adorable little baby booties! They look like little moccasins with socks inside but they aren’t! These aren’t photography props, they were a gift for my client turned friend’s brand new little boy. They are quite possibly the cutest baby booties ever! Oh and see that throw the baby is laying on? The mom hand spun the yarn and hand wove the fabric. Yes, she’s that talented!
Little Boy Blues
Posted by Nina on Jun 16, 2010
Everyone I know is pregnant this year.. and everyone is having boys! So that means it’s time to make little boy quilts! This is a sweet little red and blue color scheme and the backing is a navy blue flannel with little red fire trucks! I can’t wait to see how this one looks finished. It’s just adorable! After its washed and quilted it should measure out to be about a 36″ square. The binding I have chosen for it is a red check print. I used various fat quarters and cut them down to 4.5″ squares but the design is very charm pack friendly! Mom does not have a nursery theme that I am aware of so I ran around the quilt shop just picking up colors that I thought looked good together.
Now for an update about the surgery… if you ever have to have all 4 wisdom teeth pulled, just go to sleep and wake up when it’s over! I decided I wanted local anesthetic with the gas.. it probably would have been fine for most people but apparently I am super hard to numb because I felt the whole thing! He used 9 canisters of local anesthesia and kept my gas up super high but it was a horrible, horrible experience and you know what the worst part was? during the pull what should come on the radio but Peter Gabriel’s Sledge Hammer! Yeah. Perfect. I lost some jaw bone and got some stitches and I am still quite sore but I am finally able to eat some solid foods again. I survived and the worst is hopefully behind me now!
Little Bird Sweet Cheeks
Posted by Nina on Jun 10, 2010
June has not been kind to me so far! I am laid up with a double abscess in my wisdom teeth and have made an appointment to have them all pulled… I’m so not looking forward to that! All I am able to really do is sew. I was browsing the Moda shop a few weeks ago and I saw this beautiful Chirp! neutral fat quarter bundle and I just had to have it! While there is no baby Sprinkle at the moment, this quilt will stay tucked away in my closet until there is!
I love how gender neutral the prints are and the color scheme is the standard yellow and green which means it will go with just about everything! I used the Sweet Cheeks pattern from Thimble Blossoms. I am not a fan of rag quilts or soft edge appliqué so I zig zag stitched around the edges instead. This will allow them to soften up a little but will prevent strings from coming off and getting into baby’s mouth or wrapped around little fingers. It’s a bit too busy for me to add the bird appliqués I originally planned on but I am loving how it looks so far! I can’t wait to finish it!
Dr. Seuss in My Closet?
Posted by Nina on May 28, 2010
When I saw this quilt in my magazine a few years ago, I knew that I wanted to make it..
I didn’t however, want to make it as a gift quilt because it looks like a lot of work for one quilt! and I wasn’t too keen on the monsters idea. Some kids are so bothered by them that even the funny stories are out.. the same with aliens and such.. so if I was making this quilt for my kids (God willing…) then I wanted to make it fun. There are 15 little doors that open and button close on this quilt!
So, I started looking into animal prints.. anything that would look cute and unexpected behind the doors.. nothing seemed to jump out at me and scream “THIS IS THE ONE!!” until a couple of days ago when Moda added this fabric to their up coming line.
As a kid there was absolutely no author I loved more than Dr. Seuss. The bindings on my hard covered books were worn completely out, I had each and every book memorized, and I had just about every video he had ever published at that time. I loved him.
Most kids do, right? So I figured it would be the perfect fabrics to make the door quilt out of! No scary monsters, no scary aliens, no boy-ish looking quilt fabric that isn’t quite unisex enough… Dr. Seuss takes care of all of that for me! and it even will have a matching little pillow! This is quite possibly the most excited I have ever been about a sewing project in my entire life. Though I am not pregnant, I am hoping that this little quilt (or not so little, it will be around 54″ by 61″) will create that special reading bond between my children and myself.
And if by some chance I am gifted with children who hate Dr. Seuss (do those kids really exist?) then I will have myself an awesome reading blanket and pillow.. because this quilt, is what I would have given my tooth fairy allowance for as a kid! Now… how on earth am I going to wait until September to quilt it!? I truly have no choice, the fabric is not available until then.
P.S. Because I know someone is going to ask, the quilt pattern is from Fons & Porter’s Fun Quilts for Kids of All Ages Summer 2007 issue, it is the Monsters In My Closet pattern.
Simple Abundance Coin Quilt
Posted by Nina on May 21, 2010
Way back when friends of Sergey’s found out they were expecting, I purchased this fabric to make a stacked coin quilt. Everything went smoothly until my basting slipped on the backing and created wrinkles in the fabric. Later I found that the mother-to-be was a seamstress herself and I agonized about this. Over. and. Over. and. Over. again. The mother would no doubt notice the wrinkles and any imperfections that may be in my quilt.. so I just got so frustrated I put it away and decided I never wanted to look at it again!
Finally 2 days ago I dug the fabric out and decided to finish it. The baby was born in December. She never got the quilt.
I am now pondering the idea of giving the quilt as a 1st birthday gift along with a children’s book since it’s the perfect size for a toddler bed… there is only one problem. I am absolutely head over heels in love with it.
just look at all that crinkled goodness!
The finished size is 37.5″ x 46″. The fabric is Simple Abundance by Bonnie & Camille for Moda. The pattern is stacked coins featured in the moda bake shop. It’s the perfect size for a toddler to cuddle up with, or a lap quilt…. Now, if you will excuse me, I’ve got some soul searching to do..
Hogwarts: Charms Homework
Posted by Nina on May 4, 2010
Dear Friends,
Life at Hogwarts is sure to be exciting this year! I have been selected to be the Gryffindor enabling roving reporter for our class newspaper! This means that I get to not only enable fiber and stash buying, but I get to teach and advise too! I hope this will be a great learning experience for me as well as for my fellow classmates.
While the news of my reporting is exciting, I have a rather frightening thing to report to you but it ends well so do not be too worried! You see, the first class I was to finish this term was Charms. I was to study the lapifors! spell which turns a small rabbit statue to life. Well.. I got distracted while in class (big surprise, right?!) and my lack of attention to my spell turned a beautiful little blue sodalite statue into an angry bunny!
Don’t worry though.. once we coxed the kitchen knife out of his hands and convinced him we truly meant no harm.. he was much more likable! I have grown quite fond of him and have promised to try and conjure a friend up for him in Potions class so that he isn’t so lonely at night in the castle.
He now is doing quite well and he has been enjoying the lion cookies and the fire whiskey in our common room… don’t tell the professors! I don’t think fire whiskey is allowed on the castle grounds, but friends tell me they have nicked it from Professor Hagrid’s cellars.
I hope all is well with you at home and you are all not missing me too badly. I will see you all soon. Please send treats with my OWL upon receipt of this letter.. I sure miss Grandma’s peanut butter cookies!
Much Love,
CherrySprinkle of Gryffindor
Hogwarts
Pattern: Albert the Absent-Minded Monster by Rebecca Danger
Needles: US 5 – 3.75 mm Addi Turbo Lace Circs
Yarn: Bernat Baby Bouclé in Spring Breeze
Date Started: May 1, 2010
Date Completed: May 2, 2010
Return to Hogwarts
Posted by Nina on Apr 28, 2010
I’ve just signed up for my 2nd year at Hogwarts (aka. HPKCHC)! Last term I had very little time to do anything but knit… and I literally finished my OWL on the very last day of term! This time.. I am going to plan my time much better and get everything done on time! I will not be having sleepless nights this term, oh no, I will be budgeting my time much better!
This term there will be spinning, there will be weaving, and there will be lots of knitting and crocheting! What you see in the photo above is my OWL proposal.. this year I will be attempting (and succeeding!) in a Care of Magical Creatures OWL by hatching a dragon! Do you see my trusty book that I have borrowed from Professor Hagrid? I will be hatching a Siberian Ice Crest dragon.. more on this later.. but I give you my swatch!
What? Stop laughing! It’s going to be a dragon! REALLY! IT IS!!! That is it’s head… oh dear, I am really not helping matters here any, am I? Just trust me, it’s a dragon.
Spinning 3rd Eye from Yarn Hollow
Posted by Nina on Apr 26, 2010
When I got 3rd eye from the spinning loft, I didn’t have any idea what I wanted to do with it, I knew that I wanted to ply it, but I didn’t think I loved the colorway enough to buy 2 braids but I loved how it felt in my hands as roving and couldn’t imagine what it would look like all spun up.
Once I started spinning, I was hooked! The white fluffy fibers on top blended into the yarn and made this beautiful sheen and it spun so smooth. I now wish I had bought the second braid because it’s pretty darn amazing! I spun up the singles to be navajo plied because I wanted to keep the colors in a stripe pattern and I took my time. This taught me 2 things.. 1.) Navajo plying is BORING. I don’t really like doing it but now if you put in a movie and sit there and just do it for 2 hours, you can make some pretty great progress without being bored to death! and 2.) Navajo plying just might be my most favorite finished yarn look ever! It’s so smooth and round and just beautiful.
I ended up with 375 yards of approximate lace weight yarn. It’s roughly 18 WPI (wraps per inch). I don’t know what it will become but I definitely want to use it in something! The yarn has a beautiful drape.. and would be great in any project worn close to the skin.. what to do? what to do?
