I was suddenly hit with a burst of creativity 10 days before Christmas. It certainly WASN’T because I am finally getting sleep…I’m not.  Whatever it was got me to finish the Christmas quilt I started in 2010 and I also managed to make Christmas stockings for both kiddos.

Here is the Christmas quilt in all it’s glory:

The blocks were made by my Fresh Modern Bee gals and what a talented group they are!

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On a side note, I’m very excited because I just signed up for a photography class! I’ve been meaning to take one for years and finally found one that fits into my schedule. It’s frustrating that I barely know how to use my camera and can’t capture aesthetically appealing photos of my work (or of my kids).  I’m a sucker for quilting blogs with luscious quilty porn and I’m hoping I can bring a little bit of that to Sewgirly! this year.

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Back to the quilt:

I did a simple all-white back, accented with a single off-set scrappy strip.

I fretted and contemplated over how to quilt the top for months and then decided to just do a meander.  It doesn’t distract from the design and I always love how crinkly it makes the quilt.

The best part of making a quilt: seeing it enjoyed by someone else.

I’m back from my blog maternity leave!  I didn’t really mean to take one, but little-miss-30-minute-naps is keeping me pretty busy.  I’ve had time to work on several projects, though, so keep checking in, because I’m going to be getting caught up over the next few weeks.

I finished Emma’s stroller quilt in time for her arrival.  I used a tutorial over at Lily’s Quilts and joined one of her fabulous and always fun quilt-alongs.

I used scraps from Emmeline’s fairy tale quilt (and I mean pieced together scraps!) and I was really pleased with the outcome.  The graphics on the Far, Far Away fabrics work so perfectly with the dresden design.

I used a soft snuggly flannel from Anna Maria Horner’s “Little Folks” line on the back:

I also added my own touch by inserting bias tape into the outer edge of the dresden.  I wanted to give it a little extra pop from the patterned background. (Don’t look at my nasty fingernail.  I was 9 months pregnant, so I have an excuse!).

Emma has been enjoying her quilt and is getting bigger everyday!

I can’t even keep her on this little quilt anymore, so it will move to the stroller just in time for cold weather.

If you are new to my blog and found me through the Blogger’s Quilt Festival,, thank you so much for stopping by! If you have never heard of The Blogger’s Quilt Festival, you MUST check it out.  So many amazing quilts and stories to go with them.  Just click on the button below to browse all the entries.

The quilt for the baby is done and I am really excited with how it turned out:

I have to say, I think this is my very favorite quilt out of all the quilts I have made (which really isn’t THAT many). It probably doesn’t hurt that I merged my two all time favorite fabric designers: Heather Ross and Denyse Schmidt.

I have so many quilt tops pieced, but I hadn’t actually quilted anything other than doll quilts in a long time, so I was pleased at how fast it went.  I did a free-motion stipple and it took roughly about 4 hours.

I made a pieced back, but kept it pretty simple:

I WAY overestimated how much yardage of Kona solids I would need for the front, so I got to use them up on the back!

The binding is Herringbone in Berry from Joel Dewberry’s “Modern Meadow” collection. I actually picked it up the other weekend at a fabulous little sewing studio in town called StitchCraft.  I had a Groupon and picked up a few new fabrics.  It ended up being perfect for the quilt!

We won’t be doing too much decorating this time in the nursery, because 1. we are renting and I don’t want to paint and 2. I’m too lazy and no one will see it.  Poor second-born baby! The quilt is going to hang in her room and be the main decor.

“Janice, don’t you have enough quilts on your plate right now?”

“Why, of COURSE not!”

Yes, I joined a quilt along.  I am a sucker for any of the group quilting projects on Flickr and how can I resist this one?  Look at the fantastic little quilt that Lynne (the quilt-along Queen Bee) made from Sherbet Pips:

SO adorable!

You can make just one block, which will give you a 30″x30″ mini quilt, or you can make all 6 blocks and have a big, amazing dresden quilt.

I decided to use the scraps from the baby quilt and do a small quilt.  I am excited, because it will be a good size for a stroller/car blanket, or for the baby to lay on and when she is older she can use it as a doll quilt, if she so desires.

The quilt-along will take place over the course of 8 weeks, and all skill levels are welcome!

I skipped ahead a wee bit and cut my plates, so I could make sure I had enough scraps (shhhh). I also ordered some BG fabric, so that will be along shortly.

I’m loving how it’s turning out, so far!

Come and join in!

Just click the button below to find out all the information!

I was so eager to own some Heather Ross “Far, Far Away” fabrics that I purchased them before I even knew I was having a girl.  I collected FQ’s of “Far, Far Away 1& 2″, added in a little Medocino, some Denyse Schmidt and a few coordinating Kona solids.

I decided to do wonky improv blocks and here is the top all sewn together!

I also made this quilt bigger than Liam’s quilt, so that the baby can use it longer.  I think Liam will be too big for his, by the time I put it in his bed! (Though it looks very nice hanging over it!)

Close-ups of each block:

Now I need to spend some quality time at my sewing machine quilting this puppy!

So, it’s NOT what you think (though wouldn’t that be fun, too?).  STUD stands for “Swap Til You Drop” and it’s another fun mini-quilt swap over on flickr.  I participated in their “fussy cut” swap and had to come up with something fun for my partner, Cindy.

I really went round and round in my head with what to fussy cut and how to lay it out.  I tried to do a kaleidoscope block and I failed miserably, so ended up going subtle and cutting into some of my coveted Katie Jump Rope fabric:

If you look closely, the print in the circles line up with the background.

I was really happy with how this quilt turned out and I loved doing the pebble quilting.

I and tempted to do an entire quilt like this. Add another quilt to my ever growing list!

Cindy made me this fantastic quilt with spiders on it! She has her own long arm quilting business and I must say the quilting was amazing.

And so many lovely extras!

It was a fun swap and I hope to do more in the future!

I may be behind in my blog, but looking back, I’ve been doing quite a bit of sewing!  In the past few months, I have made many blocks for the Bee’s I am in.

1. Bee Block for September, 2. September “Bee Happy” Blocks, 3. October Bee Block, 4. Bee Happy November Block, 5. bee block for October, 6. Bee block for october, 7. November Bee Block, 8. November Block- Fresh Modern Bee, 9. November Bee Block, 10. Vintage Sheet Bee: December, 11. Bee Happy: November, 12. Bee Happy: November

As I said before, being in a Bee is such a great way to try a variety of techniques and to play with lots of different fabrics.  It’s especially nice if you don’t have a lot of time to sew an entire quilt, or tend to get bored with a larger project.

I still have to make the bee blocks for my own Christmas quilt, and then I will be all caught up with my Bee’s. I want to get that quilt pieced before the baby comes and then I think I may treat myself by sending it off to be quilted.  I have never done that before, but it is SO huge and I would rather concentrate on piecing unfinished projects, while I have the time.

February is my month in “The Vintage Sheet Quilting Bee”, so I need to start brainstorming!

Not as much sewing is going on as I had hoped over Christmas, but there is creating going on with my new gadgets!

JD and I are addicted to the pumpkin ravioli at Trattoria Grappolo in Santa Inez, Ca.  Now that we moved 7 hours north, I had to come up with the next best thing.  I tried to make ravioli once before, without a ravioli press, and it was a complete disaster. My parents gave me this ravioli press for Christmas and it was a breeze!  I ended up with 4 batches of ravioli, 3 of which went straight into the freezer.

Yum, yum!

There are so many ways to store and clean dirty diapers, but this is the way I found simplest and best for me.

I already have a Diaper Genie in the nursery for disposable diapers and I really didn’t want a second can sitting around.  I made these hanging wet bags that match Liam’s room decor:

They are lined in waterproof PUL and I blogged about making them here.

The smaller one is a travel bag and the larger is for the nursery.  Zipping them shut seems to keep the smell out of the room, but if I start to smell anything (sometimes I get lazy about zipping it shut), I move the bag to the doorknob outside the room.

Wet inserts go right into the bag, poopie ones get swished in the toilet first.  I just carry the bag with me to the bathroom, so I am not carrying a sopping wet insert through the house.  Liam comes along and waves bye-bye as I flush the toilet.

You can also purchase a diaper sprayer that attaches right to your toilet, so you don’t have to dunk the diaper.  They cost about $40 and are very easy to set up.

Soiled liners, gPants and cloth wipes also go in the bag.

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Every 3 days I take the bags to the laundry room, dump them out into the washer and then throw the bags in also.  All diaper components, wipes and the wet bags get washed together.

I have front loading HE washer/dryers and I do a quick wash on cold with no detergent to wash off any remaining poop.  Then I do an extended wash (whitest whites) in hot water with an extra rinse.  I use about 2 tablespoons on detergent (a little goes a long way).  The detergent I use is called Crunchy Clean, but you can find a chart of suitable detergents here.  You want to make sure you use something approved for cloth diapers, so your diapers don’t lose their absorbency. You can also add a couple of drops of tea tree oil to help disinfect.

I have used Country Save Detergent and Crunchy Clean and I have never had an issue with stink, or absorbency, so I haven’t had a need to strip my diapers.  If you are having issues due to detergent build-up, there are various ways to strip any residue left on your diapers.  The easiest way is to wash diapers as you normally would and then wash them again on hot with a tiny squirt of Dawn dish soap.

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Once everything is washed, I move all inserts, wipes and gPants to the dryer and dry them on hot. the plastic liners and wet bags are hung to dry.

If any inserts or liners are stained, I lay them out in the sun to dry and they amazingly turn white again! You can also put a little lemon juice on them to help with whitening.  I am really hoping for a rare sunny day here soon, because Liam’s inserts are getting quite dingy looking.

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It sounds like a long, involved process, but I probably spend 10 minutes every three days putting the diapers in the wash, moving them to the dryer and then putting them back in the drawer.

I was a little hesitant to try cloth wipes at first, but they are great and easy to use if you are already doing cloth diapers.  They also work SO much better than disposable wipes when you are cleaning a poopy butt!

Here are the items in my cloth wipes system:

•Prince Lionheart Warmies Wipe Warmer•

I prefer to have all the wipes ready to go, so I decided to go with a wipes warmer. This particular brand comes with an antimicrobial pad that sits in the bottom of the warmer.  You replace it every three months and it helps the wipes to resist mold and browning.  I haven’t had any issues except for the time I didn’t change the pad out for a really long time.

•Cloth Wipes•

I had some birdseye cotton on hand, so I cut it into 8″x8″ squares and simply serged around the edges.  I like that the birdseye has some texture to it, so it can grab the poop. I also like that they are thin, so I can fit a lot of them into the wipes warmer. You could also cut up old flannel receiving blankets, or baby washcloths.  Pretty much anything will work as long as it’s all natural materials.

•Wipe Solution•

Some people just use water, but I wanted something with a little more oomph.  I found this recipe online and I make a big batch which I keep in a recycled plastic jug.  Each batch lasts a couple of weeks.

4 cups water

1/8 cup baby wash- for cleaning

1/4 olive oil (or baby oil)- for moisturizing

4 drops tea tree oil- for disinfecting

I refill the warmer every couple days.  I just throw about 24 wipes in the bathroom sink and pour some solution over them.  I wring them out and roll them up to place in the warmer.

Wipes all rolled up and ready to go.  The warmer is half empty in this photo, so normally it would be filled to the top.

You also don’t need to use a warmer at all.  For the new baby I plan to keep the wipes dry and just use a peri bottle or a squirt bottle filled with solution and wet them as I go.  I don’t want to purchase a second warmer, so I’ll see how it goes.

I also may make a bunch of fancier 2-sided wipes (girls always need to be pampered!)  I think the perfect cloth wipe would be an 8″x8″ square of a cute flannel backed with birdseye.  You could either serge the two layers together or sew  and turn them.  The birdseye side would be good for poop and the softer flannel side for pee.