A pillow made with love ❤️

My 9 year old son, little A, wanted to make something special for his sister, Miss V, for Christmas. He knows, she loves things he made himself, and she loves pillows. 

So he struggled with scraps, with the sewing machine....and with himself too.

But look at this:

 

He made it all by himself. 

I am so proud of him. 

PS: she loves her pillow! 

Some Christmas sewing

My daughter loves unicorns. She has been looking at a unicorn quilt block pattern since forever, saying things like "ooooh look at this - but....that's too difficult for you to sew, isn't it?"

So naturally, I had to get the pattern. I did, and it sat around in my to-do list forever. Because it looked so intimidating. But I did finish this pillow for her in time for Christmas - and she loves it! 

Pattern by Robyniepatterns

More little earbud pouches

My daugther really wanted me to make some of the little heartshaped earbud pouches for her friends. So I have made a few...

A couple of blue ones for the friends loving blues... And....I prefer turning the zipper the way it is on the top pouch. I makes it so much easier to sew the little fabric square without having it bent out of shape....

A pink and purple heartshaped pouch, and a round one for me :-)

And finally one more heartshaped blue one... I think this last one is my favorite. Well...either this one or the pink/purple one...or the blue one with the owls...

I'll have to make some more. All information about the tutorial is here :-)

A panda pillow...

My daugther loves pillows, and pandas (well....and unicorns and rainbows too, just to be fair!)

So when I saw this photo print in a local fabric store, I knew I had to buy one. It's the quickest pillow I have ever made.

The front is just the panel as is...and I made the back from 2 cute prints. One of them had to be a panda-print of course

She loves it, and I have all sorts of plans for pillows to make for both my kids. Because they really like them - and maybe that means that some of all the softies can move to other homes??

Elena sized hour baskets

When the kids saw the hour baskets I made for the kitchen, they really wanted one each, to keep track of their stuff in the car.... The Hour Baskets are quite roomy - so I went with a smaller size, the Elena size from Friends of the Hour Basket - for this project.

Miss V really likes the designs by Me and My Sister Design, so I chose these 2 mini charm packs for her Elena hour basket

I am very pleased with the finished result

I had just finished cutting out charms for a basket for my son, when he came home from school and told me, that he wanted something completely different. So he chose the fabrics for his basket from my yardage:

Really nice choice! 

An ittybitty heartshaped earbud pouch for Miss V

You know how those smartphone earbuds always get tangled up in a big mess - and possibly they got themselves tangled into pretty much everything else in your bag?

...I don't, but that is what my daugther asked me, right before asking, if she could please have some little bag to keep them seperate from the rest of her stuff - and could that bag please be purple?

So, I found this cute heartshaped earbud pouch tutorial. It is by Dog Under my Desk, and it is really simple to make!

I'll need to make one for me. But maybe the round one - I'm not sure I would want the heartshaped one...cute as it is :-)

Pink floor cushion for Miss V

Ever since she saw the floor cushion I made for A for his birthday (in March....), Miss V has asked me, to make one for her. I could choose the pattern - as long as I made it in pink fabrics :-)

So....I chose HSTs, and this layout:

This should be fairly simple, but I managed to sew every HST together the wrong way. Lots of unpicking... Fot the other side, I used the leftover HSTs and some strips - didn't need to repeat the seam ripping. I have had my share of doing that for a while now!

Moving on to basting - and cofee to keep my spirits up :-) But this is the fun part! Well....not so much the basting, but the quilting.

Here it is, all done: (do you see the star?)

I took this picture this afternoon. This makes me happy, and this is why I made the cushions in the first place. The kiddos love to sit on the floor, with their toys, puzzles games.... Our floors are cold hardwood floors, so they need a soft cushion!

Now I need to make one for me, and then we are all set for playing board games on the floor :-)

Day at home with the kids

My kids are sick, so most of yesterday, and pretty much all of today, I have been doing this:

No sewing and no work - just Monopoly Disney. And sick kids.

Love

Miss V: This is for you
Little A: Oh, is that for me? Did you really make this for me?
Miss V: Yes I did. Because you are my little brother and I love you :)

Art Portfolios for the kids

Very formal name I think...nevertheless, that's what they are called :)

I used this pattern, modified it to fit colored pencils and European size paper. Little A is still very much into CARS - he has started asking me for a CARS quilt. We'll see!

I am happy with how they turned out!

I think Miss V will like the kittens. And the letters.

She has started school...

She was happily skipping down the street - I was a nervous wreck!!
She did great, and she can't wait to go back - which is good :)
Now I'll just have to get used to a whole new set of worries to add to the ones I have already.
Oh well...I guess that's what it is to be a mom?

Maybe all her visits to friends' houses and all the hours of having a friend visit her here, will free up some time for me to sew??
I will think of it that way, then it's not as scary - it is, I'm trying to trick myself ;)

I have been working on my quilt for Doll Quilt Swap 9. I have started quilting it, but I haven't taken a picture of that yet.
I also have another project I am working on. I am using Punctuation charm squares. I love that fabric line.
This quilt will be big, it's for our bed. I really don't want this to become a UFO!!

Changes in our routine..

September is Johns month in SewConnected 2. He has chosen to make a house quilt inspired by Ingrid Press. I made him this little house, and is was so much fun to make, I'm thinking he'll probably get at least one more from me :)

There has not been a lot of sewing going on here for a while now. As you know, I finished my studies and started working full-time. But there has been changes for the kids too.
Miss V started a new daycare in August, and A will be joining her this coming monday.
These are his new slippers, he is very happy with them

Charles is busy writing his PhD, so he has to work most weekends. The kids and I are having some good times at home, we have to make it extra special, so we don't miss Charles so much :)

The kids' favourite lunch (besides McD or BurgerKing. Lol) is homemade pizza. And if you ask them, there is no such thing as too many olives on a pizza.

Too bad for me, I don't like olives :)

Charles had given the kids these chocolate ladybugs, they thought it was fun to pretend they could play with the ladybugs on the tablecloth. Lol!!

So.....I am hoping to get a little sewing time today. It's sunday morning, and Charles is off to work right after breakfast. So maybe a little sewing time while A naps? Or maybe no sewing for me today....we'll have to see!

Welcome to the kids' new room!

Ohhh...this used to be my bedroom, but Violas room was just too small for both kids, so something had to be done :) Viols has been asking for bunkbeds for awhile...she really wants to tell her friends, that she sleeps in the top bunk.

But...let's go in. That huge white thing there is a closet. Gigantic, but we need the storage :) I put some stickers on it to make it a little more appealing to the kids.
Beneath the bed are some drawers one with LEGOs and one with FlexiTrax (Asks new favourite toy!)
This dresser holds their sheets....and the big white thing is Asks changing table, it opens up, and it has little shelves to hold wipes and diapers and stuff. Handy when you have a bathroom that's smaller than your bed -which is what we have. Lol! Again the stickers are there to help me not feel so bad about this taking up room in here ;)
This is also new. The red and blue buckets hold everything from Little People to trainsets. Very easy for the kids to get to their toys, and really easy to put everything away..
The black round thing behind it is a gigantig swing :)

This is their new window. They spend a lot of time looking out at the cars in the tiny parking lot next door! The mattresses are not supposed to be there, they are from the old beds. But I am hanging on to them for a while. Putting them at the bottomof the bed every night...just in case someone should fall out of bed :/


...oh, and I have 21 days of crazy stress left, and then my paper will (hopefully) be all done!

Progress...

I decided to go with the white sashing for my sisters quilt. Both because I know how it shrinks, and because it is what I have in my stash. I love the idea of using linen, but I haven't worked with it before, so I'll try it in a couple of projects (not presents) first :)

Jackie suggested cornerstones, and since I have quite a bit of dots left, I decided to go with that idea! Thanks Jackie!

I cut all the pieces last night while watching an old Bond movie on tv.... So when I had a chance to sit down at my machine this afternoon, the first row went together pretty quickly. I am sewing the sashing a little differently than I normally would, but these blocks are a little wonky -probably because of all the unpicking- so I need to be a little careful. So far, so good!

Ask likes it :) He started using it as a dancefloor as soon as I put it on the floor to take a picture. LOL!

I always keep little sewing-related thingamabobs in my sewing room, so there is something for Viola to play with while I sew. Today she played with a new -and rather large- bag of different shaped sequins, there was hearts, elephants, flowers, fish, leaves....you get the idea :)
She spent hours sorting these into different bowls, now that is really appropriate behavior for the daugther of librarians. LOL!

Back home again

After a 6 hour drive, we are back home in Copenhagen :-) The drive was long and warm, so we took lots of breaks along the way...

I went to a couple of thrift-stores while we were at my parents house, and found this towel-rack, it's meant to hang on a door. I paid $1 for it! Sorry about the flash in the photo :-(

And I found some sheets!! I want to cut these up, and use the fabric in quilts. Maybe a Christmas-present? Some of these will be great for backing!

And they costs me about $1 a piece! YAY!

Tomorrow we go on vacation for a week, Charles and I are taking the kids to a summerhouse on a small island. It's our first vacation together as a family. Fun!

Another day at home

These are the pants I forgot to take a photo of yesterday. Viola wanted to wear them to kindergarten today, so I guess they have been approved :-)

Ask stayed home with me, he still has a cold.... We went out for a walk, he loves to sit in the backpack-carrier, and it's so much easier for me to get around that way!


And look at this find:


Someone was throwing it away! It will be perfect for Viola. It just needs a little fixing up, and it will be as good as new :-)

I also got my flickr Fat Quarter swap package from QuiltLady50 in the mail!


Look what she sent me! I'm so happy! Fantastic purple fabrics, a beautiful ribbon and a gorgeous handmade purse!


I am such a lucky swapper :-)

Playhouse

Viola and I went to the Danish equivalent of Home Depot, and she really wanted to bring this little house home -and the slide! Can I have the slide, mom? Pleeeeease!!
But no :-(
We bought the stuff we needed, and to make sure the trip was not all bad, we went for something to drink...
Also I needed to figure out how to bring home that 80x80 cm bulletin board we bought.. I know my bike is big, but it's not that big!

This slush-ice did make her feel a lot better about the whole no-we-cannot-bring-the-house-home affair. Especially when she figured out, how red and blue make purple!

It's not that I don't sympathize with the play-house situation. This is the tent my kids play with....and let's just be honest, it's very very ugly!

We just don't have enough room to have a house that can't be put away. When taken down, this fits nicely under our sofa... But it is still ugly!

Then I saw this in a magazine:

and I thought.... Hmm, this is pretty! Maybe I could sew a pretty tipi for the little ones? It would be pretty, it would be something I could put away when it's not being used, it would be made with love...

So.. Does anyone know of a pattern, or some instructions for making a tipi?