Back and Better Than Ever

I'm back!

After nearly five months of blogging hiatus, I'm officially back.

Since my last blog I have been a bit busy. Here is a rundown:

1. sold our house

2. managed the building of our new house

3. had a beautiful baby (and my life is forever better because of her)

4. moved most of our belongings into storage

5. moved into a temporary apartment

6. quit my job

7. started my own freelance graphic design business

phew.

It has been a wonderful five months.

Now, a small task for all my loyal readers out in cyberspace:

Please change your blog readers and favorites links for my blog to: http://bisongirl.blogspot.com

I'll be back with new projects and creations very soon.

In the next few days, www.bisongirl.com will become the home of my new freelance business – Bison Girl Design. There will be a link from the new site back here to the blog. Please stop in for a visit!

Onesie dress

This weekend I made a onesie dress with this tutorial. The tutorial is completely customizable for size and style - super fun. The onesie is completely intact under the skirt, so it will fit nicely without any bunching.

If you think the skirt looks like an old sheet, you're right! This was a test project so I didn't want to "waste" any of my other fabric. As it turns out, I really like it.

More to come!

Booties for the baby part 2

I made another pair of booties for the baby. Apparently I was a bit distracted (pregnancy brain anyone?!) and I forgot to use fusible interfacing. All parts of the shoe should have been fused with lightweight interfacing.

The photo above is the uninterfaced pair after washing and drying. The result of not using interfacing is a much softer shoe and the elastic gathers the fabric tighter.

Here is the pair of booties I previously made (with interfacing) ...

Although both pairs of booties are very soft and look extremely comfy, the interfaced shoes look and feel much sturdier – more like a "shoe" versus a "slipper."

I'm not sure which design I like best. It would certainly help if I had a baby to actually use these shoes so I could decide based on fit. Less than eight weeks and I'll (most likely) have a little product tester of my own :)

My grandma is a knitting factory

Yesterday the baby got a very special box from Great Grandma Katy. My Grandma Katy is a knitter and as far as I can tell, has been knitting since she was born – she's super fast! Our baby girl is the proud new owner of three adorable hats, a hooded sweater, and a blanket.

My sister and I were always decked out in Grandma Katy sweaters so it's really special that our baby will have a one from Grandma Katy too.

Quilts are for cuddling

This blog is in response to the many questions I've received (both as comments to the last post and in real life) regarding why on earth I would hang a quilt on a wall – I assume, as opposed to using it in the crib.

First I must mention that I'm a very firm believer that quilts are for cuddling. That's why all the quilts I've ever made are completely machine washable, and plenty large enough for cuddling (except for this one).

But ... baby quilts are a whole different story. From what I've read, babies should not sleep with blankets, pillows, crib bumpers, or quilts due to an increased risk of SIDS (due to suffocation). As the paranoid first-timer that I am, I'm definitely going to follow the "no blanket in the crib" recommendation. So using it in the crib is out.

I could use the quilt as a play mat ... but I already made one of those. And since I've been a quilter for about 14 years, we have plenty of other quilts in the house to use for play mats.

I hope to take the quilt off the wall and let our baby use it when she gets a bit older (and can use the quilt as a quilt). But until then, I think it makes for some nice wall art.