Ink Tree Press

Little Red

Charlotte's costume is DONE!  And I had three whole days to spare!  Not too shabby.  I imagine one of these years I'll be at the sewing machine at 10pm the night before Halloween ...

 
The cape is made from Kona cotton in Tomato Red using a McCall's pattern, and that sweet little dress is made using fabric designed by Tasha Noel of A Little Sweetness.  Isn't it adorable!?  She teamed up with Leila and Ben to create a dress kit using her fabrics and their patterns.  It was super simple to sew and fits Charlotte perfectly.

I picked up this basket at World Market for under $5.  I already had the red polkadot fabric in my stash, and the ribbon was leftover from the ties on the hooded cloak.  This no-sew basket liner was fast and easy to make.  I just cut out a large oval of fabric, loosely arranged it in the basket, glued around the lip of the basket with a hot glue gun, then glued on a strip of ribbon to hide the edges.

 
I hope everyone has a Happy Halloween!  I know we will!  

-Erin

P.S.  Madison is going to be a witch.  Her costume is black and orange and sparkly.  No, I didn't make it!  Pics to come later. 

Madison's quilt!

I started brainstorming this quilt back in December when my beloved printer died (horrors!  but that's a whole other story ...).  I wasn't sure if it was in the budget to replace it right away, and my idle hands needed something to do! 

My oldest daughter, Madison, is 2 1/5 and has been in a toddler bed since late last summer, but we didn't have any matching bedding for it yet.  Just an odd assortment of crib sheets and micellaneous blankets.  My MIL had offered to buy her something, but I really wanted her to have something handmade.  The crib bedding set she had as a baby was beautifully handmade by my Mom, with Anna Griffin's pink elephant fabric as the main star.  Now my youngest daughter is enjoying those stunning hand-me-down comforts.  Madison needed something of her own, and she's been developing her own opinions on pattern and color, so it was fun to create something that matches her personality.

Madison is not your average girl.  Soft pink and white frills?  Nope, not my girl.  She loves COLOR.  I pulled out my relatively modest fabric stash and she gravitated to the red floral 'Sway' fabric from Heather Bailey's Pop Garden collection, so that was my starting point.  I'd had my eye on Alexanter Henry's Spotted Owls for a long while, so this was a good excuse to buy some.  LOTS OF IT, since it was the backing of my quilt, several strips on the front, and I have enough left to stitch a crib sheet and pillow case. 

Only my THIRD quilt ever.  I'm definitely a novice, but I think I did okay!  My other two attempts were both simple patchworks with squares.  One was using a charm pack, and the other this free Four Patch crib quilt pattern over at Fat Quarter Shop, although I used different fabrics.  This time I didn't use a pattern, but made my own oversized log cabin design and improvised the layout as I went. 

A lot of firsts for me on this quilt.  First time using a walking foot (finally bit the bullet and bought one of the epensive boogers for my Janome), first time using double fold bias for binding, and first time binding with mitered corners.  Whew!   

My girl loves it.  When I was finally finished and helped her make up her bed, she kept saying "Oh so pretty, Mama!  Oh so pretty!"  *sigh*  I love her so much.   

Who knew a two-year-old could make a grown woman blush?