To Keep the Babies Quiet

For Christmas I gave my daughters Quiet Books for their current and future babies. I was pleasantly surprised that the time it took to make these was not numerous months, just a few months. As I worked, knowing these were for grandbabies (mostly future) my thoughts wandered to years ahead and to years gone by...
I am pleased with the results. Blonde friend and I worked together, she was my main inspiration and she had a great pattern (Butterick) from days gone by. I wanted it to be fairly simple and not have a lot of pages. Click here to see a slide show of all the pages. On the last page-behind the heart is a picture of me... and it reads "I Do!"
Take Care~

A United Kingdom Winner!

We drew number 4. Kerry of the United Kingdom won! The sweet little selvage star ornament will be shining all the way over the Atlantic to Kerry's home. Thanks to all (11)for entering the giveaway and for visiting Nancy's new etsy shop!
Take Care~~

A Giveaway!

It's Nancy again, and I'm here to share a giveaway with you all.
But first my mom wanted me to share an updated picture of my daughter Kennedy. We went to cut down our Christmas tree this weekend and this was her first experience with snow and cold weather. She did great. Thanks engineer aunt for the cute and cozy bonnet.

Now, back to the giveaway. I decided to take the plunge and open an Etsy shop, it's called Nancy Noodle. At the moment, I have 3 different kinds of Christmas ornaments listed, including quilted selvage ornaments, hand embroidered mini pillow ornaments and stocking ornaments cut from a vintage quilt that my great grandmother made.

To one of you, we would like to give this selvage star ornament. It's made from selvages on one side, quality quilting fabric on the other and cotton batting in the middle. It is quilted around the edges and hung on a ribbon with care.

So come stop by the shop, or my new crafting blog and have a look around. Then come back and leave a comment. Any comment will do. Although we'd love to hear what you think about the shop, your favorite Christmas tradition, or your plans for the holidays. Also, make sure to leave a way to get a hold of you. The giveaway will end Sunday December 5th.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Holidays.

~Nancy

Out of Commission

Just wanted to stop in for a minute to explain my daughter's cryptic mention of me being a little out of commission. In October, our family suffered a tragic loss with the sudden death of my sister's husband. Between spending time with her and her 3 kids, taking care of my basketball playing high schooler and prepping for the holidays there probably won't be much time for blogging. Thanks for your understanding. I am still able to read all of you, my friends' blogs, so thank you ~ And do stay tuned for a giveaway in the next couple days...the cute dietian daughter is opening an etsy shop...
Take Care~~

The Guest Post Without a Theme

Hi, I'm Nancy, Diane's dietitian daughter and the guest post person for today. I live in Arizona with my husband and 5 month old daughter.
I'm here today to share a few of my most recent creations and to update Diane's blog while she's a little out of commission. So here goes:

5 months ago my life was blessed with a darling daughter, things have not been the same since. I mean that in the best way possible, except perhaps for all the spit up! It's true, we can't go anywhere without multiple burp rags, I'm always changing my shirt and sometimes my whole outfit! Her dad says we should have purchased spit up insurance. I've decided that the very best burp rags are cloth diapers, which are rather dull. This is an example of my attempts to liven them up. Hexagons!

2 weeks after my daughter was born we moved into our brand new house! Living in a house is fabulous. I just can't get over all the space we have. These curtains hang in my family room over the sliding door to the back yard. I found the white curtains at Ikea but wanted more color. I bought a flat aqua colored sheet at Target, cut it in half, hemmed it a bit, sewed the two layers together and presto- curtains!

We had an open house to show off our new home. The refreshments included a cake made from Oreos (my fav). I love cake plates. This is my most recent purchase. I didn't have a ribbon that was quite the right color so, what you see threaded through there is actually a selvage!

Finally, my favorite time of the year is quickly approaching! This is my festive addition to our decorations~ this quilt is made from 2 charm packs of Kate Spain's 12 Days of Christmas fabric line fashioned into snowball blocks.

The backing is flannel, making it snuggly and warm for the upcoming cold Arizona winter nights.

Thanks for allowing me to show off a bit. Here's hoping that you have a yummy, family filled, relaxing week. Happy Thanksgiving to all.

~~Nancy

This Guest Suggests...

Hi, I'm Amber, Diane's engineer daughter and guest host for this post. I currently live in Florida with my husband where we thoroughly enjoy the beach...
and where sights like this are not altogether uncommon:

But the real reason I was invited to post is because of some of my recent creations. Much to my mother's disappointment, I didn't inherit her sewing skills or fetish. Last Christmas, however, my husband and I decided to give some handmade gifts, I thought I'd try some embroidery. This is what we came up with for our nephews (based on Lego Star Wars and Batman characters):

I really enjoyed the stitching, and I am continuing it, primarily on onesies for baby gifts. This is a shirt I embroidered for a little friend who just loves animals. The giraffe is my favorite!

The whale onesie went to her little brother.

The space scene and river scene went to new babies.

There are a number of methods for transferring a design, but my favorite is Glad Press'n Seal.

It's pretty simple. First I sketch out my design on paper (which often involves browsing the Internet for ideas on how to portray a design, along with a lot of erasing). Then I apply a piece of Press'n Seal to the paper and trace the drawing using a ballpoint pen. Next I transfer the Press'n Seal to the onesie/shirt/tie/etc. I pick my colors, then stitch directly through the Press'n Seal. When the stitching is completed, I peel the Press'n Seal off. It sometimes sticks a bit in areas with small stitches, but a seam ripper or the back of a needle helps work it out.

These projects work up really quickly, especially after getting the design figured out. I also like them because they are easy to transport. I can work on them in the car, on the airplane, even at the beach. And bonus, the supplies aren't expensive. It just takes embroidery floss, a needle, a onesie, and a package of Press'n Seal (which you may already have in your kitchen).

A few disclaimers: I'm not sure how well these wash up (I always pre-wash and dry). Hand washing might help preserve the stitching, but who wants to hand wash a onesie? The final product would probably be more stable with some iron-on interfacing, but I don't like the stiffness. Also, this is by no means a product promotion for Press'n Seal. Finally, as you can probably tell, I am primarily working these designs in basic backstitch. I need to expand my stitch repertoire!

Thanks to Diane for letting me show off a little. I wish you all well from the sunshine state!

"Little Wallet and a Guest Blogger!

This is the 7th Little Wallet. I forgot to take photos of the first 6 that I made before I gave them away. This pattern is a creation by Valori Wells of The Stitchin' Post in Sisters, Oregon. I've been able to shop at The Stitchin' Post on 2 different occasions. Sisters, Oregon is a nice little town. When I attended the outdoor quilt show a few years back, I LOVED the home and garden tour that week!
I just might keep this last one for my use. When making these, I modified the bottom of the card compartments to prevent a lot of bulk in the bottom seam. I love having a snap tool. I've used it off and on through the years and very frequently lately as I recently made 2, mark that! 2 quiet books. I must show them here soon, BUT before that I'd like you to see the works of college girl gone Florida engineer girl. She will be showing some fun original embroidery! yeah for a Guest Blogger!

Take Care. ~~