Beckett's a fox

I finished another small project this weekend. Baby steps, baby steps. Beckett's middle name is Fox (his paternal grandmother's maiden name), so I've been wanting to make him a fox-themed onesie for a while. When I found the Fox Trails collection on sale at Hawthorne Threads, I had to snatch some up.

I plan on making him some pants and who knows what else with most of the fabric, but I thought I'd start with a little onesie.

I added the wording using the freezer paper stenciling technique (which I've used on a few other projects before, like this one), and it worked like a charm. Dana from MADE has a great tutorial if you're interested.

Then, I just appliqued the fox in the middle, and voila, a cute new onesie for my little fox.

I think he likes it. :)

Heading to the office

Ever since I finally finished my mother-in-law's Kindle sleeve the other day, the sewing itch has returned in full force. I still haven't had much time to work on projects, but I've been trying to squeeze in a little. Like this:

I've been wanting to jazz up some of Beckett's onesies for a while, and I kept seeing these cute tie appliques all over the blogs and on Pinterest.

I knew it would be a quick and easy project, and I banged it out in no time last night.

I used the tie pattern from this tutorial on Crap I've Made, and it worked great. The fabric's from Hobby Lobby, and I just secured the applique with a straight stitch in white. Easy peasy.

Now Beckett's ready to head to the office.

Yeah, I'm gonna need you to come in on Saturday...

A new year, a new Kindle sleeve

My mother-in-law got a new Kindle for Christmas, so of course, I offered to make her a sleeve for it. She picked out the fabrics (Dots in Cream and Crosshatch in Lime from Timeless Treasures' Fruit Punch collection, both purchased from Hawthorne Threads several months ago) from my stash while she was visiting us before the holidays, but because of the craziness of the past weeks, I wasn't able to finish the sleeve until last night (finally!).

I used my Kindle sleeve tutorial, adjusting the size to accommodate the new, smaller Kindle 4. (I also added a note to the tutorial to explain how to adjust the sizing to fit your device. The original tutorial was written for a Kindle 3.) I'm dropping it in the mail today, so she can finally start enjoying it soon.

And it seems the tutorial has been pretty popular recently. Check out these other great Kindle sleeves made using the tutorial:

Tanya from The Sampler Girl recently had a post on her blog about the sleeve she made using the tutorial. Isn't the Valentine's fabric cute?

And Joan from the Stitching Squad made this sleeve for her daughter's Kindle. I love how she added a pocket to the front — so clever!

Have you used the tutorial? I'd love to see and hear how it worked out.

Beckett's two-month update

 Beckett, you're two months old today!

 You've had another great month. You're growing like a weed! You had your two-month visit at the pediatrician's office yesterday, and he said you looked great. You're up to 13 lb, 1 oz (75th percentile) and 23 inches (50th percentile), and your head is 40.5 cm (about 16 inches, 90th percentile -- that's a big noggin'!).

You're right on track for where you should be growth-wise and developmentally. Unfortunately, you also had to get your first shots, but you were a real trooper and did very well, and you even got Tweety Bird and Scoobie Doo bandaids!

You're getting better and better at lifting your head up, and you're starting to really like tummy time (in small quantities). You've even rolled over a few times!

You're also focusing on things better every day, and you love to make faces at mommy, daddy, and everyone on Skype. You smile all the time, and we even got a laugh out of you at bath time the other day.

After a failed attempt at getting you on a schedule (you're just too young), we've learned you sleep best in your swing during the day. You're almost sleeping through the night on a regular basis, and you sleep great in your crib at night. You also love looking up at your mobile and talking to all of your animal friends.

This month, you had your first Christmas, Hanukkah, and trip to church, plus we've ventured out to stores a few times with mixed success. And today you had your first snow!

You still love your walks (though sometimes it takes some work to get you to fall asleep), either in the stroller or the Moby, and we're going to start using your sport carrier soon.

You had fun hanging out with your Grammie and Grandpa for Hanukkah, and you had a rockin' new year's with Papa and Nana so mommy and daddy could go to dinner with some friends.

Beckett, you amaze us more and more every day, and we're having such fun watching you grow and learn. We love you!

Present from me to me

Look at this pile of loveliness! It's been quite a while since I last bought some fabric, so when Hawthorne Threads recently restocked some Ann Kelle fabrics I've been drooling over for forever, I had to pounce.

I simply adore the owls, birds, and dinosaurs from her Urban Zoologie collections (Owls in Bermuda and Blue, Birds in Bermuda, and Dinosaurs in Navy).

Then, I picked up some dots, stripes, and argyle from her Remix collection to coordinate with them (Line Dots in Bermuda, Stripe in Royal, and Argyle in Lime).

But I couldn't stop there. David Walker's new collection Get Together has some super cute animal prints that I couldn't resist (Flock of Birds in Navy and Squirrels and Trees in Navy).

I also added this fun print (Posh in Bright) from Patricia Bravo's Modernology collection, which I spotlighted for the lining of a bag I'm working on.

Finally, I couldn't resist a few prints from Doohikey Designs' Fox Trails collection (Circles in Blue, Friends in Blue, and Stars in Brown), which were not only on sale but also featured some super cute fox characters, which I plan to applique onto some onesies for Beckett (his middle name is Fox).

Hello, Mr. Fox.

Now, I just have to find some time to start working on projects. First on my list: the appliqued onesies and some quick-change trousers for the little man.

Happy new year!

Happy New Year!

My dad and step-mom came to visit us for new year's, marking the end of the long string of visitors we've had since Beckett's birth.

My step-mom came to help us for a week at the beginning of December, but my dad hadn't seen Beckett in person since his birth, so they were both really excited to come back and spend some time with him (and us, but let's face it, mostly him).

We made sure to have our black-eyed peas on New Year's Day, enjoying some delicious hoppin' john Matt made from a recipe in one of the new cookbooks he got for Christmas.

It was wonderful to spend the time with them, and they served as our babysitters so we could go out with some friends for New Year's Eve. We had a wonderful, fancy dinner at a local place we'd been wanting to try for a long time, and we rang in the new year with a bottle of bubbly.

I hope everyone enjoyed their new year's celebrations and has a wonderful 2012 to look forward to.