Lots and Lots and Lots of stuff to tell

Today is Sarah's fourth birthday. I can't believe she's four already! I made cupcakes and decorated them with my cake decorating stuff. I took her out to lunch and then we took her swimming. Where is the time going??? I've been so busy making stuff that I just don't get around to doing this blog. I will try to fit in everything that I have been working on the last month.

First are the dresses. I used McCall's M4758. I altered the pattern a lot for Rachel's and it still turned out pretty big for her.

Oh well, she can wear it for a while. She gets mad when she's in it for too long because she steps on it when she is trying to get into the van or up a step or something. They all three like to spin in them though. I'm happy with the way they turned out. The next one I'm making is for Katherine and the material is more in the same color family so I think it might look a little better. Sometimes when I look at the dresses I feel the colors don't meld well.

I made this bag for my grandma for her 81st birthday. The pattern is from Betty Cotton's Cotton Theory Quilting, which I think is a fascinating way to quilt. She really liked the bag; she started crying.
After I finished the dresses and a pajama shirt for Rachel (which is a disaster) and a pair of pajama bottoms for Del (that I've been promising him for a couple years and became necessary when he accidently tore a hole in the last pair I made him) I decided I'd make fabric mother's day cards for all the mother's I was going to send a card to; which would be Del's granny, Julie, my grandma and my mom. I had seen Fons and Porter make fabric cards on their show and I really liked that but I'd have to pay for the back-dated magazine and I don't want to do that. I figured there had to be a free pattern out there somewhere. So I did a little internet research and found the coolest crafty blog I've come across so far. The card I found is here. And here are the cards I made. I forgot to take a picture of the ones I sent to Julie and granny but the orangie one is for my mom, the other big one is the one I sent to my grandma and then the little ones are place markers that we used at our mother's day tea my mom and I had on mother's day (she got back from Hawaii on Saturday). I wish I had taken a picture of the card next to it's place but...oh well. I stamped "happy mother's day" and two flowers in each one and then bought some letter stickers for their names on the front. It was a smashing success and I think the cards are fabulous!!!

Whilst I was making those I wrote an email to Mrs. Lindiepindie (owner of the coolest crafty blog) to tell her that her blog was totally cool and she suggested making one of these for all the girls. What a great idea!!! Especially considering that Sarah's birthday was right around the corner. I used a magnet clasp for Sarah instead of the button because Sarah is totally fascinated by magnets and I thought she'd love to have her very own magnet. Del doesn't like the "S" but I think it's so cute and the fabric is perfect for Sarah. I put two crayons in each pocket so the fabric puckers...a lot sort of, but like she's going to care about that. Now I have to make two more for Ella and Rachel and then a dress for Katherine and probably three of the little artist cases for all of Tina's kids.

So a big thank you to Linda and her Craftapple blog for all the fantastic ideas and free tutorials. She sells a diaper bag pattern that I'm thinking of buying for my friend Meagan. We'll see how I feel about that after I get all the other stuff done and it's the middle of summer and I'm all huge and pregnant and hot and cranky. BRING ON THE ICE!!!