Ramona Jean

Miss Ramona Jean is here! She was born 6 weeks ago today (a little late on the announcement, ahem). Six weeks seems like a long time but man has it flown by. She was 4 days early weighing 8 pounds 12 ounces and 21 1/2 inches long. 

We chose to have her at home just like we had done with her brother three years prior. We rented a birthing tub this time around and I was able to deliver her in water. She came out facing "sunny side up" looking out at everyone with open eyes. It was an incredible experience that I was thankful to  have. 

We've been adjusting to a family of four over the past few weeks. She is a MUCH easier baby than her brother ever was, and we seem to be less anxious parents this time around. We all seem to be completely smitten with her too--especially her big brother....

My heart melts when these two are together. Niko always wants to hold her and she smiles and coos when he does. I'm feeling pretty lucky so far.

xo

kate

Little Black Cat Dress

Hooray! My little lady's first (of many) handmade dresses is complete. I've had a hunkering to try and make some block printed fabric and I had this idea in mind for a little lady dress. I used an old simplicity pattern I had on hand, but added pleats and shoulder straps with a smaller back bodice.  

The straps are adjustable with two buttonholes on each end and a hidden button on the inside of the back facing. I can't wait to see what it looks like with little tights underneath come next spring when the little lady will be able to fit into it. 

I hand carved the stamp using a soft linoleum block and glued it to an old wooden stamp back I had laying around. For the fabric I used black screen printing ink on kona cotton and free-formed my placement of the stamp. Once the fabric was dry I heat set the pattern with a very hot iron, a cover cloth, and steam for a few minutes on each side of the printed fabric.

I learned a thing or two about the printing process along the way. Next time I will cut the excess block a little closer to the image itself as I found after multiple times stamping the ink would end up falling in those little creases and get onto my fabric around the pattern. I also found with using a small stamp I had better luck sponging the paint directly onto the stamp rather than rolling it on with the brayer.

I love the idea of creating my own patterns on fabric and have many more ideas in mind....stay tuned!

Kate

Baby Biggie Bunny

My 3 year old son has this ratty old bunny he carries around and sleeps with every day named Biggie. I don't really remember how the name came about, but Niko was adamant that Biggie would be his bunny's name. I'm also not quite sure why he chose that specific stuffed bunny to be his soul mate. My Mother-in-law had given it to me for Easter when I was pregnant with him after seeing it at the local grocery store. It is what it is I guess.

Anyways, Niko has been asking for me to make his baby sister a "mini biggie" so that she can feel safe at night too. After some online searching I chose this pattern by Drops Design for the task. The pattern was really easy to understand and this little lady was stitched up pretty fast. I've been working away at trying to use up my stash of yarns on hand and had similar colors to those shown in the pattern so I went with it. Pretty cute, no? It'll be a while before she's lugging this around like her brother does his though...

This was taken after his first day at preschool camp. I guess big boys don't need to walk next to their Moms anymore, but they still need their biggies.

Kate

Triangle Crib Quilt

Hooray! My first quilt is finished, just a few weeks shy of our little lady's arrival. I'm quite pleased with how it turned out.  Take a look-

I created a template that was 7" tall  x 7 3/4" wide for the triangles. Cutting my fabric in 7" strips first to make sure each triangle would be the same size helped in case I turned my template the wrong way (which I've been known to do...). I used 140 triangles in all.  

I used light grey and white for my neutral colors and a light pink, hot pink, purple and orange for pops of color. I used white for every other triangle to really make the other colors stand on their own. Well, that and I just really like the look of white space.

For the back I made 4 1/2" strips of the remaining light grey and white fabric to create stripes and finished with a simple grey binding.

I'm already imagining many nights snuggled underneath this gem with my little lady while rocking her to sleep. I can't wait! Well, yes I can because going through labor again isn't sounding like my idea of fun. Another story for another day.

Next up is a throw for the couch. I've already got my fabrics and idea in mind from Susan Beal's Modern Log Cabin Quilting book, I just need a good movie to watch and my cutting mat.

xo
Kate

Welcome

Welcome, friends. And Mom. My name is Kate, I'm a wife, a Mom, a seamstress and a craft lovin' lady. For the past few years I worked on my own independent woman's clothing line called Operation Stitch. Based out of Seattle, I sold my line in a few local boutiques as well as online. I even took part in a local competition and was featured in Seattle Magazine last year. However, once I became pregnant with baby #2 things slowed down and I've decided to take a break to focus on family. My fingers still itch to make things by hand though and my hope is that this blog will keep me motivated to create, design and to integrate my artistic side with my domestic lifestyle. 

Oh yeah, that baby #2? She'll be here in 6 weeks, give or take. The photo above is block printed fabric I'm working on to make a little lady dress that I'll show you soon...

In the meantime I'd like to say thanks for stopping by and feel free to come back again. 

xo

Kate