emerald lane

Well, let me just say thank goodness it’s too hot to go outside and play, because my boys and I have been deprived of quality sunshine because I have been in a craft frenzy.  If you have been reading lately you know I just finished a few projects for customers and then yesterday I decided that a special little girl, who just turned one, needed a quilt.  I’ve wanted to make and “actual” quilt and now that I have my fancy smancy machine I can do that with ease.  So, I started cutting out squares yesterday morning and finished sewing the top together last night, then I quilted it this morning and by lunchtime it was finished. 

I thought I was going to take a break from crafting for the rest of the day and take a nap when the boys did, but the fabric arrived for the baby’s room. So, I was just sitting in the baby’s room with the fabric all laid out and thinking about what I would do first, when I had a thought. Why not make fabric prints for the existing frames I had in the room already? The ones that were on the wall had bright prints of bugs and did not go with the pastels in the fabric. So, I cut out 4 different scenes from the “Over the Moon” Toile and sewed them to coordinating striped flannel fabric for a mat affect. There are 4 different flannel backing colors, yellow, pink, green and blue and I sewed a satin stitch in pink thread around the toile so it would stand out. Then I hung a mosquito netting tent over the crib, it was one we had over our bed, but it’s been sitting under the bed since we moved. Jay installed the drapery rod tonight and I used some existing green drapes we have had for awhile.  It’s really starting to look nice and I’m having lots of fun!  More pictures of the the quilt in progress and the baby’s room on Flickr, just click on the pictures and it will link you to the site.  Enjoy!

All orders are complete!  I finished up the messenger bag and changing pad this afternoon during naptime and I’m very pleased with the outcome, the bag has an embroidered “K” which I applied to the front, 6 pockets inside, one large pocket on the back with a key hook and an adjustable strap.  The changing pad is a tri-fold with a ribbon loop/velcro closure and the inside is lined with some yummy chenille for baby’s bottom.  I’m going to make a bag for myself and my sister has already requested one.  But, they will have to wait until I sew my baby gril’s crib ensemble.  The fabric is in route and I just can’t wait!  I already thought of something else to add to the list, a car seat cover, because the one we have is blue and my baby girl needs some pink!  I never thought I would be into pink, but for some reason I just can’t help it!

The latest of my creations hot off the machine are two cute bib and burp cloth sets, could we call it something else, maybe druel cloth, or spit up cloth, no nothing sounds any better.  Anyway, the first is the ever popular central park children’s toile in pink.  The bib has a snap closure and chenille backing.  Marley’s set is a pink and green bunny flannel, very soft.  The bib and cloth are trimmed with bias tape, which I think gives it a very nice look.  Tommorrow I’m off to sew a messenger style diaper bag and then all my orders will be complete and all I have to do is wait for my fabric to come in the mail from Ebay and I’m sewing for our baby!!  The furniture now has a final coat of glossy white paint and our house has that toxic smell that won’t go away.  I used some leftover paint the painter’s left when they painted our trim and it happened to be oil based so it’s going to take 5 days to dry and smell up the house for weeks.  The furniture should be very durable though.

Sorry for the down time with the blog.  We are having issues with bellsouth, who we have our internet account with.  Now that we are hosting the blog ourselves it is considered a website and we don’t actually have permission to have one with bellsouth as residential customers.  So, we are looking into other options, a commercial account with bellsouth is pricing.  Ultimately, we want to have a business site with a working shopping cart, so a website is a must.  If the blog is down again, just go to the old blog at blogger http://emeraldlane.blogspot.com/ and I’ll post there until we can get this one back up.

Okay, now that is out of the way, I’ve been busy selecting fabric for the baby’s room.  I found it on Ebay, it’s a children’s toile called “Over the Moon”, with various nursery rhymes like “Humpty Dumpty” and ” The Cat and The Fiddle”.  I bought a coordinating pink and white check to go with it and I’m going to make a crib bumper, skirt, comforter, diaper stacker, pillow and window valance.  With all that sewing to do I’m going to get started now and hopefully I’ll get it done before it’s time to start working on Christmas gifts.  I’ve already started cleaning up the baby furniture by priming it for a new coat of glossy white paint.  This little girl room is going to be all decked out and look better than my room.  Maybe after all this I’ll start on mine!

I’ve been working on the baby room ensamble for a customer and it’s all coming along nicely.  The crib bumpers and pillows cover are almost done.  The crib skirt is finished.  I’ve started the drapery panels and then I have a laundry basket to line.

I also made a boy baby gift set for a friend, and if you are reading this, I need to get this to you soon.  Anyway, I used a baby toile and coordinating plaid for the burp cloth, which is backed in a cozy, soft chenille.  The bib is also out the baby toile and backed with the chenille.

Jay is now back from South Florida and working from home.  The boys and I did well, we stayed over at my sister’s house Tuesday night and ate all her food.  Thanks sister!  She said to me, “I know why you are raising your own chickens and pigs, to feed those hungry boys!”  Now we are just settling back in a getting reacquainted with the toys at our house.