Mother's Day

Mother's Day always sneaks up on me. I'm not really sure why. And yes, I do know that it was last Sunday. I'm just late blogging about it because...well...I'm late blogging about everything. Plans to change that soon.  But I digress.

This year, I decided I wanted to do something homemade for my mom and mother-in-law on Mother's Day.  Because of the wonders of Google Reader, I am able to view the creative genius of hundreds of other women and never have to come up with my own ideas. It's great for a busy mom like myself.  I found this tutorial, and I knew right away that it would be perfect for my moms. 

Of course, I found this only a couple of days before Mother's Day, so by the time I actually got the towels done, it was Monday (yes, the one after the holiday) before they were in the mail.  Luckily for me, both my mom and m.i.l. are incredibly understanding ladies.  Also, I don't think they've ever received anything in the mail from me in time for the actual event.  Sigh.  Some day, I will be organized.  I hope.

So, carefully following the directions in the tutorial, I made a shopping list and noted exactly what I'd need to make these beautiful gifts. 

Okay, not really. I just glanced at the tutorial, thought to myself that I'd pick up some towels and some ribbons, and that I'd use fabric I had laying around my sewing area.  Well.  I got home with my towels, a few spools of ribbon, and no fabric, and once I looked at the tutorial and actually read the instructions, realized that my plan would not work.  I ended up exchanging one set of towels and getting new ribbon and buying fabric specifically for the project.   I had a couple extra trips to Wal-Mart and the fabric store on Saturday (yes, this would be the day before Mother's Day).  On the upside, the leftover ribbon and fabric will do many more sets of towels! 

The completed set for my mother-in-law!

These towels and ribbon were really easy to work with.  I just bought three fat quarters at the quilt shop and used them for the fabric.  As soon as I saw these bright, springy colors, I thought of my mother-in-law. That's what I love about this project; you can really customize it to the taste of the giftee.  Is that even a word?  Giftee?  Sorry.  Anyway...the only thing I did really differently than the tutorial was to just cut a strip of fabric 2 1/2 inches wide, and then I laid it across the towel and cut it to match.  That way, I was sure it fit.  The grosgrain ribbon sort of just stuck to the towels because of the nature of the fabric, so that made it very easy to keep them straight during sewing. 

I just hope they don't fall apart during their first washing!

The set that I did for my mom was a little different.  I used a different type of towel, and the ribbon was satin, so it was harder to get it to stay in place.  I had to resort to...gasp...pinning.  You would think that I would just learn my lesson about pinning, after all the sewing I have messed up as a result of not pinning because I want to save time.  Not so.  But I did pin these.  And they turned out very nicely.

I love the soft, muted colors of these fabrics.

My mom instantly came to mind when I found these fabrics!  Her house is decorated with soft colors like these, and the effect is so soothing.  It's a very relaxing home.  I wanted to make something that would fit in with that scheme.  

These were a little tricky because of the pattern on the white towels.  The lines are not exactly straight with the hem (thanks a lot, Wal-Mart), so I had to decide if I wanted to follow the lines or the hem.  I decided to go with the lines, since the last line was covered up and the hem's crookedness probably wouldn't be as noticeable as the crookedness of a line compared to the ribbon.  Does that make sense?  Anyway....they were still really fun to do.  I used the same ribbon on the top of all of these, so that made the sewing faster than the other set when I had to change thread a few times.  

Mom's set!

I encourage you to check out the tutorial if this is something that you have thought about doing but have never had the chance to try!  It's really not hard.  If you can cut and sew a straight line, you can do this.  And the finished product makes it look a lot more difficult than it is.  So you look like a sewing genius.  I am going to try it with some plain diapers and make burp cloths next.  I will let you know how they turn out!

Rag Quilts

I was busy sewing last week for some sweet baby girls (and their mamas!).  My sister recently had a baby, and I made her a baby rag quilt. 

I love making these blankets. They are actually quite easy (shh! Don't tell!), and they go fairly quickly.  My biggest challenge is finding flannel that is wide enough, especially when they put annoying labels on the selvages....so don't look at this one too closely.  In fact, I love making them so much that after borrowing a cutting mat and rotary cutter from a friend to make my first one, I went out and bought my own so that I could continue making them.  I also bought the special little snipping scissors that have a spring so your hand doesn't get cramped from snipping seams.  You really can't do a good job without those tools, not to mention that it would take FOREVER, and I really have used them a lot. 
My second biggest challenge when sewing these blankets is finding the time when my baby girl is sleeping.  Nap times are so precious.  There are so many options for how to spend my toddler-free time (translated: no baby getting into EVERYTHING that she's not supposed to!).  However, when I have a sewing project with a deadline, that takes priority.  My sewing center is in my basement, which is also where all of our homeschool stuff is, and the computer, and...well, just about everything that I want to keep out of her reach.  So it's pretty impossible to sew down there while she is with me.  Thankfully, she took great naps last week.  I think she's growing or something.

This quilt is one that I made for my dear friend who is expecting a baby girl in May.  I just can't wait to meet her!  We threw a baby shower for her on Saturday, and it was fun to be able to give her this for her sweet girl. 

Please ignore the wrinkly nature of the blanket...it wasn't quite dry when I took it out of the dryer, and I mistakenly thought it would air dry the rest of the way just fine.  I was wrong.  Looking at the pictures now, I realize how wrinkled it really was.  Oh well.  Live and learn, I guess.  God likes to throw in little things like that to keep me humble. 
I have another one that is done except for the clipping and washing, for a friend who's expecting a baby boy in May.  It's fun for me to think of and pray for each baby as I am sewing, and for their mamas, too.  I pray that they will be covered with love each time they are wrapped up in these blankets, and that their mamas will know how much I love them each time they snuggle their baby in it.

Overall Bib

This was my afternoon project...a friend is expecting a baby girl and her shower is tomorrow.  I am so thankful for this fast, cute pattern! I have used it lots in the past few months for friends' baby shower gifts. It will get a lot of use in the coming months as well, because I have seven (7!) friends expecting babies between now and October. And that's just what I could count off the top of my head.