Mini Doll Quilt for Baby's Nursery

I finished a baby quilt for a special friend of mine who is expecting. I know she will appreciate a handmade gift by me. I don't usually make things for my friends unless I know they will treasure it. Otherwise, I just purchase something; that always works and is a safer choice.

Since my friend is expecting a baby boy, I decided on this particular shade of baby blue that also matches the color of her baby shower. Not sure why, but I wanted to give it a vintage look with lace.

I embroidered a very cute baby duck using a pattern found on Flickr. It's just so cute! You have to check out other patterns available. I started with one quilt, fell in love with it, and decided to make another one to keep. Does that ever happen to you? At this rate, I will be making two of everything!

I am really happy with the look of linen combined with these baby blue fabrics. I hand quilted around the duck and machine quilted the rest of the quilt. I also incorporated these vintage wood buttons I purchased from Taiwan many years ago. The benefit of making two of the same thing is the ability to try different ideas. Which one do you like more?

I finished this quilt with a blue and white twine for it to be hung on the wall. I also created two fabric covered buttons using this tutorial to go with the twine. I hope the recipient likes it, and that it will look cute on the wall in the baby's nursery. I certainly enjoy having it hung in my sewing corner. It may be time to make another one in pink with a bunny embroidered in the center!

I am linking up to Quilt Tuesday, see my sidebar for their button.

Bunny on its Way

Here is the mug rug I made for Scrappy Mug Rug Swap - Round 4. It's all wrapped up and ready to go, I will be shipping it soon... not yet, but almost.

Now I sit and wait for my mug rug to arrive and wait to see if my partner likes her. I must say though, the anticipation is killing me! I really enjoyed being part of this swap, it challenged me to think out of the box and create something I wouldn't have made (because I wouldn't have thought of it). Thank you partner for the opportunity to work on something new and different. 

Embroidery

I have this thing for embroidery... I like to work on these little figures from time to time, but I never what to do with them? Take this dog as an example... should I cut it out and make a pillow with it? A kitchen towel? Kitchen towels with dogs on it are a bit weird, right? I love how easy it is to store everything you need when it comes to embroidery, not to mention the cheap threads! And embroidery is just something I can carry with me everywhere I go.

I took an embroidery class last year at Bobbin's Nest Studio in Santa Clara. I think was the only person in that class, so talk about undivided attention! Have you been to this shop? It's a really cute store with fabric, yarn, and some miscellaneous craft stuff. I really enjoy going to this particular store in my area.

How I store these embroidery threads

Well hello world! It's hard to believe that at least four months have flown by and I haven't posted anything! But I guess getting married is a good enough excuse? Anyways, this is what I found today in my closet... I am kind of a neat freak, so this is how I store my embroidery threads. I really enjoyed doing embroidery work on my finished quilts. How do you store your embroidery threads? How many colors do you have? I really love the green ones and I am not usually a "green" person. Weird huh? I get my embroidery inspiration from "Sublime Stitching" -- love this book. *A-d-o-r-a-b-l-e!*