nanaCompany

simple and sweet

Hi there!  Yes, that is me ~ all puffy and pregnant.  We've made it to the last trimester and it'll be go-time before you know it, so it was time for a pic, I think.  Have I mentioned I think we're going to name her Gabriella?  Gabriella or Isabella or Sophia or Chloe or Maria ~ aah, I'm still undecided but my family has chosen Gabriella.  What do you think?

This week was a time for simple and sweet crafts as I had very little energy for anything else.  With Spring in the air and the farmer's market on my mind, I made a few more of the strawberry pincushions with Heather Bailey's pattern...

They're just so dang cute, I guess I couldn't stop.

But one cannot live on strawberries alone...

Did you know that Easter is, at last, just around the corner?  I'm way ahead of myself this year ~ the little one's Easter baskets are ready to go and last night I whipped up this little bag for Anne.  She's too old for toys, but not for gift cards.  And if you know me, you know I can't normally "whip" anything up, but this simple bag can be made in minutes.  I used my bunny template (get it here), a scrap of cotton print, linen, and a bit of crochet lace.  Voila!  Perfect for holding a gift card plus a few other little sundries.

Simple and sweet, right?

Lastly, I wanted to let you know I've made up an embroidery pattern of my Sleepy Time animal pals and it's in the shop.

The pattern includes a drawing of the animal pals and basic instructions on how to assemble your own doll quilt.  So if you liked the Sleepy Time doll quilts you can easily make your own!

Have a great weekend and happy stitching!

1. Pretty floral fabrics ~ crochet lace, 2. My bedroom, 3. Strawberries, 4. Cotton Time May 09, 5. complimenting each other, 6. Rosie & Bear "First Stitches", 7. Jacquard tape, 8. pink baby quilt, 9. Vintage Clip Art 22, 10. first ranunculus of the season, 11. letters, 12. Corner, 13. Color Me Pretty: Easter Ideas

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

xo amy

:: my very first cross stitch, yeah!

It rained here all weekend and now the sun has cleared through ~ I love it.  Los Angeles truly sparkles after she's had a good shower (as do I, but hey, some days are diamonds and others... not so much).  Today it is glorious and I'm happy as could be because I finally tried my hand at something I've been dying to do ~ yes, cross stitch!  I've been admiring other people's work these last few years but that paralyzing fear of trying something new has held me back.  Finally yesterday, I took out one of my fave books, Alicia Paulson's "Embroidery Companion: Classic Designs for Modern Living," and set to stitching.  I haven't yet exactly read the book, but I've studied those gorgeous pics a hundred times, and I don't care that my work isn't perfect and my x's are 3 different sizes... I did it!!!

And I know my sister won't care that it's not perfect either.  She recently bought a house in Connecticut so I made her this set of monogrammed pocket placemats as a housewarming gift.

I haven't seen the house yet, but I'm pretty sure my sister's style is slightly more sophisticated than ours over here at, you know, kid central.  So choosing the colors and fabrics was a challenge but I gotta admit, I love these placemats.  The blue fabric is by Lecien and it's called "Le Petit Jardin."  The linen monogrammed pockets are lined and hold silverware perfectly.  Can't you just picture these being rolled up and thrown in the summer picnic basket?

Okay, now I've got picnics on my mind.  Like a nice sunny one up in Napa Valley with my husband ~ no kids!  A blanket, a book, a bottle of wine... i'll just keep dreaming over here... ;)

xo amy

little strawberry

Just got back from seeing "The Hunger Games" with Anne.  She had me read the book trilogy in the first trimester of this pregnancy, when I was utterly sick and nauseous.  It was such a pleasure to be pulled into another world at that time, to get my mind off things, and I loved the film for the same reasons.  Can't wait for the next movie to come out.  Did you read the books?

Well, I don't know about you, but things 'round here keep getting crazier and crazier.  Some of the "crazy" is exciting and some is just plain complicating, but I'm going to take long slow breaths and keep telling myself I can handle it.  My sole accomplishment this morning was making this strawberry pincushion.  I parked myself in a chair and pulled out Heather Bailey's pattern and two seconds later (haha, don't believe it!) I had a lovely little strawberry.  I can see making a whole bunch of these.  They're perfect for getting your creative groove on when you don't have much time or energy.

This week's flickr faves:

1. untitled , 2. buttons, 3. bunnysal3, 4. oh, the fair, 5. Hope Valley Flying Geese Pinwheel, 6. saturday inspiration, 7. Swatch Book Pages, 8. Spring/Summer Bags, 9. 72/366, 10. Cath Kidston buttons, 11. Crochet Hair Barrette Pink Daffodil with White Flowers, 12. a quilt for harry., 13. citrus

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

Well hey, looks like the weekend has already started... have a good one!

xo amy

the perfect sleepy time doll quilt

... for Olivia, that is.  So what do you think?  Not quite as pink as you thought it would be?  There's a lot of strong color in there and I didn't intend for it to be like this, but once I started arranging those 2" squares I just couldn't help myself.  And I was right... making the top panel pink made all the difference in the world for Liv.  She loves it.

Love the vintage-y type look of the thing.  I used a combination of mostly Lecien fabrics and random prints from JoAnn's.  Then I drew the sleepy pals with a little more character this time.  Love the bunny especially...

and Livi loves the kitty.

But enough with sleepy time doll quilts already!  It's time to wake up!  Did you know it's offically Spring at last?

Just got these fabrics in from Japan.  The shop, Lilymeru, is on vacation right now but she'll be back this month.  And I'm off to blow my nose... yes, I'm sick again.  Love being pregnant and sick.  Okay, but really, I'm off to...

Source: 28.media.tumblr.com via Amy on Pinterest

 

At least, that's what I strive to do :)

xo amy

"not enough pink"

I can't believe those words were uttered from my youngest daughter's lips about something I made, but it's true.  I sold the three Sleepy Time doll quilts I made last week and this weekend I set out to make one special for her.  But Olivia has announced there's "not enough pink" in it... really?

I see pink.  Lots of it.  But she doesn't love it, so I'll be making another one and this one's going in the shop tonight at 5pm.

I think she simply wants the top panel to be pink and the creamy beige dots I used aren't working for her.  I'm off to the sewing corner to whip up something pink ;)

xo amy

:: yellow and pink

It's a bit overcast today.  I wanted to show you some granny square blocks but I can't take a good pic to save my life, so here's a sneak peak.  For this baby quilt, the customer wants something vintage-y and soft and I think it's coming along pretty well.  I've noticed that everyone does their own variation on the pattern of colors in the granny square blocks.  I admit I like all of 'em but since this is going to be a more traditional quilt I went very tidy and regular with mine...

More to come later!  This weeks friday flickr faves...

1. Untitled, 2. Ballad Of The Milkmaid, 3. Retro Fat Quarters 10, 4. lila's birthday dress, 5. Yo Yo Quilt, 6. Craft Corner wall hanging - Front, 7. Textures4layers - 7, 8. All you need is LOVE!, 9. Fabric Wrapped Embroidery Hoop, 10. Happy weekend!, 11. Monsieur Lapin, 12. Living in a Tree house, 13. zigzag2

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

Oh, and the sleepytime doll quilts are going in the shop tonight at say 6pm.  The medium already sold, so that leaves the "big" one and the small one.  (I'll be making a new one special for Liv ;)

It's set to rain all weekend here in L.A... think we'll have a cozy weekend.  Hope you have a good one, too!

xo amy

three sleepy time doll quilts

The best way to start off a week is with a parcel of new fabrics... and I was particularly thrilled to get these Lecien prints from Sew Deerly Loved because they're so hard to find.  Not sure, but I think there's still more at the shop.  I also picked up some 3/4" hexagon papers and I can't wait to give 'em a try ~ they'll be the smallest and cutest hexagons I've made yet!

Well, I don't know how I got started on these sleepy time doll quilts... considering they weren't on the list, and I've had a very sick baby girl to take care of.  Happily, I have stacks of pre-cut squares, and for these mini quilts I used the 2" squares, 1.75" squares, and 1.5" squares, which made assembling the trio quite easy.

{ click on a pic to see it bigger }

The inspiration for these tiny doll quilts came, of course, from a Japanese craft book and the pic has been in my flickr faves for years.  I'm glad I finally got around to making these because they're so dang cute!  I made the middle one first and then the "big" one (it's maybe 11" x 15") and the small one (maybe 6" x 9") last.  Olivia will get to choose her favorite to keep and the other two will be going in the shop.  It's kinda ridiculous but I wish we could keep all of them and I could make more...  somehow I've found them to be a bit addicting to make.

But!  There are granny square blocks waiting to be joined by more granny squares, which I will be showing you soon...

xoxo amy

:: Easter templates by nanaCompany

Whew!  I've been busy busy busy like a bee bee bee!  Well, I hope this works ~ I've made up a pdf of the Easter templates I drew.  Click here to download the file.  It should look like this...

And to show you one little example of what you can do with the templates, I made this scrappy garland last week...

I think it would look great with solid print appliques, too.  I hope you'll have fun making some Easter crafts using the templates...  Enjoy!

xo amy

lazy friday

It is a bit deceiving to say that this is all I've done this week (what with all the running around for kid stuff and doctor's appointments and hospital visits), but it's all I've got to show you.  I'm in the midst of working on some granny square quilt blocks, etc., etc., but I'll have to show you later...

I'm off to the spa.  Mmmhmm.  Pregnancy massage, bath, manicure ~ and with a good friend of mine.  I should feel guilty but I don't.

1. lemons for lemonade, 2. Modern Mini Contest at Ellison Lane Quilts, 3. Mirror in the sky, what is love?, 4. Funky Floral Bunting, 5. Rococo Knit Shawl (Cotton & Merino Wool), 6. ♥♥♥ (Anne Sohier - Fournel), 7. 59:365, 8. PTS7 all finished!, 9. SoftSquaresQuilt1, 10. Untitled, 11. Der November ist da..., 12. A box of clementines, 13. Line Art Quilt back

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

Wishing you a wonderful, relaxing friday!

xo amy

a chick, an egg, a bunny, a carrot

Spring is in the air and there's so much to do ~ yet things are moving rather slowly around here.  (Picture me as an old grumpy turtle.  Ya got that image in your head?  Oh, it's sad but true!  And now picture all these little bunnies hopping over and around me.)   It took a few days to draw up the templates for my scrappy Easter garland.  I wanted to draw good ones because I hope to share them with you (once I figure out how)...  (Note: get the templates here.)

The egg was easy.  The chick wasn't.  (I sketched it skinny, big headed, no feet, open beak, you name it...)

And in the end, the carrot is my fave.

Using up tiny scraps for these projects is fun, and I've got a big bucket full of 'em.  For this garland, I arranged the scraps onto a piece of fusible featherweight interfacing (I'd traced the template shape onto the backside), roughly stitched the scraps in place, carefully cut out my shape, and then appliqued the silhouette onto the linen.  The linen pieces are 4 1/2" x 5 1/2" raw, and they are backed with a pale minty green Moda print. 

I thought about embroidering the names of each shape on the linen (ya know, like "egg", "chick", "bunny") but then I looked at the clock... at my kids... and at my other waiting projects and said, "Nah!"

Other doings in my sewing corner include pulling out a dress I'd made for Olivia when she was 1 1/2.  The dress needed a button replacement, a good pressing, and to be hung up on the wall (it will eventually hang in the new baby's corner of our house... and that's all she's getting is a corner... we're running out of room!)

And last but not least (yes, I'm still trying to keep your attention for just one more minute)... today is a special day.  I looked it up and today is this blog's first birthday!  Isn't that cute, she still seems like a baby to me.  But in all seriousness, it took a lot of guts for me to start this blog and you all have made it just an awesome experience... thank you so much for the nanaCompany love, and for your comments which make me feel like it's all worthwhile.

Happy Birthday my dear blog!  You deserve a cake and a party but it's time for my nap...

Source: lundlund.com via Amy on Pinterest

 

xo amy!

scrappy bunnies

So, I've been wanting to do a "ticker tape" piece lately because I've got such pretty tiny scraps and what can you make with fabric pieces smaller than half an inch... at Easter time?  Well, a scrappy bunny, duh!

Or how about two bunnies?

One of the bunnies is for a friend and one is for us.  I made these nearly a week ago and I still can't decide if they need some embroidery or other embellishment... but I took the liberty of dressing up the one we're keeping, and hung it on Livi's wall.

We'll need a little Easter in the living room as well, so I've drawn out the templates for a bunny, egg, and chick...  A mini garland is coming up next!

1. Fabric Tag, 2. Giant Dwarf // Forever Fleur Tutorial, 3. hand pieced top, 4. Untitled, 5. Untitled, 6. For adoption, 7. chicks and bunnies, 8. Secrets of the dunes..., 9. Untitled, 10. Untitled, 11. 58:365, 12. Yo-yo doll quilt, 13. The Lace one

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

Have a great weekend!  xo amy

:: doll quilt re-do

Two years ago I made a doll quilt for Olivia while I was stalling on another project.  Well I'm stalling again ~ supposed to be working on a custom order baby quilt, unsure of exactly how I want to proceed, and waiting for new fabrics to arrive ~ so I did a little make-over of Olivia's doll quilt.  I mean I liked it just fine before (see here), but what really bugged me was the backing.  It was bad, real bad.  I have no idea what I was thinking.  And if you're going to hang it up on the wall, that's fine, but Livi uses it around the house to wrap Cinderella, Rapunzel, and Strawberry Shortcake ~ oh, that back was glaring and ugly and taunting me.  So, what does a busy mom with a million other things to do do: a re-do... a one day job of ripping and restitching and binding.

And then I got all experimental and did my "washi tape" thing in the corners just for fun.  Kind of weird but I was following a wild and carefree whim.  It was crazy, yo. ;)

The backing you see now is a traditional, complementary tiny floral print... non-offensive in every way and I no longer have to cringe. 

Ok, I'm off to the post office.  Bedrest for a mom of three is nearly impossible and I'm going to enjoy this last bit of freedom before they actually chain me to the bed, which I fear is not far off in the future.  See you tomorrow, k?  I have an Easter scrappy thing or two to share...

xo amy