March Ornament: Lucky Rainbow

My mom made this sweet lucky rainbow ornament to fit the March theme, luck.  I think it's a great example of how you don't have to make everything from scratch -- she bought this rainbow patch and simply ironed it onto a piece of felt.  A little stuffing and a blanket stitch around the outside and it's done!  Great job Mom!

Block of the Month Project: Block #11

Here's the second 9-patch block we made for June: the octagon.  The three of us really liked this striking design and talked about different ways to use it in a quilt top -- all the same fabrics, one background and various prints, or even mixing fabrics in each octagon.  Like the Greek cross (block #10), this one came together quickly and easily.

Check out our other blocks in the Craftsy Block of the Month series:
Block #1, Block #2, Block #3, Block #4, Block #5, Block #6, Block #7, Block #8, Block #9, Block #10

Adoption Baby Book

Coming Home- still have to add itinerary on the bottom right

As a proud adoptive parent, I've found myself looking for ways to remember and document the adoption experience to create my daughter's version of a baby book. I searched the Internet and was able to find a few fill-in-the-blanks baby books specifically for adoption, but there weren't many options, and they were all pretty expensive. So I headed off to Jo-Ann's for some basic supplies, enlisted my sister to help make background pages, and started Hannah's baby book myself. I've been working on it at night because, as anyone with a toddler knows, there is no way to scrapbook around a little one who finds taking pages apart more interesting than putting them together.

Since I'm going to move to Project Life (more on that soon) to document the rest of Hannah's first year, for this book I stuck to what I consider the adoption baby book basics. Here's a rundown of my baby book pages:

1. Getting to Know You (the referral we received with Hannah's picture and information)
2. Our Prayers for You (before we knew/met you)
3. Mom and Dad details (how we met, waiting for you)
4. Trip 1 and Meeting You
5. Trip 2 and Going to Court
6. Baby Shower
7. Trip 3 to Bring You Home
8. Coming Home
9. All About You
10. Your First Haircut
11. Your Birthparents
12. All About Russia
13. One Year Home!


I love this page -- we were so glad to be home!

I will admit openly that I am not a scrapbooker. Trying to come up with creative pages is not my gift -- I know it, really I do -- so please keep that in mind when you view the pictures I'm sharing here. Also, if you have ideas of things I could add or things you've seen from other adoptive parents, let me know!

Block of the Month Project: Block #10

Here's another favorite block in the series, the Greek Cross.  It's a more interesting version of the 9-patch, but it's still really easy to put together.  And as you can see, it works well in a variety of color combinations.


Block #1, click here.
Block #2, click here.
Block #3, click here.
Block #4, click here.
Block #5, click here.
Block #6, click here.
Block #7, click here.
Block #8, click here.
Block #9, click here.

Block of the Month Project: Block #9

This Wonky 5-Sided Log Cabin brought us back to the scrappiness of Blocks 5 & 6.  Adding that 5th side to the log cabin is harder than it looks, and Amanda and I agreed that Caitie's block came out the best.  As with the modern log cabin in Block 8, we each chose a design to fussy cut for the center square,

Block #1, click here.
Block #2, click here.
Block #3, click here.
Block #4, click here.
Block #5, click here.
Block #6, click here.
Block #7, click here.
Block #8, click here.

Block of the Month Project: Block #8

After the hexagon challenge of Block #7, this Modern Log Cabin was a welcome relief.  You can see that we took some liberty with the number and width of the logs surrounding our center squares.  I like the variety, and each of our designs highlights our fabric choices.

Block #1, click here.
Block #2, click here.
Block #3, click here.
Block #4, click here.
Block #5, click here.
Block #6, click here.
Block #7, click here.

Block of the Month Project: Block #7

Our Craftsy Block of the Month project is back with a vengeance!  This hexi strip block was one of the April blocks, and it proved to be quite a challenge of our little trio's skill and perseverance.  The thing to note about this block is that all the hexagons are handstitched.  I've made hexagons before, and I used my smaller templates to create my hexis, which is why they're smaller than the others.  Amanda and Caitie did an admirable job with this block, even if they don't want to admit it.  What they will admit, however, is that they're not fans of handstitching or hexagons.  But they wouldn't have figured that out without this block, so it was good for something!

The second block pattern in April didn't appeal to us.  It also used hexagons, but the final look just wasn't working for us, so we decided to skip it and duplicate another block in the series later on, after we've seen and made them all and can pick a favorite.

Block #1, click here.
Block #2, click here.
Block #3, click here.
Block #4, click here.
Block #5, click here.
Block #6, click here.

Sweet Treats: 12 Months of Ornaments {July Theme}

Merry Christmas in July!  I've never been one to pay much mind to Christmas in July, but for the ornament challenge Jen and I thought July would be a good month to go a little more Christmas-y.  This month's ornament theme is holiday sweet treats.  Candy canes are the obvious choice, but maybe we'll surprise you!

June Ornament: Stitched Star

Here's my star ornament for June.  I found an 8-point star template online and decided to add some festive red and green stitching.  I outlined the star three times and then filled in the center with French knots.  All it needed was a whipstich around the outside to close it up (with a little stuffing inside).