More Little Things . . . and Carter’s 18 Month Pictures

I love December.  Maybe not all things about December (like the fact that we have been having frigid January/February type temperatures) – but I usually don’t work as much and take a little more time off.  That means lots of extra time with Carter and time for fun little projects.  I am getting absolutely no quilting done, but that will have to be okay.

And can I just say that I loved doing my shopping online this year?  I struggle a bit with the fact that much of the business isn’t local, but in a short two hours all 14 kid gifts (and some of Carter’s gifts) are purchased.  Two days later they arrive at my door and I didn’t have to drive anywhere or wait in line.  Again, more time to be here with Carter or Joel.  We drink coffee and play Farkle (Carter has his own cup and dice so he thinks he is playing too).  We read Dr. Suess and play puzzles.  We practice our letters and try to color and paint without eating the art supplies.  And just to keep it real – there are LOTS of Nos.  He still likes to sneak his hand into the toilet, turn on the tub water, and other exploring he shouldn’t be doing….. and he is pretty strong-willed about it.  He goes from being totally adorable to throwing a fit, all within 5 seconds.  Such is life with an 18 month old.

Yes, 18 months already!  Today I thought I would share some 18 month pics, along with two little projects I finished for Carter.

First up, I made him a little animal hat to go with his winter coat.  I had a hard time coming up with an animal that would match his coat, but settled on this polar bear.

At least, it is supposed to be a polar bear.  I thought mine turned out looking more like a wolf.  You can find the pattern here.  It is written for an adult size, so in the process of downsizing it and adding the facial features, it turned out a little differently than I intended.

Carter is enjoying his first taste of snow – quite literally.

The ear flaps and the ties are nice – considering our cold winters here in MN and Carter’s tendency to take off his hat if it isn’t well secured (and his mittens for that matter).

You can find my Ravelry link here.

The second little project I did for him is one I found on Pinterest.  I pin and pin, but rarely do I ever do anything with it.  (anyone else  in that boat too?)   This pin was too cute to pass up.

You turn a pair of pants with a hole in the knee into a monster face!

It only took about 10 minutes, so it is quick and easy to do.  My concern is that I know it will not hold up to washings.  It is done with felt and the edges are not finished, so I know I will have to hand wash these jeans.  I guess if I have to redo it periodically, it will only take a few minutes.

You have no idea how hard it was to get him to sit still and in a position where you could see the monster face!  Thank goodness, he loves light switches and riding.  I should have photographed them before I put them on!  Here is the link to the original pin.

Now, onto a few favorite pictures from the last couple months – sorry for the overload!

 

 

Just a few more things for me to come back and read someday . . .  when I am trying to remember what Carter was like at this age:

His favorite things to eat are:   fruits and veggies, mac and cheese, cookies, juice, chocolate and raisins.  He still doesn’t care much for meat.

His favorite toys/things to do are:  watch the washi (washing machine), play with Dad’s drill and tape measure, read books, play with magnets, phones, things with flaps or doors to look behind, and emptying cupboards, purses, wallets, etc,  watching videos of himself on the phone and playing ipad (once in a while.  We have to hide it).   He still loves to do anything Daddy is doing, especially if it involves some sort of noise or equipment.  He likes to push buttons in my sewing machine and do things in the kitchen (thus the picture with the beaters).  His favorite letters are U, Z, E, and O.  His favorite number is 2.   His favorite book is the Dr. Seuss ABC book.

He talks constantly and is starting to say some two-word phrases – I sit, snow flake, Hi Daddy and Hi Papa being the most popular.   At his 18 month check up, he was still in the 98 percentile for head size (as you cans see from his pictures).  He was in the 90s for weight and in the 80s for height.  He is still drooling and chewing a lot, as we are waiting on those eye teeth.

 

Little Things . . . .

I have been busy finishing up a lot of little projects – like the runner and topper I am going to share today.  They were both made for our master bedroom.

We have this long white dresser that needed some color.  It also needed some protection from all the things Joel likes to throw – I mean set – on the dresser.  White furniture seems to mark up so easy and runners are they perfect way to protect the finish.

I have trouble photographing in our house.  It always looks so much darker in the photos than it does in person.  This outside shot shows the colors a bit better:

The pattern can be found in my Angles with Ease book.  I have to admit that I like the original better (shown below).

I think if I would have totally mixed up my pieces, rather than laying two of the same print next to each other, it would have helped with the fact that I don’t have enough navy prints in my stash!  One more would have balanced it out a bit better.  Must add that to my shopping list . . .

My second project for today is this topper:

It’s from my Summer Stars pattern.  I actually prefer this one to the original topper shown below.  For me, scrappier is always better.

I always find it so interesting how different things look done up in different fabrics!

Please ignore my arm in this shot.  I am trying to hold the topper up to the window so you can see the quilting better.

I used an echo design in the star points.  I think it has a modern look that goes well with this modern color combination.  I love the little pebble quilting – though I do not like doing it.  This topper is quite small, so it’s the perfect thing for these small cream spaces.

I made the topper to go on this little table, though again my photo is so bad you can hardly see it!  (if anyone has any suggestions for shooting photos in a north facing room, please leave them in the comments!)

As you can see, the fabrics are the same as the ones I used in my  “Refresh” bed quilt (blog post here).  I am just loving this color combination!  More to come on that in a later post.

One more little thing – We had our family pictures done yesterday.  The photographer sent us a little sneak peak of this shot from our bedroom.  I would never have thought to pose us with a quilt for a family photo.  What fun!

Thanks for stopping in today!

 

Cyber Monday Sale

I usually skip all of the Black Friday shopping madness.  In fact, I much prefer staying home to waiting in long lines to get a deal.  How boring am I?  Now Cyber Monday is something I can get behind.  Shopping at home in my pjs?  Sounds like fun!

I don’t usually sell finished quilts, but a while back I decided to list some in our online store.  To my surprise, they were all sold out within about 36 hours!  I always like to keep the original designs from my book and pattern covers, but I have made many of my designs 2, 3, and even 4 times.  With space for quilts becoming an issue around here, I thought I would join in on the Cyber Monday fun and list a few more.  Some of you out there just might be looking for some Christmas gifts.  Here are just a couple of photos to tempt you . . . .

Sweet Dreams:

The Kitchen Collection Runner

 

Meadow Lane

Café Au’laite

Oh Baby

 

Candy Apple Blossoms

Tiddly Winks

Scraps and Stripes

Waiting for Spring

Double Takes 3

Diamond Diva

Here is the link to these quilts and the others listed on our site.