Now it is official!

I just got back from Eva's.  She accepted all the items I made for her and was delighted with everything.  I am so happy.  I finished the last animal for the Noah's Ark play mat last night.  With everything completed, I went to Eva this morning to show her the things.  While I was at her place, I received two more orders for adult sweaters from workers at her organic garden farm.  They are friends with my son and daughter-in-law who grow the sheep from which I get my wool yarn.  The man has already bought one of my hats.  He loved it and said he never took it off until the hot weather came.  He said he wants a sweater to match the hat.  He wants it to look like a sweater that I made for my grandson, so I will need to see what I can do to make an adult sweater similar to the child's hoodie that I made for Ellis.  The woman wants a sweater like the one I made for my daughter-in-law.  I think I will wait till the fall to work on the sweaters.  It is too hot to knit with wool in the summer.

Finally, the sleeper with the feet is finished.  It was one of the first things I cut out.

Leo the Lion/Noah's Ark animal

Madeline the Monkey/Noah's Ark animal

Gerry the Giraffe/Noah's Ark animal

Ellie the Elephant/Noah's Ark animal

Dorothy the Dove/Noah's Ark animal

Freddie the Fish/Noah's Ark animal

Terry the Turtle/Noah's Ark animal

Noah's Ark play mat with animals all bundled safely within the ark.

Well, it's off for a little break.  Before long I'm sure I will be back to crafting.  I have a few projects in mind for Christmas presents and I will need to get started.  I will not be able to share all of these things, at least the ones for the ladies.  They may see it on the blog.  I think I am safe with the men and the children.

More surprise projects!

Just when I think I am going to finish up with things, I find something new and exciting to try.  I found a pattern for these really cute bath time puppet pals.  They are made from wash clothes and I think they are really cute, so I decided to make some for Eva's order.  I also decided to make one of the novelty bibs like the ones I made for the baby shower for who turned out to be Portia.  Another project I finished today was a summer time blankie for Joey.  His fleece fringe tied is very hot for the summer, but he is so attached to it.  I tried to make one similar with cotton material so that it is not so hot, but I added some fleece on the edge so that I could make fringe and tie it.  That way, the fringe will still feel like what he likes.  He needs to rub the fringes when he is going to sleep.  Hopefully, he will adjust to this new blankie like he did with the first one I made for him.  I also refinished the cotton play top so that the shoulder straps are overlapped and now it doesn't hang so low.  I added a ladybug button to the front so that it wasn't so plain.  I guess that will do for now.

These are the bath time puppet pals.

This is the novelty bib.

Joey's new blankie.  I had to cut out and heat fuse the Boston Red Sox logos onto the plain red material.

This is the refinished cotton knit play top.

  

Lexi modeling the top.  She loves to say, "Ohhh."

I have half of the animals finished for the Noah's Ark play mat.  It is my plan to have everything finished and ready to show Eva by this weekend.  I want everything done before the 4th of July and that is coming up next Monday.  I plan to knit for the next two days because I will have Joey and Lexi again.  Then, on Thursday I want to sew those sleepers that I seem to never get to.  I thought I was going to sew them today, but I made those other things instead.  Also, I had to fix some banners for Tony to put on the car that he will be riding in for the parade on the 4th with the other town selectmen.  I bought the vinyl banners, but they didn't have any way to attach them to the car.  I needed to add some large metal eyes to the corners.  To do this, I folded the top and bottom edges down about an inch and a half to make the vinyl stronger, and then I used white duct tape to hold the folded edge in place.  Then I attached the eyes to the corners.  Hopefully he will be able to attach the banners to the car by using bungee cords around the front and back of the car from sign to sign.  I've had a busy day, but I have accomplished a lot.

Another milestone reached...almost!

Well, I thought I had finished another project...but, I think I need to do some last minute fix-me-ups again.  I finished knitting the play top and tried it on Lexi.  It is the correct size, but I didn't like how low it hung around the neck.  I checked the picture and sure enough, it wasn't right.  It looks like the straps are supposed to overlap on the shoulders although the pattern did not say to do that.  I plan to go back and take the shoulders out and make them look like the picture shows.  Then, I think I will be done with the play top.  I also have finished the play mat and I have just started to work on the animal toys that match the ones sewn onto the mat.  I should be finished with the knitting projects for Eva's order when that is done.  I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now.

Noah's ark play mat.

Play top on my lovely model.

Play top before fixing the shoulders.

What to do in an instant?

My daughter Cheryl asked me to make something for a friend of hers from work that is having a baby girl, her second child.  She said they aren't giving her a shower but, she still wants to give her something.  She said that since she knows I like to make baby things that maybe I could make something for her.  I was going to just give her the nursery rhyme quilt that I made for Eva's order because it was something a little extra anyway.  Cheryl seemed disappointed because she didn't think I did much to make the quilt.  All I had to do was put the ribbon around the edges.  So, when I went to the store last night to get some cotton yarn to make the playtime top for Eva's order, I found a delightful book of patterns for toy animals.  I decided to make one of them for Cheryl to give to her friend.  The best part of it is that the animals are small and can easily be used to make another hanging toy play mat.  I can't wait for someone to have another baby so that I can make a play mat with these adorable animals.

This is the nursery rhyme quilt

This little piglet with a crooked smile looks ready to dance in her little red skirt.

 So, this is what I do in an instant when someone asks for something right away.  I love making little toys anyway, so this was not a big deal at all.  I started it at 10:00 last night and finished all but the legs, tail, and skirt.  I knitted those things today and put them altogether.  The whole thing probably only took about two hours to complete.

Things Really Add Up!

I had plans to make so much more for Eva's order, but last night I priced out the things I have finished and found out that I have nearly reached my order amount.  I was so surprised to find out how much I was up to.  I still have some special projects that I think Eva will really like. So, I will do them, and then I will be done with her order.  That is, unless she doesn't want some of the things I have made.  But, for now, I am nearly finished.  I still have one pair of summer pajamas and a winter sleeper with feet cut out that I want to sew.  I'm still working on the Noah's Ark play mat and I want to knit a really cute 100% cotton playtime top.  I think that will be all for Eva.  Here are the new things I have finished.

I've already showed this dress, but not with my adorable model, Dot.

I said, "Say cheese,"  so that is what she did.

Here she is in her more poised caption.  Since the sleeves of this jacket were too long, I have altered them to fit better and added a ribbon to tie at the neck line to keep the jacket closed.  It wanted to flop open too much.

I had to finish a top to go with these pants that went with the above ensemble.  This is the completed shirt.

Ribbed knit top with cotton blend shorts.

Ribbed knit top with cotton blend shorts.

Jersey knit top with cotton blend bottom summer pajamas.

Lovable Jersey knit summer outfit.

Time to go.  Lexi and Joey will be here anytime now.  Have a good day everybody.  I'm so glad to wake up refreshed and ready to go.  I was a little depressed last night when I went to bed, but this morning I am feeling happy and thankful for all that I have and for the wonderful gift my Heavenly Father has blessed me with to be able to sew, to knit, and to craft so many things.

Mission accomplished!

Just finished the last shirt for Lexi today.  Now that I have finished the summer clothes for Joey and Lexi, I will turn my attention back to Eva's order.  I have a lot cut out and ready to sew.  I may take a few days off from sewing, but I will see.  That is how I feel today, but tomorrow is another day and I may want to sew again.

This plain pair of shorts is nice and can go with any of the shirts, like this heart t-shirt.

This plain shirt is also great to go with any of the pants.

The white shirt was intended to be more versatile, but with the ladybug, it isn't as good as I had hoped it would be.  It was too plain without something on it...I liked the ladybug...so I used it.   I guess a ladybug and a flower match well enough.

It also matches this pair of shorts even though the ladybugs on the shorts are more pink than red.

What a Ham!

Does this little girl like to smile for the camera?  Oh yeah, she is a Ham for sure.  All you have to do is show her the camera and she gives a wonderful pose.  She gets over the dressing up part pretty quickly.  Here are two more completed summer sets.  I still have three shirts to sew and I will be finished with this project.  I couldn't decide which pose to use, so I just put them all in.  I  love all of my grandchildren so much I can hardly stand it.  They are all so darn cute.

Pose # 1: ladybug Jersey knit shorts and light cotton blend shirt.

Pose #2: So precious!

Pose #1: butterfly Jersey knit shorts and light cotton blend shirt.

Pose #2:  Too sweet!

Pose #3: Lexi's favorite styling pose really shows off the shirt front.  She really is an angel just as it says on her shirt.

Summer clothes for Joey and Lexi

Cheryl requested some more clothes more Joey and Lexi.  We have had a few warm nights and Cheryl said her house has been very warm.  The kids don't have any summer pajamas and Lexi doesn't have any shorts.  She has quite a few tops, but needs shorts to go with them.  Unfortunately, I try to use material I have left over from other projects, and some of it doesn't match the tops she has.  That means that I now need to finish some tops to go with the shorts that I made for Lexi.  Everything is cut out for five outfits.  The shorts are all finished, but I still need to sew the tops.  Some of the shorts were plain, so they could match shirts she already has, but at least two pairs need shirts before she can use them.  Cheryl likes to have everything look very well coordinated.  I made four pairs of pajamas for Joey and three for Lexi.  All of them are finished.  Here's a peek at what I have finished.

Joey hates to have his picture taken and he hates to change his clothes even more...thus the back side of Joey in his new pajamas.  He was really mad with Grandma.

This is the front side of the pajamas Joey was wearing in the above picture.

Another pair of pajamas without Joey wearing them.

This pair of pajamas was a nightmare.  I had to keep changing the top to get it to look like a boy's top and then when I thought I had it right, it didn't fit...so it was back to the drawing table to do over for the third time.

Cheryl requested a plain Jersey knit pair of pajamas and this was the best I could do.

This is one of the pairs of shorts that I made for Lexi with a top she already had.

Two pairs of summer pajamas for Lexi

Unlike her  brother, Lexi loves to pose for the camera.  Here, she is styling a pair of her pajamas.

I have still been working on Eva's order.  I just finished the cotton knit baby throw today.  Tomorrow, I will start the Noah's Ark play mat.  I always like to have a knitting project going along with the sewing machine work.  I knit when the kids are just playing, watching TV, or taking naps.  I can sew quite a bit if Lexi is awake and Joey is napping because she is so good to play by herself.  I have more things cut out to sew for Eva when I finish with Lexi's tops.  Since Lexi is just going to turn one in nine more days, she makes a good target for patterns for Eva's grand baby who will be one next summer.  I figured that she could use some summer pajamas also, so I cut out pajamas for that order when I was cutting out Lexi's.  That way, I killed two birds with one stone, you might say.

This is the 100% cotton knit baby throw.