And now for something a little different

Hello everyone! It's been a while since I've updated, I know. Busy busy busy.

Busy doing what, exactly? Well, I have been working on a new HBT, but that's not what I'm writing about. Actually, most of my time lately has been taken up by this:

It's a mobile for my daughter. There is a story here:

My husband's grandmother used to make quilts. When she died several years ago, the quilt in the background was found among her belongings. Nobody knew who is was made for, so for my daughter's first Christmas, my mother-in-law gave it to her. This quilt has since become THE BLANKY. You know what I mean. That blanky that some kids have that is so important. My baby girl won't sleep without it. Since she has been born, we have always had to share a bedroom, so she hasn't had a space to call her own that can be decorated just for her.

Until now. Now that my husband and I are moving into a beautiful three bedroom house in Minnesota, our daughter will have her very own space. So I am going a little nuts deciding how to decorate it. Since she loves her blanky and being outside, I've decided a shabby-chic garden theme. Now shabby-chic isn't really my aesthetic, but for babies I think it's really cute.

I've been seeing some really cute fabric birds online lately, and I thought they'd make a really cute mobile. I dug through my mother-in-law's scrap box and found some coordinating colors and prints. I was even lucky enough to find scraps of two prints from her quilt. They must have been found with the quilt.

 

I cut out bird shapes and stitched them together with a very basic running stitch, with the seam on the outside for a cute  shabby-chic look. I had to use clear nail polish on the seams to keep them from fraying. I made a couple of french knots with embroidery floss for eyes, and voila! Adorable little birdy.

I cut some scraps from the same fabric and hot glued them around a large embroidery hoop. Then I threaded beads and birds onto thread and strung them onto the hoop.

I am REALLY happy with how it's turned out. I can't wait to hang it in her room. There are some other things I also want to make to go in her room, but tonight I think I will return to knitting and finish up the HBT I have been working on.

Until later- I hope you are having a fabulous day, and DON'T FORGET ABOUT OUR CONTEST! Last day is July 10!

Good morning, Starshine!

Hello hello, on this lovely, though rainy morning. I'm not usually a big fan of clouds and rain and cold, but as I sit here in the quiet of an early morning house, with my coffee in hand and Ziggy Stardust playing on my computer, while the baby is sound asleep for her morning nap, I can't help but feel that life as we know it is very very good. This feeling is helped by the fact that I am wearing one of my favorite shirts from before I was pregnant and a pair of size 4 jeans, thinking I could probably go down at least a size because I have finally lost all my baby weight. Only ten pounds of married weight to lose before I am back to my college size. And that was a good size, if I might say so myself.

As many of you know, I am out of town this week. We were over in Minnesota for my brother-in-law's wedding, and I have to say it was BEAUTIFUL. It was held in a historic church in a very historic town with the reception in a historic hotel (all very historical). Everything was small and elegant and absolutely perfect, and I couldn't be happier for the new couple. The staff at the hotel was far and away the absolute best staff I have ever encountered in any customer service field ever. They were so helpful and friendly and kind to us, and absolutely doted on our baby girl. Any parents out there know that many places can be downright rude to people with babies, because they don't want to deal with the extra work that comes along with a baby. This staff truly would have gone out of their way to do just about anything for you, so I am definitely going to use my blog power to throw a shoutout to them. If any of you get around to Minnesota, and are looking for a fantastic weekend escape, the Palmer House in Sauk Center is the place to be. On top of the fantastic service and charming surroundings, it is also a historical point of interest for any bibliophiles out there, as Sinclair Lewis did a lot of his writing in the Palmer House. It's also supposed to be haunted, but having a healthy dose of skepticism in my veins, I didn't happen to have any sort of paranormal experiences.

Our hotel room had fantastic light, which allowed me the chance to get some really great pictures of the newest toy I've been working on. In the next few days, you will notice some changes to the shop. The GALLERY will change names, and be called STORE or SHOP, or something like it. There will still be a GALLERY button, but it will take you to pictures of other Hush Baby Toys available in brick and mortor stores. This will let you browse all Hush Baby Toys, in case you were curious what is available in stores and not in the online shop.

Hope that makes sense. If I haven't explained it well enough, I'm sure when the changes take effect, you will be able to grasp what I mean.

Until later, I have an ear I need to finish knitting before the baby wakes up from her nap. Overandout!