inspiration - solids

Isn't it funny? I've been stocking up on some gorgeous new prints lately, and look at me, drooling over these gorgeous quilts made out of solid colored fabrics. Here is what is inspiring me lately (click on links to go to source).

1. Plain Spoken II - Top Complete, 2. queen size squares in squares quilt, 3. Anniversary Crosses, 4. Red Criss Cross, 5. summer blocks, 6. quilt top, 7. what a bunch of squares sqaures, 8. cross my heart :: a quilt., 9. Fence Stripe Baby Quilt - Pink and Green detail

I'm pretty sure I want to make every single one of these quilts.

I guess I better stock up on some Kona.

Crap.

xo, Ang :)

a Scrappy Mug Rug

Have you heard of the Scrappy Mug Rug swap? It is a new over at Flickr, and I'm pretty excited about it.

I wanted to get a little practice in before the swap, so here is one I made for myself yesterday afternoon. It is combination of some of my newest purchases (Farmdale, Girl Friday, and Freebird Ovals) paired with some of my favorites (Heather Ross Tadpoles, Minny Muu Bees, and FMF). It is approximately 6"x9" and is just the right size for a mug and a little snack. I love the color combination of gray, orange, and yellow for the late summer and early autumn.

I didn't make any coffee at home this morning (our church provides it along with breakfast from Panera Bread), but I did sit down with it and a cup of milk before I left the house. I love having something pretty to look while having a drink and a snack.

Aren't these chickens the cutest thing???

this week's new fabric 8/28/10

I am pretty happy about this weeks fabric purchases.

Writing Line or Dotted Line - Girl Friday by Cosmo Cricket

Cassette Tapes - Timeless Treasures

Crosshatch in green, yellow and teal - Early Bird by Cosmo Cricket

I am hoping to use quite a bit of these goodies for Christmas gifts.

I'm thinking market bags, zipper pouches, maybe a little embroidery.

What do you think?

coming soon!

Raggedy Owl will be re-opening on Wednesday, September 1st! All your favorite crochet goods and a small selection of quilts will be in stock in ready to ship, just in time to stock up for fall.

Also, a great big thanks to all of my dedicated customers and friends for your emails and comments... I am so excited to be crocheting and sewing for you again!

xo, Angela

more stashing

Ahhh, I absolutely love these little ladybugs by Tula Pink.

I came across these lovely little ladies this past week, and I am so happy to add them to my fabric stash. I'm pretty sure the red colorway is my favorite. I am hoping to swap some of the pink or red for the blue or yellow ladybugs on a white background. I'm off to add this photo to the fabric swap group on flickr. Happy Tuesday!

xo, Angela

PS - Check out these two fantastic giveaways!!!!

KarrieLyne at Freckled Whimsy

Heather at a la mode fabric

who knew??

Apparently Finley likes to sleep on her belly! The past few days I've decided to let her nap on her stomach, just to see how she likes it... and apparently she does. Her naps have doubled, and a couple of days she slept for almost four hours! I never let the boys sleep on the bellies, I was always afraid to since the doctors tell you not too. So from now on, I think I'll allow her to nap on her belly but continue to have her sleep on her back or side during the night. Please tell me that I'm not the only one who does this? What a happy baby and mama we are. :)

a little bit of sewing.

It is definitely a lot harder to get any sewing done with a newborn in the house. I do try to get a little done every day, whether it is time spent cutting fabric or actually at the machine. Even if it is only half an hour, it definitely makes this mama a lot happier.

This week I spent some time sewing 18 more Flea Market Fancy blocks for the queen quilt for our bed. I mostly did the pinks, and threw in some blue seeds and brown posies (two of my favorites from the line). They take a bit of time due to a bit of pressing and trimming required, but I love the overall look. I think I'm up to 42 blocks now, and I have no idea how many I need overall. I'll work through the blues, golds, and greens this week, and once they are all layed out I will see if I need more. If your new to my blog, you can see the blocks previously made here.

I also realized that I have a new favorite print in this line... the pink barbells! I never gave it too much attention before, but after sewing with it this week, I realized how much I love the design and vibrant colors. The blue barbells are pretty great too!

Okay, babycakes is sleeping, so off to the sewing machine. Hope you are having a great Sunday!

xo, Ang

PS - sorry for the not so great shots, it is awfully rainy here today!

stash building

A couple posts ago I wrote about buying fabric. At the time, I hadn't bought any fabric in a several months, and I asked for your recommendations. After reading lots and lots of emails (thanks so much, you crazy fabric lovers!!!), I did some shopping. Quite a bit of shopping actually. And a little bit of swapping.

Here are some of the newest members in my fabric family.

Freebird by Momo - Ovals in grass, melon, sky, and geranium

Farmdale by Alexander Henry

Little Folks by Anna Maria Horner - Forest Hills in Citrus

And a couple more shots just because they are pretty! A note about the AMH fabric.... This is the first voile fabric I have ever purchased, and I am kind of surprised by it! It is so beautiful and unbelievably soft. I imagine it would be hard to do a lot of small piece work because it is so flimsy? I just love it!

PS - Check out my friend Megan's blog for an awesome giveaway!!

dresden love

I am loving the Katie Jump Rope in the dresden plate! What do you think good choice for one of my favorite fabric lines?

katie jump rope

I started cutting fabric for a new quilt today.

Yes, I know that I should be working on my blocks for my Flea Market Fancy quilt.

But I decided to pull out my Katie Jump Rope collection instead. Isn't this fabric so beautiful? I am participating in the Bee-autiful quilting bee over on Flickr with some of my favorite quilters, and my month is November. Yep, still a bit away, but I thought I'd get a jump start on cutting fabric. It takes so long to get anything done around here, you know, with a newborn in the house.

Or maybe I just needed an excuse to play. So what do you think, would this fabric look good in a Dresden plate pattern?? I think I'll make a couple today while Doc is home. Hopefully I'll be back soon with a couple examples!

babywearing

I am a huge fan of babywearing. Both of my boys have spend hours and hours in either a front or backpack, and I loved every minute of it. It is so great for both the baby and the mama. The baby feels safe and secure snuggled up to mom, and mom gets to not only enjoy the closeness, but also two free hands!

Both of my boys spent hours and hours in these packs. Whether it is shopping (short trips to the grocery stores or hours spent at Ikea), hiking, or around the house, I've them almost daily. It is so convenient to have baby so close.

I just starting putting Finley in the Baby Bjorn this past week, since she is now one month old. After just a couple minutes of fussiness, she quites right down. She tends to look around for awhile and then fall asleep. So far we've gone for a couple walks, and yesterday we went to the local county fair. She slept in it for two hours! Having two free hands made the trip so much easier. The photos above are from the fair yesterday.

The next photos are of the carriers that I use, they were taken when Elijah was less than a year old.

This first one is the Beco Baby Carrier, and it is my personal favorite. It can be worn in the front or the back with the baby facing in. I like this one the best because it is the most comfortable on my body. Also, the sides are more open, so it isn't too warm for mom or baby. They come in super cute fabrics, too (mine has a Joel Dewberry print on the outside). Check out this link to see some of the custom carriers that feature fun prints like Amy Butler's Sunspots, Groovy Guitars, and even some scooters!!!

The second one pictured is a organic Ergo Baby Carrier. This is another great carrier. It is very supportive and great when the baby is being carried for long periods of time. My husband prefers this one. I used it quite a bit too, but it didn't fit my body quite as well as the Beco. This one is really versatile, and the baby can be carried in the front, back, and also on the hip.

The last carrier pictured is the Baby Bjorn. This is my favorite carrier to use when the baby is really small. Although baby is only carried in the front, I love that they can face in (while smaller) and out once they have more head control.

If you are interested in learning more about babywearing, please check out the link listed above. And as always, feel free to email me at raggedyowl [at] yahoo [dot] com. If you do try out a carrier, please don't expect baby to love it the very first time. It is a big adjustment for some babies, and my advice is to try it for a little while every day. The more often you use it, the more they will get used to it and eventually they will most likely love it. :)

A note on pricing - These carriers aren't cheap, but I think they are a wonderful investment. Personally, I decided to pay full price for a new Ergo and Beco because I could use them a lot longer. I bought my Baby Bjorn slightly used on eBay because I wasn't planning on using it as long.

a nice way to start the day

Since baby girl was busy doing this...

I did some of this...

While Finley was snoozing this morning, I had the chance to cut lots of fabric, enough for 18 more blocks in my FMF quilt. It was such a pretty morning with the sunlight shining through the front windows, I just had to take a few shots.

I'm pretty sure a bowl of scraps can't get much prettier than this!

Happy Tuesday! xoxo

flea market fancy

As I mentioned in my last post, I started my Flea Market Fancy quilt this past week! I started collecting these fabrics about a year and a half ago. I've used bits and pieces of this treasured fabric (here and here and here and there), but I figured that it is about time for me to start using them for a quilt!

This quilt will be queen-sized to fit our bed. I decided to go for a rectangular bulls-eye pattern, that way it will be half FMF and half Kona Ivory (I can't use up all of my stash in one quilt!). I think the blocks are around 9.5" x 12", I made up the pattern myself. So far I've used the six different fabrics pictured above and have made four blocks out of each. I have a long way to go!

I am loving how they look spread out on our dining room floor. I think I'll add some more pinks tomorrow!

new fabric

Well, I have several things that I've been wanting to post about. For example, Finley's sweet little nursery and the new quilt I started this week (I finally started a Flea Market Fancy queen size quilt, and am 24 blocks into it, eek!) . But I've been lazy and haven't gotten around to taking any pictures yet. So hopefully that will be soon!

So what am I doing this morning? Browsing the internet for new fabric, of course! Did I mention that I haven't bought any non-etsy-store related fabric for myself in months? I am getting really bored with my current supply of fabric, and am having trouble finding anything that I can't live without. I really love the new Meadowsweet 2 and Far Far Away 2, but I don't really have a need for a girly quilt right now (though I'm going to get the FFA2 just to have, I'll do something with it later!).

I need some suggestions! What fabric are you buying lately, what has caught your eye? I'd really love to hear!

Here are some of the fabric collections that are being released this fall that will definitely be coming to my house...