Omi's Quilt!!

...is finished!  yay!  although i did kind of speed sloppily through the binding...  but it gives that homemade look.  ha.  looking forward to giving it in person to Omi tomorrow when i fly to denver to meet her!

okay, yes i did take one on purpose to also show my view.  only 2 weeks left in that room :(

sad, sad excuse for "miltering" the binding...  (but it was quick!)

more converse booties

these are such a cute pattern and were a hit at the baby shower, but i might be finished making them.  it's just not so fun to keep making the same things all the time.  and i still haven't seen any photo of any baby i've made them for wearing them!  so maybe it's time to move on...

now i'm back on the market for cute knitted items for baby showers...  maybe baby bootie moccasins?  or maybe just hats.  i'm not sure moms put their newborns in booties anyway.  it's probably not their first priority when they haven't slept in a few weeks!  ha

projects update

buttons!

i don't know why i felt the need to include an exclamation point after that word, but something about buttons is exciting.  and finding the right one isn't always easy...  but it helps when there's a britex in town!

i went there last week to pick out buttons for the dress i sewed for Omi and for a baby shower gift.  the father of the honored-baby wore a navy blazer w/gold buttons on his wedding day (along with a green tie and pink pants) and i thought it would be funny to give a similar outfit for the baby at the shower.  of course it's nearly impossible to find a navy baby blazer with gold buttons, so i just bought one with lame buttons and sewed on my own gold ones from britex.  love how much better it looks!!  (and the orange buttons for Omi)

my first very own sewing machine

after taking that sewing class a month ago, i realized it's probably time for my own sewing machine.  of course i had to get close to the same one we were using in class...  and was able to get it for free with my amazon.com points through my amazon.com credit card!  very exciting.

it also turns out that i'm moving to my own place, so would have needed one anyway.  so far i've only wound the bobbin and threaded the needle. can't wait to find some time to start using this thing!  i have so many projects to complete...

dana & caleb

dana & caleb were in the area this weekend from denver looking at venues for their oct '11 wedding in sonoma.  we decided to take some save the date photos in the vineyards since they are planning on getting married at one.  this was not actually taken in the vineyard, but since it was mid-day and the sun's shadows were so harsh, i wanted to take a few in shade.  these were taken under some trees at arista winery.  the vineyard/save the date photos are coming soon.

congrats on your engagement, dana & caleb!

more puzzles

okay, so we were a bit overwhelmed by that other puzzle.  we're still doing it, but when i found this puzzle on our bookcase, we couldn't resist.  notice the different colors and obvious sections!  and the regular sized pieces!  we basically got the edge done in one sitting and look how fast it was to make the red dog...  regular puzzles rule!  although, i have a feeling if we ever finish that other one it will be a lot more satisfying.  this one is good for puzzle confidence though...

more of omi's quilt

i finally started the quilting process of Omi's quilt.  i had some pics of the pinning (which i only took because i was excited i used my Jesus tape to secure the backing while i added the batting and top), but i can't find them.

so i figured out i don't need a new foot on the sewing machine to sew free motion which made me very happy since i really wanted to sew a design on this quilt rather than just straight lines in the ditches.  while at the sf moma the other night i saw what i remember as a drawing, but could have been a painting or something, of a few concentric circles and parallel lines in between.  immediately i thought it would be the perfect design to sew on Omi's quilt, mainly because concentric circles are usually my go-to design...  they were my favorite thing to doodle while in high school and college classes and during one of my all time favorite trips to denver lisa and i each made a painting and mine was of concentric circles.  the painting is pretty terrible, but i still keep it and hope to hang it up in a basement someday just as a memory of that weekend in denver.

so i used my special concentric circle drawing talent to create a design to sew on the quilt.  the first photo is my sketch of the design i am sewing on the quilt.  the others are the quilt so far.  i'm looking forward to finding time to finish it before i visit Omi in 3 and a half weeks.  when she will hopefully be 3 and a half weeks old since we're hoping she'll be born tonight!

baby name - Dwight

that's right. i wrote the words "baby name" referring to the name "Dwight". you did read that correctly.  and yes i did post a photo of an old man in a post about baby names.  probably not my best idea.  but isn't the old man cute?  (he is)...  and wasn't he once a baby? (he was)...  probably a cute one.  named Dwight.  now isn't it growing on you just a little?

when a stack of index cards bearing the names and information of all the US presidents found its way into my life, i realized not only that i'm an idiot for not knowing anything about them, but also that there are some gems in there as names go...

 a Zachary as president in 1847?  Millard, Ulysses, and (happy sigh) Rutherford?  aw man...  Rutherford!  if i knew someone's kid was definitely going to be president, i would order them to name their son Rutherford!  and then Chester and Grover (!)... Woodrow, Hubert...  and Lyndon...  and Bill!  (okay, that last one was a bit of a joke, but i do think Billy is ready for a bit of a comeback).

which leads me to Dwight.  the only reason i really noticed it as a baby name while looking through the presidents is because this dude that sits next to me at work mentioned his nephew was named Dwight.  a seventeen year old named Dwight.  hearing the name as a real person younger than 120 years old got me excited.  someone actually had the balls to name their son this back in the 1990s?  i was impressed.  and very intrigued.  Dwight.  is it really that bad?  was there an important reason why it swan dove off the name charts after it's peak in the 1950s (surprisingly enough that was when Dwight D. was president)

anyhoo...  i'm just saying:  Dwight.  i think i even like it best for a girl.  and call her Ike!