First Fathers' Day

I just had to post this picture!

After a nice family lunch in honor of our family's fathers.... the newest father had to get a few things for their new house.  I thought it would be appropriate to document Baby Madison's first Home Depot run!  New dad, Steve, said, "Wow!  It's weird walking around in here with a stroller!"

 I just chuckled... thinking ahead... it won't be long before she'll be running around and he'll be wishing she was still sleeping in a stroller while he shops!

One week old- now a few ounces more than her birth weight.  Sleeps all day, cries all night!

OK... now that I have your attention with the baby pictures.... here's my annual warning about social media and vacations. 

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE.... think about what you post on Facebook and what you Tweet!  It's so popular for vacationers to post their travels AS they happen... but be aware that you may have a reader who is not a friend.  I know, I know... you say that only your friends can read what you post.  That's not entirely true.  One of my family members Googled her name and came up with a recent (private) FB post.  And then you say you don't have your address posted.  Well--- I'm no computer genius or private detective, but if you have an active FB page or blog, I can probably figure out your name and general location and from posts and pictures, I could probably find your house.  Don't tell people your house is empty!  Post about your adventures after you get home.  We can wait a few days to hear about your awesome trip.  Be safe!  Come home to everything as you left it- dirty dishes and all!

Super Simple Baby Blanket

I made (and am in the process of making) several baby quilts for my new granddaughter.  The one I'll show you today was SOOOOOO simple!!!  

I went to the store ('cause I don't sell this stuff in my shop) and found some cute owl fabric in a plush fabric that I knew would go well in her nursery.  I just got 1/4 yard of it.  Then I got 1/4 yard each of lots of other plush, soft, fuzzy stuff that would coordinate.  These are all different brands- sort of like Minkee fabric.

 Then I cut it into the largest squares I could get out of the 1/4 yard cuts, allowing for some straightening.  I think I ended up with 8" squares.  It doesn't matter- just as long as they are the same.  At this point, my sewing area was covered in fuzz.  This stuff sheds BIG time!  Some people use a walking foot- I used a ton of pins.  It's super slippery.  I just sewed them in long strips, then sewed the strips together.  You just HAVE to go slowly- and use lots of pins.  Then I had a little date with the lint brush.  Don't wear black when you make one of these.  I used a piece of yellow flannel for the back.  No batting- it's super heavy as it is.  I put the top and the backing right sides together, stitched all around the outside leaving an opening to turn.  When it was turned right side out, I stitched all around the edge on the right side.... then did a little tack stitch with the machine at each intersection of blocks.  (Kind of like tying the quilt, but with the machine).

It's not an heirloom quilt.  I wanted it to be something my DIL can throw in the floor and the baby can make messes on and can be thrown in the washer.  It's to be "loved"... not protected. 

See the trees on the nursery wall?  Baby's mom and I did them ourselves!  We projected a tree onto the wall and sponged over the projected picture.  I really like how they turned out.  What a memory THAT day was!  To see the trees on the wall, you had to have the room dark.  Envision a very pregnant woman and her old mother in law in a dark room with sponges full of paint.  It's a fun memory.

And here are a few of this new grandmother's favorite one-day-old photos.  Precious photos of my son holding his new daughter.  (She's learning to pull his beard, already!)

Daddy's little girl .

 Gotta love baby toes.  :-)

New Baby!

I'm overjoyed to share my good news with you!  One June 7, our family welcomed it's newest member, Madison Marie. 

                                 After




             Before

Steve and Emily, our youngest son and his wonderful wife, made us grandparents for the first time this week when they brought Madison Marie into the world.  Words can't express my joy!  One look at this precious face and I was in love.  Both Maddy and her mom are doing well.

What is that I hear you asking?  Why haven't you seen any baby quilts or knits?  Just be patient......

Knitted Shawlettes

As long time readers of this blog know, I own and quilt shop and LOVE to quilt.  But a close second is my love of knitting (and then there's paper crafting, gardening, cooking....).  Never enough hours in the day!

Bryce Canyon Shawl

I do a lot of test knitting for "verybusymonkey", who is a talented knitwear designer.  I recently tested the 4 shawls in an e-book for her.  Test knitting is like proof-reading.  I knit the item and look for bloopers- and edit the pattern.  It's so much fun- and I end up with some great knitted things.  These are called "shawls" but I almost always wear them as a scarf.  They're small, as shawls go, and I love draping them around my neck in the winter- they keep me nice and toasty.  :-)

 Canyonlands Shawl

If you are on Ravelry, you can find all of these patterns by searching under verybusymonkey.  If you're not on Ravelry, you can find VBM patterns here.  Not familiar with Ravelry?  If you knit or crochet- you HAVE to check it out!  It's like facebook for knitters (sort of).  If you're looking for me on Ravelry, my screen name is suehauser.

 Grand Tetons Shawl

 You might notice a theme in the names.  The shawls in this collection are all named after National Parks.  The designer donates a portion of the sales of these patterns to the National Parks Foundation.  (Her pattern prices are very reasonable, but the way).

Olympic National Park Shawl

This last one is a favorite of mine.  Oh, MY.... this is beautiful!  It was so much fun to knit the little leaves into the piece.  As you can see by the tablecloth in the picture, I made these last fall and winter.    I have more, but I'll save them for another post.

June Giveaway- 1/4 pound of fragrant dried lavender buds!

 Looking out at my field, I see my lavender farm waking up and growing fast!  It looks like this year will yield a bumper crop of this delightfully fragrant herb.  We sell fresh bundles in season (mid July) and fresh buds year 'round.  You can purchase the buds and sachets on the Sunset Lavender Farm website any time.  The fresh bundles will be available for pre-order soon.  Send me an email if you want me to let you know when we are harvesting the fresh bundles.  These products are also available on our Alderwood Quilts website.

We haven't done a giveaway in a long time.  To kick off lavender season, I'm giving away a pretty organza bag filled with 1/4 pound of dried lavender buds.

I regret that I can't ship the lavender to international readers.  But if you don't live in the U.S. but know someone in the U.S. who would like lavender, you could enter and have me send it to them if you win.  Most of my blog giveaways are open to international readers, but I can't do it with the lavender.  Sorry!

To enter the drawing- just comment to THIS POST and let me know you'd like a chance.  That's all!

For a second entry- make a SECOND COMMENT to THIS POST and tell me that you are a follower of this blog (new or long time follower- makes no difference).

For a third entry- spread the word.  Tweet, post to Facebook, go to the website and Pin it on Pinterest,  post on your own blog- whatever.  One entry for spreading the word- not an entry for each form of social media.  Then make a SEPARATE COMMENT to THIS POST to let me know you told your friends.

For a 4th chance- COMMENT to THIS POST and say something about lavender (how do you display it, does the scent remind you of something, does a friend like it, do you grow it... anything at all about lavender).

I'm pretty easy-going about this stuff.  I just need you to do a separate entry for each extra chance so I can count the entries to enter in the random number generator.

I'll select a winner at random on July 1st.  I'll also be doing some posts about lavender in July.  If you have any questions or anything you'd like to know about lavender, let me know and I'll try to address it.

Skinny Bolt Sale

WOW!  I can't believe it's been over 3 months since I'm blogged!  I've missed being involved with the blogging community and I'm going to start posting regularly again. 

I thought I'd start with a sale in the shop.  I pulled bolts with 3 yards or less remaining and marked them all down to $7.95 per yard.  That makes some of them a good price, and some of them a SUPER GREAT price.  I didn't hold back.  The skinny bolts include top quality batiks, Maywood Flannels, and much more.

The Skinny Bolt Sale runs through June 31, but shop now for the best selection.  As other bolts go to less than 3 yards, I'll add them, so selection will vary throughout the month.  Go to Alderwood Quilts to start shopping!

 That's it for today, but I'll be back.  Tomorrow I'll post a new blog giveaway.