Finished Projects and WIPs

Several weeks ago, we bought a crib pillow at IKEA. I had been casually looking for such a thing for a while. Elise has slept with a pillow ever since she had a bad cold several months ago, when we propped her up on a pillow to help her breathe more easily. But a regular pillow is too big for the crib, and decorative/throw/lumbar pillows seem too high for her little spine. She has been sleeping on a relatively flat throw pillow, but Andy and I were still concerned that it was too high. So when we saw the crib pillow - like a bed pillow, only smaller and very, very flat - we were very happy. And it subsequently sat in my sewing corner for weeks, patiently awaiting a pillowcase. Finally I got around to making this:

I ended up making it too big, mostly because I was scared of making it too small. Well, now I know for next time.

This is a simple fleece blanket for Elise's birthday. Fleece was on sale on Joann's recently, and I really liked this bright, flowery print. As much as I like soft, traditional, feminine decor in little girls' rooms, I am finding more and more that Elise's room is decorated with these bright, childish colors and shapes. And I like it. I think it is cheerful and fun and still feminine.

This is the first time I have used premade blanket binding. It was tricky at first, especially on the corners, but once I got the hang of it, it went pretty quickly. I wasn't sure how to tack down the mitered corners at the end. I suppose I should have done some handstitching. Can anyone tell me the best way to do that? I ended up just using a decorative machine stitch; knowing that whatever stitch I used would end up being visible, whether I wanted it to or not, I thought it would be to my advantage to make it pretty.

I have a few works in progress as well. These are coat pegs for Elise's room (once again, bright, childish colors and shapes). I've been looking for a peg or hook rack, but I haven't found any affordable ones that I like. A few bucks worth of unfinished pegs and acrylic paint from the craft store, and the problem is on its way to being solved.

I have two friends who are particularly gifted with a paintbrush, and I thought about asking one of them to paint these for me, but then I thought that even I - a known enemy of the paintbrush species - could manage six scallops and a peg. Wish me luck.

I think I showed you my little cottage quilt a while back. I pieced it in two days....and that was the end of it. It's small, about 34"x34", but I can't decide how I want to quilt it. I started free motion quilting, screwed up the tension, and had to tear it out. Now I don't know if I should just stitch in the ditch and be done with it, or try the free motion quilting again. Or maybe I'll tie it. I've never tied a quilt before.


Lastly, some Curious George favor bags for Elise's birthday party. I started to use clothesline for the handles, but I'm not sure I like that. I'll probably switch to ribbon.