Indigo Mouse

I’ve been working on my third fabric collection, and I’m getting inspiration by the family of bunnies who appear to be living in our ground cover in the backyard. The other day Jason scared the two babies when he was watering and this one ran into our garlic patch to hide.

(Look past the in focus garlic to the tiny bunny out of focus behind. Jason did his best with the photography, given the circumstances.)

So cute! The drawings I’ve been doing have been chubby bunnies and mice. This collection will be a winter themed one. I was playing around with a couple of different artwork styles, and this little mouse didn’t make the cut. He’s cute though, so I thought I’d let him live on this blog.

Poor little reject mouse.

To round out the cuteness today, I have a couple of photos of Alice wearing her February Baby Sweater at Knit in Public Day a few weeks ago. (It fits the theme because it has bunny buttons.) It’s still pretty roomy on her, though the sleeves are too short (ran out of yarn). I think it will make a fetching swing jacket when she’s a little older.

Please excuse the cleavage. It's darn near impossible to avoid it as a breastfeeding mother.

And here’s Alice after she woke up more fully and realized that she had been sitting in my lap and hadn’t been grabbing at what I was holding. The knitting got put away after that–I wouldn’t want to explain to Child Protective Services how my infant lost an eye with a DPN!

Future knitter?

Did you notice how I’m wearing a wool sweater in June, and then have a jacket over it? Yeah, we’ve had unseasonably cold weather this summer. Next up: Photos of Alice wearing her Comfy Jumper Dress!

Sorry to leave y’all hanging there with the corner fabric indecision. I had no idea I would get so many responses. I should do voting things more often! I mulled for a long time over your suggestions–mainly because mulling was all I’ve had time for. It was interesting to see the votes because I posted it on this blog and on my Connecting Threads blog where the audience is a bit older. The older quilters tended to favor the lower red print, whereas the younger crowd here favored the turquoise. Who knew colors could be so generational? This weekend I did have to go to the fabric store for another project, and while there I found what I think will be the perfect corner fabric. It’s a 30’s print that’s mainly turquoise with white flowers with bits of red and yellow. I think it will really bring the whole thing together.

I’ve been working on the wall hanging for my kitchen, but I can’t move forward until I pick out a fabric for the corners. Somehow I had completely forgotten about the corners when I chose all my other fabric. Whoops!

Help me choose, please:
-Turquoise solid
-Muted red with white trellis print
-Vivid red with yellow and green bits
-White background from the main blocks
-None of these, go to the fabric store and get _________ (suggestions please)

I think I’m leaning toward the turquoise solid print, even though the color is neither that of the sashing or that of the green vines but a weird hybrid. It’s really hard to chose though!

As of yesterday Babymouse is 4 months old. This past month she’s had a nasty cough off and on, so it’s been a hard one on all of us, since she tends to wake herself up at night coughing. Even when she’s sick, she is still a happy, fun baby though. As she gets older it becomes more fun to play with her, as she grabs toys and rolls over and has giggle fits (which inevitably give her hiccups).

This is my favorite photo from this month:

Alice had her 4 month checkup on Monday, and the doctor gave the ok for her to start eating the culinary delight known as rice cereal. She weighed in a pound less than what we weighed her at at 3 months, so the doctor was a little concerned about that and hopes the cereal will fatten her up again. I was excited to get the green light on solids because Alice has been so interested in what we’re doing when we eat, and I think it will be fun to share new food experiences with her. The doc says to wait until 6 months before starting other foods, but the rice cereal is a start.

Thus begins the era of sticky faces and bibs. I’m feeding her in her carseat right now, but we probably should go get a real highchair this weekend. Our kitchen & living room are slowly being consumed by bulky baby furniture. Ah, parenthood.

The Sew, Mama, Sew! Blog has started a Sewing Machine Meme in order to collect reviews on different types of machines in one place. I wish I had this resource when I was looking to buy my machine! I’m participating to help others out, and if you sew, I encourage you to do the same. Those of you who don’t sew, sorry about the snoozefest. Our sewing machines are such a crucial component to successful sewing, and yet, they don’t get talked about much. So here goes…

What brand and model do you have?
Babylock Crafter’s Choice

How long have you had it?
About a year and a half

How much does that machine cost (approximately)?
I think I paid around $600 and got them to throw in some feet and a 1 year service plan.

What types of things do you sew (i.e. quilting, clothing, handbags, home dec projects, etc.)?
I mainly do quilting, but I occasionally sew clothing, craft projects, toys, etc.

How much do you sew? How much wear and tear does the machine get?
I probably sew on average 1 hour a week over the course of a year. The majority of it is quilting cotton.

Do you like/love/hate your machine? Are you ambivalent? Passionate? Does she have a name?
I really like my machine. I’ve had no regrets since I bought it, and I haven’t run into anything that I need that it doesn’t have. She doesn’t have a name, but maybe she should…

What features does your machine have that work well for you?
I love the needle threader, the programed stitches, the digital controls for stitch length & width, and the tray that holds the extra feet & bobbins.

Is there anything that drives you nuts about your machine?
When I’m sewing on a certain stitch setting and turn the machine off, it reverts to the default setting. This means that anytime I use my 1/4″ foot (a lot), and don’t remember to move the needle over when beginning to sew, the needle jams into the foot and makes unhappy noises.

Do you have a great story to share about your machine (i.e., Found it under the Christmas tree? Dropped it on the kitchen floor? Sewed your fingernail to your zipper?, Got it from your Great Grandma?, etc.!)? We want to hear it!
My machine is too new to have a great story behind it.

Would you recommend the machine to others? Why?
Yes, for someone who is ready to go beyond a basic machine. It does everything a hobby crafter would want to do, and it’s very easy to learn. The manual is very well written too.

What factors do you think are important to consider when looking for a new machine?
That it has enough features to be useful without going overboard. I almost considered the step up from my machine (Decorator’s Choice I think), but I’m glad I got this one because the step up just has a bunch more decorative stitches. I find I never use the decorative stitches my machine has, and when I do, it never looks as good as I hoped.

Do you have a dream machine?
Yes. One just like mine, but with a huge quilting arm attachment. Also, it should cook dinner for me while I sew.