Happy Halloween - I crocheted!

Happy Halloween!

This year, I got it into my head the the boys (now almost 2) NEEDED to dress up as little minions for Halloween.  You should see them when they run around - they bob up and down just like real minions - they even TALK like them.  :)

For some reason, I'm kind of opposed to buying premade costumes.  Growing up, we always made them ourselves, the best we could.  I guess I just feel like homemade is more authentic.  Maybe I'll change my mind next year...

Anyway, I set about trying to find yellow hats and yellow shirts - I tell you, it is IMPOSSIBLE!  Sure, I found yellow shirts, and maybe even a few hats - for adults.  My kids are still in size 18 months.  Sigh.

SO.  I did some more digging and found THIS tutorial from Chucksforchancho.  It was AWESOME!  So detailed - Monica was so generous to share this tutorial with us.  The only problem was this - I didn't know how to crochet!!  I think I've done it before - 12 of 13 years ago my Mom taught me a few basics, but it never stuck.  SO.  I borrowed a crochet hook from Mom and proceeded to do lots of reading and youtube watching.  And I learned how to crochet.  THIS website (Maybe Matilda) was a LIFESAVER.  Excellent tutorials and lots of extra links for videos and stuff.

And look, it worked!  I spent about one evening learning how to crochet, then two more evenings (I won't tell you how many hours...) making these hats and I still can't believe how well they turned out!  They are far from perfect, but way better than I expected them to be!

I ended up making them different sizes - the first one seemed a tad small, so I made the second one one size up.  They both still fit pretty well, luckily.  And I tried adding a mouth, but just couldn't get it to look right, so I left it off.

I'm not much of an overall person, but I found these two online, barely worn for only $3.  SCORE!

And, to top it all off - I even ended up dying a couple of onesies because of the atrocious lack of yellow clothing available for 18 month olds.  Go me!

Group hug!

Busy Busy Busy

Wow.  I have a lot of little finishes lately.  Back when I was teaching, it would have taken me months to do the same amount of sewing related things I've done in the past two weeks.  And I have two babies.  Am I doing something wrong?

I suppose most of these projects are fairly small.

I made this super cute block:

I've been looking for some kind of block of the month that I could use as interchangable decorations each month.  I'm a little late in the game, but I found this Hello Sun quilt along and I kind of love it.  I've also been looking for a good excuse to try this method of applique.  Maybe I will make all the blocks into a quilt someday.  And it was fast.  Once I made my panel of yellow, the whole thing came together pretty quickly.  Thank heavens for Heat and Bond. :)

I printed THIS little subway art to go with it.  I've got the other 11 stashed away for future use too.  SO easy.  I love it.

I also finished my growth charts.  You can see more of those HERE.

Then I started working on my stocking advent calendar thinking I would just work on it here and there over the next month or so.  Whoops.  I FINISHED it!  I still need to take some pictures and write a post about it though (maybe tomorrow?).  It's super cute.  I think I finished it so fast because there was lots of handwork to it - LOTS of cutting and turning fabric inside out and stuff.  I could do that in the evenings while I watched TV or football with the Hubby.  Thank heavens for Freezer Paper. :)

 

AND I made two blocks for my Storm at Sea quilt.  These were test blocks to check my cutting measurements and learn how to do freezer paper piecing.  I think I've about got the hang of it.  They take a little while to make, but they are fun and should keep me busy for awhile.

Linking up:

A baby shower and a few holiday items...

Here are some pictures of things I have made recently:

This is a blanket I made for my old roommate Katie.  I had to take pictures of it in the morning before I left for school, so the colors don't come through very well...

I made these little pumpkins around Halloween.  I wanted something cute to put up on this shelf.

I also wanted to try my hand a few new quilting techniques, so I made this little table runner.

It was time for a new tree skirt - since we have never had one...
I designed this and made it all by myself.  I almost don't want to put presents under the tree because that would cover it up!  Jeremy picked out the blue fabric. 

A close up.  If you look REALLY closely at the stitching in the blue fabric (which I did with blue thread - sorry) you can see that I quilted in a few snowflakes.  That was fun.

And here it is with our tree.  I have been putting off taking pictures of it all, since I never seem to be home when the sun is shining so any pictures I take turn out dark.  However, my one chance to take pictures in good lighting was Sunday, and I forgot.  So these aren't the best of picture.  What can you do.