Iron Craft: Week 2

Hooray- better late than never! This week's Iron Craft challenge was to make a 'door snake' or 'draft dodger' ...our house is so cold and we only have one door! So I decided to make a different kind of snake for my best friend's new baby boy. I had some sweater pieces leftover from a blanket I made for my son (awesome blog post here). I'm so glad I kept those few extra pieces. It's a little funny looking the way it's snout scoops up, but can we just say that it adds character, ok? Here are a few pics, beginning, middle, and end. Cheers, crafters!

Next week's challenge is bunting. Yay!! 

Loveliness is Jess Brown

Jess Brown makes the sweetest, old-fashioned rag dolls. If I ever have a baby girl, you know I'll be getting her one of these sweet little gals! I have loved the work of Jess Brown and was delighted to find out that she lives in nearby Petaluma! And, as if that weren't fun enough, I found out that she (and her friend Stacy) have an adorable little store called Maude. Here are a few photos of Jess Brown's work. I love the quilt/baby blanket I made, but Jess's quilt is amazing! Click here for the rabbit/doll. 

Jess- we hope to visit your shop SUPER soon!!

Sweet Hello Sign

We are working on spicing up our boy's room and I think this sign would make a lovely addition. We've just bought a great painting of a rooster & chicken from Harrington's Galleries and a new comforter from IKEA. I still want to paint a stripe over the stencils and hang up some paper pom-pom things that my pal Vida kindly gave us. Progress is slow, but we'll get there :) The plan is for lots of reds, turquoises, and whites. I'll post photos soon, but you can click here is the "before" photo.

We'll hang the painting we bought, and a bunch of fabric-covered cardboard letters on the wall! He already knows A and Q and we're excited for him to learn the other 24 letters! In addition to the painting and the letters, I'd love to get this sign, from William Dohman's Etsy shop! As long as it's not too heavy to hang on the wall (we have to think about earthquakes out here, folks!), this sign would be a perfect addition to our son's room. 

Sweater Pieced Blanket

Last night I finished the blanket I've been working on! My friend Susi hosts a monthly craft night at her place. We bring our goods, drink wine, eat snacks, and chat! It's often the best night of the month. I had been saving a few sweaters that I'd accidentally shrunk (more than a few times) and decided to cut them up into square and rectangular pieces and hand stitch them into one baby blanket. I used three sweaters, including my very favorite, all-time loved dark turquoise sweater. I bought it while living in Charleston, SC in 1998. Years later, it had holes in the elbows, wrists, and elsewhere. I'd shrunk it too many times and it was seriously falling apart. It even made it into the Goodwill pile several times, but I pulled it out every time... "just one more season," I'd say to myself. And I'm so glad I never got rid of it. It'll live on. 

Here are a few photos of the blanket. Cheers!