This past weekend, we were able to spend time celebrating new life with some dear friends of mine. Two college friend, Johanna and Kaitlin married brothers, and now they are both expecting late summer/early fall! We were so happy when the date worked for us to take a little roadtrip to Chicago, so we could be there!
Kelley and Chad hosted the shower at their new house, and they were incredible hosts. Their house is gorgeous, and I want their front yard. Oh, and their kitchen….and the slimming mirror over the staircase. ;o)
She brought home some toys for Harlow from her office, so Harlow of course went straight for the dinosaurs!
This little love-bug stole the show.
I think baby boy’s kicks lulled baby G right to sleep. My arms were not complaining — he is seriously so cute! Thank you for letting me steal him away from your arms so much, Callie! And for letting Harlow hold him — she’s still talking about it.
Harlow was relatively well-behaved for completely skipping her nap — she even rested a bit upstairs, after proclaiming how byoooful everything was. Harlow girl loves fancy pillows! Ha
I put her to work, of course.
Baby girl due October // Baby boy due September // Baby ..??.. due August!
I of course had way too much fun making gifts for their little blessings. I love making these burp rags, because they give me a chance to just experiment! Kaitlin and her husband Ben are going for the 40-week surprise, so I stuck to elephants, mint and grey!
Johanna and her husband Grant went for the 20-week surprise, and are incorporating grey, pinks and coral — so of course I needed to run with those colors!
I used a few different techniques to quilt these burp rags…
Walking foot stripes using painter’s tape as my guide. (Video tutorial available here.)
Some free motion quilting — I am such an amateur, y’all. I free handed these hearts with my favorite fabric pens, and then loosely followed my markings as a guide. More on free-motion quilting here!
I used my walking foot to outline a cute little turtle on one burp rag and an elephant on another! The elephant might be my most favorite ever….
If I was smoother with my free-motion foot, I would have used that, but I opted to simply work slowly with my walking foot — and I was really happy with the results!
Of course I needed to “wrap” them in a paint can! I just love these things.
And a little bit of adhesive vinyl completes them! I designed a cut file with one of my favorite verses — Psam 139:14 — and used my ScanNCut to cut it out of vinyl.
I added a few of my favorite baby-must-haves as well. These are definitely becoming my go-to gift to create for showers! 3 burp rags fit beautifully around the perimeter of the paint can, and it leaves the perfect space to stuff with a few baby essentials!
I’m excited for names to be finalized, so I can start some customized goodies for these sweet blessings!
And because I love y’all, here are the downloadable files for my “fearfully and wonderfully made” design!
UPDATE: Because GOODNESS SAKES PREGNANCY BRAIN!! I see the typo….well, I didn’t see the typo…no one saw the typo! But the typo has been found.
And the files have been updated! SORRY! #goodnessgoodnessgoodness
xo
In case you’re wondering how I go from design to cutting the vinyl to adhering to the paint can!
1 // Download cut file and cut adhesive vinyl after testing settings. Be sure to only cut through the vinyl, keeping the paper backing intact.
2 // Remove the negative pieces — or the vinyl you won’t be using.
3 // Using contact or transfer paper, attach the sticky side of the transfer paper to the right side of your vinyl design.
4 // Remove paper backing from your vinyl design, and arrange design with contact/transfer paper to your final object.
5 // Burnish the vinyl onto the surface and gently peel away contact paper, being sure every area of the design is sticking well.
6 // Voila! You did it!
This post makes me so happy! It was so great to see you and your family! I’ve been literally showing my burp rags off to anyone who will listen! My mom who has been a avid sewer her whole life was blown away!
Love you!!
I LOVE YOU!