Needles and a Pen » Knitting, Sewing, and Nursing School

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  • Welcome to my blog!

    Hi! I'm Traci. I'm a Registered Nurse who loves quilting, knitting, cross stitch, and the great outdoors. In my pre-scrubs life, I owned Real Photography, and you can still see my old wedding and portrait photography site here .

    I've created a map that shows links to our camping/hiking/general family fun review posts that you can find here. It's pretty much the coolest thing on this site. Thanks, Google!

    I great big puffy heart *love* comments, so please let me know you visited! I try to always reply!

quilts

You’d be forgiven for assuming that I don’t actually quilt anymore!  But I actually have been quilting occasionally, I just keep forgetting to blog about it!

This farm fresh quilt was finished a couple of months ago, but I photographed it for the first time last night.  I didn’t edit the photos at all because I wanted to share just how crazy the light was last night at 5:00.  The smoke from the Waldo Canyon Fire was filtering the sunlight and it looked like gorgeous sunset 8pm light three hours early!

A couple of weeks ago I finished off this quilt top that is just waiting on quilting.  It’s a trip around the world, which I’ve wanted to make since I started quilting.  I don’t have any quilts without pink, and needed a ‘boy colors’ quilt for the studio.  I used the Eleanor Burns Quilt in a Day method in the full size and it was fantastic.  Now to piece the back and get this puppy quilted!

Currently in work is this very simple patchwork quilt from a fat 1/8th bundle of Loulouthi, inspired by this from Blue Elephant Stitches.

 

Sew Create It - Jane - Love that first quilt…you’ve used such beautiful fabrics! Can’t wait to see more of the “boy” quilt…blue is my favourite colour and I can tell this will be another beauty!

Audrey - Love you stuff! I love to quilt but I’ve only been doing it for a couple years and am mostly self taught. I’m curious what the Eleanor Burns Quilt in a Day method is. Though I never have a full day to quilt anymore I would love to know! Thank you!

nightgowns for Ellie

The thing about store bought kid’s pajamas is that they are not summer friendly.  In the attempt to keep kids from bursting into flame, they’ve created outfits that seem destined to keep kids miserable and sweaty.  Enter homemade children’s pajamas, where you don’t have to worry about pesky fireproof pajama laws and can use nice light cotton in super loose designs!  I made a dress-turned-nightgown for Ellie in February and fell in love with the idea, so now that the temps are in the triple digits I’ve made her four more.

I used the Sweet Little Dress pattern again, and on some of the nightgowns I’ve skipped the sleeve elastic for more of a flutter sleeve look.  For fabric I raided the stash for some old goodies–Children at Play in the front, then It’s a Hoot, what I think is from American Jane Snippets, and then an Anthology print.

Also keeping us cool this record-tying-temperature week (along with my shirts optional policy) is our new Zoku popsicle maker.  The kids are OBSESSED with popsicles, and so when I found a forgotten William Sonoma gift card in my wallet, I opted not to buy the mid-sized pot that we so desperately need, but a silly popsicle gadget that Will has been jonesing for instead.  (I am the essence of fiscal responsibility.)  It has been a huge fun giant hit and I predict that it will stay well in use!

For a month the first words out of Ellie’s mouth in the morning are “Popsicle, please, Mommy?”  And all day long the refrain of “Popsicle, please?” has bounced around our walls.  Thanks to the Zoku, for the last couple of days I’ve been able to say “Okay!” to breakfast popsicles (blueberries, greek yogurt, cream and agave nectar blended together and then granola dropped into the mix).  We’ve made/invented many delicious popsicles so far, including watermelon/basil/cucumber popsicles and rum-and-coke-sicles and armed with a couple of popsicle books I’m anxious to try some actual recipes this week!  Long live the popsicle!

Heather - It’s in the triple digits at your house?? Ummmmm, I did not know that. Can you please start on a nightgown for me to wear this weekend 😀 What are grown-ups suppose to do?

Traci - Knowing you, you’ll probably still need a hoodie and a blanket. 😀

a renaissance dress for Ellie

We go to the Renaissance Festival in Larkspur every year.  Last year I made this quilt for watching the joust, and this year on my to do list was a period appropriate outfit for Ellie.  I used the Children’s Workshop Tab Front Jumper ‘instructions’ for the outer piece and the Sweet Little Dress pattern (extending the length) for the under piece.

The tab front jumper was probably a little bit beyond my skills–you’re left to your own devices to figure it out, including how you will handle facing/lining/the order to piece it together/seam allowance/sizing/etc.  I had some sizing issues (at first I thought it would be too big, then too small, and then it ended up being a tad bit big) but figured I could add a ruffle and send her to the fair again in it next year–bonus!  Sadly she tore a giant hole in the floral piece (for which I almost killed her–I adore that fabric and had wanted her to use it as a nightgown).  I’ve patched it and we’ll see if it can make another appearance next year.

 

slippers for my momma

For part of my mom’s mother’s day gift I made her a pair of house slippers.

I think the exterior fabric is Liberty, but don’t quote me on that.  😛

Suzanne - What a lovely gift. I would love a pair of those myself.

Fran - They are so very cute and comfortable! I am so lucky!

Stacey Henderson - So very cute! P.S I have that fabric too…it’s a Kaffe Fassett 🙂

Sheila - So lovely! I need to make myself a pair! Did you use a pattern or just wing it? (And the fabric you used for the exterior print is Kaffe Fassett from a few years back…it’s called “Asha,” if memory serves…)

don’t get excited

Don’t say I didn’t warn you.  This isn’t going to inspire anyone, but I put this quilt together for Will’s kindergarten teacher.  Sashed with red and backed with a navy, it’s got pictures drawn by each of the members of her class.  Of course I imagine a kindergarten teacher wants more kid art like she wants a hole in the head (Nic, the son of a second grade teacher and therefore a believer that the only thing you should ever give a teacher is a gift card, said when I showed this to him “at least it folds up small”), but my thought is that everyone can always use a blanket, even if they only bring it out for picnics.  😛

For anyone taking on a project like this, I would recommend becoming completely in charge of the project so you can make sure high quality fabrics are used and that the marker colors coordinate with the fabric you have in mind.  My original plan had to be adjusted–a couple of ideas that I think would blend easier into a teacher’s home would be to have the kids decorate the center of what would become modern log cabin blocks or use 5″ squares and create a patchwork quilt with just a few art squares and a lot of fabric squares.  I actually plan on doing the latter soon with Will’s drawings–he’s been excited about the thought of a quilt with only HIS drawings.

Also, yes, my kid really is a stand out cutie in a sea of blurry heads.  ;P

Moogie - It’s really nice, and I KNOW she will absolutely adore it. But That Nic sure is funny!

Jennifer - Beautiful! I can only imagine how hard it would be to work with other people on something like that. Phew!

Loving that kid in the front row with his flip flop twisted up like that! Only childhood…

Lynette - This is AWESOME. There is no way she didn’t just love it immensely. 🙂

flannel sprout

I made this cute hooded flannel Sprout dress for my goddaughter.  I can’t wait to see her rocking it with some tights next year!

di - Wow, what a cute cute dress and pattern! Would you be willing to lend the pattern? Thanks.

Traci - Thanks for the note! Unfortunately I only feel comfortable swapping patterns with local friends, but I believe you can find this one on etsy or I think I’ve seen it at fabricworm. I actually got it on sale for around $4, so it’s worth keeping an eye out for sales!.

Stacy - Has she tried this dress on yet? How does it fit? I made this dress for my daughter who is in the 18% for head circumstance, and it won’t fit over her head! Soooo frustrating.