Monkey Foot Designs

Warning! Lots and lots of pictures ahead - it's been a fun week!!!

Lots of fun crafty stuff to talk about :) Last week I was bound and determined to do something about this table cover:

I had picked up this vinyl remnant at Joanne's a few months ago for a dollar or so - while it's fun and great for Sydney's crafting and other messy endeavors, it's not so pleasant on the eye on a day-to-day basis. I saw this tutorial for a double-sided SPLAT MAT, bought some of Michael Miller's laminated cotton and went to town. The instructions call for a couple of fiddly things (like using fabric tape to keep the layers from shifting, and putting masking tape over your feed dogs). I like to live on the wild side (okay... I didn't feel like dealing), so I skipped both. I used the quilters clips (look like little metal barrettes) to keep the layers snug and didn't have any problems. Honestly, I think the hardest part of the project was getting the 2 pieces of fabric to be the same size.

I love the new mat:

And it looks so much better!

I also whipped up a little something for my niece, Jordan. She wanted a pink sling for her favorite friend, Pinky, so I followed the tutorial that Laurie of the blog THE WOODEN SPOOL put together. It was an easy-to-follow tutorial and the only changes that I would make are to make it a little longer (I ended up adding ~ 8 inches) and to use larger rings (she calls for 1 1/2" rings - it was really tight for me, so if I do it again, I'll look for slightly larger ones).

Also finished up the quilt! YIPPEEE!!!
I did make my March deadline (finished hand-stitching the binding on the 31st...).
Here's a picture of the quilt front and the pillow that I won from Joy's blog - matches perfectly! And most importantly, Sydney loves it and her new blanket :)

Here's the quilt back:

Thursday brought some pretty fun things in the mail:

Flowers from my buddy, Sara, in NYC - just because :)

And..... the BEST goody box from my sewing pal, Julia, from Singapore!
THANKS AGAIN JULES!

(Ben is checking to see if there is anything else in the box...).
She wrapped everything up and included little notes - it was Christmas in April!

Here's a gorgeous bag that she made (with one of those neat collapsing metal frame openings) and a Japanese pattern book that I've been eyeing.

A new handmade dress and book for Sydney:

Some fun knick-knacks for the kids and I (although I doubt that I'll share - it's all too cute!)

And some baby music toys (Decole) for Ben (of course Syd has since claimed them as hers)

As for projects I'm working on this week, this is basically where I'm at with the Sophia Bag Sew-Along. I've made the piping and started the ironing (there is a bunch of interfacing with this project) - I think that if I can find 2 chunks of time, I'll have this bag done (barring no big catastrophes).

I also received my partner for the Bend The Rules Sewing Pleated Bag swap, so I'm working on some ideas... I'll post pics once I figure out what the heck I'm doing.

Lastly...

What is Syd peeking at? My new sewing machine!!!!!

I am doing cartwheels over this one! I've had my eye on the Janome 6600P for a while now and couldn't resist a good deal when it presented itself. I have a ton of things to learn still on it, but I can at least straight stitch for right now :) I'm in heaven....

I've been tagged by Steph, so next time I'll be sharing a few more random tidbits about myself (I think I'm running out!). Good night! :) Kris