Garden is Alive!!!

With the arrival of spring our garden has come alive!! The flax flowers are in full bloom. They are the sweet blue ones all of the yard. The iris have bloomed much better than last year and the poppies that I transplanted from school last spring have multiplied and bloomed! I love this time of year when the earth wakes up and says "YES"!
Hope you are having a wonderful spring!

Owl

I just made my first needle felted animal from the book Wool Pets!!! (thanks for the book Sofie)!!! I loved it!! The directions were clear and easy to follow! I can't wait to make the next one. I think I'll make something for my dad. I sat him down with a copy of the book when we went to a yarn shop together over winter break and he really liked it. So after some other projects are finished I think I'll pick something out to make for him.
This little owl went to my friend Ellen who due with her third child. They made an animal mobile for the baby at her baby blessing! I couldn't be there as it was too much traveling to late in my pregnancy!

Apron (that doesn't fit...yet)

I found the pattern to this apron last year some time in a sweet book called "Maryjane's ideabook, cookbook, lifebook, for the farm girl in all of us" by MaryJane Butters. She has a couple of other books published which also have lots of great ideas and are fun to look at. In a spurt of inspiration two weekends ago when my mom was visiting and we were working on some sewing projects I cut out the pattern and pulled a bundle of fabric off the shelf (some fabric that I bought in Syracuse, NY and had thought would make a sweet apron) and cut out the apron. I did as much as I could on the apron then promptly made a sewing lesson, at the local quilting shop, for sewing on binding. I have never sewn on binding with a machine! So this past Tuesday I had my lesson and learned a few techniques and tricks. All week I worked at it a little at a time. I used my seam ripper a lot but finally towards the end started to get the hang of it, I guess practice brings us closer to "perfection". Not that I'm striving to be perfect, I want it to look nice though! So now the apron is done, hand sewn button holes in place and vintage buttons, with bling attached, from my Grandma Cowley's button bin are sewn on and the apron is ready to go (after a gentle washing) but the catch is it doesn't fit me!!! My belly just sticks out too far these days, so this will be something to look forward to wearing after the baby comes. I think it will suit the summer months perfectly!

Little Red Cottage

So I have been thinking of changing the name of my blog to Red Cottage Crafts or Little Red Cottage Crafts or something else, Link Creations lacks a little pizazz or something and doesn't seem quite right. I haven't given this name change a lot of thought but some and am still pondering it. We live in a quite nice cute little red cottage and it seems kind of fitting, but we wont live here forever. I also like the word Morningside for using as a label for my toy creations but have never actually put it to use. Maybe I will soon.

Knitted Horse!!

I recently made two horses like this one. I used Sprout yarn by Classic Elite Yarns. It is 100% organic cotton!! And oh so soft! I enjoyed knitting with, it has a nice kink to it and made a lovely color for a horse. It reminded me of my horse Scooter that I used to ride in high school. So now I have a toy for my baby and Milo has one to play with too! Happy Birthday Milo! (very late, not that you really know:)

My other knitting project in process is a sweater for our baby. I am a bit stuck on it, mentally but hope to make at least a little progress tonight at craft night with the ladies. It is a simple pattern and a sweet sweater, I have never made anything like it, maybe that is why I am hesitating, I don't want to fail... not sure. At the same time I know I can do it and I know that I can get help if I get stuck on the pattern. The joys of being a Libra

Bibs done!

I finally finished the bibs!! Actually I have one left but am waiting to buy some red thread... I put Brandon to work this weekend helping me turn the bibs right side out again after I trimmed them! It's nice to have someone to work with from time to time. I seem to usually do everything by myself!!! These bibs were so fun to make I will probably make some more eventually as it's easy and a good way to use some of those lovely prints from my stash. Plus they make good gifts! I love this simple pattern that I found online!!!
I have really been enjoying sewing lately. There is such satisfaction in sewing! I love how quickly you can complete projects when you use a sewing machine!!!

A sewing frenzy

With Brandon off in Burns for five weeks I am trying to make the most of my bachelorette days!!! So I have been among other things sewing!!! I snuck off from my parents house with a stash of material that I had left years ago and also some fabric my mom was never going to use!!! What joy!!! A whole new supply of goodies for free!! I also got take my mom's sewing machine which has the zigzag stitch on it. I have my grandma's old machine which is great, a good old solid machine which only goes back and forth. So I took my mom's machine to get tuned up and oiled!!! I think it has been a long..............time since it has been serviced. I am pretty excited to try it out when it comes back, I haven't sewn on it for many years!
Well, I washed all the material that I had absconded with then I had a big fat ironing party, ironing can be sew relaxing, and before I knew it I was cutting a pinning fabric. I ended up pinning two blankets and a burp cloth and cutting out about 10 bibs!!!
The next day I got down to some straight forward sewing and sewed one of the blankets, the burp cloth, a baby towel I had started a while back, and one of the bibs! I enjoyed it immensely and look forward to finishing the rest of the projects. And when I get my mom's machine back I have some old tee shirts cut up to sew into baby pants!!!