Happy Birthday!

Ok, I'm a little late on this post, granted things have been crazy in my life. My baby girl turned 1 this past month - and I think I went overboard on the party planning. Thanks to Cakes by Lee (Facebook) and Gymboree Play and Music Ottawa (FACEBOOK) (WEB) - complete with Gymbo kisses!, my Dr. Seuss themed birthday was a success! Grandma was prepping the fun blue and black striped pasta salad and the Green Eggs and Ham platter while I finally finished her Dr. Seuss quilt on time (with 30 minutes to spare) for her big reveal. I'm so happy that she loves her blanket. We got her a matching Cat in the Hat stuffed doll from Eko Bear (FACEBOOK) (WEB).

This also meant that my Mat Leave has finally come to an end, and I've gone back to work - or more specifically, an empty office. To help spread the word that I'm looking for new opportunities and to share my industry knowledge, I decided to start teaching. With the slew of responsibilities I now hold, Bibmababy has unfortunately taken a back seat to my hectic life - as has this blog obviously... I'm going to attempt to update you on some of the going ons.

I have taken up writing for a northern Ontario parenting magazine called HomeGrown Parenting, In the North (FACEBOOK) (WEB). My role is mostly creating sewing tutorials. However, I have added a few of my personal ideas into the mix. Writing my first issue was a bit of a learning curve. I outlined how to create this lunch bag out of a light canvas and even though I claim it only takes an hour and a half to make... between taking pictures and writing as I was sewing with my laptop next to my sewing machine, it was probably more like 3 hours.

I've also written about a Toddler-sized version of a Halloween Trick or Treat Bag, and in November, you'll learn about a Tooth Fairy Pillow.

I'm always open to new sewing ideas, and I need to come up with something for the Winter Holidays. I'm like to stay away from the Christmas theme, however, I have a lot of cute fabric just screaming to make an appearance.

I've also tried desperately to finish the blouse dress from a few months back - I think I failed on that one. It was going soooo well, and then I think I chose a blouse that was just too complicated to work with. It looks great on the mannequin, but it just doesn't sit right on my baby girl. Back to the drawing board? Or maybe I should just call it quits on this one.

Updates on my Dr. Seuss Quilt

Dear Singer Sewing machine... please let me finish my quilt. I've been ever so nice to you, why do you insist on skipping stitches? I've had you repaired 3 times and you are a mere 5 years old! Are you a lemon disguised as the greatest quilting machine ever? I'm sad that we're not getting along. You've given me years of fun and relaxation. Please tell me what I need to do to make you happy again. I really don't want to have to replace you.

Signed,
Your loving friend
I love my machine... and we've only recently been arguing.

Here's a few pics of the quilt so far! I finally finished stippling it last night. Now all I have to do is a mitered binding.

Pardon the bird... it's a good tutorial, but the bird needs to go!

I encountered a few issues - basically the tension on my machine kept going wonky, and I had to restart the stippling since it gave this effect on the back. It kind of looks like stray hairs? After looking into it, I found out that there's numerous reasons why this can happen.

This Janome forum helped me solve some of my issues and I managed to FINALLY finish my quilt... Hopefully I'll have it ready for Kate's upcoming birthday! I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do for her first birthday, and since this will be a rare occasion where I get to choose what to do for her birthday, I was thinking on what else... but a Dr. Seuss themed birthday!!!