High on Spring.

We have been seriously enjoying some nice weather over here.

Spring is in the air and I've been inhaling deeply... one might even say I'm high on life.

I can't help myself.

I love nice weather so much. It makes me all happy. And probably nicer.

If my hubby were smart he'd move us to someplace where it's nice and warm all year long...

Right?

Willow laughs hysterically every. single. time. I push her on the swings.

Like, loud belly laughs.

People turn to look and I catch them all chuckling sooner or later.

I mean, you can't help it, her laughter is contagious.

And the Squish also enjoys the swings!

But she's more of a kick-your-legs-and-squeal sort of swinger.

As you can imagine, when my kids are on the swings, it's a very loud area of the park.

I love my loud and happy kids.

***

Here's another nursery set to share:

Super fun, right?

This was actually my first "theme" bedding set.

(See that jungle print?)

I'll be honest, it was a little tricky finding a jungle print that was girly

and that also

matched green walls.

(These are not the green walls I'm talking about, these are my grey walls that I love dearly.)

I think it all came together really well.

My fave parts of this set would have to be the crib skirt (too long for my crib...)

and the quilt.

It's a string quilt... which I love so much!

And the back:

And a hand-stitched label to finish it off :)

I think that little quote is Irish for "my darling"(?)

For the string quilt, I used the paper-piecing method to make my blocks...

I think I started with 9" squares of freezer paper

and my middle strips of fabric were 2" wide.

I just love a quilt roll...

Wouldn't a whole bookshelf full of rolled quilts be amazing?

Hmmm....

Happy Spring!!

I Don't Know Jack.

It's true.

I don't.

Neither do you.

Nobody does.

And that's because he isn't due until August :)

That's right... I get another nephew in August!

And his name will be Jack.

I know, I know, you're jealous of all the sweet little babies I get to hold, right?

You should be.

I'm lucky.

And babies are cute.

I've been pumping out some custom crib sets over here in my neck of the woods...

and the latest one just happened to be for my sister-in-law Emily and her hubby John.

Yay!

So, Em decided on her

beachy/nautical

color scheme and sent me some pics of fabrics she liked and I went to work:

I think it turned out great!

And I think Jack will be nice and cozy... don't you?

Here are the fabrics used:

bumper: Anna Maria Horner Woodcut in DayDream (home decor weight)

Amy Butler Sunspots in Midnight (home decor weight)

bumper ties: Joel Dewberry Nap Sack in Sunset

crib skirt: Amy Butler Sunspots in Tangerine with a border of Nap Sack in Lake

crib sheet: Leaves in Blue

And for the quilt (40x60") I used all the above fabric

(except for the Leaves in Blue)

and added in a little Amy Butler fabric from my stash.

The binding is a grey/aqua stripe Lacoste flat sheet that I found at TJ Maxx

that matched perfectly.

It is machine quilted, machine stitched binding, and made with LOTS of love :)

front and back of quilt

And here's Emily opening her new bedding (while Willow and Peyton help) at the shower:

Congrats to Emily and John!

They will be amazing parents and I can't wait to meet (read: hold) Baby Jack.

And for those of you who are curious, Jack makes the fourth new nephew in the last 11 months.

It's Babypalooza.

P.S. You can score your own custom bedding set over on the top right-hand side drop down menu!

Surprises and Skirts.

I love my job(s).

I get to be a mom.

I get to make things.

And many times I get to make things for other moms.

Yeah, it's pretty cool.

My latest project was for a couple who aren't finding out their baby's gender until THE day!

Oh, how I wish I had that kind of patience/self-control...

I HAD to know.

Both times :)

They went with bright greens and yellows with a little bit of navy and aqua thrown in for fun.

I think it's perfect to snuggle up either a little boy or girl, don't you think?

They really liked the style of the quilt in this nursery set, so that's what we did!

Here's the fabrics used throughout:

Bumper: Dandelion in Lime and Glass Tiles in Lemon

Bumper ties: Quarter Dot in Navy and Leaves in Blue

Crib sheet: Painter's Canvas in Lime

Crib skirt: Ta Dot in Apple w/ Quarter Dot in Navy border

The quilt used all the above fabrics and then we added in:

Honeycomb in Green

and

Large Leafy Stripe in Lime

Measures 45x55" ish, machine quilted, machine stitched binding.

The quilt back was pieced, and binding was Glass Tiles in Lemon.

Heather (and Hubby)- I hope you love your new crib bedding!

I, of course, would LOVE to know if you ended up with a boy or girl when the time comes :)

(because I'm nosy like that.)

And I would obviously also LOVE some pictures of your little lovey all wrapped up...

when you have time.

Of course.

Enjoy!

I've also been busy making clothes for my girlies...

I'm trying to do a lot more handmade this year than I did last year.

And I realized

(while uncovering, sorting, washing, organizing, folding, and kissing, and putting away all of Willow's old clothes for Baby #2)

that Big Sister has absolutely NO clothes.

None.

Well, none that are acceptable for public viewing, anyway.

So I went to work:

I had lots of fun.

No patterns, no plans really, just started sewing and embellishing :)

I used a mix of fabrics: some from stash, some from the scrap bins, some from Hobby Lobby...

(which had some surprisingly good quality fabrics, I might add).

And my favorite part was adding all the little details.

Vintage trims, funky trims, ribbons, jumbo ric-rac, decorative stitching, you name it!

I got a little carried away.

But that's ok, because they're for my little love-bucket :)

I think this one's my favorite:

And I've also been sewing like crazy for the nursery and the baby...

but it's been quite rainy/gloomy these last few days and I haven't been able to take any good pictures so far.

Stay tuned...

Newest Completion...

I love this latest nursery set.

Love. Love. Love.

It kind of makes we want a little boy.

Kinda.

Let's see.

There's mostly Anna Maria Horner Garden Party and Good Folks, some Joel Dewberry Modern Meadow...

... and a little bit of Amy Butler and Laura Gunn in the quilt.

Just a simple patchwork design with a larger outside border.

And then a bright orange binding (JD Nap sack in sunset) to accent everything.

The back of the quilt is also one of my favorites:

I just love those trees.

This back just makes me want to make a quilt front like this!

And here's the hand-stitched label:

Isn't that a cute quote?

The momma picked that one out.

I had a little bit of fun with the colors...

And a quilt roll for good measure!

Quilt stats:

40x50"

machine quilted 1/4" from either side of seams

I used a grey Gutermann thread for the quilting

machine stitched binding

pieced back

So, there you go!

Alli, I hope you love it.

(And if you want to send me a pic with your little man all wrapped up in it when he finally gets here, that would be fantastic.)

If anyone is interested in their own WillowBean Creations Custom Nursery Set

(for boys or girls or surprises)

please check out the nursery set listings in my Etsy Store!

Or email me directly at willowbeanmama@gmail.com.

Happy Friday!

It's Beginning to Feel a Lot Like Springtime...

There was finally a nice spring-y little something in the air today...

So I just had to open the windows and let it in the house, of course.

It was lovely.

There's nothing like breathing in crisp, fresh air when you're inside your house.

Nothing.

And the way the sun was coming through my front window made me want to get out my camera and play while Willow was napping.

I love old things.

Especially old furniture, old wooden spools of silky thread, and old glassware.

Oh, and velvet things. I like velvet things, too.

I do not like antiques, however.

'Old things' and 'antiques' are not to be confused with each other.

What's the difference?

I don't really know... I couldn't tell you.

But there certainly is a difference.

While I was playing with my old things and my camera, I remembered that I had a new thing to share!

Voila!

The Anjou Spring Dress

I was inspired somewhat by these, which I just love.

But I was mostly inspired by these old things I've been sorting into fun little piles.

Do you ever do that?

Unnecessarily sort things?

I just re-sort and re-organize for no good reason at all... just because.

It makes me happy.

And that awesome fabric just had to be put to good use, right?

And I didn't want to cut it all up... too pretty.

And when it came in the mail Willow shouted,

"For ME? I LOVE it, Mom!"

So, there you have it, the combined inspirations for a fabulous little girl dress.

I just sort of pulled bits and pieces from different dresses I liked to come up with this one.

I guess you could call it somewhat of an experiment.

The bunching of the sheer/mesh yellow polka dot fabric was definitely a new thing for me.

I really loved how it turned out and the texture it added to the dress.

I either got it at a yard sale or on the clearance shelf at a fabric shop because I have lots and lots of it and I don't know why else I would have bought it!

The flower brooch was put together using some raw silk, velvet ribbon, and that pretty little bloom.

And it's detachable for washing :)

I can't wait for Willow to wear this dress out and about!

I also think it would make the perfect Easter dress!

If you don't have your Easter dress yet, don't worry!

I'm still taking orders.

You can order yours using the drop-down menu on the right side of the page.

Or, if you're interested in having something like The Anjou Spring Dress, email me at

willowbeanmama@gmail.com

and we'll whip something up that's one-of-a-kind for your little one!

Go open your windows because Spring is in the air!

Finishes!

Despite the weirdness, I have been getting quite a bit done around here.

I guess I've gotten used to it :)

The latest completions are a couple of quilts I made for my niece and nephew all the way in Virginia.

(ps: I really miss Virginia.)

For some reason, I always take a lot of pictures of the process of making quilts...

I'm not sure why.

Maybe in the back of my head I want to make a tutorial one day.

Who knows.

But when it comes to finally writing a post about the quilt I finally finished, I never use the process pics.

For all you know, I could be buying quilts elsewhere and saying they're mine!

I assure you, that's not the case.

I have the pics to prove it and from now on I think I will be showing more of them.

Here's some chain-piecing taking place:

(check out my new cutting mat!! I finally got a good one!)

And here are some rows all finished and waiting to be pressed:

Apparently, I skipped quite a few pics between the last one and the next one,

the completely finished quilt.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is probably why I haven't ever written a tutorial to date.

I forget what I'm doing and just sew.

Triston's finished quilt:

I did some straight line quilting on the diagonal to show off the triangles a bit.

1/4" from either side of each seam.

And I extended the quilt with a wide border on 2 sides of the quilt and added a little interest with some "rebel" triangles.

While making the quilt I labeled those 2 pieces my "little rebels", and it stuck.

I think the asymmetry gives the quilt a more modern look.

And it shakes things up a bit.

Which I totally dig.

And, of course, a little hand-stitched label so Triston knows how much I love him :)

It's a nice baby-size quilt at 34x45", machine quilted and machine-stitched binding.

And here's Gabi's quilt:

I started this quilt quite a long time ago, but never got around to finishing it.

Gabi loves everything pink, so when my sister said she needed another quilt, I thought this one would be perfect.

And to make it even more Gabi-ish, I bound it with some pink zebra print fabric.

For the quilting, I used orange and pink thread and went 1/4" away around the outside edges of the squares, twice.

That sounds confusing. I don't know how else to word it.

I doubt you're really that interested anyway, so I'm going to leave it and move on.

Gabi gets a label, of course.

Have to keep it fair.

This quilt is about 51x51", machine quilted and machine-stitched binding.

I've also made some headway on Willow's Dresden Plate quilt top...

but more on that later because I just realized the water has been running in my bathroom for much longer than it takes to wash little hands,

which never ever means anything good.

Happy Weekend!

Pink and Shades of Grey

Here's the latest nursery set!

This one was pretty fun to make... the colors weren't my usual palette, and I hardly ever use black, but I think it turned out really pretty :)

The customer really wanted a pink and grey fabric, but for some reason that color combo is hard to come by in the same print.

No worries, however, I solved the problem by dyeing some Dandelion in Stone pink!

It took a lot of trial runs, but I think it turned out just the perfect shade.

You can't really tell in the above picture, but the reversible bumper is the dyed pink/grey Dandelion fabric and some light pink Minky fabric with black bumper ties.

And for the quilt I used a bunch of different light pink and grey fabrics to get a really nice patchwork going.

I even dyed some of the baby pink Damask fabric (can't remember the designer...) different shades of grey.

And then I bound the whole quilt in black. I believe the new momma said it was like, "mascara on eyelashes", which I thought was very fitting :)

The back is pieced with some of the fabrics used throughout the set, and then I stitched on an embroidered label in the bottom corner.

I did my usual 1/4" quilting on either side of the seams... I think it's my favorite for patchwork quilts.

Even though the label itself is embroidered, I hand-stitched it on with some light pink floss to add a special little handmade touch...

Gotta love special touches :)

Oh, and to finish it all off, the crib skirt was a extra-full (read: extra girly) and pieced with Primrose in pink and Dandelion in stone with a thick black border on the bottom edge.

Originally, the black wasn't part of the nursery set at all, but when I started to put everything together as discussed, the set really looked like it was missing something.

When the mom-to-be told me the nursery furniture was black, I knew we had to make a little switcheroo and throw in the black accents.

Thankfully, even though final decisions had been made, she was willing to trust my suggestions and I think it really made a huge difference in the overall look of the set:

sweet but contemporary and very custom :)

Here's to Mommy Abby and Baby Ryann (who I think is due any day now!), I hope you love your nursery bedding.

"From small beginnings come great things..."

If anyone is interested in ordering their own custom nursery set, please email me at

willowbeanmama@gmail.com

and we'll get to work making your dream bedding!