This project has been on my to-do chalk board in my sewing room for a while now.  A new cover for my heating pad!  Usually when I have to pull out the heating pad it means that I probably need an extra bit of cheering.  Hopefully this will bring a little smile when I use it.

I used one of my precious Heather Ross fabrics for the feature print.   These long underwear made me think of sick days.

I thought about sewing the words “Be Well” and then I decided that it might be fun to change it up by just stamping it on.  It was a lot faster and I think just as swell.

Here’s the back with some of the handmade buttons from my stash.  I think I would have rather put the buttons on the front side, but didn’t realize that until after I was done.  All well.

A good question might be why I would ever make something like this that will sit in the medicine cabinet for most of it’s life??   (ah-hem…Tony.)  I guess it just doesn’t matter in the world of handmade for me–I love the design process, the construction, and most of all–the finished product!  There will be an extra dose of mama’s love when my boys have to use this heating pad.

My sewing machine has been humming prettily the last few nights. Here’s my work in progress. I hope to finish it tonight and then I’ll tell you what it is.

We were having issues with crayons being everywhere!! I had to do something about it. Something easy for Elias to help put them away in. Here’s my answer. I used my Zippered Pouch tutorial to help me. Took me about 15 minutes. Gotta love a project like that!

I am at 35 weeks in my pregnancy and I am beginning to feel it!  Many nights find me crashing on the couch after I put Elias to bed.  Sleeping, knitting, or reading seem to be my favorites lately.  That said, however, I feel like I am still making good progress on things I want to accomplish before this baby arrives.

I finished baby #2′s baby blanket!  Yay!  My first project with crochet and I LOVE how it turned out.  The colors are great, the weight feels good  for any season, and I think it will snuggle around baby very nicely.

Material is dyed for a new rug for the nursery.  I wanted to use what I had on hand so I attempted to dye some orange wool red, TWICE, but I still have orange wool.  My dryer may or may not be a new shade of red…don’t tell Tony.  So the rug will be orange, robin eggish blue, and gray.  I picked wool for the thickness it gives.  Nothing like a good cushy rug under your feet.

This is the frame I made and an old sheet used as the warping.  If my energy holds out tonight I will start the weaving.

Also completed is the top of a quilt for the nursery wall.  I need to quilt and bind it.  A sneak peak for you now.  More to come later on it.

So even though my feet are starting to complain about this extra traveler on board with me, progress is being made.  A good thing.

With a gorgeous day yesterday, I pulled out the clothesline to do a little diaper drying in the sun.  I soon discovered that my clothespin bag from last year was due for a date with the trash.  Last night I thought about what I wanted in a new bag…basically easy access to grab a handful of pins and big enough to hold plenty of pins.  Here’s what I came up with.  An easy to construct bag with a circle big enough for my hand and lined with double fold bias tape.  Plus a waistband that I left plenty long to allow for my rather large belly at the moment.  (I can trim the straps after baby arrives if I decide they are too long.)

Then I added a quick little tag for an extra touch.  I hand stitched the word “fresh” and put a little bird stamp next to it.

There are so many sewing projects I would like to get done before baby arrives in mid-July.  We will see how my motivation holds out.  And yes, who has time to pick up the couch when there are so many more exciting things to do.  :)  Actually, that is a pile of my just washed Norwex cleaning supplies–love it!