I'm an aunt!

So these last two weeks I've totally fallen off the face of the earth. But now I'm back and ready to present to you . . .

MY NEPHEW!

Henry was born the morning of March 3rd (his Daddy's birthday) by c-section after my trooper of a sister-in-law was in labor for ... wait for it ... 76 hours. The baby very quickly earned the nickname "Hank the tank".
I'm so freakin' smitten with this little boy that I've had a hard time thinking about anything else. But I've just started to channel the hyperness of my affection into crafting. I went out yesterday and bought two books to get me started.




First I grabbed "Angry Chicken" Amy Karol's Bend-the-Rules Sewing. I've been meaning to buy this book for while and finally grabbed it for an adorable stuffed turtle pattern that I want to whip up. I never have much success with stuffies that are supposed to stand up so I like that these turtles are meant to be kind of floppy. I'm going to get started as soon as I'm done blogging.



Of course first I need to blog about this little discovery. How had I not heard about this book? "Last-Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts" is adorable. I'm going to recommend it to all my friends who say they don't have the patience or skill to quilt because there's so many beautiful, basic, and simple patterns and ideas. What really clinched it for me though was the inclusion of how to make a puzzle ball.





I was actually a little sad to find this because I've been working on a pattern for one myself. I was the tiniest bit disappointed that now I can't really post my tutorial on-line. But that's the way these things work. I can at least take consolation in the fact that Karol's method is far more refined than mine.




Fingers itching . . . must start sewing . . .