Cheer Me Up, Alex!

Here is my latest piece of fun. I love Alexander Henry's crazy collection of fabrics, right down to the skulls. When I saw the Mirabelle print, I couldn't resist its cheeriness. Here you get a peek at the project I'm working on, but I'm not going to show the whole thing until it's finished. I'm just waiting for my quilting foot for my sewing maching to get here so I can get started (ooh, the quilting foot debacle - a blog for another day).

Little Diva

Let me introduce you to my good friend, Singer 72w19. This, my friends, is no ordinary sewing machine. It's a hemstitch machine. Don't let her beauty and grace fool you. This little hummer is a DIVA! I learned early on that in order for the Singer to function properly, it needed to be treated like a lady. Give her lots of love and move at a moderate pace and every one's happy. Try to get tricky and this girl will turn on you. Tonight was one of those nights. As I was stitching some of my blankets to put on my Etsy site, this beast wanted none of it - coming unthreaded every five inches, running out of bobbin thread - TWICE - the wheel didn't want to turn, the bobbin didn't want to wind. Sheesh, where is the love? We were getting along so well. I cleaned out the flannel fuzz and doused in her oil. What more could she want? I finally had to put myself in time-out before things got nasty.

I was still able to crank out some new blanket sets. I love these fabrics. I wish I was a baby being wrapped up in the softest flannel ever, and too cute to boot!

Once Upon a Time in the Not-So-Distant Past

It all began one night as I was desperately searching for a fabric store open after 6 P.M. "Don't these people know some of us have to work?" I was on the hunt for a hemstitched receiving blanket and burp cloth set to crochet for my friend who was minutes away from having a baby. As usual I had procrastinated until the last minute and now there was a major sense of urgency. It was 6:52 P.M when I came across the one and only fabric store in the valley open until 7 P.M. Yes! They have blanket sets! Oh, but they aren't cute. I was sorely disappointed in my options, but I was desperate, so I bought what they had.

This scenario had happened to me more than once and I was tired of it. It was that night when I decided to take action. Hey, I know a cute fabric when I see it, and I can certainly put two coordinating fabrics together. Why not hemstitch them myself and while I'm at it, I'll offer my service to the rest of the world. With a lot of luck (having a dear friend who actually owns a hemstitch machine, circa 1932), a little time and plenty of effort, By-Low Baby was born.

Welcome to By-Low Baby!

Welcome to By-Low Baby's blog spot. By-Low Baby is the place for the softest, coziest blankets and gifts for your baby. This blog is dedicated to sharing with you my magical thinking. Most of what you see here will be available for you on my Etsy site http://www.bylowbabyblankets.etsy.com/! Come back and visit anytime and if you have some magical thinking you'd like to share, leave a comment!