Hello all! We are back home in California after a couple of long driving days. Much as I love visiting the kids, the drive is long. It will be nice when we get our vaccines and can feel safer about flying. Soon, I hope. I have seen lots of posts on Instagram about many of you receiving the vaccine. California hasn’t gotten to me quite yet. Waiting and checking and waiting some more!
Let’s talk about A’s first birthday. It was really fun and I greatly enjoyed being there for it. Of course she didn’t have a clue what the fuss was all about.
Her parents kept it simple with a picnic of peanut butter sandwiches at the neighborhood park. It was just perfect. She really enjoyed being out on the grass, trying to eat a few rocks here and there.
Her first time down the slide (from the 1/2 way point and with mom right there) was lots of fun. Wearing shoes, not as fun! She doesn’t understand why she has to have these annoying, clunky things on her feet.
Julia, H and I made cupcakes for the party. We made mini cupcakes for the birthday girl and regular size for big sister and the grown ups. To make it extra fun, we put a surprise in the center. After cutting a small hole in the top, we put a few M&M’s in the center of the larger cupcakes and then replaced the top (we had to slice a bit off the cut out pieces to make them fit again.)
Then we iced the cupcakes, hiding the surprise. H just LOVED hiding these candies and telling her parents she had a surprise for them. It was so cute and I think made her feel like a big kid.
The birthday girl thoroughly enjoyed her cupcake and ate every bit of it!
As I did for H’s first birthday, I made a small doll quilt for A. For this quilt, I dug into my vintage fabrics and cut little hearts out. These were fused to squares of an off-white solid I had in the stash and then appliquéd with a straight stitch. I used a piece of white flannel inside the quilt rather than batting. It made it really soft and easy to wrap around a baby doll. For quilting, I just stitched around each heart and then used a decorative stitch around the edge of the border. It is very sweet.
She doesn’t have a clue as to how to use her vintage dolly quilt but I am sure she will figure it out when she starts playing with baby dolls. We also got her a doll but I guess I didn’t take pictures of that.
My husband wanted to make something for A as well. He thought a wooden pull toy would be fun. She is almost walking (takes two steps and then drops to crawl). Once she is walking, I think she will enjoy pulling this little guy down the hallways.
The helicopter was a collaborative effort between Ray and Julia. She sketched the shape of the body for him and he did all of the woodwork. Before putting the wheels and propeller on, she painted little flowers all over it. It really is adorable. He had small rounds of laminated walnut and oak leftover from making rolling pins so the wheels are really fun.
I just love this girl’s sweet personality. She is very cuddly and gives great hugs, patting my back when she is hugging me. The next time we go up to visit she will surely be walking and talking more. So far, she says Hi, waves bye bye, and signs when she is hungry or ‘all done’.
We had two great weeks with family and now it is great to be home. Last night I played in the shop a bit, getting ready for this weekend’s sale. It is a bit one, 30% off everything! The perfect way to celebrate National Quilting Day!! The sale runs today and tomorrow. Enjoy!!
Linking to Monday Making this week!
Oh what fun to see A’s birthday celebration! I’m with her on the shoes, preferring bare feet whenever I can! Looks like you all had a wonderful time! The dolly quilt is perfect, and the helicopter is so fun!
I suppose after having nothing be jammies and socks or bare feet for her whole 12 months, it must feel strange to have little shoes on. But it is so silly to watch her move around with shoes on, one would think they each weigh five pounds or something.
Nice to be home again – though I still haven’t sent even five minutes in the sewing room. Just getting caught up on everything else I suppose. 🙂
Just caught up on both your birthday posts. Love the tent and baby quilt – so sweet. Ray and Julia are a good team, the wooden toy is a treasure. LOVE the bird feeder – much cooler than “normal” toys! Glad you had a good visit. That pic of you and A is priceless.
Thanks Linda. We had a wonderful trip and are now back home. It was a treat to be there for both of the birthdays. It will be even better when we get the darn vaccine and can feel safe about flying – that will make the trip much simpler. Driving 750 miles is a bit tedious (though worth it). How is life these days? Hope it is treating you well!
How wonderful that you were able to be there for the little one’s first birthday! I love the handmade gifts from you and her grandpa!
It was so much fun. She didn’t have any idea what was going on but certainly enjoyed playing at the park and eating her first cupcake. Her sister loved being in on making cupcakes and ‘helping’ the baby open her gifts. All in all, a really nice celebration.
What wonderful celebrations and homemade presents…. so perfect!
That is one cute baby girl!!! Such a sweetie and at that wonderful age of developing a little personality. Congratulations — I know you must have had a fantastic visit.
Oh, how did I miss this? Such cute handmade presents. She’s going to have a lot of fun with them. I love the cupcakes with the hidden surprise, and the bite sized cake just right for a sweet 1-year-old.
Hi Janine, It was a lot of fun with all of the birthday celebration going on. H was thrilled to have a surprise for her parents and couldn’t wait for them to bite into the middle of the cupcake. It was really cute. A can walk now but for some reason has decided it isn’t worth the effort. Twice she has walked quite a number of steps but for the most part, prefers the speed and efficiency of crawling! Silly girl.
What a lovely birthday! That helicopter pull toy is awesome–both of the makers did a fabulous job!