Fred

My friend Dana her husband Mike and their daughter Abby used to live right nearby. Dana and I met at a new mom’s group when our daughters were only a few months old and we became fast friends. Now we are both pregnant again and due only a few months apart. Last summer, Dana and her family moved all the way to Omaha and we miss them!

Dana emailed me a week or two ago about a special project for her daughter. She sent me some pictures of their golden retriever, Fred, and asked if I could make a softie of Fred for Abby.

Here is what I came up with. I modified the pattern for the dachshund in this book. I made the legs longer, the body shorter, and changed the shape of the ears. I used a soft yellow furry fabric sent to me by my awesome BackTack II partner.

It was a lot of fun to make something special for a friend. I hope she likes her mini-Fred!

I’m mulling over some penguin pattern ideas right now and I hope I get to them before I have to put sewing aside to host a little birthday party for Charlie who is turning 34 on Friday! I’m baking a cake for the occasion- I think vanilla with lemon curd between the layers and buttercream frosting.

And then more birthday madness comes – Roxanne will turn two on March 15! I am planning a Post Office themed birthday party for her complete with mailbox goody boxes for the kids, stacked packages for the centerpiece, and an envelope-shaped cake addressed to her. I’m working on the invitations now.

And as if that weren’t enough, I’ve bought these two fabrics

with the intention of recovering Roxanne’s very expensive and very nice crib bumper. We are doing the new nursery all in black and white. And we’ve finally settled on a carpet – this one at Chiasso. I’m nearly 30 weeks pregnant and the nursery is starting to come together at last.