Its our second Wednesday Wrap Up, and its gonna be a good one. Today’s feature is Anna Maria Horner’s book “Handmade Beginnings: 24 Sewing Projects to Welcome Baby”. This is probably the best book on my shelf, and its a must if you have or plan on having children. Its even perfect if you just know someone who is having kids and you want to be the one to give them their coolest give at the shower.

This wonderful book is filled with unique patterns for everyone in the family. The first section is an informational overview of suggestions for choosing the right fabrics and colors, methods for sewing, and illustrative instructions for using patterns, and even sizing guides.

The second chapter is all for mama. There are several patterns in this part just for mom, ranging from clothing (a fantastic nursing top) to a super cute diaper bag.

The third chapter is all about baby. This section includes several patterns for baby clothing in a range of sizes. I made Layla the Baby-in-the-Hood Jacket. The pattern was simple and very well written. The jacket turned out great and we used it as much as we could during our Florida winter.

The fourth section in “Handmade Beginnings” is family sewing. This chapter includes a variety of projects revolved around (you guessed it) the family. You’ll find a manly baby bag for dad, and couple quilts, and more.

The fifth chapter from Anna’s book is nest sewing, where you will find several unique projects for baby and family for the home. A few projects I’ve done include Henny Penny and Six Chicks, an adorable stuffed hen with chicks that velcro beneath her wings, and the Hide and Seek Spectrum Quilt, a great activity quilt that encourages learning colors.

This is Henny Penny, who was a joy to make. The chicks are small, and were a bit more challenging for me which is why one of them looks more like a llama. Layla doesn’t seem to mind too terribly.

Below is the Hide and Seek Spectrum Quilt, which is one of the simplest yet cutest quilting projects I’ve ever undertaken. I’m not quite finished with the handquilting- I still need to complete the stitching around the border which I will probably show you in a future post.

I love the bright colors in this quilt and that there is a surprise hiding underneath each block. The Hide and Seek Spectrum Quilt is very engaging to young children and I would recommend it to any mother who sews.

Handmade Beginnings, like I’ve alluded to before, is probably my favorite sewing book on the shelf. If my sewing books were burning and I only had time to save one, I know I would grab this one. (That example was a bit extreme, but you get my point.) Anna Maria has a very down to earth way of writing each of these patterns, and the great colors in her fabrics make you just want to dive in and make every project over and over again. I love that so many of these patterns are unique and that Layla will be able to keep the things I’ve made as keepsakes one day.

Like our last Wrap Up, you can purchase Anna Maria Horner’s “Handmade Beginnings” on Amazon through my new sidebar. They’ve got the best price on the web, and this is a book you will not want to go without.

A few additional comments: This book and the patterns included were made for personal and gifting purposes only. Remember it is never alright to make and distribute these patterns in a shop or online store. Also, when you are choosing fabrics, especially if you are making something requiring different fabrics, be sure that the ones you choose are of the same quality. If you use a high quality quilt shop fabric with a lower quality Walmart or JoAnn fabric, you will have uneven shrinkage resulting in an uneven and possibly unusable project. You want your project to last and your hard work to pay off, so buy good fabric!- or atleast be consistent in the quality you choose to use.

Happy sewing! I’d love to see what projects you’ve made, so feel free to send me a link!

xo, Mere

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