New Chicks at our House!

We were out of commission for a little while with the sickies, but I'm back to sewing and doing lots of stuff! 

On May the Fourth (be with you) aka Star Wars Day around here, we got 5 sweet little chicks. Isn't the wing detail on this photo beautiful?

Meet: Princess Layer

 Link

 Qui Gon Hen

 Chick-munk

 and Hen Solo

 aren't they cute? They are all girls and will join our 3 mature hens later this summer. 2 are brown egg layers, one white, and 2 will be blue/green. We will have a rainbow of eggs this Fall!

"Charming" Animal Baby Quilt

I have been participating in a charm square swap. I send charms (5" squares) to 10 people and they send them to me. I have accumulated quite a pile in several months. While on retreat, I was sorting through and thought I had enough juvenile animal charms for a baby quilt.

My friend Barbara was working on a version of "Disappearing 9 Patch" on retreat and I decided to do this version for the quilt. It is simple: just make 9 patch blocks and cut them in half vertically and horizontally. Re-arrange and sew into new, more interesting blocks.

Here is a single block. The yellow made up 4 of the squares and the animal prints the other 5 of the 9-patch. I originally cut black Kona cotton, but then I decided black might not be great for babies and used the cheerful yellow.
This will be donated to my Guild's "Comfort Closet" to give a newborn a cozy start.

Tiny Baby Grow!

I am always looking for new patterns for preemies, to donate to Wee Care. I sometimes wonder if parents of boys/modern moms would like a knit option as opposed to the lovely smocked gowns. I know in New England, smocking isn't common even on girls, nevermind boys. I found this free pattern for a knit sleeper. I think in England these are called a "baby grow". I think that's a great name for a preemie outfit, since growing is their primary job! Anyways, this is an easy and  quick little pattern due to the lack of gussets or shaped feet. I need to try it on a doll, but it looks like it is nicely proportioned.

Here it is next to my iphone 5- not as big as the iphone 6 or 7! It is probably about 12" long total, so maybe it would fit a 3-4 lb baby? I want to try it again in a boyish knit.

It fastens with just 2 little Kam snaps. It is true what everyone says- the Kam snaps are easy to apply and I like the plastic for casual baby wear, since there is no danger of metal prongs if they come undone.
What do you think? Would  a preemie parent like this option?