The Gift of Books

Looking for "book" related gifts to give for new babies or for toddler birthdays - and here are two "new" ideas.
First of all - Jennifer Black Reinhardt's Always by My Side is a great book to share the love of a stuffie.  In this book it is a polka-dot dino but it could be any favorite stuffie that goes with a cuddly blanket.  Try these giraffe blankets and this plush giraffe.  And you have a stuffie package to go with Always by My Side.

Find the giraffe blanket and such at  https://www.etsy.com/listing/714199664/blankets-books-purple-giraffe-blanket.  And the book Always by My Side at your local bookstore.

Reinhardt, Jennifer Black. Always By My Side. Random House Books for Young Readers, 2021. ISBN: 9780593173824.  The second package is for all lover of nature.  Package Elizabeth Rusch's and Will Hillenbrand's newest title, Zee Grows a Tree with a sapling (or perhaps a plant) to grow side-by-side the new baby or from a baby's first (or subsequent) birthday.

Rusch, Elizabeth and Hillenbrand, Will.  Zee Grows a Tree. Penguin/Random House, 2021.

View the book trailer at https://spark.adobe.com/page/GcJNFVmdtqWkk/

And perhaps package with a blanket in a favorite tree/floral pattern. 
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Cite this blog:  McElmeel, Sharron. (2021, March 24). The Gift of Books (blog). http://bit.ly/giftofbooks-1

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Vintage Paper Pieced Trees - a project inspired.

I was gifted with several paper-pieced trees and wanted to do something special with them.

Vintage paper pieced trees - not quite precise were pressed and put into groups of four.

Each tree, in the individual groups, was turned so that regardless of which way the topper was turned, at least one tree would be positioned standing.  The tree squares were joined together with a sashing (approx. 1 inch finished).  The block was trimmed to be a 15.5 inch by 15.5  inch square however it seemed that the center was too bland - too much blank space. So...

Triangles were appliquéd into the center space to form a quirky square that called to mind a star, although with only four points.  This particular topper was accented with yellow.  The finished topper is approximately 15 inches by 15 inches square - although the perspective of the photo makes it seem otherwise.

Two additional toppers were made.  One accented with red sashing and a another with green.  While not clearly visible in these photos, there was accent stitching in the featured color (red, green, or yellow) along each side of the trees.  That stitching is somewhat visible in the picture of the red accented topper.

The accent color gave each of these toppers their own personality.  The backing for these toppers corresponded to the accent fabric.

Fun, fun... a fun project to see these topers evolve from these paper pieced trees into uniquely fun pieces for the holiday.

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Enjoy sewing creatively.
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