River played soccer for the first time this fall - he was supposed to play last spring but the season was cancelled due to Covid and moved to this fall. He had so much fun! I wouldn't say it clicked as well as water skiing did for him, but still he enjoyed it and met some great new friends.

Confidentially, and I've probably said it here before at some time, I'm not a big fan of hanging out at soccer practice and all that goes with it. I loved sailing and skiing, I'd gladly drive for hours and spend all day sitting in the Florida heat for those sports, but soccer - which is walking distance from our house and the games and practices are no longer than an hour - is a pain in my side. No idea why - and it really isn't unpleasant at the soccer fields at all and I can get a lot of quilt binding done during practice ... so no idea where this lack of soccering love come from.

But the point is, River loved soccer and while I was making Kane's baseball bag tag / key chain River asked for a soccer one, and that seemed like a pretty great idea. So personalized custom soccer key chains are now available in the Because I'm Me shop, and they're pretty cool.

And for those kiddos who don't want their name on the tag I can also do initials, nicknames, or numbers.

My grandson, Kane, started t-ball two weeks ago. I can't wait to go to his first game, I've seen pictures of him at "batting practice" and it's adorable! His Mama played t-ball one season when she was about his age and it was not a huge success - she spent most of the games sitting in the outfield playing with the clay (she found her sport once she discovered sailing), thankfully Kane doesn't share her disdain and seems to be having a great time.

Kane was hanging out with us the other day and saw me making key chains and asked me to make him one. Thinking maybe Lilly Pulitzer wasn't his style I decided to make him a baseball themed one instead and I love, love, love how these turned out!

 

They're available at Because I'm Me, personalized with the ball player or fan's name. These are great as equipment bag tags and backpack tags, or to keep a locker key on ... or whatever else you can think of.

Gearing up for spring sports, I'm also creating football, volleyball, soccer, and basketball key chains, which will be in the shop as soon as I finish tweaking the designs.

 

A few years ago two of my kids and I did Ancestry DNA tests. In addition to growing my family (best thing ever!) I found out I'm part Irish. Having spent 50+ years with no idea what my genetic background was it was so cool to find out, and to find out that St. Patrick's Day is relevant to me. 

 So ... my 11% Irish-ness introduces our new Jude Harbor Saint Patrick's Day pesonalized custom key chains. 

 

Whether you're Irish all the time or just one day a year, these super cute custom key chains are sure to be a hit. The clovers / shamrocks are spread throughout and the writing on the tags is in silver. The backside is bright green, and the tags are sealed with epoxy resin on both sides - so they look amazing.

Available at the Jude Harbor shop. These take a few days to make, but there should still be plenty of time to order them for March 17th.

 

I loved the Lilly inspired monogram key chains so much that I wanted to create more using the same prints but with a more tropical theme ... like fish, palm trees, and so on ... and that's how these key chains were born.

 

These are finished on both sides, with the patterned image on the front and silver on the back for a super polished look. They're also sealed on both sides which looks soooo good! Adding the little tassel just makes them even better.

I'm so happy with these, they definitely have that beachy, light, tropical feel that we all need in our lives right now. :)

These key chains are available in the Jude Harbor shop and also in the Jude Harbor stand alone site.

 

While moving the sewing studio to another room (out of my bedroom!) I found this sweet quilt, sadly misplaced in the wrong box. 

 

Lucky for him, he's now available in the Jude Harbor shop and looking for a new home with someone who will pay for better attention to him than I did. (Sorry, turtle!)

The turtle is crafted from a fun blue leaf print that will fray a bit with washing to give him a more textural look and feel, and a super soft white fabric for his non-shell parts.

The rest of the quilt is a mix of woven cottons and flannel, super soft and comfy!

The quilt measures 42" by 48" and the backside is a mottled blue print with bits of the front fabrics.

 

This is the third go-around with this pattern. The first I sold on Etsy immediately and the second was a commissioned quilt based on the first one ... gotta love that! 

 

This one I changed up the prints a little bit - less orange and more darker colors, just to see how it played out, and I love it. The orange was fun and definitely worked but without it the quilt is able to focus more on the blues and whites ... I couldn't be happier with how it turned out.

It is available at either the Etsy shop or the Jude Harbor site, and I suspect it won't last long!

I'm super excited about these, they are just so nice and practical - only 2" round so not huge in your pocket or handbag.Big enough not to get lost, small enough to be practical.

There are more key chain designs coming in the same prints, very soon. Just waiting for the resin to set so I can get some photos.

These monogrammed key chains are available here.

The pink MSJ one ... mine, but there's plenty of the print available to make more. :)