Wednesday, March 24, 2010

We opened the little envelope

We have had an envelope in our possession since our 19 week ultrasound that revealed the gender of this next baby. We finally decided to open it this past weekend!

And it's going to be another precious


BOY!!!!!


We couldn't be more excited. We are all looking forward to meeting him!

Words Worth Reading

Elizabeth Foss always has something good to say. Something that prods me to desire greater holiness. She did it again today with the help of a few fantastic saintly quotes.

Go read!

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Yeah!

Today I received my doll quilt in the mail for DQS8! I have been so excited to check the mail each day, hoping my little quiltie would arrive soon. Oh, the suspense! I couldn't wait to see which one of the amazing quilts I've been seeing on Flickr would belong to me.

And here it is.......


You just can't believe how beautiful it is. The photos do NOT do it justice. Debbie's (Marblesbestfriend) piecing is amazingly precise and her quilting is perfect. I am in love. She could not have chosen better colors and fabrics for me. I am so excited and thankful. A funny side note is that when she had posted a sneak peek photo on Flickr, I had been the first to comment on how much I loved it. And to think it would be mine!

And here it is below next to my own quilt on the family room wall. Perfect!


On another quilting note, below are the photos of the diaper carrier/changer I made to give to my friend who is about to have her baby girl. I shortened this final version 2 inches in both length and width from the prototype, but left everything else the same. It turned out even better. I was so excited to give it to her yesterday afternoon. I hope it is fun and useful for her and her newest baby.

Tuesday, March 02, 2010

Some Little People Get Big TOO Fast

I can't believe it. February has come and gone much faster than I realized. And during that month two of my precious little ones had birthdays, within a week of each other. It is hard to fathom that they are growing up so fast. It was always hard to hear other moms say, "Enjoy it while you can. It'll be over before you know it." When you have your first one or two and you are in the thick of this new parenting thing, that is the last thing you want to hear. But oh, how true it is.

My sweet second born, my lovely little ballerina, Nicole is SEVEN! When did that happen? She is too precious for words, my only little girl thus far. I so want to treasure her and build a loving relationship with her. She is tall and so pretty. She dances with such grace and seems to have a beautiful singing voice too. She reads voraciously and colors up a storm. She is all girl, but doesn't take any funny business from her brothers. She is a wonderful young lady and I can't believe my years with her are zooming by.


And they Mikey decided to keep growing up too! One week after his big sister's birthday, he turned THREE! He'll be three and a half almost when baby arrives. And what a big brother he will be. Mikey is hillarious and loud and amazingly self-sufficient. If any child in our family is Italian in any way, it's him. He is bold and bright and doesn't just walk into a room, he bounds in with energy and life! He makes our days crazy and happy all at one time and we love him dearly. Even with his extrovert personality, he is very cuddly and sweet and loving. The best of both worlds. Our cutie Mikey!



Just a little sewing!

Yeah, right! I don't know how to do just a little sewing!!!! Although my production levels have been a bit down from normal considering all my pregnancy aches and woes (poor me). But when I feel good and have enough energy I quilt. Yes, I choose to quilt and sew over blog - that's why blog posts are way down in number!

A few months ago I entered another Doll Quilt Swap online. I enjoyed DQS7 so much that I knew I wanted to get in on DQS8. It has been lots of fun to watch all the activity of these wonderful quilters. Once I was assigned my partner the wheels started turning. She likes simple and modern and bright colors - similar to me in some ways! So I set about making my quilt. I had just begun to do some applique and was really liking it (all on the machine, of course - no hand work for me!), so I decided to do an applique garden based on some inspiration from other sources out there. There are some real quilting geniuses! And this is what I came up with.


I worked and worked and the more I worked, the more I loved it - I mean REALLY loved it. These were even some of my favorite fabrics. I was torn. I wasn't sure I could part with it. So I didn't. I rationalized that it wasn't quite modern enough for my partner - good, huh? So now it proudly hangs on my family room wall. Then I made a second rainbow colored applique quilt (forgot to take a photo) which I decided just wasn't right for my partner. I'll save that for someone else. Then it was time to start my third and, hopefully, final attempt. I must say I was pleased with this one and I sent it off to live with her last week.


Well, my next project was something I had been waiting quite a while to work on. I think I mentioned a while back that I had fallen in love with Amy Butler's Love fabric line, especially one called Bliss Bouquet Teal. I had been wanting to make myself a bag. I had made several Charm Party Tote bags for others as gifts and wanted to make one for myself. I knew this fabric was the one. So I ordered my fabric (got 2 yards of the other color way free by mistake) and anxiously waited for it to arrive. This past weekend I made the bag out of single pieces of fabric instead of charm squares. I finished it up on Sunday and I couldn't be happier to have MY NEW BAG! It is beautiful, even if I do say so myself!




Next I embarked on a design adventure. Once upon a time at the quilt festival in October I saw the cutest pattern for a diaper and wipes tote/changing pad thing. I did not buy the pattern. I have never ever been able to find it again. But I have been wanting to make one for a gift for a friend. I searched and searched and reviewed lots of patterns, both free and not, online. I never really found "the perfect thing". So based on what I had seen and what I knew I wanted, I decided to create my own. I used some fabric I had in my stash to make a prototype (recognize it, Robin?). I really like how it turned out. I wanted it to be big enough to hold a travel wipes container and at least 3 diapers. It needed to fold up and close easily. And I wanted it to be a big enough changing pad for larger little behinds. I think I got it good, but I will run it by some quilting friends for thoughts and suggestions before making an actual one. I ordered some lovely fabrics at fabric.com and can't wait for them to come. (Yes, you need to click on each word for the links). So here is my prototype.

All folded up and ready to tuck in the diaper bag.
(This was my first time ever in all my years of sewing to do a buttonhole - imagine!)

A peek inside - wipes and three size 5 diapers.

And all laid out and ready for a quick diaper change on the go.

Well, on to other projects. I have one in particular in the que that I just also ordered fabric for. But that will have to wait for a later date. Now I must go rest before I fall apart.

Blessings!