Monday, March 25, 2013

Baby Quilt for a Monday

This happy fellow is my first big finish of 2013. It's sweet and pretty and I had so much fun putting it together. (I talk fabrics and pattern here)


I stitched the binding extra wide on the front so it creates a faux-border. I love how it looks. It might become a feature of every quilt from here on out.

I quilted every block through on the diagonal in either direction and then stitched on either side of the seam on each big square. My Elna isn't really made for quilting, but she soldiered through.


Did I mention the corners? This is the first time they've ever come out perfectly. I would keep this puppy just for that, but I'll have to settle for a picture.


I know pieced backs are all the rage right now, but I love how they look, and I would much rather buy less backing fabric and make up the difference with scraps from the front thereby saving myself money and ending up with a cuter finished product. Call me cheap, but it makes me happier.


I love love love the way the quilting looks on the back.


The binding is handsewn on the back. I like the finish handsewing gives the back.



So there you are. A happy quilt to warm up what is a very cold and snowy Monday here in Ohio. Now I'm off to drink more tea, snuggle with my baby, and overdose on The IT Crowd (it's my new favorite).
XOXO

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Mercy Mercy

I wanted to put this in with my last post, but it seemed to full already, and I thought this  might be a little out of place anyway.

Did you know that you can listen to Hillsong United's new album "Zion" for free on Spotify? Well, you can. And you should. It's really good. I've listened to it completely through a few times. This song is one of my favorites,


A Hundred Years


It's been exactly one month since my last post. I know you all have missed me. (Sarcasm). I'm sorry I've been away so long, but I've had a really bad attitude and didn't really know write a blog post without all that nastiness leaching in. I try really hard to avoid complaining to people that are not my spouse (And I don't know why he still puts up with me, bless his heart), so it's been a lot of silence on the social media front (Except for Instagram. I can't NOT post pictures).

One month later, Tiny is still teething (And NO teeth yet! KMN), still not sleeping great at night (Or during the day), still wants to be attached to me (Or any other familiar human) as many hours out of the day as possible, and is still the stinking cutest thing that ever lived. Mothering is hard, hard, hard work, but so worth it when your kid gives you a big, toothless grin or snuggles up in your arms to take a 15 minute power nap. This little person gives me headaches, wears out my back, shoulders, boobs, and patience; she keeps me from napping, cooking, and bathing but dang it if she isn't the best thing to happen to my life since Jesus and prescription strength deodorant. She makes me a better version of myself in so many ways. Every day with her pushes me to get over myself and the things I want to do and focus on helping her grow up to be the best that she can be. It's cool and terrifying and the same time, and I feel so humbled to be her mother. (Side note: Did anyone else start praying more when they became a parent? I say a lot more "God give me patience" prayers now.)


And being able to post the above makes me feel a lot better. Like I'm maybe getting through the bad funk that has been the last month.


So that was deep and weepy. 

Now for some sewing related nonsense.

I'm currently working on a custom baby quilt. The finished size will be 60x60 so it will transition well from crib to toddler bed to regular bed. The top was pieced using Rae's Storytime Squares tutorial. I just made everything bigger, so instead of starting with 5" squares, I started with 6.5" squares and cut the sashing 4.5" wide instead of 3". There's lots of Bonnie and Camille and Les Amis in here. I love the fox print. I would like to get a couple yards of it to make a crib sheet for Tiny. 

A delicious in-progress photo. (See that mess behind? That's my stash. It all needs to be dumped, purged, and tidied up in a bad way.)



 The top came together really fast. I loved not having to match up a bunch of seams. I'm working on the quilting now. This part has to be done in chunks otherwise my neck, upper back, and shoulders seize up. My lovely Elna isn't ideal for quilting items quite this big, and I don't have the assistance of a walking foot. It's about 25% done, and I'm really counting on the finishing wash/dry to hide all the little imperfections. I Instagrammed this of it late last night:


I'm still plugging away on the blocks for my Carpenter's Star bed quilt. I finished two in the last few weeks. Here are the first six all together. They make me happy.

This is my most recent finish. It's Tula Pink Saltwater with a dark brown woodgrain I picked up at JoAnn.
As you can see, there's A LOT of Tula Pink up in the joint (every block). She is far and away my favorite fabric designer. Her stuff is just so quirky and cool. Like those Octopi. I want to make a dress out of them.

Other than that, it's been lots of tea, soup, and Netflix while we wait out winter. We recently discovered Oddities on Netflix, and I LOVE it. The people that pop into Obscura are so different. I would never want to purchase a two-headed calf taxidermy or antique blood-letting kit, but there is something comforting about knowing that world holds people of such diverse interests and tastes, however strange I may find them.

And that's all. I'll be back soon. I've been working on a couple of homemade beauty products that I would like to share with you all.

XOXO
Ana