Mara Vivian

Mara Vivian

Born June 20, 2013 at 6:13am (labor started the previous evening during the Hawk's game)

7lbs 2oz - 18.5" long



Her coming home outfit. I knit the hat, made Rae's wonderful little dress, and a voile quilt.  It was super strange to bring a baby home in a dress.



All the wonderful baby parts.....



softest feet ever



fingers



hair



tiny head



eyes

Baby sewing projects : #1

I have made so many things in this last crazy month, as I wait for my little one (only 12 more days to go!)

There is no way I'm going to find time to sit and blog them all - but I want to get them up before I lose track of details.  If you want any extra info on anything, I have some info in the flickr links.  And feel free to ask questions.

All my bloggy friends out there - I haven't been reading for at least the past month.  So forgive me for not commenting on all the cool things I'm sure you're doing.

Some super fun tea and chocolate holders I made for the hostesses of my showers - and a couple more were made for teacher gifts:







The Lola Bag Diaper Bag - I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!  Made with some Echino and quilting cottons that I have been hoarding for the last four years:











The start of my cloth diaper sewing craze:

....most of the patterns can be found at this awesome web site: prefold2fitted.blogspot.com









(My serging is getting much better!)






(This was my very first cloth diaper - horrbile serging but still so cute!)


And one last photo today - Pulled my sticks back out and made a knit wool soaker.

KAM Snaps!

Look at the fun that arrived!

In a flat rate USPS box that weighed a million pounds.  Not sure how it made the trip without popping open.



Six super cute special snaps I chose.

Any guesses as to what my new obsession has been over the past week?!

WIPs - For Baby and Serger

I have a whole list of WIPs, and ones to start, before school is out and the due date arrives in June.

Knowing that I'll have to start hauling around a bunch of baby stuff, a diaper bag made it high up the list.  I've been saving this yard of Echino for several years, planning on making a bag.  Even though it is theoretically a half yard short for the diaper bag pattern I found, I gave it a try to make it work.

I'm squishing and rotating the pieces. A big puzzle!  For sure, loving the Lola Bea Diaper Bag pattern so far.



And THIS is my most challenging WIP in a while.

Serging around tight inside and outside curves.

Epic Fail!

 Hopefully I have something good to share soon, because I'm interested in doing way more than covering simple, straight seams.

Linking up to Lee...

My New {Serger}!

Look what the UPS guy left for me!

I was thinking about it for ages, then my birthday came, and I finally went for it.  I think my Bernina training class did the most to make me feel like I could use this strange, chopping thing.  I figured that if I could understand how to fix the guts, certainly I could make it stitch things together without slicing off my fingers.



Of course, with a baby girl on the way, my birthday also included lots of wonderful pink stuff.



And there was much fun with the tissue paper....



.....almost as much fun as fitting my new toy perfectly onto a shelf in my sewing room.

Now I just have to learn how to use it!  I've pinned a whole ton of stuff, scoured blogs, checked out a book - and I'll be sure to share all the new things I learn.



First up, I was planning on making some fuzzy PJ pants for Becket.  I could use several new skills on them, and being just PJs, wouldn't have to worry about them looking perfect.

My trip to Target this morning turned up exactly what I needed for them!  I found this 62x90" micro fleece blanket on the clearance shelf, only $7.48 for 2.5yards of super soft fabric.  Way better than JoAnn's with a coupon, and perfect for my first try at serging a piece of clothing.



Two of the boys were miserably sick with flu aches last week.  In between drink refills and movie changes, I actually pulled out some of my longest hoarded, most favorite fabrics.  And Cut. Them. Up.

I need a cool diaper bag for this summer!

Buried in Girl Stuff

I have been working on a custom queen quilt for an 8yr old girl.  Her dad is awesome, and I think he would be a quilter if he had lots of spare time!  He and I get along well, talking quilt math and design.

The little girl has definite ideas regarding colors and pattern, being a HUGE fan of purple tie dye.  They were unable to find anything commercially made for her new bedroom set, so went looking for somebody to make her a custom set.  We met a few times and zeroed in on an exact quilt plan, as well as main fabric choices.  It was so funny when I finally met her over Christmas break - she came in wearing a pink/purple tie dye outfit.  I said that we certainly had the right fabrics for her, and couldn't wait to make her new bedroom set!

So, now I'm buried in pink, purple, rainbow yardage and trimmings!  Kind of like a tween girl and her unicorn exploded in my sewing room.  I never work with batiks, as I prefer more  modern quilting cotton prints.  But I am LOVING the minimal amount of fraying.  I assume that is the way batiks normally are?  One of my major pet peeves is all the little stray thread that end up all over the back of your quilt by the time it's ready to baste.



This photo is pretty true to the real colors.

I spent a decent amount of time thinking about and then squaring up the main blocks.  They are 24" finished - which is larger than my largest ruler, and half an inch wider than my cutting mat width.  Not only did I want the block to end up the right size, with four 90 degree corners, but it was important to have that middle perfectly centered as well.

Any of you out there, who have been making those big  swoon blocks, come up with a good way to square them up?  I was thinking about doing a quick photo tutorial of what I came up with for mine.



In  my own girly world.....Thank You so much for all your congratulations and kind wishes!  I have loved looking up your suggestions and links.  If you think of any more, feel free to add them on.  I have a pinterest board going with other sewing ideas, too.

My first fabric bought just for a girl baby - the pink colorway of Monaluna's silky organic Fox Hollow.  I've been stalking this adorable print for a while.  I bough half a yard and plan on using some to make a sweet, soft burp cloth. 



I also came home with a couple things from my Costco trip - a cute 3mo sundress, and a snuggly pj in 6mo size.

Had to laugh at the fact that they look mostly like the boy stuff I usually buy, in lime green and blue, just dress-shaped!

OMG! Send me your Links!

I. Can. Not. Believe it!

We're going to have a little girl.

My Three Sons + A Girl!  I need you all to send me links to your favorite girly fabrics, and baby girl quilts.  I have that set up at the end of this post.  But first I'll ramble on a bit about my exciting morning.



So glad my appointment was at 9am, I don't think I could have waited much longer.  Although, after a record 11 months of no measurable snow, I think we got our first inch last night.  Major down side to going so long without it - EVERYBODY forgot how to drive.  The hospital is 6 minutes from my house (a mom of three boys, you totally know the travel time to the ER) it took almost 20!  Luckily I'm a bit crazy about not being late for stuff, and left the house 25mins before my appointment.

The older two were at the ultrasound when we found out that Becket was a boy, so this time Becket got to skip out on the morning at school and be the first to know.  Being a Level II ultrasound, I knew it was going to take a little longer, and we brought Hidden Pictures for him to pass the waiting time.

We had planned on taking a photo of him at the moment he found out boy/girl, but the tech put the kibosh on that!  No photos or video allowed in the building.  Bummer.  It was super cool to see his face when he first recognized a baby within that snowy picture on the screen.

It was only a couple minutes before she told us that we were having a girl.  Mark and I just looked at each other and said - Really?!

After the tech was done with the million measurements, it was time to wait for the doctor to come in.  Love that the doctor comes right then, does her own check, and gives you the report before you walk out the door.  I can worry a bit (major understatement), so I was very excited to hear everything right then.  Luckily we did bring those books for Becket, we ended up waiting over 45 minutes before the doctor came in.  Of course, I had convinced myself that there was something horribly wrong with her heart or something, and they were taking a long time trying to decide what else needed checking.  Seriously, 45 MINUTES!  May as well have been a year.  I think I said a million prayers - alternating between Hail Mary and Hail Holy Queen, with some pleading in between for either peace or good news.  Ended up a clerical mistake - my folder was put at the back of the queue instead of the front.  The doctor was super nice and apologized a couple of times.

The baby's sex is not written in the tech reports, so she said we would get her official second opinion right then.  It was just a minute and she was quick to congratulate us on a little girl.  Then the most wonderful news yet, she said that everything was looking very healthy and they didn't see any markers for congenital defects.  Major sigh of relief.

We came home with a whole bunch of pictures.  Her cute little profile up there.

You can see the ball-like thing on her belly, that's her hand.  They barely caught it, as it was moving up and down the whole time.  She was super busy!  They also did the 3D thing and were able to get a fair picture.  Each time the tech would try to capture her face, she would turn to us, then quickly turn away - not wanting much to do with the process.

I told the doctor how I have 3 boys, and my brother has 2 - and that my mom had pretty much given up hope for ever having a granddaughter.  She labeled this next picture just for my mom.

What's so funny, is the doctor captured little miss doing her thing in this one.  That's her arm reaching up above her head.  And what she is doing is pointing her little index finger out of her fist, like I'm number 1.  Or perhaps, practicing telling her big brothers what to do.  It was so funny.  She did that a bunch of times, with both hands.  She's an ambidextrous bossy little girl.

Now I need help from all of you!  How am I going to choose the perfect baby quilt(s) and fabric for this little one?

Link up your favorite baby quilts and girly fabric combinations, I would love to see them!

Want Fabric...{Stash 2013}

'Want' is exactly correct.

For sure I don't NEED any :)

Messy Stash

I've been tracking my stash for three years.  Nothing better than a good spreadsheet.

So, how did 2012 go?  Glad you asked.



Things were going pretty well until I started my shopping for the perfect ocean blues in June/July.

(About 62 yards showed up at my door....blues and a few others fell into my online carts....ooops)

I ended the year only 33 yards up, and I didn't even make a stop at The Fabric Shack while in Ohio over the holidays. I really do like trying to use the fabulous fabrics I have, before I don't like them anymore.  Overall, I say 2012 was pretty good stash-wise.



Last week, a couple of great tonal prints were in the clearance section at the shop.  I always seem to need a good orange or yellow, so I grabbed these at half off.   Besides, nothing had been added to the stash since early November!

Blue if it's a Boy....

Here's the real question, though.  Will I be making a little girl quilt or a little boy quilt?!

Ok, I don't actually need a single scrap of blue, and I'm pretty good with pink/purple as well.  But I have deemed a new baby a valid reason to buy fabric.

I'm looking forward to poking a few buttons, once I know.  Just have to control the fun and avoid shipping 50+ yards to the house.

Pink if it's a Girl....

Friday is the day for my ultrasound. Can. Not. Wait.

.

2012 Catch-up

I'm still here!  Making all kinds of stuff, but way too tired to actually edit and post photos of any of it.  Much to my woe, I don't have pictures of two of my finished quilts (!?!)

But here's a photo-heavy super fast summary of the last three months.

I was freezing in late October, so I made myself a SUPER soft scarf - AMH voile and flannel.  I also picked up a little knitting again, as I'm teaching a home school girl how to knit.  I used Lorana's laces worsted and made some fingerless mitts.

And you may not be able to tell from the photo, but I sure can - the reason I was totally lazy - I'm also busy making a baby!  Little one due June 22nd.  (Every one of my bathroom self-photos look a little psycho.  Not one of my skills!)



In October I finished up Bernina technical training.  I took an 830 apart into a million pieces.



And then actually got it back together and working properly!  Also did a couple other machines and a serger.  I've been having fun at the shop, cleaning and repairing both very old and current Berninas.



This is the year of the quilt for my close group of friends.  Our boys were tiger scouts in 1st grade, and we bonded over the cub scout years of crazy.  With those same boys HS sophomores at this point, the 5 of us get together for birthday breakfasts, at the least, throughout the year.  I always do something hand made, and was running out of ideas.  So I went the easy route and decided I would do a special lap quilt for each of them this year.

The first birthday is Larua's, in August.  She is a pink person, and I had a blast pulling all my pinks for a sparkle punch.  I gifted the quilt top and then took it back to finish :)  It turned out awesome, and I for some reason have only this one picture!



Maureen was next, with her December birthday.  I love this bow tie pattern and went with it in huge blocks to show off my favorite blues and greens.  She's a gnome lover, like me.  She's totally Heather Ross Gnome-worthy, and I used a big hunk of it.



All the bow tie corner extras were stitched at the same time into HSTs, and I did a random block of them on the back.  With one more little gnome in a special spot by my birthday wish for her.



Finished up my bee blocks - horribly late and some without even taking photos.

Lee's solids were wonderful.



And I loved doing my own hexagon improv, using the pink dandelion fabric as inspiration.



Finally got to see my quilt in print, after completing and sending it off a year ago November.



I'm one of the contributors in this new book, with my large lap quilt called Starflower.  I was having fun looking at the idea of negative space that we all talk about, and actually reversing it - swapping the prints/solid neutral, within modern quilt designs.  This is the one they accepted for the book.



I've made this pattern by Amy Smart three times now, and I love it every time!  This was a baby shower gift, and I actually have several more photos.  So I'll talk about it more in another post.



Same for the custom ocean quilts I did.  I so love how they turned out, but I don't have a single picture of the second one!  WTF?



Let's call it a wrap on 2012!