Back where we belong

Thank you very much for all the well wishes and prayers for our little one!!

I'm happy to report that Emily came home on Tuesday and is now a whopping 5 lbs!  Yippie!! We're trying to adjust to our new schedule (sleep? what's that?? hahah!) and enjoying every minute with this little one. 

As soon as we settle into a routine, I want to get out all my girly flannel scraps and get to work on a Christmas present for her.  We'll see if this plan comes to fruition!

Emily Hannah

I haven't posted anything on here in such a long time!! Here's a non-quilty post.

On Friday my water broke so off my hubby and I went to the hospital.  Emily Hannah was born Saturday morning, 5 weeks early.  She is doing well, but is in the NICU working on her feeding.  We're hoping and praying to get her home soon!!  :)

I hope all of my friends in blogland are doing well.  I'm not sure when I'll catch up, but hugs to you all!

Pumpkin Spice & Everything Nice

Not too much quilting going on these days so this isn't a very quilty post.  A bunch of people have asked to see the nursery so here are a few pictures.  The furniture hasn't been delivered yet, but here's what we have so far:

My husband loves giraffes :) The dresser and crib will go on the wall to the right of the picture.  We also hung  these cute moon and star decorations my mother-in-law bought us at a craft show.

I can't wait for the furniture to be delivered!!!

My friend picked up the baby quilt yesterday and, Hallelujah!, she loved it!  I've never know what to charge for quilts and hadn't heard what others charged.   What do you charge?  I charged her $120 and she paid me $140.  I was quite surprised with that! :)  I'm calling this quilt "Fabuland".  Does anyone else remember these legos?  I loved them.

 

 

And lastly, since I'm a pumpkin obsessed pregnant woman, here is another recipe I made today for pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.  Soooo yummy!  Here's the link to all recipes where I found the recipe.  The only thing I changed was I used 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice instead of 2 teaspoons cinnamon. 

Oh and I almost forgot!  Thank you for everyone's well wishes.  Some of you might remember that I was being monitored for a partial placenta previa.  Well at my last ultrasound, the placenta moved out of the way!! Now I'm cleared for a regular delivery and I won't have to schedule a C-section.  Life is good :)

Hmmm....how many cookies is it acceptable to eat today?

Pumpkin shortage?

I can't believe its been almost a month since I posted last.  I'm so behind on everything these days!  I apologize for being so behind on reading everyone's blogs!

I'm now 29 weeks along and I can't believe how fast time is moving.  We're still waiting on the delivery of the baby furniture, but we've made good progress getting the baby's room ready.  Its amazing how much money we've spent on this baby between baby monitors, furniture, etc!  And it hasn't even been born yet! Crazy!

The past few weekends we had company visiting.  One of those weekends my best friend came for our seasonal girly get together.  We had such a great time watching chick flicks, shopping, and sewing.  I got started on making 4 of these fall place-mats- I still need to get the binding sewn on.

I also made the second quilt top for the woman who is paying me.  I had originally picked out blue/green/red dog fabrics and she thought it was too boy.  Well she was right and her sister-in-law had a girl!  So off I went to the shop and found some new fabrics.  I requested she go shopping with me to avoid what happened last time, but she said she just wanted me to pick it out.  I sure hope she likes it!  Here's the top and the backing fabric.

I love the animals!! :)

Then I finished up my project pure quilt.  I was so flattered that Vickie at Spun Sugar Quilts was inspired by my orange/Pure combination and wrote a post about it!!

I went with a brown minkee dot border since I'm obsessed with the stuff.  I quilted the top to the batting to give it some dimension, then tied the top/batting to the backing which is also a brown minkee that has lines on it.  I was really happy with it until I washed it and the yarn I used to tie the quilt frayed into a mess.

So I cut the ties and redid it with a white yarn I had used in the past that I know won't fray (Patons Grace 100% mercerized cotton).  I was happy the ties didn't show on the back side at all.  I guess the minkee is plush enough to hide the white.

Now I love it!!!  It doesn't seem like tying is done all that often, but I really enjoy this method when working with minkee backs.  Here is my tutorial if you are interested in giving it a go.  Its my new favorite snuggle up quilt and completely puts me in fall mode.

The weather is gorgeous today and all these fall projects put me in the mood to bake pumpkin orange spice bread.  I thought this would be a simple task, but 2 grocery stores and about 10 phone calls to grocery stores later I learned there is a canned pumpkin shortage!  What?!  Apparently 2 years ago, there was a problem with the specific pumpkin used for baking.  Libby's, the main manufacturer of canned pumpkin, production is 2 years out so this year is the year where they can't keep up.  I finally found a store around here that had some and I bought 7 cans.  I suggest stocking up now for Thanksgiving (if you can find it)!! 

Here's the recipe if you'd like to make this delicious dessert like bread:

Pumpkin Orange Spice Bread
Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cinammon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup orange juice
1 egg
1 tablespoon orange zest
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup sugar


1) Preheat the oven to 350 deg
2) In a large blow, combine flour, baking powder, cinammon, baking soda, cloves, salt, and ginger.  Mix well and set aside.
3) In a medium bowl, whisk pumpkin, milk, orange juice, egg, and orange zest and set aside.
4) In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter and sugar until light a fluffy.  Gradually add flour and pumpkin mixtures alternating each, beginning and ending with four mixtures.  Blend until smooth.  
5) Pour into an 8" loaf pan that has been coated with non-stick spray.  Bake 1 hr or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean.  Cool completely. 

Well I hope to be back caught up soon in blogland!! :)

Growing

I'm ready for borders on my Project Pure quilt.  I'm thinking brown?  Suggestions?  I know I want to do brown minkee on the back.

I'll definitely be making this pattern again!  The question is how much sewing I'll be able to do once the little one comes.  I'm definitely growing!!  Here's Hank with a paw on the baby.  I wonder how much the baby can hear him purring.

Pure + Orange = love!

My guild is having its first challenge using a charm pack of Moda's "Pure".  Well I decided to bend the rules a bit and use two packs (shhh....don't tell anyone).  I met up with Julie for dinner on Tue to pick up my packs and we had such a great time chatting and catching up!  She even had a present for me!! A tote bag and a charm pack of Collections for a Cause-Hope.  Thank you Julie!

I've been itching to make a whirlygiggle quilt and found the perfect tutorial (thanks Katie!) over at Quilting on Turtle Hill.  Off I went to the quilt shop and came home with a surprising  fabric.  I must be really wanting fall, because I came home with orange and I'm loving it!

I've made 16 blocks- here's a peak at one of them:

My poor snowbound blocks are falling behind!

I also realized I never posted pictures of Karen's blocks!  They are so pretty- thank you so much!

Off to watch Project Runway~

Robbery, ultrasounds, and quilts- oh my!

Things have been at a quilty stand still over the past week.

First my next door neighbor's house was broken into and she was robbed.  We live in a suburban area and this took us all by surprise.  Luckily, she wasn't home and they only took jewelry, but I've felt disturbed ever since.  My husband and I were home at the time of the robbery.

Then I went for my 22 week ultrasound.  Everything is fine with the baby, but they found that I have placenta previa- a condition where the placenta covers part of the cervix.  Luckily, in my case, it is only a partial coverage and I was told that 90% of the time it will resolve.  In the meantime, I'm to watch for any bleeding and am on "pelvic rest" which means I can't lift more than 20# or do anything strenuous.  I go for another ultrasound in one month to monitor the situation.  Things could be soooo much worse, but I feel very nervous about things.  At least 90% is about the best odds you can get. 

So I've only done a little sewing.  Someone I used to work with commissioned me to make a baby quilt for her sister.  She told me she wanted dogs and that she "is sure" that her sister is having a girl, but they haven't found out the sex.  She didn't want to shop so I went out on the hunt for fabrics.  Everything was pink or blue.  Now if you're not sure, you would think pink would be the wrong choice right? So this is what I came home with:

I sent a picture to her of the fabrics and didn't hear back.  So I went on to make the quilt top.

Then I heard back from her in a nice email tactfully telling me that she wanted something more girly. Ugh.  She didn't know I had made the quilt top, and I want her to be happy with the quilt, but why would you want pink fabrics if you're not 100% sure???  So I told her I would just wait until the baby is born in a few weeks and then we can either re-shop or keep the fabrics.  If its a girl I'll save this quilt as a gift or donate it. Lesson learned!

After that, I didn't feel too quilty, but  today I felt the urge to hand quilt and got out "fireside chat"- my oldest UFO! It was supposed to be fall colors for last fall.  Well, hopefully it will be done for this fall! hahah!  We'll see :)

A whole mess of stuff

Its horrible when technology turns against you!  Keep your fingers crossed for me that my computer stays working. 

I received more of my blocks and some goodies.  They're gorgeous!

First the postman delivered Marsha's blocks and a little ornament.  Beautiful!

Then I got Mary's blocks, more embroidery thread baggies, and a magazine.  I am so touched at her thoughtfulness!! 

And then came Ann's blocks, a magazine and chocolates.  Do you think there are any chocolates left? :)

Thank you all so much!!


This week I hit the halfway mark of the pregnancy and I'm enjoying the 2nd trimester and the return of my energy!  I finally finished up the baby's quilt.  The minkee did not appreciate being quilted so its a little wonky, but its so delightfully soft that I'm OK with it. 

Hank is still unaware that it is not for him. 

I also made a nursing pillow "boppy" look-a-like.  (Also from the book Simple Sewing Projects for Baby by Lotta Jansdotter).

Which Hank also thinks is for him

Poor guy,  if only he knew how much things are going to change!!

I LOVE the flannel fabric from Riley Blake.  I've been eying her latest line, Colorful Christmas, for a baby Christmas quilt. 

Other randomness just for fun- I've been  in baking mode.  These cranberry orange scones with orange glaze by Ina Garten are DELICIOUS!  It could be that I'm just hungry all the time now, but I really thought they were yummy.  Who's coming over for breakfast? :)

Now I'm off to eat some more of these, drink my one cup of decaf a week, and catch up on all your blogs!

Baby hats galore/Vacation Days 3&4

Today's the last day of my mini vacation.  Don't you just hate the Sunday afternoon blues? 

I've been sewing up a storm and have some more little hats to share.  Oh and all these projects have all been from the book Simple Sewing Projects for Baby by Lotta Jansdotter.  I have really enjoyed this book with Lotta's easy to follow patterns. 


First another elf hat to match the snuggler:

Then another kitty hat (this one's my favorite):

And a matching rattle with a bell inside:

Now I think I'm spent!

Baby sewing mania/ Vacation days 2 &3

I've been swimming in fleece, chenille, and baby fun.  The baby quilt is basted and then I made some projects

First up is this elf hat:

Then I made the kitty hat:

And this is my favorite- a swaddler modeled by my childhood teddy bear, Snowbell:

I'm thinking tomorrow I'm going to make another elf hat with the yellow chenille.  I also picked up some zebra print fleece that I haven't decided what to do with yet.

It feels so nice to be doing all this sewing! :)

Summer Vacation Days 1 & 1.5

My hubby and I have been very productive on our first day and a half off of work.

Yesterday he worked on patching the various holes in the wall left by the electrician while I moved my sewing supplies from the baby room closet to the hall closet.  I'm really pleased with the result and am wondering why I didn't do this ages ago.  A while back I stopped sewing in the sewing room/now baby room and migrated to the dining room table.  Lots of space and I wasn't isolated.  So now everything's much more convenient.

You can't see from the photo, but there are two shelves above the baker's rack.  Now I just need to figure out what to do with the stuff I moved from the hall closet. hahah!

Then this morning I made my pot holder/oven mitt from the book One-Yard Wonders for the next Philly Modern Quilt Guild meeting on Monday.  I'm not sure I'll be able to attend any other meetings since the time was switched to one of the evenings I work.  :(

Here it is next to the apron I made last summer.  And here's a close up with the lining:

I just love that Alexander Henry print!

Yesterday I ran out to my local quilt shop to get some batting for the baby quilt.  While I was there I found this cute fleece and decided it needed to come home with me.

Next up on the to do list is to make a cute little baby hat from the book Simple Sewing for Baby that I had checked out from the library.

One of these days I'll get the baby quilt basted!

Mr June

Don't you just love a big pile of buttons?

 Hooray for being caught up!!  Here's Mr June:

I've received so many goodies! I'm shocked how much you all have sent and feel like the horrible slacker of the group!

I received these blocks from Beth with a lovely needle case:

Then came Liri's blocks and a ton of goodies (the tasty cakes are now gone).

Isn't the embroidered Pennsylvania block amazing!?!
 

Then I received Kathleen's blocks and fabrics. 

Thank you all so much for the fun blocks!!!  My blocks will go out this week to Mary!  :)

My hubby and I took Thursday and Friday off from work to get some stuff done around the house.  Things are currently a disaster with holes in the wall from electrical work and the baby's future room all pulled apart.  Its transitioning from my my sewing room and so far it isn't pretty!  I'm hoping we can get lots done this weekend and I can actually get the baby quilt basted and start quilting it.

***EDIT: Here's a pre-shot of the baby's room (per Katie's suggestion).  Don't expect a post shot for a while- haha!  There are two bookcases against the wall the the left.  We had to pull one out for the electrical work that's why its sticking out towards the door.  Its a little room, so we'll probably have to remove the bookcases to make enough space for the crib/changing table.  The walls will stay yellow, but will get repainted after the repair. 

So where did all the books from the bookcase go?  On to my currently abandoned treadmill and the guest room bed of course.  See you in 5 months treadmill- can't say I miss you.

And here's a shot of one of the holes in the wall that will get patched and the sewing stuff that will get moved out.  We're planning on putting the glider in this corner and I'll probably keep the wall hanging up.

I'm trying to keep my need to nest under control- looking at this makes me want to freak out! :)