Just another wild night in the Fox house… 940″ of binding cut and prepped. (oh, we also discussed health care plans, Steve is renewing this week).
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I’m finally getting around to trying to figure out the sashing for the baby’s quilt. I’m using Elizabeth’s New Wave pattern, with scrappy tumblers in gray & yellow. I decided I did want to sash the rows, in order to bring some cohesiveness into the quilt. My opinionated hubby vetoed the idea of using a gray or yellow as the sashing, saying the quilt needs a little something extra.
So what do you like best? From top to bottom:
Please opine! I also whipped up a quick little coaster to put in the nursery. Steve keeps setting glasses of ice water directly on the furniture in there while he’s working, and it’s driving me crazy that there’s not a coaster. Plus, I know I’ll need to drink lots of water to facilitate breastfeeding, so a coaster is necessary:
It’s official! I’m now on my self-imposed, 6-month minimum hiatus from sewing for people I don’t know (aka, no bees or swaps). And I gotta say, it already feels good. Maybe just because I don’t have any energy for sewing right now?? Anywho, I finished up my 4×5 bee blocks, and mailed them out, and my hands are clean!
However, I do have to say I enjoy the end result of these bee blocks. Making one is always nice, but then to make 5 more and start to see the effect of the pattern emerging is always rewarding to me. Speaking of bees, my One Block Over buddy Andie submitted her OBO quilt as part of the Cincy Mod Quilt Guild’s exhibit in the International Quilt Festival this past weekend. How fun is that?? I’m just impressed she was able to pull the quilt together so quickly – mine is still in pieces! Here’s her quilt, made for her daughter:
Also, I have to brag a bit about my hubby. My sewing table lamp, dating back to my college days (so at least 10 years old?) went ka-put the other day. I didn’t want to just replace the bulb, since the lamp itself had a difficult time in staying in a fixed position. So my dear sweet hubby agreed to venture into Joann after our ultrasound on Friday (on his day off, no less) and pick up an Ottlite for me. Joann can be my version of hell, so I can only imagine how it is for a dude who would otherwise not put a toe into that store. Thank you, Steve! We are exactly 3 months away from Kit’s estimated arrival! (aka, it’s getting’ real) Apparently baby bumps elicit all sorts of random comments from total strangers. I didn’t really appreciate this phenom until about a month ago. I inevitably am asked what the baby’s sex is, and can pretty effectively kill the conversation with an “I don’t know” answer. For some reason, no one seems to have a ready platitude for that one! I really could do without these conversations, but especially when they go like this: Random Stranger: “Oh, you look like you’re almost there!” Me: “Oh, I have a few months left.” RS: “Twins?” Me: “No, just one. Three months to go.” RS: “Oh, you look really big.” I awkwardly walk away… Gee, thanks, Costco food lady. I really needed that confidence boost while buying the jumbo pack of toilet paper because I can’t stop peeing all the time. Pretty sure she’s lucky these sorts of conversations stun my brain a bit, so I’m never able to spit out a snappy comeback! And unless I’ve ballooned dramatically in the last 3 weeks (not likely given the stomach flu last week), my belly measurement is right on target. Anyway, on a brighter note, I’m finally getting around to posting the pillow cover I made a couple of weeks ago to use in Kit’s Den. (You know, as a back cushion for the chair I have yet to decide to buy.)
The cathedral pillow was made using this tutorial, using five 10” squares. It really did only take 10 minutes to make the pillow top… the echo quilting took much longer! I machine-stitched the JD woodgrain binding – it looks wavy because I pulled out the pillow form to take the photo. Do you remember those kids in college who would make backpacks and such out of duct tape? Well, I channeled my inner duct tape geek, and prettied up the Ikea side table that’s going in Kit’s room:
That’s right… I covered a deconstructed USPS box with fabric, secured to the back of the cardboard with duct tape. Then covered the ugly brown backing board behind the shelves, and also covered the inset plastic piece on the front of the drawer. Gotta say, that was the easiest 15 minutes I’ve spent on a furniture makeover! Beth, you’ll be happy to know I’m not going to push my sewing list. Nice weekend weather drew me outside for most of Saturday. And if it gets hot in May & June, I WILL be spending a lot of time pretending to be a whale in the pool! I managed to avoid making curtains, thanks to the Land of Nod. Steve may have found the diaper bag, courtesy of Patagonia (so it will definitely meet quality & durability requirements). Also, I want to give a huge public THANK YOU to Andie for sending me a birthing book. She was a doula in a former lifetime, and sent me the book after I mentioned that I was having a difficult time finding unbiased information about labor & delivery. Bloggy friends really are awesome, huh? I’m nearly done with bees and swaps before my self-imposed hiatus that will end no sooner than October 1st. My goal is to focus on finishing some of my started projects, and add in some sewing for baby Kit. Some items on Kit’s list:
On the “maybe” list is a diaper bag… While there are a bazillion diaper bag choices available, there doesn’t seem to be the perfect bag for Steve and I to share. Some of our requirements include adequate size, tons of pockets, messenger bag strap, and easy to clean. But there’s one that I think is close – the Ju Ju Be BFF:
We both like that it is a messenger bag style that can convert to the backpack if needed. BUT it’s the backpack feature that doesn’t seem to cut the mustard in the online reviews I’ve read – the straps need to be placed higher on the bag in order for it to lay comfortably on one’s back. Plus the $165 price tag is making me cringe a bit. So I need to decide how ambitious I am about creating a bag from scratch. I know I can do it, I’ve made enough bags at this point to fudge my way through it…but the question is how much time and stress will I incur?? Does this seem like a reasonable list? Am I forgetting anything?? Anything unnecessary? And am I actually going to get any WIPs done, or will baby sewing consume my 3rd trimester & post-birth energies? Katy is hosting a “build a bundle” contest from Pink Castle Fabrics, so I had to put together a fun bundle! Side note – I just received my pre-order of Flea Market Fancy from Brenda, and I couldn’t be happier! I’m calling it “Baby Blues” which sort of sounds depressing, but I think it’s actually a fun collection of fabrics that could work for a baby quilt for either gender.
Fabrics used:
Jessica of Twin Fibers was one of the girlies in the Pieced Together Quilting Bee that I participated in, and I made this block for her.
That wonky star shadow block is one of my more favorite blocks I’ve made, probably just because of the fabrics! So it was nice to see Jessica’s finished bee quilt featured on the Modern Quilt Guild blog today. Of course, it was nice to see my block again too! Turning 30 wasn’t as exciting as my bloggy absence would you leave you to believe; we had dinner with a few good friends, and that was the extent of the celebration. But the Fox house has been busy! Last week, we had our floating stairs replaced. We now have completely enclosed stairs, with a nice new closet area underneath. Here’s a progression of the changes that have taken place in the last 28 months to the poor, abused stairs that we started with:
Stained oak might be one of my most favorite things at the moment! Well worth the week of Dexter-esque plastic sheeting and insane amounts of drywall & wood dust that we’ve been cleaning up. The saddest thing about the closet addition is that we couldn’t keep the litter box hidey box underneath the stairs, but it has been given to another cat lover who will enjoy the smell-reduction benefits of the hidey box. The litter box is still under the stairs – we will need to add a pet door, so the big door can remain shut. The stairs were actually stained & painted over the weekend, so we were banished from the house (to escape the fumes). On Sunday, we spent 8+ hours at Disneyland, competing in what has become my favorite frustrating experience, MouseAdventure. Given that I’m 24 weeks preggo and slow as molasses, and Joelle is 8 weeks post-partum from a c-section and is currently pumping, we had no expectation we were going to do as well as we have the last couple of events. I’m still sort of hoping for top 50%, we shall see! I should have a couple of sewing projects to share after this upcoming weekend. Steve is taking a class on Saturday, so I’ll have an uninterrupted day of sewing (after I go get my hairs done up). And if you’re interested, and have a couple of minutes… I have a survey set up where you can give your predictions about Baby “Kit” Fox here! It doesn’t feel quite as unnerving to turn 30 as I had imagined it would a year ago. And when I look back on my goals for my 30th year of life, I didn’t do too bad. Also, not specifically mentioned on the list but that happened nonetheless was that Steve and I sort of had an understanding from several years ago that we would start thinking about kids at around 30. Parenting in our 30s sounded like a good thing for us – gave us time to have fun, grow our relationship, and become comfortable with ourselves financially. I’ve never desperately wanted to have kids (which sounds so awful, but…), so it only figures that it didn’t take much of an effort to get pregnant (and I feel so bad for those couples that have issues, it seems like such a cruel joke to me). That being said, I’m definitely happy that this little one will be making his/her appearance in a few months to add some spice to our lives – so secret goal #31 = Kit = in progress.
And without further ado, a recap of my bucket list…
Accomplishments (17 out of 30): 2. Finish the bedroom quilt. 8. Blog at least 5x/month. 10.Use power tools! 11. Wine tasting at the random winery in downtown LA. 14. Send birthday cards to family & friends ON TIME. Which means I need to get a birthday card sent to my mom ASAP. 15. Drink 2 big bottles/cups of water each day. 16. Hawaii? Bermuda? 17. Take a cruise, even if just the booze cruise…with friends! 18. Easy camping on Catalina – and I will not die this time! (see #20…and #7 for reasons I may have died last time) 19. Add something spectacular to the photo wall. (see #1 and #16 – identified opportunities)
From Australia 2011 22. More roller derby! 24. Two words: Hollywood Bowl. 25. Shakespeare by the Sea. 26. Cinespia Cemetery Screening. 27. Find my signature baked good (Steve thinks this is already my apple pie, but I want it to be something that I can whip up quickly to bring over to gatherings). 29. Do something for charity – not sure what, but I’m definitely feeling selfish!
Things I Still Want to Tackle: 1. Visit a National Park – I’m thinking this one. 3. Remodel my doll house. 4. See if there is any type of Indian cuisine I can handle. 6. Learn how to crochet something that doesn’t look like this. 9. Finish my Disneyland perpetual calendar. 7. Run a 5K. Run…not walk. 12. Send out thank you notes. 13. Do something completely spontaneous & last minute, and drive my anal-retentive planning self NUTS! Note to self: must enlist Steve’s help for this one! 20. Bump up my exercise routine to 3x/week. 21. Fit back into my skinny jeans. 23. And speaking of roller skates – I need to go roller skating again! 28. Use up some of my fabric stash – the Style Stitches challenge should be instrumental in achieving that goal! 30. Make sure to remember to enjoy the beach – because why else would I be living where I live?? Clothing is sort of hard to make! Especially pants – that whole crotch seaming stuff is sort of confusing. And clothes for tiny humans are even more difficult because they’re so…tiny! However, tiny human clothes are especially cute and adorable, even without tiny humans filling them out. I traced out the 0-3 months and 12-18 months patterns for the Quick Change Trousers from Handmade Beginnings. I went stash shopping for some fabrics (way too much fun!). And slowly sewed up 2 pairs of pants.
The bigger pair is definitely girlie – so I’m going to have my favorite little ginger, Ellie, test these out for me. The smaller pair is for my newest favorite sassy chica, Sara, who apparently doesn’t have any pants to wear currently. Hers are more gender neutral, so hopefully they’ll get passed back so Kit can wear them. As a bonus, Sara should be able to wear the bigger set of pants in about a year! I also think Sara will end up testing a few pairs of gender neutrals in the bigger sizes.
The pain of sewing clothing is more than offset by the cuteness of the clothing, so I’ll definitely be making a few more pairs of these pants! I’m kinda wishing they came in my size! The girls will get their new pants next weekend, so hopefully they’ll both cooperate for a photo op. |
   
 
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