The Olivia Baby Quilt

I tell you what, my friends sure are keeping me busy making baby gifts these days.  Not that I'm complaining; I'm getting my fair share of snuggles and baby breath.  Is there anything that compares to that?  Because I really don't think so.

This quilt was made for Olivia Christine, born on October 27.  She is delicate and coo-ey and has the most beautiful full lips -- just like her mama. 

In general, vintage sheets are so pretty that I don't like to cut them up very much.  Bands of color are just fine by me.  It also makes them easy to personalize with embroidery.

I usually mix a band of a new fabric in with all the older sheeting, mostly to stretch my vintage stash and also to break things up a bit.  But this front and back are made completely from the vintage goods and are ever so soft.   { I used a new cotton print for the binding, which I do prefer for its strength.  Sometimes those timeworn lovelies are prone to tearing. }

I hope sweet Miss Olivia enjoys her blanket and her mama lets her use it and spit up on it and everything else that goes along with babies.  This one was made with love and should stand the test of time. And if it does need repair, I'm pretty sure they'll know who to call.  ;)

Hopefully, before too long, I'll have nursery room pics to share.  I'm kind of loving how it's turning out. 

the gift reveal

Running short on time today... babygirl sleeps really well at night, but it translates to very short naps during the day.

Anyhoo.

Here is an almost-full shot of the baby blanket I made for a friend of mine who is a couple weeks away from being a first time mama.  I used a combination of vintage sheeting (the pink stripes), and some stash fabric (from Heather Bailey's Pineapple Brocade to stock quilter's cotton; the blue has polka dots).  I trimmed it with a dotted pink minky left over from Figet's nursery bedding, made three years ago.

I loved the combination so much that I think I'm going to use that yellow for curtain's in the new nursery.  I'm not kidding.  I have about 10 yards of it that I bought for another project that will never happen and I think it would look smashing as full-length curtains.  Anyone think I'm nuts?

I also made a matching onesie for the babe.  This little newborn onesie was worn by by my own babygirl once or twice and I was getting ready to put it in the goodwill pile.  Ten minutes and a little heat-n-bond later, I had part deux of the baby gift.  Voila. 

I'm making more of these.

That's a promise.  And a warning.  I do have a bagillion baby gifts to make, after all.  :) 

xoxo

news from new baby land

I really miss this space and connecting with readers and friends.  I miss stopping by all of the inspiring  creative blogs that were part of my daily coffee.  But things are going well and starting to feel more normal around here.

First of all, my dear friend Lori from Laeroport stopped by not long ago and we had the best day.  You'll have to read her account of it, though, because she took photos of all the goodies she brought for my girls and she is uber-talented with a needle.  And brave!  She even appliqued a tank top for my very particular 13 year old, who happened to love it.  Impressive, no?  Thank you again, Lori.  (She also brought along her daughter, Aidin, who is just about the sweetest girl ever.  And tidiest.  I think the playroom was cleaner when she left than when they got here.)

The snuggling continues.  Does this little girl ever like her snuggle.

She is still very fussy (hee.  I just wrote 'fuzzy' and she is that, too.) but is thankfully sleeping fairly well at night.  That is, she wakes, eats, and goes right back to sleep.  After two nightowls that required walking around in the pitch dark and singing showtunes at 2am, this is a welcome change.  

The flip side of this awesome scenario is that we are not napping much during the day.  And lo, productivity around here (aside from milk, that is) has come to a screeching halt.

I'm totally in awe of those bloggers who have new babies and just keep on blogging and crafting and reading other blogs and commenting on them and keeping up with Facebook and Twitter and Oh. My. Heck.  Please.  Tell me, how do you do it?  

is there a special superhero cape I don't know about? 

I'm only kind of kidding.  i am attending to the matters of a master bathroom missing the final touches since last July and making plans to start the nursery soon after that.  Hopefully we will have photos of something other than Princess Poopypants (as she is affectionately known around here) very soon...

Excuse me.  Duty calls.  It's in the form of a 10 pound bundle of squirmy sweetness with a dirty diaper.  See?  I told you.

Have a happy week! 

one month later. totally random thoughts.

How a tiny little bundle of pink can turn a household upside down!  I'm writing this while my sweet littlest daughter is asleep on the couch, exhausted from a day of gassiness.  (note to self: no more chinese food.)  We're up three pounds already, and holding our head pretty steady.   She doesn't mind being on the floor, which is so strange to me because my other two had terrible reflux and 'flat' was not a happy place.  

She snuggles.  Oh the snuggling. This baby knows what a snuggle is all about. And she sleeps so very soundly, hardly moving or shifting at all.  Content.  That's what my mom called her.  She's right.

When not fighting the gas, this little bug is such a sweet and mellow baby.  She can sleep for long stretches, too... on more than one occasion she has given momma a 5-hour break at night.  Around week two, gas set in, and her tummy seems to wake her more than anything.  I cut dairy out of my diet last week, and it seems to make a slight difference.  { Although today can certainly not be blamed on dairy and it was one for the baby book.  ahem. }

I look forward to this initial bout of fussiness wearing off.  When it does, I have no doubt this little girl will be able to relax and enjoy herself a bit more.   We're all in love and can't imagine life without her already...

I'm adjusting once again to that loss of personal time, as well as the lack of anything that resembles a schedule.  Carving out some time to craft is tricky, but I did happen to put together a baby blanket for the latest craft hope project.  Photos forthcoming... it seems that I haven't got my photo-download-upload-blogging rhythm back yet.

The other thing about all this time spent walking around with a baby on my shoulder is that I have lots of time to think.  I have some rather exciting ideas bouncing around inside my sleep-deprived head.  Maybe just putting this out there will be enough for me to act on them... stay tuned.

xo

ps: THANK YOU for all of the sweet baby wishes.  I certainly have read and enjoyed each and every comment.  You all know how to make a girl feel special.  I mean it.  xoxo

It's a GIRL!

< whisper > hi.

yes, we had a baby a week ago today.  she's all pink and soft and full of funny little baby sounds and squeaks.  she's the tiniest of my three girls, still not up to 7 lbs yet, but she's nursing well and putting on weight.

and, oh, the faces this sweet girl makes.

she may never know what it is like to be put down... right now my mom is staying with me, my thirteen year old is on summer vacation, and Fidget is always angling for her turn as well.  Poor daddy hardly gets a chance.  that's what happens when a bundle of pure sweetness drops into your life.

She is nursing a lot during the day.  a LOT.  which is fine by me because she is taking big breaks from it at night and I'm actually getting more sleep than I ever expected at this point.  so we are all happy and pink and constantly saying things like 'she's just so CUTE' and 'OMG, I LOVE her' and 'we're so blessed!'

so you'll forgive me if the updates are slow around here, right?  or maybe it will just be pictures for a while.  unless you object, of course.  can you handle the cute?? 

</ whisper >