Another Doll Quilt Swap

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Originally uploaded by aviva_hadas

Here is my contribution to the "Another Doll Quilt Swap."

I am please as punch (mostly) with how this turned out. I made the HST's & pinwheels were my first thought, but I was afraid of those 8 points coming together... The worked out great! I love my quilting idea - it is like a second pinwheel, only mu 1/4 inch from the seams idea did not work out so well - I guess i should be happy that they are not "in the ditch."

I hope my partmer likes it. It is on its way 1/2 way around the world, so she will probably not get it for a while yet. :o)

But my first give away has arrived at its destination... (I am only getting out 1 or 2 a day, so don't fret if you don't see anything "soon.")

Last night I prepared & attached the binding to my Miniature Pirate Booty doll quilt. :o)

I've got my partner for the Summer Doll Quilt Swap - I trolled her blog yesterday & I have no idea her "style." But I have a "great" plan!

Fabric donation results

As you know, I have been culling fabric to make room for the Calico Kitten.
Norece volunteered to make Pillowcases for ConKerr Cancer. But she needed 3/4 yard pieces... That was tricky for a gal who generally does not buy larger that 1/2 yard pieces. & Most of those have a chunk out of them... But I went through & pulled what I had... Take a look at what Norece was able to do with them! (She pulled the coordinating fabrics from her stash.) Yes, you do see cats... I figured that it was better for them to be made into something instead of being part of my collection - which by the way does not look any worse for wear...

The other quilt. (I saved the best for last.)

Once upon a time ago, Holly sent me this lovely gift. Since she use a Laurel Burch print in the border, I knew that I wanted to at least use a Laurel Burch print for the binding. The minor problem with that plan, my collection of Laurel Burch prints consisted of parts of fat quarters - meaning I had already chopped out a charm or 2 from the cat quarter. Not that any of those would have been chosen for the binding anyway. (I chose a cat print for binding once & have "regretted" it ever since...)

Several months later, the "last" Laurel Burch cat fabric line was released. (L.B. passed away, but I kind of think tkat her estate will rerun some of her ideas...) I had to have some to finish Holly's lovely quilt!

I bought 2 panels & some yardage for the back & a nice piece for the binding.

Here is the result.
The whole quilt (with the binding attached, but not finished.)
The pieced corner blocks.
One of the hand embroidered & hand crayoned cats. I am happy with how the long armer traced around the embroideries & appliques. (I was at a loss on how to quilt this...)
The hand appliqued mouse.
The back (I tried to be artsy with the yellow & stingy with the cats...) At least when I lable it by writing directly on it with a pigma pen, it will show up on the yellow! Yes, I do lable like that - often!

Thanks again Holly! I still love it, especially the part about how I don't have to make it!

Quilt 1

A complete Kaffe Fassett look alike quilt. I bought a kit & placed everything as he had (some of mine are rotated differently...)
My favorite fabric in the quilt & a nice shot of the overall floral quilting. (If I had not purchased a kit & pulled the same fabrics to make a similar but different quilt, this would have been the huge square in the middle.)
The backing fabric!

Spring really has Sprung with this quilt! (When will I finish the binding? Don't tell anyone, but I have about 7 quilts that need the binding finished, oh & I pay to have it attached!)

Weekend recap

I pulled names for the give aways - you should have received an e-mail from me requesting your snail mail address. They will be mailed over a short period of time. The first bag to be mailed is one of two to go to Oklahoma.

As I previously mentioned, we went to a Vegan BBQ, they were delighted/extatic/over joyed, etc. for the tofu dogs and veggie burgers that we left them to it... (I wonder about the taste though, because I saw a lot of ketchup being squeezed on those burgers.)

I also already mentioned that we got furniture for the Calico Kitten. I culled/cleaned more in the stewdio to make room. I now have the bookcase in my alcove. (I need to do a lot of work in the alcove. I also need to get rid of the dinette table.) I am 99.9% sure that the space allocated for the baby furniture is adequate.

Sunday night, I finished the quilting on the 2 doll quilts. I even got the binding prepared - I just need to attach it. (I hope I prepared enough...)

I went to a pre-Memorial Day sale at the LQS & got some yellow fabric to go with my yellow bird fabric (Birds are a sub-theme for decorating in the baby's room - there isn't a real "theme" perse, it won't be all birds.) I will shirr the yellow fabirc & attach it as a border to the yellow bird print. (I got a foot for shirring & a book to explain the process in addition to the fabric.)

I got 2 quilts back from the long armer. (Photos later.)

Picked-up our veggies from the CSA, the mystery veggies were overgrown scallions. We ate the spinach in a salad, we grilled the asparagus & scallions. We ate the strawberries & we will be blanching the peas for dinner tonight - that leaves the radishes yet to be consumed. We also grilled hamburgers & corn. My GF came over & shared our bounty. She also shared some quilty things that she is working on & I shared mine. She agreed to serge the flannel pieces into receiving blankets (How did that bag end up on the bottom of the pile?) too bad I did not hear about making them 45 inches square earlier... Oh well, the day care wants receiving blankets to use, so there will be plenty of uses for them, I am sure. She also took my ba-ba black sheep 3 bags full to take & to disburse.

If I haven't mentioned it enough already - I need to get into the stewdio & straighten yet some more... (Maybe even cull some more...) Just organize at the very least!

So what did you do?

CSA & The fish dinner that wasn't

Background:

My husband & I went to Australia for our honeymoon a few years ago. We knew that we would not be eating Skippy (The Bush Kangaroo - an Aussie TV show from the 60's - it showed in the US in the late 60's early 70's.) or crocodile. What we did eat was Barramundi - a fish that is indigenous to Australia.

So after shopping for baby furniture, we decided to check out Whole Foods - they had nice corn outside... The had farm raised Barramundi! We got a couple filets & a couple pieces of Icelandic Char. When we got home, my husband carried in the groceries & put the perishables away (Including the beef that we had set out to thaw earlier). We ended up eating out instead of making one of the fish dishes last night.

So I m preparing to make dinner & I asked my husband which fish he wanted to eat. Without hesitation he said barramundi. So I went to the fridge... I only found the char. "Where is it?" (It never got out of the grocery sack...)

So we had a nice piece of char with a salad. :o)

CSA (Community Supported Agriculture)

Today was our first day to pick up fruits & veggies. (Our weather has been wet & cold...No complaints from me!) 

We got Spinach (which made it into our salad), peas, asparagus, strawberries, radishes & either onions or leeks... I am thinking onions, but the bulbs are shaped like leeks - I sent the farmer an e-mail to verify. I will use leeks differently than onions. :o)

Oh & we went to Frederick, Maryland today to see the National Museum of Civil War Medicine & a store that sells the cloth diapers that we are thinking about using - we wanted to "see" them instead of just reading about them.

The Calico Kitten has furniture

We did not plan to buy yet, but the store had a nice set that had been window dressing & it was on sale, so...

I also took the morning to go through my flannel bits & scraps. (1 yard pieces make nice receiving blankets, I'll have to ask my friend to finish them with her serger.)

So I now have flannel scraps to give to a good home & hand dyed fabrics. If you want either, holler!

I got 2 quilts back from the long armer this morning & dropped off another. No photos yet.

I went to a Vegan BBQ this afternoon - it was interesting... (Baby does not like Tabouleh. Hubby does not like tofu...)

We plan on doing our own meat BBQ on Monday. (We are going to Frederick, MD tomorrow to look at cloth diapers.)

Any plans for the long weekend out there?

Just a funny to start your morning

This is quilty - I swear

So last night, I was supposed to quilt a bit more on that doll quilt...

Instead I met my husband at the baby furniture store. We looked around & found the most wonderful sales associate! (& The best reason for not hiring people on a comission basis) who told us all about car seats - I guess this really is real if you are looking at car seats, huh? The best news, since our due date is late in the year, we may get to benefit from end of year sales! We also found out that we shoudl probably order our crib sooner rather than later as they can take 12 to 16 weeks to deliver. (Yes, you read that right.)

But that reminds me of another funny MIL story.

My MIL for all our differences, has stated that she would buy the crib, car seat, stroller, changing table... WHEW!

But she told her friends daughter that she would buy her crib & was shocked at the $___ price tag (Not her grandchild...) So my husband & I while we were not looking for the cheapest thing in the store, we were price comparing.

So we called her with our preliminary total (to judge the reaction) & she said "Don't buy cr@p."

(So she was shocked at a rather average price for a crib - we have seen higher - but also says don't buy cr@p. Would sending a check & letting us use it as we see fit work so much better?)

Oh I got sick in the bathroom at the baby furniture store - they have a nice ladies room complete with a "mothers room."

Back to the quilty stuff... at this same store they have "soft" supplies. (quilts, etc.)

I think that my husband may have a new appreciation for my craft... (They were pricey & not much more that a bunch of squares sewn together - some of the squares are minky.) & He admitted that the stuff that I got at the LQS to back my babies quilt feels the same. SCORE!

After the sickies & the baby store - we went out for pizza. (Am I the only one who feels better after being sick?) Not the best idea - it sat hard on me & All I was able to do was to crawl into bed for the rest of the evening. Hence, so more quilting on that doll quilt.

Doll quilt quilting

Doll quilt quilting
Originally uploaded by aviva_hadas

She quilts!

I quilted 1/4 of one of the 2 doll quilts that I have in progress.

All while hearing Mr. Calico Cat talking about all things baby including ELEMENTARY SCHOOL! (He is doing a lot of research. He is a planner - can't wait for baby to turn those plans upside down! I am more of a go with the flow kind of gal! STOP LAUGHING!)

The new "IT" designer?

I don't know, but I love her apples! With my luck, my local shops will get 1 or 2 of her pieces, neither of which will be an apple...

basting

Watch out - finish swallowing - have a seat...

I actually basted my two doll quilts last night! YES, I am a quilter!

I planned to do some quilting too, but...

ASIDE: My cats eat Rx cat food... The warehouse is out of my girls canned cat food, the vet said to give her store brand canned cat food to tide her over... 9-Lives made me SICK... (Oh yeah, whoever called it morning sickness - please explain the evening sickies.)

So I did not get around to quilting. But that is my plan today! Wish me luck.

Who shared quilt show photos on their blog?

Specifically a BAQ style quilt that had a cat with violets block & I commented that I have that pattern...

I PURCHASED the pattern for the whole quilt & am willing to part with it after I photocopy the one block that I may actually complete...

The state of the Stewdio

You have had hints throughout the weekend & some of you know or figured out the impetus.
What's going on officially? The stewdio will also be the infants room.
So I am rearranging furniture & culling stuff.
To begin, I do not have a great "game plan" for attacking the situation & the room wasn't ever "together" to begin with...

In my mind, my stewdio will be in a "alcove" of my making. Therefore, I pulled off every piece of fabric from my Container Store shelving unit & turned it to be parallel to the closet instead of perpendicular to it along the wall. (I now hope that a piece of baby furniture will abut that unit on the back side.) Since there is space between the closet & the shelves, I plan to put my tall book case along the wall - completing my alcove & I sincerely hope that all of my stash/quilting stuff fits in that space. (I need to trash the circa 1970 dinette table that I used for cutting & sewing - on occasion). That will leave 2 low book cases for baby stuff & room for baby furniture.

The fabric story:
Once upon a time ago, I was into Oriental fabrics. I planned to make a pieced cat quilt using them, I have nickels cut for a multitude of projects, I had other scraps ready for yet other projects... I am not so much into Orientals anymore. So much so that I sold some earlier & The scraps that I saved - just in case - are now in a baggies awaiting postage & an address. (I do have 2 UFO's using Orientals that I still hope to complete & I did do 2 Oriental quilts.)

Batiks - Almost a ditto of above...

30's - I was never "into" them. As a matter of fact, I only reluctantly purchased the kitty themed ones for my cat charm quilt... I then got some others from a friend & in a "grab bag" in a shop for my "I'm going to sell baby quilts business." (You can stop laughing now!) I did get some other Novelty 30's, because their scale is a nice contrast & Those Beer Steins were to fun!

Cats - While I pulled each & every one off of the shelves, I did not sort them very well when putting them back, but I did cull some for the pillow cases & some are in my "3 bags full." (My general novelties & cats are sharing a space that once was only cats! Also on that shelving system are a good amount of Taupes, neutrals (creams, grays B&W's) Jan Mullen prints & my Judaica collection.

CW repro - I so got caught up in the thought process of "I live in the CW region, I should make a CW quilt - or 2, 3..." I have 2 UFO's & some fabric... (I may be culling that next.) I'll keep the shirtings - I like lights & I like to be scrappy when using lights.

I went through most of my color piles & culled some into the "3 bags full." (If you are looking for color scraps let me know - I've got a good amount of some!)

I have more decisions to make - based upon the pile-o-bags in front of the bookcase that needs to be in the alcove - millenium charms, pieced cats (x 4 or 5), etc. & the stuff under & behind the table AKA corner that I did not get to!

If you read this far - thanks! I you have any words of encouragement THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

Stash Busting

More lazy stash busting from me.

I feel a bit like "Ba Ba Black Sheep" - I culled 3 bags full of fabric. Did you know that the Whole Foods Bags have grown? They are 2 or 3 inches taller that they were. You see while I am not organized enough to bring a cloth bag to the grocery store, I do get and reuse the paper bags.

That doesn't count my give away baggies, books, or UFO's!

Give Aways!

While culling fabrics, I found a few "categories" that made up nice sized scrap bags:

30's, Batiks, & Orientals. 

Also on the chopping block - a box of quilt books.

And because I was at it, I have a couple genuine UFO's - FALL, Heather Bailey, & Joel Dewberry. If you live in the USA and are interested in any of the above items, let me know.

Sorry to have to limit these to the USA, but I have spent quite a bit on international postage fairly recently & I will be doing some more international shipping soon enough with a couple of my doll quilt swaps.

I have to be able to contact you, so if your e-mail is set to "no-reply@blogger" I can not contact you...

I haven't quite figured out how to divvy them up, but I will make that decision once I get all of the requests by Friday. 

quick check in

I have pulled the blues for mailing!

I found the 3.5 inch I Spy bag & added my newbies to it.

I culled some more fabrics.

I pulled fabrics for a paper pieced project.

I have had the larger pieces pulled for the pillow cases - not sure if my box is big enough...

My round robin is ready to mail.

I found 2 UFO's that only need borders (backs & bindings)

I found 3 tops that are ready for quilting (except for the fact that I need to find backs for them). I need to find a better way of storing them.

I realized that I bit off more than I can chew. :o) 

Another Day, Another... Dilemma

Or why I did not quilt yesterday
Or how I spent $300

Plumbing problems... Our shower got itself clogged beyond plunging - it did not even drain over an 8 hour period.

The culprit - hair...

Luckily the plumber had some advice about how to keep it from happening again.

"Hail Gel" once a month, it is available at Home Depot.

After that, there was no pizza to be had for dinner. :o(

TGIF - I seem (oh heck lets be honest) I get more stuff done on the weekend!

On tap for this weekend:
1. sort through some more stuff in the Stewdio. (I could do that for a month of Sunday's & not finish the task.)
2. round up UFO's (Sub-part of 1., but worthy of its own spot on the list)
3. round up ready or almost ready to be quilted tops/backs/bindings (Ditto the note for number 2.)
4. press & baste two doll quilts, so that I can hand quilt in the evenings again
5. Package fabric to be sent off to become pillow cases, package RR top to send it off for the next part to be added, package medium & dark blue scraps.
6. Photograph (etc.) Pile-o-books so that I can eventually package them off as well.

That should be enough - especially considering that I have a luncheon to attend on Sunday as well.

Day Care - almost a saga...

A. I don't have a choice, but to offer up my child to some complete stranger for rearing... (Yes, I am bitter - but it is expensive to live where we live & the offer of moving to NY did not sound any better.)
B. I am not interested in "in home" care. (I don't trust the system that checks on those providers.)
C. I signed up to be on the list for the work site child care centers - the odds are against us on getting into those centers. Husbands work option does not do infants.
D. I went to the non-work sponsored child care site that is within walking distance of my office - 12 infants waiting for 1 spot that will be opening in September - the odds are once again stacked against us.
E. Went to a child care center that is not very convenient to get to, but is not horribly out of the way entirely either. (Husband could not get there on his bus route.) They seemed optomistic about having an opeing in February. They were not very open to the cloth diaper plan & their fee includes linens that they wash & snacks (two things that I am not completely thrilled with for personal/weird reasons.)
F. Went to a child care center that is more convenient especially for the husband - he could drop off the infant in the morning, as the center is at a bus stop. They do not provide linens or snacks - both are o.k. in my book. They are open to cloth diapers. They all but guaranteed (in writing) a spot in February...
G. Did not visit the closest child care center... (Over load - they are all similar - based on regulations & You can't in reality choose based upon the employees.)
H. Did not look further although there are other options out there.

So hubby should be dropping off a deposit check to option F today.

& for grins & whistles, any guesses on the going rate for full time infant (6 weeks old to 14 months - 3 infants to 1 caretaker ratio) care per week? (Think of buying a small car or paying tuition to modestly priced university. The MIL is in disbelief about this one too. I can admit that I was shocked to hear the number myself, but they are caring for my child - paying wages, rents, etc.)

take a look

I sure hop I win this contest! (& I'd love to know where to get some t's like that!)

Maternity t-shirt in Lime Green. I need to check out her etsy shop to be tempted even more. You see 99% of me wants to load up on Snarky preggie t's 1% of realizes that I could not wear them to work, but something like this - YOU BETCHA! So far, I have tame solid t's :o).

(Now I bet you all wish that you were going through the roller coaster of prenancy again!)

THANKS!

Thanks for all of the lovely words yesterday. You gals will never know how much they hepled.

Now for soome real help! I am 99.9% sure that I purchased the Bento Box pattern. But I can't find it. I am almost willing to pay someone to comeover & find it for me.

In the mean time, I did pull several books from my shelves to pass on to new homes. (I hope to list their titles and authors/photograph them soon.) & the scraps.... I have been pulling more scraps. (I need to make room for baby in the stewdio.) I still have a pile of big pieces to send out so that they can become pillow cases...

Can I blame the baby?

I have been crying (emotional) far more than normal...

Caveat: I cry during movies, advertisements, playing the national anthem during the Olympics

But I have recently started crying without those visual cues.

I cry when I come to the realization that I have not even come close to working on ANYTHING.
I cry when the actual thought crosses my mind that I am really pregnant.
I cry when I think about all of the things that I need to do between now & then - not just "the baby quilt" & 100+ hand made receiving blankets, but day care, etc.
I cry when I am alone & wonder if this is the right thing to be doing.
I cry when I think about how polar opposite I am from my MIL & how she just doesn't get it. (I am apparently full of sh*t when I say that I don't like to talk on the phone. Sorry, I did not grow up talking on the phone, nor did I see this behaviour exhibited by my parents - back then there was this thing called long distance & I lived in a different area code from my High School & different time zone from any family.)

I am tired of all of the "new stuff" going on in my body - when will the aching stop? (If anyone out there says December 4th - aka Due date - you better start running & ducking now.) Oh & I cry when I am made to think that I am the only on who is acting like a big baby over that stuff.

Oh and I am tired PERIOD. The only time that i get anything done is over the weekend - after a nap (after I slept in of course). I seriously doubt that if I changed my work scedule that any of that would change, so I will continue to arrive at 6:30 & leave at 3 - because I can still do more things after work than I could while sleeping the morning away (like visiting child care centers). Besides, the commute would add road rage to my already impressive list of things to cry about!

I could go on, but that is a pretty good illustration...

Several hours & dozens of books later...

Well it started out innocently enough, I though I knew which book held the pattern for Licorice Twist. I was wrong... So I pulled several books that I thought could contain the pattern (All the while hoping that the book was not already bundled up with fabric hoping to one day become a quilt top. I have several books/magazines/patterns in that state of limbo.) I knew that it would not be in the myriad of applique books (I thought that I would be an appliquer...) nor would it be in any of my Judy Martin books or Mary Ellen Hopkins books... So I pulled all of the fat quarter books and scrappy books... NO luck... So I went through again (before putting those back - pat on the back for that brilliant move.) & pulled "Patchwork Memories" by Retta Warehime & found the pattern. Now I am not so sure that this is the pattern that I want to do...

Maybe one day this baby will allow me to make a decision!

(I have decided that in addition to many fabrics that no longer need to live in my stash, there are several books that can move along as well. Stay tuned.)

2 doll quilts pieced

I just pieced the second of my two doll quilts for swapping. The second one was a pinwheel & I was a little worried about piecing it. But it was for not... I am rather happy with how it turned out. Now to press, baste, quilt & bind them! I hope that everyone else is having a sewing filled weekend. Now I feel that I can look for the book with the pattern that I want to use, but I won't start sewing on it until I have these two obligation pieces completed. :o) 

Decision made!

I have decided what pattern to use for the quilt for my baby!

Hopefully I can find the book...

I think the author called it Licorice - she used red & black on white. I will probably go bright scrappy on white. - Baby & white, probably won't stay white for long, but...

I like it because it is graphic (looks like a quilt) but the pieces are not small - minky-ish backing so this will be "big stitched."

So happy to have that decision made!

Doll quilt Swapping

I am a glutton...
I am happy to report that my Spring doll quilt arrived safely & was well received! YAY - I checked out my partners blog, but couldn't get a read... I used Kaffe Fassett prints & those aren't everyones cuppa...

I have yet to get my own in return as of yet.

Miniature pirate booty swap - I've got a top done.

Another Doll Quilt Swap - I've got the HST's done.

BUT I am finished with my class, so I have more time to play with fabric. :o)

what am I missing

I have been to a few blogs where the authors mentioned "ratings." I have not seen them - on the blogs in question or on my own blog... What am I missing - has "blogger" fixed an error before I was aware of it?

I had my last class last night & not a minute too soon - I am still so tired ALL THE TIME.

Something sorta quilty

My Pfaff is ready to be picked up from her annual "once over." YAY! (In the mean time, I did not even press the project that I feverishly finished so that I could hand quilt it while the sewing machine was in for service...)

Drum roll

I also found my gift certificate to the LQS - so I will not have to pay full price for the service. :o) I swear, cleaning does nothing but hide things that you will want later.

I hope this works

Caveat & admission... Pregnancy made me subscribe to a "mom blog" - but it is a conglomerate blog that pulls from a wide selection...
DC Mom Blogs is the one that I read. I for one have to agree with this article on PBS...
So much so that I went to the Parade magazine website & voted - not only did I vote, I was amazed at how many people voted no... If you look at all of the stuff that our taxes pay for that are preposterous (Alaska's Bridge to Nowhere as 1 example that we all paid for even those of us who have never been to Alaska...), you kind of have to stop & wonder about things that might be worthwhile - Like TV that is not inundated with American Idol - it was o.k. for a while, but how long can it last... My cat sings better than this crowd that the teenyboppers love...

Happy Cinco de Mayo - sorta

As many of you know, my husband & I purchased a condo. It stared out life as a Garden Apartment. So it & all of the others are hooked up to a boiler - good thing, because that means that we do not have a water or electric bill & bad thing - we lost electricity last night - so the boiler went out. My husband had to have a cold shower - I hung out feeling very dirty waiting for the "fix." You see at 5:30 a.m. when we called the maintenance number they made it sound like they only had to flip a switch (so I called my office saying that I would be in late)... At 8-ish they had a maintenance man working on the problem & it would be fixed in about 2 hours (I called back & said that I would be in at noon) all the time, I kept checking the water... At 3:30 the maintenance man finally came over (after calling me saying that the boiler was on) after the water had been running for 30 minutes continuously he checked & guess what - IT WAS COLD! (Our building is at the end of the line - so he went to flush the line.) I finally took a luke warm shower at 5 p.m. (I HAVE to shower daily.) I did not make it into work.

On Sunday, I went grocery shopping. On my list were low carb tortillas, salsa, & cheddar cheese. With those three items, I had quesadillas for dinner. :o) (I missed the sour cream & guacamole - but not enough to have purchased them for one meal.) My husband does not like Mexican food. - I got him into a Mexican restaurant once when I explained to him that a quesadilla is a Mexican grilled cheese sandwich - He likes those.

& That reminds me - I may survive this pregnancy on grilled cheese sandwiches. 

I did not sewing today - I was grungy & only in the mood to hang out in my robe. I was so yucky that my cats did not even want to hang out with me.

BUT I am doing some lazy stash busting - I am mailing some fabric to a gal who will turn them into pillow cases for cancer patients & some other fabric will be headed out in an I Spy swap.

realization

After running through several blogs, I have come to the conclusion that some people spend a lot more time "thinking" about their quilting...

I am so much more the "just do it" kind of quilter.

Neither good nor bad - just an observation.

Any observations that you have made recently? (Doesn't have to be quilt related.)

No photos but...

I pieced the top for my Pirate Booty doll quilt swap. (Now I need to press the hell out of it!)

After finishing that I wrapped up my sewing machine to take her in for her annual... I got to the shop an hour & 15 minutes too late. (If they have a class they stay open - apparently the scheduled class did not go.) So I will stop by this afternoon. At that time, I will get a spool of blue hand quilting thread for my current doll quilts.

This weekend, I need to get into the stewdio - I am going to measure fabrics & donate some 3/4 yard pieces to a gal who makes pillow cases for charity. I will also be cutting I SPY charms. I also need to find a couple bits for the round robin quilt top that I am working on.

I am decidedly not feeling well & according to the doctor - when my uterus starts to expand, I won't be feeling nay better... YAY - yet another thing that they failed to mention... (Really, when you have never been pregnant & people tell you about pregnancy, they mention morning sickness - or all day sickness in my case - and not being able to see you feet once you are about 8 months along... They completely gloss over the boob tenderness, the uterus pain, the extreme tiredness followed by "I can't sleep", the "I'm hot, no I'm freezing" shifts, Oh & can I mention the crying jags? Almost daily without any prompting, I will think, "I'm actually pregnant" & start to ball - like right now..., etc.)

I'll know better after a troll through the stewdio, but I may do a bright novelty stars quilt for one of the two planned baby quilts.

On quilting for baby

Once upon a time ago, I started a hand appliqued project for my baby (I knew I was going to have one, I just did not know how long it would take to get there!) - that ufo has been stewing for a very long time in my "stewdio" (& my apartment before that). Lets classify that one as unrealistic.

I have another fused applique with hand button holeing project, but this one has always been a "good" quilt. (Kind of like the good china that you only use every so often.) I know that that makes no sense, but there you have it. Besides, it is only a bit farther along that the other one. Lets classify that one as not the kind of baby quilt that I am talking about.

You may or may not know, that I am a flickr fanatic. So I get to see a lot of inspiration - not much of is makes me say, I want to make something like that for my baby, which is good, because I have at least 3 flickr projects for big quilts.

Many ideas have floated through my head as possibilities - but I am using Minkies cousin as the back, so I will probably be tieing or big stitch quilting, so many of the tiny pieces ideas are out the window & probably a tad bit unrealistic. With that said, I am also not interested in just squares randomly sewn together or 1 big log cabin block...

As the end of this post I am back to thinking, I want something green/yellow or a rainbow. & I've got not much beyond that figured out - except that they will both be about 60 inches square.

BTW If you were having a baby, I would have NO problem figuring out what to do.

A little information is a dangerous thing

So I went to my first OB appointment after being discharged from the Infertility Specialist.
This was not supposed to be a big deal, but I have been looking at pregnancy websites. I have been looking at the "So what does my 8.5 week old fetuls look like?" "What is going on in there?" "When will I stop feeling so awful?" "Is this normal?" kind of stuff.

Once you get past the fluff, you read about tests like amniocentisis, etc. Which are all a bit scary - big needle in the tummy, baby wiggling, try not to poke the baby, etc. & then there is the "CVS" test that takes a bit of the placenta...

After the doctor chatted with me about my life time of maladies - we got to talking about those tests (& others) and they are scarier in person than on the web.

Bottom line, once you get the results, what are you going to do? If you are going to take what ever you are given (Because you have been trying longer than all of the fabric you own placed end to end) - then why bother with the tests?

& to think , I though you had the tests because the doctor said so.

"I am not haveing any invasive tests." (They can look at the neck folds on the untrasound or look at my blood/urine, but they are not poking around in my belly.)

We then talked about "risk." You see I am AMA - Advanced Maternal Age - code for OLD. (But I could have told you that because 99% of the women that I have ever came in contact with were done having kids by the time they were my age & I heard about it often enough.) Oh & I have a couple cats... Not unlike eating raw fish, cat poop can give you toxoplasmosis - so the Kat-Man-Do aka "Mr. Calico Cat" gets to do the doodies. (No sushi for me.... I know there are vegeterian options, but I like my toro sashimi, thankyouverymuch.)

I got another untrasound - I am no longer carrying a sea creature. The yolk sack is almost gone & we saw the umbilical cord & a hand. Boy was that baby wiggly - now wonder why I am sick!

Next appointment is in 1 month... (I haven't gone that long without someone checking out my girl stuff in a long time...)

Quilting? (I wrote on my label last night & my Spring doll quilt should be in the mail this morning! & I got my round robin swap project in the mail.)