Work in progress

My nephew will be arriving in about 15 weeks (though his mama is already hoping for a little earlier than that).  It's a miracle that he's even on his way and we're all very excited to meet him, even if he's made this pregnancy absolutely miserable for my sister-in-law. 

I started planning the idea for this quilt as soon as I found out they were having a boy.  It's been surprisingly easy to put together so far.  I'm hoping to get a good chance to sit down and finish it next weekend so I can give it to them at the shower, but here's the quilt top, ready to go once I finish piecing the back together.

It's not perfect.  The corners don't match up as nicely as I would like, but I'm still pretty darn happy with it.  I can't wait until the little guy arrives. 

Baby Blanket

I know I've been a lazy blogger, but we've been super busy around here.  It seems that everyone I know is having a baby right now.  Hubby's cousin just had hers a couple days ago, a friend is due in a little less than two months, my nephew will be here in January and my best friend has one due in April.  That's not including all of the acquaintances that are expecting as well.  So I've been in baby crafting mode during most of my free time. 

I met my friend Tracie at work and we instantly became friends.  When she told me she was pregnant, I was so excited and I knew I wanted to make something for her little one.  I pestered her for a long time to pick a name for her little guy so that I could get started.  I spent last weekend putting this baby together.

 

Please forgive the horrible lighting.  I wanted to get these done quickly so her gift could be wrapped up.  It's soft flannel with monkeys on one side (which sort of matches her theme for the nursery) and a pretty blue on the other.

I added an L for baby boy's name.  It's not perfect, but I'm pretty happy with the way it came out.  I can't help but laugh when I look at this now because less than an hour after I had completely finished the blanket and cleaned up my sewing space, Tracie texted me to tell me her husband is second guessing the name and says he doesn't like it anymore.  Great timing, eh?  Fortunately, baby's last name starts with an L, so I told her that if they change his name we'll just say it's for his last name.  I also told her she wasn't getting any more monogrammed gifts until after he's here and the name can't change. 

Now just two more months until he makes his appearance and gets to snuggle up.

Blankets and Burp Cloths

Some friends of ours are having their first baby in July.  They're expecting a little girl and next weekend I'm going to a shower for the mom-to-be.  So I spent the other day making some little goodies for her new little one.

I made a simple blanket.

Both sides are flannel.  One is solid pink and the other is white with green polka dots.  I used a yard and a half of each fabric and just made it as big as possible.  I believe it's 38" x 52".  I would have appliqued the baby's first initial onto one of the corners, but as of now they aren't sure how they're going to spell her name. 

Next I made some embellished burp cloths.

These are really easy to make.  I just measured the center section and added about 3/4" on each side.  The fabric started out at about 20" x 6".  Fat quarters would easily give you two or you could use scraps if you have large enough pieces.  Fold the edges under and sew the fabric in place.  I made two with each fabric. 

I threw in a little sundress and a book to complete the gifts.  I can't wait to celebrate this new little baby next weekend and meet her this summer.

Sewing for babies is so much fun and these projects were really easy.  It felt really good to sew again as I haven't done it since we moved seven months ago.  Now I want to keep going.

A New Kind of Book

I just realized that I never posted about the most recent book that I finished.  It's called Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn: The Ultimate Guide.  I'm not pregnant yet, but I got it because DH and I are officially trying and I wanted to be prepared.  It seems great for childbirth, but it quickly skips through pregnancy and doesn't go very in depth in the newborn section either.  So, while it will be helpful eventually, I have a while before that section will be all that useful. 

Painted Onesies

Between my super baby fever and the fact that everyone around me is pregnant I wanted to do some sort of baby craft and I'm procrastinating on the baby quilt.  So, I decided to do some painted onesies yesterday.  They are so simple.  I couldn't believe it.

First, I used my Cricut to cut out some cute shapes out of freezer paper (make sure it's shiny side down).  Then, iron it onto your onesie.  Put some sort of paper inside the onesie, under the design so that you don't have paint going through the fabric.  Fill in the design with fabric paint.  I used puff paint, but painted it on with a paint brush.  I tried a foam brush on this one, but you can see where it pulled at the fabric.

 I used a regular brush on this one and I think it turned out much better.

Then let them dry for several hours and peel off your freezer paper.  Be careful when peeling because it sticks and can peel up the fabric paint if you aren't careful.  Next time I might try peeling it off while the paint is still wet.  

Here's the final product:

Now I just need to figure out who to give them too so I can get them out of my house.  They aren't easing the baby fever at all.

I will be linking this up to Fabric Tuesday at Quiltstory and Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts.

Rows are Sewn

All of the rows are sewn for the baby quilt.  They are also pressed and ready to be trimmed and sewn together.  The plan is to do them tomorrow since tomorrow is my last day before I start my new job.  I'll post it if I manage to get it finished.  Here's where I am so far:

I rearranged some of the rows after I sewed them together and I like it a bit better this way.  I'm so excited to see it finally come together.  I might also try to hunt down some more flannel tomorrow so that I can finish the whole thing.  We'll see how it goes. 

Rows

I worked on the rows for the baby quilt today.  First, I did this:

And now I'm at this point:

It may not seem like a lot, but considering that it's my first it seemed like a big deal for me.  I think I'll finish the other five and then it will be time to go out and find some fabric for the border and the backing.  I thought I'd have the other quilt going way before this one so I'm not fully prepared to put it together.  It's exciting to see it all turning into a real blanket instead of just a pile of fabric. 

A Baby Blanket

Remember this fabric that I showed you a few days ago?

I finally did something with it since I'm feeling better (though still very congested).  I cut it into 5.5" squares yesterday and today I laid it out.

Now I just need to sew it.  It's going to be a baby quilt for DH's cousin's little girl.  I took out the frog fabric.  It just didn't look right with all those pinks and no other blues.  I'll save it for another little one. 

I guess this is going to be my first quilt since I actually have all the fabric I need for it.  I'm going to tie this one though.  I'll let you know how it goes.