Thursday, March 27, 2014

5 months with Nora

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I cannot believe our little love bug is 5 months old already!  Some days it feels like she was born just yesterday and others it feels like that was eons ago, but either way I almost can't remember life before she entered this world.  

I remember just days after Nora was born, in the deep sleep deprived haze where everything and nothing at all made me cry, someone saying to me "Oh, I just bet you can't even remember life before Nora!"  Of course at that time with Nora being just days old, I most certainly could remember all the perks of being married with no kids.  A time when I could sleep in more than 2 hour spurts or a time when I thought breastfeeding would be just the easiest and most natural thing in the world (newsflash: its not).  Of course this made me burst into tears (but really, what didn't make me burst into tears) and feel like the worst mother in the world, because I thought I should be in this blissful state of mommy-dom, and not bleary eyed, afraid I was doing everything wrong and on the brink of tears at all hours of the day.  

I'm happy to say that those feelings did pass and I now can say in all honesty that it feels like little miss Nora has been part of our world for as long as I can remember.  I'm sure this feeling only grows stronger as she gets older, but we love her, and her newly developing personality to pieces.  She is becoming quite the squirmy worm- so I'll share a few outtakes of our little photoshoot, where you can see that she is much more interested in the blocks/her toes and tutu way more than mom's camera.

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I imagine these little photoshoots will only get more hilarious as she gets older, I'll definitely have to up my speed and brush up on diversion tactics!

Happy 5 months sweet girl!

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Completed Quilt: Blueberry Pluses

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I can't believe it is March and I am just getting around to posting my first finished quilt of 2014!  In all fairness, I have actually had this one finished up for a few weeks now and was just waiting for good weather and a free moment to snap some pictures.

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A moment was about all I had, because it seems our dear Nora has this uncanny ability to be completely passed out in her crib snoozing away until the moment I decide to start something, and then she is wide awake and done with her nap.  Of course the first few times it happened I chalked it up to coincidence, but I am now convinced since its happened about a bajillion-ty times (yes that's an actual amount) that it is her secret power.  I'm sure one day this power will come in handy for her, but at least now, for me, it means that nothing gets done to completion.

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This quilt has since been given to its new home, and hopefully is getting lots of baby boy snuggles.  It was incredibly difficult to part with this quilt, because I love just about everything about it.  From the colors- what's not to love about all that pretty aqua, to the fun prints- every baby boy needs a quilt with fun green chairs on it, to the geometric yet subtle  design, and of course my favorite quilt back of all time, my mom may have had to pry this one from my hands.

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I went with my favorite "fancy" straight line quilting using the decorative serpentine stitch on my machine for a quick and simple quilting session.  I held my breath a little when quilting this, as when I did find some time to baste this quilt together, I realized I had just run out of my trusty basting spray!  I dug out my basting pins and got to work, holding my breath the entire time, as I always end up with ugly wrinkles on the back when I pin baste.  Luckily everything worked out fine and the quilt back is wrinkle/pucker free!

And with that, my first quilt of 2014 is in the books!  Hopefully it won't take me another 3 months to finish the next!!

Quilt Stats
Quilt Name:  Baby Boy Blueberry Pluses
Quilt Size: 50" x 50"
Quilt Pattern:  Plus quilt design using my tutorial
Fabrics Used:  Assorted aqua, lime and grey prints from my stash
Backing:  Ikea number fabric
Binding:  Aneela Hooey Little Apples Sweater Check print







Monday, March 10, 2014

Starburst Cross Quilt Pattern and Block Tutorial

Oh this post is only a year later than I had planned on this being ready, but better late than never!  I'm not sure what the hold up was, this quilt was finished and gifted to my mom for her birthday last February but for some reason getting the tutorial together was not on my radar.  For the past year.  

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I had originally come up with this pattern for a quilt that was on display at Quilt Market in the spring of 2012.  Which was almost 2 years ago.  And that is just crazy talk.  Seriously two years ago. Sorry...still trying to wrap my head around that, because it most definitely does not seem that long ago!

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Anyways, the original Starburst Cross-Quilt Market edition was then featured in Quilt Magazine, and after all that madness was over, and I was able to sit back and look at the pattern, I found an easier way for piecing the blocks, and so this Tula Pink Salt Water version was born.  Whew, that's quite the quilty tale.

This Salt Water version was gifted to my mom for her birthday, as the beach is just about her favorite thing ever.  Aside from Nora :-)  She and my dad are currently soaking up the sun in the Caribbean, so I'll try not to be extremely jealous, as it is just barely in the 50's in these parts (which feels like a heatwave compared to the cold cold temps lately), but I'll take hot beach weather any day of the week.  But I digress...

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Anyways, back to the point here...I finally have the revamped Starburst Cross block tutorial and free quilt pattern available to be downloaded!  The Starburst Cross Block Tutorial can be found here and also downloaded in PDF form here, and the Starburst Cross Quilt Pattern can be downloaded in PDF form for free here!

It feels great getting things off my to do list that have been there for far too long.  I'm giving my closet of WIPs the evil eye and just getting a little tingling to start turning some of them into completed quilts!  We'll see how far I get before losing steam, but for now enjoy the tutorials!