Twiddling My Thumbs

My due date is tomorrow and Little Miss Cook is taking her sweet time in making her debut.  I honestly never imagined my pregnancy would last this long since Nate arrived early.  But here I am, week 40.  Gotta say -- not a big fan of the last 3 weeks.  Now I understand the "the last trimester is a killer" comments. 

Here's what we've been up to while we've been waiting:

Nate practicing being a big brother (the role of little sis is played by Ruby the Bear). He was a little rough with sis/Ruby so we'll have to work on what "gentle" means.  Oy vey.

 Finally hung up some artwork in Baby Girl's corner of our bedroom.  These illustrations came from an old book I bought at the Salvation Army.  Gotta love 2 bucks for pretty pictures.  The book was fairly damaged on the spine so I tore out the pages I liked and glued them on foam core....in California you don't put anything heavy above a baby's crib (earthquakes!!).

This is how I know that 40 weeks have flown by....I'm constantly refilling my weekly pill box with prenatal vitamins.  I take 4 prenatals and 2 vitamin D pills a day.  Plus Levoxyl for my thyroid condition.  Then the doc decided to add this to the mix ---

That's an iron supplement.  I take 2 of those a day.  And I have to be careful when I take it so that the absorption isn't affected (not with dairy, not with antacids, not with the Levoxyl, etc).  Having so many pills to take has made my head spin.  I'm constantly asking myself "wait, did I already take my iron?"  So it finally dawned on me to quickly write the date on each pill backing. That's my tip to you. It has helped my foggy memory tremendously.

Got started on my Christmas quilt and sewed all 40 of my blocks.  Now I just need to sew the blocks together.  Not sure when that's gonna happen.  I'd really love to get this quilt done before this Christmas.  Isn't that chevron print the best?  I'm in love with these fabrics!

 I found this little dress on a doll that I had as a kid.  I'm going to try putting it on Baby Girl. 

When there was a slight twinge of Autumn in the air last Friday, Nate and I made gingerbread cookies.  He picked out the cookie cutters from my collection: a pumpkin, a heart, the #s 2, 3, 4 and 8.  He was a really big helper and did a great job using the cookie cutters.  I was so proud of him -- and a little sad that he's growing up so fast.  I see plenty of baking days together in our future.

If I Wrote a Pregnancy Manual....

it would have one chapter and it would go like this:

If you're having a baby during the summer months, kiss up to friends who have swimming pools.  Submerging your swollen body in cool, cool water will be blissful. It's the only time you'll feel like your old self.  Until your {ugly} maternity bathing suit stops fitting and then you'll have to find a new diversion -- like chocolate.

The end.

Baby Quilt Revealed

This 33 inch, square quilt was created with a charm pack line called Calico Candies by Michele D'Amore.  I thought the colors and old-fashioned prints would stand the test of time and were dainty and charming.  The border is yardage from the same fabric line.  I didn't take a photo of the back because it's yellow flannel -- nothing too special.  

I followed a baby quilt tutorial from the Missouri Star Quilt Company (Love Jenny Doan!) that was really easy.  Once I finished the quilt top, it sat in the closet for quite a while so that I could think about how to finish it up.  I toyed with having someone else do the quilting for me in a swirly/stippled pattern.  I toyed with learning how to free-motion quilt myself.  I spent a lot of time on the Internet researching and learning.  Eventually, I decided to handle it myself and go for a linear, modern look.  I bought a walking foot on eBay and gave it a go -- straight line quilting is fun but hard work and time consuming!  Then came the hardest part -- binding.  My binding is pretty messed up, I'll admit.  I tried a machine binding technique that may have been above my head; my corners look pretty lousy.  But the whole process from start to finish was meant to help me learn about quilting....and have something cute to pass onto Baby Girl.

So, will I make another quilt?  Funny, you should ask.  Last week I purchased a layer cake of Christmas fabric (see here).  I've always wanted to make a Christmas quilt that we could snuggle under as a family during the Christmas season (Yeah, we don't really have cold weather in Los Angeles for TRUE snuggling but it's a nice tradition just the same).  It'll probably be about the size of a lap quilt; I don't think I'll ever had the patience or skill for a large quilt.  Baby quilts, wall hangings, and table runners are perfect for someone like me with a short attention span.  I'd start working on it now, but oops, I'm having a baby soon.  Guess I'll begin working on it during late night feedings?? 

It All Started with a Dollar

This story has a brief timeline that goes a little like this:

Lee brings home a few random books for me from the church rummage sale.

I read one of the books in 2 days.  It's titled The Quilter's Apprentice by Jennifer Chiaverini.

I start thinking about how interesting quilts are and become fascinated by the terminology (who doesn't love a hobby with words like "charm pack, layer cake, and jelly roll"???)

I find out I'm pregnant.

I discover via Amazon that there are twenty books in this quilting series.

I continue reading the series and am now up to book #10.

I spend 24 hours on bed rest due to some genetic tests and look up "how to quilt" videos on Youtube.

Via Youtube, I discover the wonderful tutorials from Missouri Star Quilting Company.

My mind starts to play tricks on me -- "you should make a baby quilt!" I hear over and over.

I spend weeks studying up on quilting, knowing it's a hobby that's a little out of my league.  Plus, I already have photo albums, scrapbooks, and a cross-stitch project to finish....don't really need to add to my "to do" list.

We find out we're having a girl.

One day later, I purchase a charm pack of girlie fabrics. 

The timeline jumps several months to this week, when -- ta da -- I finished my baby quilt. Just in time too since Little Miss Cook could come any day now.   Soooo the quilt and LMC have gestated about the same amount of time.  Interesting.  Tomorrow I will share photos of the finished product and review what I've learned about quilting.