More sewing for baby: My first quilt

I decided I wanted to make a quilt for baby. I went online and searched for "free easy baby quilt pattern". I got several great results but ultimately settled on the Urban Baby quilt by Valori Wells.



I used various space and robot themed fabrics. It is definitely a crazy quilt. Sewing together the top was fairly easy, it was doing the "sandwich" and actual quilting that was challenging. I was glad that the blanket was relatively small. For the quilting, I tried to "stitch in the ditch" on the the sewing machine. It was so hard to stay in between the seams and it started to look messy. I was getting so frustrated until I decided to switch to a pretty zig-zag stitch. I'm sure this isn't the proper way to quilt, but it served my purpose. I also machine stitched the binding. I am really satisfied with how that turned out. I wasn't sure how to do a proper mitered corner but just kind of played with it until it worked.

Prepping the Baby's Room

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We've been busy around here preparing for our little one's arrival. We painted his room blue. I had initially wanted something less obvious for a boy but ultimately decided that blue matched the fabric I had picked out and he would be able to grow with the color. I sewed two bed skirts, one for the crib and one for the day bed that will remain in his room for the time being. I used the pattern from Amy Butler's book, Little Stitches for Little Ones. It was easy and I am happy with the results.

I also felt the need to do some fabric dying. The largest project was the chair cover. We had a red Tulsta chair from Ikea. I bought a white slip cover and some orange RIT dye. I used a large plastic tub that we have around to put drinks and ice during parties.

I was nervous to use my wash machine because I had heard that it can stain the tub and I wasn't sure of the results as I have some "fancy" HE washer that doesn't fill with water until you close the lid, which then locks unless you push pause, in which case all the water then drains out. I had great results using the large plastic tub and hot water. I kept the fabric in the dye for an hour. Technically you are supposed to stir the fabric for 30 mins but this was too much for my back. I did stir it in 5 minute intervals with no set pattern. I tried to keep all of the fabric submerged for the whole hour.
At first, I was concerned that the color might be too bright. Now that I have lived with it a while and see how it works in the room, I am satisfied. I had such success with the slip cover, I decided to dye the white duvet cover for the day bed a nice apple green. The color couldn't have been more perfect.
All in all, I am more than pleased with how baby's room came together. I can't wait to show it to him.



The posters we found online from The Land of Nod. The crib is the Gulliver in birch from Ikea. It got great reviews online. I love the small foot print and that it comes with everything needed to convert to a toddler bed. The price was nice too, about $150.

Adventures in Cooking up a baby: Crying in public

Today I had a prenatal appointment. I am currently 24 weeks. I'll be 25 weeks tomorrow. They did the usual, protein-in-the-pee test, weight, then blood pressure. Not sure why they think it is a good idea to take your BP after they weight you. At any rate, my blood pressure is fine. The midwife said she is happy with my weight gain so far, about 6 lbs in total, especially since I was "over weight to begin with". I could tell she didn't buy my low thyroid function theory. (I test within Kaiser's normal range) Even when I explained that as soon as I became pregnant, I lost 10 lbs.(When you are overweight, the health care providers always assume that you eat like crap and don't exercise.) In fact, one appointment I went in and had lost 2 lbs by their scale and she was concerned it was because I had morning sickness, I explained that wasn't the case, and she said, "Oh well maybe you have just cleaned up your act." Nasr stuck up for me on that one, because I do eat healthy. My conclusion is that pregnancy has boosted my thyroid function. I'm also hoping that pregnancy will permanently fix my hormone levels as well. Everything else with my pregnancy looks fine. Baby looks and sounds great.

I had to book my next two appointments on my way out. I am so stressed about taking so much time off for appointments. Especially when Kaiser only has appointments in the middle of the day that would have me driving to Clairemont for work, only to leave at 10:30 to drive to Kaiser El Cajon and then back to work in Clairemont. I broke down crying at the reception desk when there were no appointments available at a decent time. The lady I'm sure is used to crazy pregnant ladies so she was really nice to me and went out of her way to find some appointments that would better suit my schedule. She didn't just book the next two, she booked all my appointments until the end of May. I feel like such a silly person crying. In looking back, I think it was the weight conversation that upset me and the appointment issues were the final straw.