My "Take it Easy" Day

I've been having some lower back troubles throughout the pregnancy and ended up going to the chiropractor yesterday. It was very informative and I really liked the woman, a lot. I've got 2 more appointments with her this week, so I'm looking forward to getting as straightened out as one can be during pregnancy. :)

Anyway, last night we found some water leaking from the upstairs apartment into our walls and ceiling. Way too reminiscent of our first apartment (1 week after we moved in, we had to move all of our belongings into the living room for 2 full weeks because there was a huge leak in our bedroom ceiling. That was so incredibly stressful). In order to help keep myself calm I started cleaning and of course Dan was afraid I was having "uncontrollable and irrational urges to clean", meaning that I was putting myself into labor! Haha. I did have a couple contractions, but when I sat down and relaxed, they went away (thank goodness - she needs to keep cooking for a few more weeks, still!). The damage was caused by the upstairs' neighbors water heater busting and now the problem is fixed. Here's a couple pictures of the damage (it's not too big of a deal).

 

 Anyway, earlier today I made a small blanket for Autumn. It's the first blanket I've made for our daughter, so that's kind of exciting. I was originally going to put ribbon around the edges for her to play with, but I totally forgot until it was too late. Luckily, I have a lot of the same material left, so I'll probably make her another one with a new pattern and lots of ribbon. Here's the finished project: 

 

 I was considering making another blanket today, but I don't want to overdo it. I have an easier project instead and it's for a great cause....

I just got an e-mail from Osh Kosh B'Gosh saying that for every paper crane that is made and either brought to their store or posted to their Facebook site, they will donate an item of clothing to children in Japan! Up to 50,000 items of clothing! So, how easy is this!! I love folding paper! They even have a great PDF Tutorial so if you're interested, you can make them, too!

My goal today is to make 50. What's yours?

Until next time,
Amy

My best friend's birthday

Happy birthday to my very best friend, Megan! We have been friends for nearly 5 years now, ever since our college orientation. Unfortunately, I don't get to be with her to celebrate today so I figured I'd post up 2 of my favorite pictures of us.

This first picture was taken the night of my baby shower at the end of January. That was the first time I'd seen her in 7 months!  

This next picture was taken at the end of our freshman year of college. We have a tradition of taking pictures while making faces responding to prompts like, "you just found out you were pregnant with Brad Pitt's baby", or, "you just had a pool stick shoved up your butt" (that's a fun picture, too!). This picture below goes with the prompt:

"You're about to get hit by a bus!"

Anyway, Megan - I hope that you have to most amazing birthday! Know that I miss you like crazy and I wish I was there with you!

Until next time,
Amy

I couldn't wait...

I just had to share some of the steps and final product of the pillow I just made. I LOVE IT!

All the front pieces sewn together

All the back pieces sewn together

Stuffing the pillow after sewing the right sides together and turning it right-side out

Hand sewing the gap

THE FINISHED PRODUCT!!! (Front)

Front, again

Back

Side view 1

Side View 2

 I hope you like it! :) Tomorrow I'll probably finish that second nursing cover and maybe work on cutting out the fabric for pillow #2!! :)

See ya later!

This typically happens

Generally speaking, I put way too much on my to-do list for one day. Somehow I keep forgetting that A). I'm 32 weeks pregnant, and B). I'm not that fast of a sewer! Actually, machine stitching really quickly makes my heart start to race - weird, I know. So, yesterday I completed 1 nursing cover (see below).

  I also cut out the fabric for the next nursing cover (no pictures of this yet since a square piece of fabric just isn't all that interesting) and started cutting out the fabric for my quilted pillow cases. (Please excuse the beat up coffee table). 

This pillow is going to take me 10 hours! Cutting out fabric can be very tedious and frustrating. Maybe there are some tricks out there that I don't know about?? Hopefully by the end of today I'll at least have the rest of the pillow cut out and marked. Wish me luck!

Also, here's a picture of the "cubicle" (a.k.a. our dining room) Dan and I share as a workspace. I also take over half of the living room. Luckily he doesn't care (or at least he doesn't say anything if he does).

And for one last picture - here is my 32 weeks pregnant picture. (Wow, I need a tan!)

I should really only count on the next 5 weeks as viable sewing weeks. After that, I should only work on little projects that don't really matter if I finish them now or 6 months from now. Maybe when I go into labor sewing will keep me preoccupied until we have to go to the hospital (this is probably CRAZY wishful thinking...right?).

Until next time,
Amy

 

On the agenda

Today is going to be a very busy day. Besides the usual task of putting away laundry and picking up around the house (maybe I'll even bust out the vacuum since I have fabric threads everywhere), I'll also be cutting fabric and sewing a few items.

First on my list is to make 2 nursing covers using this awesome tutorial from Prudent Baby and these pretty fabrics:

Second on my list is to cut out the follow materials to make a couple quilted pillows.

I seriously fell in LOVE with these fabrics! I just love how they look together. I, of course, decided that I couldn't just use them for only one project! I'm also using them, along with some coordinating ribbon, for some stuffed baby blocks with the help of this easy-peasy tutorial.

Next on my list is to cut out the fabrics to make receiving blankets. Typically, it's cheaper to buy these in stores, but yesterday there was an awesome sale on flannels that made it the same price to make them as to buy them and I couldn't resist getting more practice with sewing! Especially because these will require a new stitch! Exciting!

And, finally, I'm going to cut out these adorable fabrics for the quilted, texture "lovey" I'm going to make. Minky, cotton, and ribbon. I can't wait until I'm finished making this! I think it's going to be "a.w.dorable"! (Haha, couldn't resist!) The color doesn't look that exciting in the picture, but maybe it'll look better when I've completed the project and the lighting in my house is better. :)

So... check back to see all of the finished products!!!

I bought a sewing machine a week ago in hopes of sewing special creations for our soon-to-be-baby and potentially starting an Etsy shop to sell my stuff. So far I’ve made about 14 burp cloths. Yes, 14. I hear that’s about what newborns need, but for a first time mom it seems like A LOT!

When I first learned to sew, it was on a 1947 Singer model. Yeah... OLD. Classic, simple, and sturdy. But, old, nonetheless. Sewing on my new machine is a completely different experience! Everything is digital and the needle automatically ends in the “up” position. Awesome and convenient.

However, I’ve broken and fixed the machine 2 times thus far. [Hey, at least I fixed it, right?!] That's more times than I've ever broken any machine in the 10 years since I've learned to sew. Don't know if that's a bad sign or not...

I went on a bit of a cloth buying spree today and bought enough to make 4 receiving blankets, some pillow cases, stuffed blocks, and a couple texture blankets. I already have some material to make a couple nursing covers and some scraps to make my nieces burp cloths for their baby dolls (for some reason they really wanted the burp cloths I made for our baby. They were fascinated. I really didn't understand what was so interesting about them, but toddlers are funny). I should be pretty busy for the next month. Keeping busy was my goal anyway, since the last trimester of pregnancy seems to drag on and on and on.

If I can get the hang of blogging, hopefully I will post new creations (or at least some inspirations) daily.

Also, everything I make is for sale. Everything can also be customized to your wants and needs. Just let me know! :)