Baby Safari Quilt Finished!

Sorry it's been so long... again! I've been busy with our new baby and I'm still in the healing process, but feeling much better. I returned to my sewing machine a couple of weeks ago, and finished a quilt I had started before my baby girl was born!

This is another quilt for my nephew-to-be who will likely be born later this month. My sister liked the Baby Safari fabric collection by Carina Gardner, since she's decorating the baby's room in an elephant/safari theme. I did a simple design using 2-1/2" strips and 4-1/2" squares. I chose the more boyish/gender neutral colors of the collection. I really love the colors! I did my usual meandering quilt design all over.  

I kept the back simple, using just the green tonal safari animals print. In my stash, I had some brown fabric with blue and green polka dots on it that I used for the binding. The quilt measures approximately 40" square... a nice size for tummy time! 

Since I was still a little sore, I had a little help with this quilt for the basting process. My wonderful mom came over and helped me crawl all over the floor and pin the quilt sandwich together. Because of her, I was able to finish this quilt just in time for my sister's baby shower. Thanks, Mom! :)

Up next... Halloween costumes! 

Baby Safari Quilt Finished!

New Baby!

Hello all! I've been away for awhile. Busy with this: 

Our baby girl, Anna Mei was born on August 30th at 1:24pm, weighing 7lbs, 1oz. I know I'm probably biased, but she is so beautiful! :) We are so in love! I feel like my family is finally complete, and I feel so blessed to have been given the sweetest boy and the sweetest girl! My husband has been so wonderful, helping to take care of all of us! My recovery will be a long and painful one, but totally worth it! I am so completely happy! No amount of pain can stop that! Big brother was unsure of his little sister at first. He said he was scared because her eyes were closed. LOL! But, he warmed up to her fast, and now he is in love like all the rest of us! He is so sweet with her and is a big helper too! I just LOVE my kids! :)

Needless to say, I won't be around very much over the next couple of weeks. We'll be busy getting to know our new baby girl, and having fun as a family of four. I plan on posting more when I get back to my sewing machine. As of now, I'm just waiting for these other "stitches" to heal enough for me to get back to some normal activities. 

Hope you all are having a great week! 

New Baby!

D-Day!

Hi, all! Sorry its been so long since I've posted anything. We've been very busy getting things organized, cleaned, etc., for baby girl's arrival. I will update with pics once I have a chance again. Today we are off to the hospital to have our baby girl via c-section, or as I like to call it, "baby-ectomy". ;) Hoping and praying everything goes well this time... would really love it if it goes better than last time. Either way, I'm planning on a long recovery and some quality time with my first daughter, and enjoying time as a family of FOUR! :) I'm really looking forward to seeing my son's reaction when he meets his baby sister for the first time. I have a feeling he will be a super sweet big brother, and I hope that the two of them have a fantastic relationship throughout the years. My husband has been a super big help to me throughout this pregnancy, but especially in the last few weeks, as he has been "nesting" much more than I've been able to. I know he will be a much bigger help after the surgery too, mostly because he has no choice in the matter. He rarely complains though, and I feel so blessed to have him in my life! If you have some time, a little prayer would be much appreciated, as I am very nervous about the big day. Thanks also for your patience, as I know it will probably be a while before I can post anything again. 

Have a great week, everyone! :)

D-Day!

Botany Quilt Finished!

I just finished the final touches on this quilt yesterday. I had the quilt top done since last year, but just now got to completing it. :/  I'm glad I'm getting things done, though. :)

I finished this quilt top last September (gasp!), as part of a quilt along that I joined in. Here's my previous post about it. I used the Botany fabric collection by Lauren and Jessi Jung for Moda. The quilt top was made using one jelly roll. 

I love the colors in this collection! I did my usual meandering stipple all-over quilting, using a gold-ish-brown thread. 

I kept the back simple, using the yellow fabric from the collection. 

I had some brown fabric on hand that I decided to use for the binding. 

 And, I added a little hand-stitching of the year and my initials. 

This quilt is going to some family members that have had a rough time recently. I'm hoping it will brighten their days a little. :)

Botany Quilt Finished!

Rain Gutter Bookshelves

I found this idea online, and thought it was perfect for us! We are always looking for great ideas that will save us some money, and this is by far one of the least expensive ways to install some bookshelves in a child's room! I think it cost us a total of $8 total! I definitely scored some brownie points with the hubby for being so frugal! :) Here's the tutorial we followed. And here's how ours turned out: 

My husband also recently painted our son's "Big Boy Room", and installed a new fan. We opted for a modern looking grey for the walls. I think it pairs nicely with the blue furniture in his room. I'll try to get some pics of the entire room soon. Still need to add some prints and decorations on the walls. I'm thinking we'll also add some more bookshelves as our son gets a little taller. ;) 

Rain Gutter Bookshelves