Monday, March 28, 2011

The Ultimate Mommy Monday

39 and a half weeks of pregnancy joys and pains broght me this


And we couldn't be happier.

My life is broken into 2-3 hour increments
I forgot how tiny newborn diapers are
Newborn burps are G-ross
The skin is sooooo soft
I'm surprised by the amount of love I have for both my daughterS
I LOVE saying "my daughterS"
I'm tired....naptime

=)

Friday, March 25, 2011

Tip Week - Tip # 5

Thanks for staying me with this week for all the tips. National Sewing Month only comes along, oh, once a year I think...so we should celebrate in style!

Tip # 5 - the ultimate tip of all tips...................

Keep sewing - or more accurately - keep doing what you love

If you love sewing, keep sewing, even if it's not perfect the first, second, heck one hundredth time.


If you fall in love with scrappy quilts - do it


If you become smitten with colors - explore


Follow your desires and keep going. I'm glad I do.

Much love to you all!

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Tip Week - Tip # 4

Tip # 4 this week comes from a friend.
I posted awhile ago about losing my pins (not marbles). My box of pins had tumbled on the floor and it always causes me some heart palpitations when I have a 3 year old running around at the same time.

Morgan commented that her grandmother used to keep a big magnet next to her sewing machine for such an occassion. A sewing tip has never been as welcomed! Thank you Morgan!


Maybe I can find an antique magnet to go with my antique pins?

Stay tuned for the final tip tomorrow!

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Tip Week - Tip # 3

Tip # 3 is...


drumroll....


PRESSING SEAMS!

Ah, yes, the tedious, but sometimes worthwhile venture of getting out the ironing board and iron each time you create a seam. Burn fingers burn! But it really does help, especially when you crate patterned blocks that almost need to lock into eachother. The "locking" or lining up of seams and blocks is much easier when the seams are all neatly pressed down.

It is also beneficial for pressing darker seams away from the potential light fabric counter part. Lets say you sew a piece of white fabric to a piece of black fabric. Press the entire seam over to the black side on the back. Otherwise you'll be seeing the seam through the front forever.


But something I learned was you can do a fingernail press too, just to stave off the iron for a little while. If you don't want to get the iron out at each step, take your fingernail and press the seam down from bottom to top.

But if you do get the iron out, remember, you're PRESSING, not IRONING. So put the iron down and press, don't move the iron up and down like you're ironing a shirt. Don't ask me why, that's just what I've been told. Anyone care to elaborate?

Stay tuned for Tip # 4 tomorrow!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Tip Week - Tip # 2

The second tip for this week is:

Keep a consistent quarter inch seam
(or whatever width seam you're aiming for)

My first few quilts had blocks of all varying sizes because I would start out trying for a 1/4" seam and waver back and forth between 1/2" and 1/8" seam. I had one blue and pink quilt that I had to fill spaces in with extra fabric because the blocks were just so different in size that they would never line up.

Here is a horrible photo of said quilt, but you can see the pink strip on the bottom left hand corner. Yeah, that's a filler.


Beautiful color combo though, right?

Stay tuned for tip # 3 tomorrow!

Monday, March 21, 2011

Tip Week - Tip # 1

So apparently March is National Sewing Month - or at least according to an article by a local quilt shop in the pennysaver.

So in honor of that I'm going to post a sewing tip each day this week. Don't hold your breath for anything magical. I just want to impart some of the first "aha" moments I had when I started sewing.


The very first tip I learned when starting out on this sewing adventure was ACCURATE MEASUREMENTS and ACCURATE CUTTING!!!! It doesn't get any better than starting with the basics. Of course my equipment was limited to sissors and my living room floor (and a general eyeballing technique), but eventually I acquired a cutting mat, straight ruler and rotary blade that greatly aided the entire process. The right tools helped me achieve this accuracy. Maybe this tip should be about the right tools? 

But remember, from the first cut you make to the last, keep accurate measurements.
Square up your blocks as you go and keep checking along the way.
Press down hard on the ruler and focus on a steady hand. Nothing brings a long and tired night to an end faster than letting the rotary blade slip every so slightly off course and ruining a piece of fabric.
Measure twice, cut once
(that one's curtesy of handsome husband)

 Stay tuned for tip # 2 tomorrow!

Friday, March 18, 2011

Home Decorating

Apparently my nesting instincts go beyond sewing and cleaning. I've been inspired to actually decorate my house lately, as evidenced by the very color coordinated room for Whirlwind and the soon to be baby.

Thankfully my handsome husband has been enabling my whims and has even agreed with some of my suggestions (yeah)!


He even went the extra mile to build me three frames to stretch these beautiful dish towels over. We're going to hang them in our bedroom (hopefully this weekend). I think they're just gorgeous (ignore the flash)!


Thursday, March 17, 2011

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I made Irish Soda Bread for the first time this week!

Delicious!


You can find the recipe here at the From Scratch Club blog.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Addiction

Well after I finished Whirlwind's quilt and the baby's blanket I had all these scraps left over.


Since my bin of fabric is tucked away in the closet to make room for the bassinet in our room I'll be darned if I'm going to lug that thing out and put away these scraps. So instead I decided to start another sewing project (like the psychotic pregnant woman I am). Let's just face it....


My name is Sarah and I'm addicted to sewing.

There it's out and it's the truth. God help me (finish this project before the baby comes).

I'm thinking a scrappy lopsided log cabin pattern is emerging.


Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Baby Blanket - Check

Look what I finished!


I've officially finished all the sewing projects I had set out to do before the baby comes.
And I thought perhaps this baby blanket would be a reach for me to finish on time.
But here it is in all it's glory and still no baby!
I did however skip the binding and just topstitched around the edge to save time.



As I approach the last week before my due date I get more and more physically ready to have this baby (i.e. cranky and achy).

On a sidenote Whirlwind keeps asking if the blanket is for her. I keep pointing out the beautiful quilt I made just for her, but she is in love with the stars on the back.

Friday, March 11, 2011

SPRING CLEANING SALE!

Don't forget that the flower accessories are 35% off at the Seamingly Sarah shop.



Shop now while you still can!

*****And if you're local (i.e. I can hand deliver the item to you) I'll even take off shipping******


Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Tah Dah!

Here it is, Whirlwind and baby # 2's room!

This is the growth chart I made them. It's what you see as you enter the room. I still have to write Whirlwind's past measurements on it.


And then this is Whirlwind's toddler bed (hand built by handsome husband himself). Quilt and pillows are supplied by moi!


To the left is the crib.


To the right is the closet turned dresser area. This is the least visually appealing part of the room for me, but we had to do it to make room for the toddler bed and crib. I would love a house with another bedroom, but for now this will do. And it will do just fine! I am on the hunt for cheap/free organizational boxes, but for now stacking and diaper boxes are the modes of choice. Such is a budget.


I am particularly proud of the pillows/pillow covers I made for Whirlwind. I used the scraps from her quilt. All I can say is: cute.


I wanted some new prints for the room, but with a limited income I didn't want to spend $$$. Microsoft Publisher and dafont.com to the rescue!!!! I made this myself and actually ended up using a default font on Microsoft instead of one of the twenty I downloaded from dafont.com. All it cost was the price of matting at our local frame shop.


I made this banner for Whirlwind for her first birthday. It's been in her room ever since. If baby # 2 ends up being a boy, well he's just going to have to get use to a little pink. =)

The fabulous green walls are also courtesy of handsome husband.


I can't believe there is going to be a little baby in here soon. Swoon.


And it's little butt is going to be in these. I do not look forward to diapers again.

Friday, March 4, 2011

Magic Wand

Did I mention how rough Whirlwind can be on her toys? Forget getting her plastic, it'll break within seconds and sometimes even wood doesn't stand a chance. After breaking multiple magic wands handsome husband and I created this handmade magic wand for Whirlwind.


Don't judge me. You try cutting a star free hand!

Of course the burlier we make the toys the more chance they have to become lethal weapons in her hands. I may have to rethink any hard objects!
=)

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Does the To Do Pile Multiply at Night?

How is it that my to do pile continues to grow? And how does it continue to grow at a faster rate than my "done" pile? Oh right, I keep going back into my bin of fabric and pulling out all the projects I want to do. When will my brain realize I have a baby coming in +/- three weeks?

DONE PILE:
quilted canvas
black and white tree quilt (white binding is awesome - really makes the quilt pop!)


TO DO PILE:


pillow covers for whirlwind from the scraps of her quilt (one down, two to go)


cloth wipes for baby # 2
baby blanket for baby # 2

(obviously the priority is the cloth wipes!)


Wish me luck this weekend. These projects need to get out of the way in order for the true nesting to take place.
(i.e. cleaning the base boards! are pregnant women considered psychologically insane?)


Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Spring Cleaning SALE

Maybe it's nesting, maybe it's just an urge to do some spring cleaning, but either way all the flower/hair accessories in my Seamingly Sarah shop are on SALE! Everything is marked down 35% and ready to go. An added bonus: if you're local (i.e. I can hand deliver the item) then shipping is free. Just contact me to arrange it.

I'll be introducing new items and ideas to the shop later on when the cleaning purge has ended.\


Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Because You Really Wanted to Know About Diapers...

I made two cloth wet bags for baby # 2. We're going 100% cloth diaper this time. Remind me that this was my idea when I'm in the throes of laundry soon.


They're not water "proof", but more on the repellant side. Hopefully they work.
With whirlwind I tried all cloth diapers for about the first three months. We had all in one cloth diapers that I had bought super cheap off of ebay. They leaked. I had to change her every hour and when I went back to work I couldn't keep up with the laundry. But then a friend bought us a gdiaper kit. I was hesitant because there were so many parts: a cloth diaper, a plastic liner and then a flushable insert. But I tried it one day and we are now officially big fans of gdiapers.

Gdiapers now has cloth inserts, so I stocked up on used gdiapers on our local craigslist and bought all new plastic liners (the key to no leaking!!!!) and bought a ton of cloth inserts. Hence the wet bags to store the dirty cloth inserts until laundry time. Wish me luck!!!

Our little diaper corner. Newborn disposables for the first couple weeks of extra smallness and overnight diapers for Whirlwind. When do toddlers/preschoolers start staying dry through the night? I'd love to buy less diapers.