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.

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?)

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.\

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.

Nesting = Sewing

I can't stop sewing. I would say it's an addiction, one I'm not likely to seek help for, but from previous experience I can feel the nesting hormones kicking in. I'm just using a needle and thread this time instead of a vacuum cleaner, mop and rag. Did I ever mention that I went around cleaning the baseboard in my entire house last time I was pregnant? No? It's certainly something my mother will never forget to remind me about.

Well the binding is on the black and white tree quilt. I just have to hand sew it onto the back.

And the custom order for a quilt/art piece is done!!!!!

I had originally planned on quilting large gold thread circles on the top, but after just one the fabric became bunched and wouldn't lie flat. So this design will have to do. With my limited resources and tools (i.e. no quilting frame or fancy long arm sewing machine) there are just some things I can't do. At least not for now. But I still like the outcome a lot. I hope the customer does too!

And I fit in one more sewing project into the weekend. I actually got around to some of the personal sewing projects I've had on my mind. More about those tomorrow!

Beautiful Containers

Have I mentioned how much I love some of my containers? Well I do. I love them to bits and pieces and I'm so glad I snagged them when I saw them. The darling peter rabbit tin came from a second hand store nearby and the wodden cigar box came from my mother. I stole it when she wasn't looking. Well actually she was looking and she was shoving it in my hands. She just loves to give things away!

Shop Make Over

There is a weekly challenge on Etsy to participate in a Shop Make Over. It took me two weeks to complete the uniform photo/shop make over challenge. So I'm a bit behind, but I'm impressed with how much more uniform and pulled together the front page of the Seamingly Sarah shop looks! Hop on over and take a look for yourself. What do you think?

I'll have a variety of small and big projects I've been working on to post later. Stay tuned.

Excuse the Absence

I'm in the midst of focusing on a Seamingly Sarah shop makeover amongst other projects. So bear with me while I spend my spare moments snapping, editting and uploading photos.

Crazy...Orange

I'm getting closer. The orange blocks are done.

Throughout this process I am amazed at the tiniest pieces of scraps that I am now willing to work into a project. When I first started sewing I would throw away scraps the size of what you see in the blocks above.

Now it looks a little more like this.

Which means I'm throwing away less and wasting less.

Which also means I have more fabric (and supplies) than I know what to do with.

Please note the rubbermaid bin that no longer shuts. Just a year ago every sewing related thing I owned fit into that bin and that bin lived in a closet. Now it lives in my bedroom because I need daily access to it AND it is overflowing into the boxes you see on the left. My gracious husband has not said a word about losing some floor space. But I still think someone needs their own sewing room.

Clue 5

Buttons

Every once in awhile I get to mix crafting and family. I'm trying to see that more as an ongoing thing, but until then I continue to grasp for things that my 2 year old daughter might find enjoyable.

One such activity is playing with the buttons! I make sure to grab a DEEP bowl (helps to keep more buttons in while she's "cooking"). And while she's not looking I steal the colorful buttons and sort.

I don't know where her obsession with rainbows comes from.

A Few Things I See

When I'm getting ready to craft and create these are a few things I see...

Untangling

I have spent the past couple weeks unraveling, untangling and organizing an armful of embroidery floss. My mother blessed me with a bag full of embroidery floss that she wasn't going to use. I have slowly been adding this medium to some of my sewing projects, so I was ever so grateful. The only problem was the gnarled ball that it all came in! But have no fear! I conquered it little by little in the evenings while our daughter slept and my husband and I watched tv. It felt so good to get them all laid out. Now I have more than I can imagine using, but I'm sure time and creativity will take care of that!