Quilt

I think I have figured out what I am going to do with the cute fabric I bought almost two weeks ago.  I am going to make a quilt!

Granted, I need to buy more fabric but I have the dimensions marked out and I figured out how big the squares and rectangles need to be.  I hope I can find a nice green fabric to go with the pink patterned fabric and a brown that coordinates with the brown in the pattern.  It was kind of fun to make up a quilt pattern on the computer using Paint (because it is still 1995...) I took the idea for the quilt from this quilt on Pinterest:

I wanted to add a little bit more interest with the small squares and I wanted to use more of the pink patterned fabric.  That is one thing that I love about sewing, as long as you are logical, you can do whatever you want.  Within reason, of course.

Now the hunt begins to find the rest of the fabric.  I think I'll go to Bernina this time around because it's much closer than Suppose.  And the ladies there are SO nice.  Not like the rude people that work at JoAnn's...

I'll keep "you" posted with my progress.

This could be interesting because I have only ever made one other quilt in my life and two pieced projects.  The quilt was a tee shirt quilt that I cobbled together out of high school and early college era shirts that I loved but no longer wore.  It turned out fairly good.  It's warm and it hasn't fallen apart, yet.  The pieced projects were a pillow I made in 4H (I got a blue ribbon for it!) and a sampler that I never did finish.  The sampler was started in a neighborhood quilting class I took with my Mom years ago.  I'm pretty sure I didn't have a license so it was more than 12 years ago.  With that out in the open I should say that I am pretty competent and I CAN sew a straight line.  That's all this quilt will be, straight lines.

I'll do my best!

Nesting?

Last Monday I went on an adventure to Suppose, an adorable fabric store in Preston, Idaho.  

Welcome to IDAHO!

It was totally worth the drive because I found both of these fabrics on clearance.  

Blush Deco Plants, Filigree, by Art Gallery Fabrics

Glitzy Pink Spring Magic Woven by April Cornell

 Initially I was going to make some maternity tops out of them but after laying both out on our couch I thought about using them in Mina's room.  I should say eventual room because I'm not sure where we will be in August.  I love how they look together, especially in real life, as opposed to sample pictures on web sites.

My Suppose spoils.  I made a shirt out of the cream and blue fabric.  I'm not sure how I feel about it.

The other cog in the machine is this painting:

The Cradle by Berthe Morisot

Obviously not the actual painting, that is in the Musee D'Orsay but a rather subpar reproduction I bought on a whim years ago.  I've loved this painting since I was in 3rd grad and maybe someday I will post a picture of my 3rd grade version.  It's pretty funny because I used crayons and a pencil.  I remember trying so hard to get the colors right, it was a good thing I always had a massive supply of crayons.  No basic pack for this girl!

Anyway, I'm not sure if they go together concept-wise.  Art deco and impressionist?  I'm not really sure.

Something I AM sure about?  How crazy these pants are:

I found this MATERNITY pattern in the Burda pattern book at Jo-Ann's.  I was looking for a cute top pattern but I had no luck.  Apparently pattern makers think that pregnant women want to dress like older ladies, in flowy tops that tent with ugly handkerchief hems.  No thank you!

Last week James cleaned out our dishwasher.  He is such a champ.  It was starting to smell and the dishes seemed dirtier after a wash cycle.  Gross.  While he was working he decided to take the front piece off the bottom to vacuum underneath.  He found a screw driver under there!  We figured it belonged to Darryl so James put it in the shop.  It was pretty funny to see James pull it out.

Is it weird that I miss being able to lay on my stomach?  I totally do.

Way to go Dr. Armstrong!

On Monday my Mom texted me and asked if I wanted to go to Vegas that weekend. She and my Dad were going to for Josh's graduation from dental school. It's hard to believe that it has been four years since my sister and her family moved to Vegas. It's been a bumpy road for them, from Hilary's complicated pregnancy with Avery to to losing Josh's Mom to cancer, they have been through a lot! Add that on top of the stress and hard work of dental school. Josh and Hilary are AMAZING!

When they left for Nevada their family was comprised of two, with one on the way. Now they have two adorable kids and a new adventure in Illinois. It will be hard to have them so far away but it is a great opportunity for them.

Congratulations, Josh! (and Hilary!)

Craftiness

Gifts for friends. It's handy they are both having girls. I don't know any boy crafts.

Baby names

James and I have been talking baby names for the past year or so, long before we were actually expecting.  I was excited to start our family but I knew it would be after I finished grad school.  Part of it might have been that I was sick of school and I wanted to move on to the next step in life.  Fast forward to now and we have four months (or less) until our daughter is born.  Luckily, we have a name picked out and we both love it.  But, not everyone else loves it.  It's bound to happen.

I found this list on a message board for baby names.  It was posted by an AP English teacher whose class gave these comments about their own names:

1) I'm really glad my parents gave me a 'resume name,' but I've always wished I had a nickname.

2) My parents almost named me Glimmer, but I'm happy they chose (traditional but uncommon name) instead, because I feel like I would have had limited options with a name like Glimmer.

3) I love my name, but I wish my mom would have spelled it the normal way.  I'm named after my grandmother, but she spelled ( Biblical, but uncommon name) normally and everyone mispronounces my name.

4) I love that you don't hear my name everyday, but people know how to pronounce it.

5)I wish people knew how to pronounce my name. 

James and I both decided that we preferred old fashioned names with traditional spellings. 

We're going to name our little girl

Wilhelmina Anne Beardall 

which I like think looks more complete than just
Mina Anne Beardall

Wilhelmina is a family name, specifically my Grandma Keller's great grandma.  I love the nickname Mina and I love the old fashioned elegance of Wilhelmina. Plus, it's a Germanic name so James loves to say it with the German pronunciation (V sound in place of the W's.)

We're pretty set on Lydia Mary if we have another girl but James has some adventurous ideas for boy names.  He wants to use family names: Ronald and Magnus.  His Grandpa's first name was Ronald and James had a pioneer ancestor from Scandinavia named Magnus.  We'll see what actually happens when have a son or sons.

It's a...

We had our ultrasound this afternoon and it's a...

GIRL!

Personally, I think the 3D images are a little scary but it's neat to be able to see so much dimension.  

She'll look better with a little more fat on her bones, I think.

Pregnancy, in general

During the past 20 weeks I've had a lot of time to read about pregnancy and experience it first hand. I have been surprised by a few things:

1. My body has changed a lot. I remember coming back from Christmas break and my waist was GONE. It was so weird! It just went right down from my ribs to my hips Not that there was a huge difference before... Also weird, the pains in my ribs as the baby continues to grow.

2. I really hate the term "eating for two." The baby is TINY and does not need three adult meals in a day! I'm been trying to eat healthier and drink more water. I'm curious to see how much I have gained in the past four weeks.

3. I'm glad I'm starting to look pregnant and not just bloated. I was really terrified that I'd go the way of Jessica Simpson. I swear she has been pregnant for years! I hear she still has a MONTH to go! (side rant: I've read on message boards and websites about how Jessica Simpson is short so that's why she looks like she swallowed a beach ball. Bull crap. I'm 5'2" and I don't look like she did at Christmas. I also don't eat buttered Pop Tarts.)

4. The first trimester was intense! I felt like I had the flu for most of it. Those fun feelings lingered for a while into the second trimester too. Throwing up is awful. I'm curious if my other pregnancies will be the same.

5. Smells were the worst. And sights too. I had a really hard time going grocery shopping so James did it for a little while. It was so weird to be overwhelmed by the pictures on food labels. I wonder if that is common.

Tomorrow is our ultrasound and we'll get to see our baby! I am so happy!