Quilt for Ben (attempt two)

So after the baby confusion, I finally set about making a baby boy quilt for Ben.  As really multi-age boy prints are thin on the ground, I opted for a pet themed charm pack with plenty of brown orange and blue.  He's totally going to get it BEFORE his first birthday.  Most likely....

It's a simple design, using a 5" charm back and a co-ordinating fabric cut into 5" squares.  It's a moda print with a spotted grey.  I'm going to do more on this later, but it's crazy trying to juggle projects!  Having joined the Melbourne Modern Quilt Guild though, it's inspiration time to get some quilts (currently doing 4) finished.   How are your unfinished projects going?

Hip dysplasia and sleeping bags

When our daughter R was born, we found out that she had Developmental Hip Dysplasia (DDH) and was promptly put in a Dennis Browne Brace (DBB).

Aside from the initial shock of finding out, there were quite a few practical issues to contend with, the first being - what on earth do I put her in?  The brace holds the hip stable, but makes baby look like a little frog with legs akimbo.  For clothes it was fine, nothing with pants or feet, and being a little girl in an Australian summer dresses were just fine.

We got to the stage however when you aren't meant to wrap babies anymore, and sids & kids recommend putting baby to sleep in a sleeping bag.  Which is fine if you're not trussed up like a frog.

In the end I had to make her own sleeping bags which were quite flared at the bottom.  It took three goes to get the right construction, but really if you had half a brain it is very simple.

I used the pattern from small dream factory and adapted it as shown below.

Adjusted pattern

 The first sleeping bag was unlined and by all accounts a success, except I listened to someone else on the internet saying to put the zip in upside down so baby can't let themselves out.  Bugger that, it also means that the top of my baby is a solid join and putting the baby in it is cumbersome.  If she unzips herself then R will get cold.  Maybe she won't do it again.

The next sleeping bag was made from a jersey ($2 a metre from Darn Cheap Fabrics in Heidelberg) with a zip running all the way along the bottom.  This actually works pretty well to keep baby in and to put baby in.

R liked to kick her legs at night, so having the extra stretch was great for her as her legs kicked outwards.

If you are looking for a quick easy bag for a baby in a spica or brace, this construction is the best.  If anyone is interested in a tutorial, leave a comment or email me and I'll whip one up.

The final sleeping bag was done when R came out of her brace, and is constructed like a normal baby sleeping bag, but that my friends, is another post for another day.

Baby quilt for a baby girl

When I was pregnant I was convinced that I was having a baby boy. We didn't find out but we didn't need to- it was obviously a little boy.

The upside of this was our friends who were due a week earlier were having a little girl, so how nice! One of each!

Cue quilt time. Using part of a moda charm pack, and two matching pinkish fabrics from darn cheap fabrics in Heidelberg, one quick sashed baby girl quilt was done.

This was by far the fastest quilt I've ever made, all by machine (the fact it was machine quilted probably helped the speed). This was whipped together so fast, that J was about 33 weeks preggo when I finished it.

Cue late term ultrasound. J was having a boy! Oh the spite of the quilting gods!

But it turned out ok, J has the most gorgeous bubba, and getting to meet the little man he's getting his own planned quilt. And the pink quilt? Oh cue the arrival of...

My baby girl R.

Nursery curtains

Something that has been taking up a considerable amount of time has been the sewing of curtains for the nursery.  We decided to paint the nursery blue, even though we don't know the gender of the baby.  Even if it's a girl, there is no bloody way that room would be painted pink.  Or purple.  Worst case scenario we put some decal clouds up on the wall.  Gender neutral FTW.          

The fabric was in Spotlight recently, and while I hadn't even been thinking about curtains really - the blue dots on the fabric were the exact same blue as the walls.  I'm pretty sure that's fabric stash fate calling right there.  So I lashed out and bought 4m of the fabric, and 4m of blockout fabric.  Which was a staggering $80.  But it was just sooo matchy matchy.  

Anyway...these are the most time consuming tab top curtains you could ever see.  After spending $80 on the fabric, there was no way in hell there was going to be a mistake in the cutting.  Measure 6 times then cut.  Maybe.  It probably didn't need the blockout lining behind it, as I've got a white curtain behind - but  if it helps this baby sleep (when it arrives) then it was worth every cent.  

The curtain rail is the fantastic ikea Hava curtain rail which is super easy to put up (especially when you make your husband do it) and has the double layer of curtain well spaced.  We've used this curtain rod style in a few rooms with the single windows as it's a simple and classic style.  Not a fleur de lys in sight.