Friday 21 March 2014

And baby makes 4....

Alexandra born at 8.32am on 12th March, a healthy 9.12 in weight.
12.03.14
After what felt like the worlds longest pregnancy, our little bundle of chubby baby loveliness finally joined us on the 12th of March, 8.32am UK time, weighing in at a hefty 9lbs 12 ounces, in perfect health.  
Look who is snuggling in her new quilt. @willowbeckdesigns
12.03.14
 We have named her Alexandra (after much debate, and with another name picked until 2 weeks before she arrived), and after the initial shock of her arrival (her big sister was 8lbs, and I hadn't expected baby A to be quite so much bigger), she is settling in beautifully with our little family.
 
Alexandra 21.03.14 

Thank you to everyone for all of your cheerleading and support, especially in the final few weeks, it really helped!
Ange xxx

Monday 10 March 2014

Baby Prep...

One bunny for new baby. :-)
In preparation for the impending (please let it be soon before I quite literally burst) arrival of new baby girl, I managed to make a little progress this last week on things I wanted to get made for the baby.  First up, I made a Bunny Cuddly, using the pattern from Sew Magazine this month (inspired by Cara at Pink Stitches, who made this fab Racoon from the same Simplicity Pattern).  
#widrn sewing a bunnies nose in the glorious sunshine. Tagged by @canadianabroad tagging @rosedahlia @poppyprint @hannlib
It was a pretty straightforward make, although I was a bit of a muppet and had to unpick and re-sew the arms as I hadn't placed them quite right (user error!), and now I would like to make some more, but as there is no Badger pattern, I might just have to amend one of the others, for daughter number one, maybe!!!

The other project I worked on this week, was a curtain for the baby room.  Yep, I know you know I hate making curtains, but this was a pretty straightforward make and I love the fun animal print fabric, so it was surprisingly quick.  On that note, the fabric was very kindly given to me by the lovely Ian from Terry's Fabrics, who contacted me last year after I commented on a blogpost by the lovely Charlotte.  At the time I was suffering big time from morning sickness, and said I might need some fabric for curtains in the new year, as I was sewjo less at the time.    

Ian diligently contacted me in January asking if I needed any fabric still, which I thought was very organised of him, and after a bit of indecision on the fabric, I decided to go for the animals. The primary colours work well with the alphabet trim on the blind, and there is plenty of time to be overwhelmed by the pink and girlie!

Nursery curtains finished and up! Fabric courtesy of Terrys Fabrics
As it's such a small window I decided to make just the one curtain, it's backed with blackout lining (also supplied by Terry's Fabrics), and fingers crossed that will help the little one with her daytime naps, and save my sanity!  One note of caution, don't forget to pre-wash your fabric, I did get a bit of shrinkage on mine. :o)

Please note, I haven't been paid to promote Terry's Fabrics, just given the fabrics to make the curtains, but they do have a great range of fabrics, and I can definitely see myself buying more next time I need to make curtains (and by need I mean, have to!).

Ange xxx

Sunday 9 March 2014

Soy Amado... doing a little good

Alison at Little Island Quilting is having a quilt block drive to put together quilts for former Mexican Street Children- Soy Amado (You are Loved), after a recent trip to Mexico City.  You can read all about it here.  She needs lots (hundreds) of 12.5 inch (unfinished) QAYG blocks to put together into quilts, and quite frankly, I defy any quilter to tell me they haven't got AT LEAST one or two orphan blocks that couldn't be put to better use, rather than cluttering up their sewing space/drawers/life.

So, I had a look around, and decided to kill 2 birds with one stone (so to speak).  The 2 blocks from last years Skill Builder BOM are on my FAL to find a use for, so it made sense to quilt them up, and get them sent off- it's a win win situation!

All done for Alison @littleislandquilting #soyamadoquilts

So have a little think about it, and do some blocks, you know you want to- it's way way easier than making a whole quilt, and great for clearing a bit of space for your other projects.

Ange xxx

Saturday 8 March 2014

Gifted... :o)

Once again I have to say how very, very lucky I am.  I had been planning to make a bag for all of the baby er crap that you have to carry around, but you know how time seems to fly, and excuses, excuses aside, I never got round to it.  However, as luck would have it, the lovely Katy Cameron who is a British bag making guru ,happens to be amongst my Stitch Tease and online buddies, so what should I receive in the post last week?  Yep, you've guessed it, it was this beauty:
Wow, how lucky am i, this fantastic baby bag just arrived at mine from the lovely @the_littlest_thistle Thank you soooooo much Katy! X
It is just perfect, loads of pockets,the inside is laminate fabric so great for keeping it clean, adjustable strap, and it's already packed with baby stuff to take to the hospital for when she is born, and waiting by the front door!

So, once again, thank you so much Katy, it is perfect, and will be well loved and well used. 
 Does my bump look good in this?!?! Dd minus 4 days. #sizeofahouse
This grumpy looking individual has already issued the eviction notice, due date tomorrow, Sunday 9th!!!!

Ange xxx