A New Start

I am happy to say that after all this time, my sewing mojo has returned. It had been sad for me the last few months before Olivia's arrival that I had no physical stamina to get down to it in the sewing room and left me feeling a bit guilty every time I would go in to visit and pet my beloved yet neglected fabric stash. And so I am quite pleased with my rapid recovery and newly found inspiration!

After wading through countless UFOs that need my attention, I found I was overwhelmed with the sheer magnitude of some of my projects (what was I smoking when I started THREE king sized quilts?) or just not turned on by others (picking up my single girl seemed too fussy; the quilt-as-you-go-blocks were just not speaking to me). So I decided to shelve it all for now, let go of the UFO guilt and do what I really wanted to do - start a shiny new quilt.

Since I hadn't been able to sew for such a long while I spent a lot of time pouring over my quilting books, and each time I'd come back to the glorious Maple Leaf Rag scrap quilt from Material Obsession 2 (if you haven't checked this book out yet - do it). Not only is it just the thing I need creatively at the moment, it will vacuum up beautifully the metric ton of scraps I've been hoarding. These crazy fabric diamonds or 'kites' are the first step in piecing the Maple Leaf Rag. I'm having a ball diving into my scrap dumpster and sewing all these bits together - I need 128 kites total and I'm already over halfway there.

Hooray for new projects! I'm off to go work on it now while Lucy and Olivia show me the sweet courtesy of napping simultaneously.

Lovely Gifts from Lovely Friends

Look who is asleep on the job again! My little model isn't being very cooperative, but she is still very happy about her new gifts. This baby, by the way, is making up for all the uncomfortableness of my pregnancy by being just the sweetest angel imaginable. When she isn't sleeping, she's eating or just cuddling. Lucky me. (ETA: I wrote this a few days ago. We have since encountered the dreaded middle of the night cluster feedings. Oh well, at least she gave me a break for the first two weeks!)

One of the biggest rewards I get from blogging, Twitter, Flickr and Ravelry are the friendships I've formed with kindred spirits who share common interests. Chawne has continually wowed and inspired me with all of her diverse creative pursuits from knitting to crocheting to spinning to quilting. Not to mention we have a seemingly shared appetite for the finer foods in life (okay, and maybe even some of the not-so-fine ones - Reese's eggs and tater tots anyone?) So when I received this package in the mail last week, I knew it would be good but I almost fell over from the loveliness of this quilt she made for Olivia. Perfectly pink improv patchwork in all shades with her signature lettering of Olivia's name. She even sent along some hand-dyed yarn and fabric for me to play with! Thank you again, C, we adore this quilt. (Chawne has a post on her blog about it here if you'd like to see more).

I've already had the pleasure of sharing with you this adorable little sweater hand-knit for Olivia by the generous, sweet and talented Kaye of Miss Print. She sent it a few months ago and I could hardly wait to try it on our new girl! The weather has been dreary and cool here since she was born so we've already gotten in quite a few wears before she outgrows it. Isn't it the cutest on her? I just love the bright yellow shade Kaye chose. Thank you again, Kaye, she has gotten many compliments on her tiny sweater!

I hope you all have a great week. I'll be back soon, my sewing mojo has finally returned so I'll have something quilty to share with you soon!

The Olivia Report

I guess it's high time I introduced you to the newest member of our family! Olivia Grace came to meet us  at 6:41 PM on June 27th at a big, strong 8.13 pounds and 20 inches long. She is one week old now and settling in beautifully. So far she is such an easy baby! Lots of sleeping, great at nursing and quite a snuggly little thing too.

Lucy is just madly in love. All my anxiety surrounding this transition was unwarranted. Lucy is sweet and gentle toward her baby sister and not a bit jealous. And it looks like Mark is doing just fine surrounded by girls and all their accoutrements as well. 

So I'm getting lots of rest and cuddle time and did I tell you yet how happy I am NOT to be pregnant anymore??? Little Olivia was all worth the uncomfortable pregnancy and less than fun labor & delivery, but I like her much more on the outside where I can kiss this sweet little face.