N is for nursery

This weekend, the 4 grandparents and the baby-dad were putting together evertyhing in the nursery (under my supervision OF COURSE) because my babyshower had to be held at our home, so that it's not (too) tiresome for me and my friends wouldn't want to miss the opportunity of taking a peek. It worked out as an excellent excuse to have everything ready, because it was stressing me out knowing that the baby could come at any time and the room wasn't ready to welcome her.
It's still not completely ready: my sister in law has to finish the 4 paintings collection she started and I haven't made the curtains and the bedding like I so very much wanted. But... let it go... breathe in breathe out... I'll get to it when possible. Ok, I'm back.
Despite the bathtub and the chair where she will eat being out of place and ruining the decoration, this is how the nursery looks now.

Beginnings

Just like a blank notebook in the beginning of a school year, I love the first days of the new year. I always feel so nostalgic about the year that has just ended and so full of plans and dreams for all the days and weeks and months ahead of me.
This time I have no resolutions and no goals. Just one thing on my mind: this is the year my daughter will be born. Either it will happen in it's due time or a little while before, but she will come to this world and she will change my life forever.
I will stay at home to take care of her for at least half of the year, then I'll have to seriously consider finding to a new job because my current boss has moved the offices to really far away from home and it will be hard to spend about 4 hours per day commuting with a baby at home.
So many things I know will happen and so many more things will surprise me. One thing is for sure: this is going to be a great happy wonderful year!!!

Family and food and surprises

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!

Living in a catholic country where at least the younger generations aren't so religious after all, Christmas has become more and more about running around like crazy shopping for presents than about the birth of Jesus. I think i'm in the middle. I'm spiritual but not religious and I'm married to someone who is neither, so we don't embrace the original meaning of this holiday, but we love the family gathering, the typical food of the seaon, the antecipation and joy of exchanging gifts. Personally, I love the decorations too, and in my parents house this was always so under appreciated that now that i get to spend Christmas with my inlaws I finally found the Christmas decorations paradise. My MIL is so crazy about Christmas, every year she adds new decorations (notice the "add") and her house truly is a cozy home filled with lots and lots of loud people, it's the best!

This year, I ate from a tray in my lap on the sofa, my presents and my daughter's had to be brought to me and i needed help everytime i wanted to get up and basically go to the toilet (as I don't get up for anything else). So, this year, my three favourites - family, food and surprises (gifts) - were appreciated in a different, but nonetheless very special, way.

Last Christmas I was sad because I wasn't pregnant yet, this year I have my baby on the way and all I want is for her to come in her due time, instead of too early (Like the doctor predicted and warned me about), so I truly am happy and feel loved and blessed... by whoever, wherever, I don't care. I just feel what I actually do consider to be the spirit of the season. I'm as happy as can be!!!

And the winners are...

So, it's mid sunday here and I think it's a good time as any to end the giveaway given that noone has joined in in more than 12 hours.
If I had had 1000 or so like in some of the giveaways I entered (no wonder I didn't win any) of course I would have learned how to use the random generator thing, but, with only 31 people and lots and lots of time in my hands, what I did was write down all the names, cut into pieces and put them in a bowl.
(You have to believe me on this one because I didn't take pictures of this. Asking my husband for pen, paper, scissors and a bowl was borderline with his morning bad temper, let alone if I asked for him to bring me the camera, wait through the process and then connect the camera to the pc, that would be a stretch, and I've got to think that in an hour or two I need him in a good mood to bring me lunch. uff!!!)
Then I was thinking that because I had three prizes, how would I choose a winner for each? Three different drawings? Putting just the names of the people who asked for a specific item on that specific drawing and then have like a miscellanous bowl? I mean, I'm new at this and I had to figure out every detail. Ultimately I decided to draw three papers, period. If the people had showed preferences fine, if not fine too. If two people wanted the same item, the first name to be drawed would get it. I think when it comes to rules you have to keep it simple and fair.
Luckily, the three names had all said what they prefered to win, so everyone's happy!!! And without more talk talk talk, here are the winners:

For the sewing supplies: Quilt n Queen, who is a fan of "Grey's Anatomy", a show I've watched from episode 1 until episode I don't know what of the current season (and believe me, I've watched them more than once) and "Dirty Dancing", which along with "ET" is probably the film of my childhood (and teenager years and adulthood, every few months I watch it again and I have all the lines memorized by now). Congratulations, it's funny to find something in common with you and I'll email you asking for your address.

For the fabric: Jolanda, who was the first to participate (see, in my giveaway being the first is not bad) and recommended me "Notting Hill" and "Grey's Anatomy", which shows she has good taste because it's one of the movies I've watched more often and I've already said I'm a fan of the twisted sisters (specially Christina, love that character). Parabéns JOlanda, vou já mandar um email a pedir a morada!!!

And for the selvedges, which I thought would be up for grabs for anyone else since it didn't conquer that much entushiasm, faith would have it that one person who actually wanted it got it (really I thought it was an amazing coincidence): Racheldaisy, who mentioned "Mad Men", a series I've been interested in start seeing because so many people say it's great. And who doesn't enjoy 60's fashion??? hehehe Congratulations my fellow daisy, I'll be emailing you also.

This was so much fun and I wished I had more prizes to give. I think it was a good way to keep me busy, entertained and take my mind off the fact that I've still got 3 more months of bed rest until I give birth, so before Helena comes to this world I will definetely have another giveaway. It won't be anything handmade because I can't make much (or maybe I'll knit something) so keep visitng the blog and watch out for more sewing supplies/fabrics/etc. (who would have guesseed ric rac was such a success among you? the things we learn from giveaways...)

The giveaway is still open!

My giveaway will stay open for a little longer because I only post it near the end of it, besides I don't know exactly when the 17th ends for all of you in the US, so... better stay open longer than cutting it too short. And noone can call me a cheater either because i'm not even on the Sew Mama Sew list anyway so... I make my rules eheeh
I will announce a winner during the weekend, that's for sure. Thank you all so much for your suggestions, my list of tv series and movies is growing and I'm hoping I won't feel bored again until at least the end of 2010 heehhehe

Giveaway Day... and I almost missed it!

I can't believe this time of all times I almost missed Giveaway Day! Here I am, lying in this bed for so many weeks, complaining about how slow time passes by and how bored I am... and instead I could have been discovering new blogs and reading your funny comments!!! Well, better late than never. Here is my giveaway:

One lucky winner will win these sewing supplies: ric rac, 100% cotton thread and some zippers.



Another lucky winner will win these random fabrics. Some are fat quarters, other are just 20 cm or 30 cm pieces.



Another lucky winner will win a year's worth of selvedge.




I know, I know, it's not much but it's up for grabs and I will ship internationally (actually someone else will do it for me as I can't get up from this bed...). All you have to do is leave me a comment telling me your favourite movie/tv series and why, because I really am bored and could use some tips on what to watch next. Please tell me which of the prizes you would prefer to win and make sure I have a way to contact you. I will choose the winner randomly, either finally learning how to work with Mr Thingy or doing it the old fashion pen and paper way.

Comment away!!!

I think a simple "thank you" is in order

Today the door bell rang and it was the mail man with my latest order from Sew Mama Sew onnline shop. Noone else came to visit, noone called (except my mom) and nothing special happened to me during the whole day, so please understand that this was the highlight of my day (getting new fabrics is always nice, anyway). Even the dogs spent the day sleeping in their beds not caring if I was feeling lonely and depressed or not. Thank god for the internet, I chat everyday with other pregnant women on bed rest and exchange book suggestions and game cheats hehehe
Anyway, call it boredom or just too much free time to think about small things, I found myself writing a "thank you" email to the Sew Mama Sew staff. I mean, the fabrics are always very neatly cut, the package always presented in such a lovely way, it arrives so fast and man do those guys manage to fit lots of fabric in one flat rate envelope! That's the best part! Today I got like 5 yards or so and a pattern, how can I not be amazed and thankful?

Birthing a quilt

I had never heard of this technique until recently but it seems a great idea for people who see the binding stage as the scary monster (such as myself). It's really simple and I'm frustrated for not having thought about it on my own sooner... Check it out here.

I'm in love...

I saw at Cluck Cluck Sew a mini quilt inspired by this one. It's hard to say which is prettier! And because the original post includes a tutorial now I know that I will have no excuse not to make one too. Just when I decided Helena's crib quilt would be a disappearing nine patch design...

Aurora*

I miss my grandmother. She died 15 years ago today and is still such a big influence on my mother and me. Now that a new female member of the family is on the way and we are busy knitting and sewing, she is constantly on our minds because if she was here my baby would have even lovelier things, because she would teach us and push us beyond our limited abilities... or she would make things herself :)
That's how gifted she was. A strong stubborn woman, a busy bee and home fairy, an obsessive cleaner who always smelled of bleech and the most perfect chubby grandmother one could ask for, so full of patience and joy (up until my grandfather died and the grief ultimately led to her death too).
She taught me how to read and write using recipes, she hanged all my drawings in the kitchen wall and made me fresh orange juice everyday for lunch. I still have a sweet tooth after meals and an utter dislike of cheese because of her. I still always thinks of her first when I say "grandmother", even though my father's mother was also a great woman and I had ten more years beside her.
But my grandmother Aurora was the real deal. If I had to choose just one person to see again in the after life it would be her. I wished so very bad that she had lived enough to meet my husband, see me in my wedding day and meet Helena in a few months...


* A female name with Latin origin, meaning the break of dawn, not used nowadays. Except for my sewing machine and Sleeping Beauty...

I hope my husband is ready for this...

How did I not know this?

A knitted quilt

This isn't the first time I have to stay in bed for a long time. I celebrated my 20th birthday eating from a tray in my lap after a knee surgery gone bad that left me temporarily paraplegic. A second surgery and many months of intense physical therapy later I started walking again, but during a dark time in my life I needed help with everything, I couldn't go to the toilet on my own or have a quiet simple shower. My parents (specially my mother) and my husband (then boyfriend) were by my side the whole time and I'm very thankful for that. I also met some amazing people and learnt lots of lessons in the process. So now that I'm in bed again I've caught myself looking back on those months and how I'm a better, stronger person for it. I KNOW that now that i'm older and expecting a child this bed rest thing is a piece of cake compared to that.

Anyway, this isn't meant to be a self-pity post, I just wanted to show you the patchwork blanket my mother and I knitted during those months. I was always so tired and in pain that knitting was pretty much all I felt like doing (can you believe that i didn't read a single book that whole time???) and she spent so many hours in the waiting room while I did my treatments that all the blue squares came to life pretty quickly.

Blue has always been my favourite colour and I have always loved patchwork, but at the time I didn't know a thing about sewing and quilting, so this was the closest thing I could come up with. When I got married we decided to add more squares to make it a king size "knitted quilt". It's hard for me to go back to this project, so my mother has been doing the recent squares.

We added a border, which is like a giant scarf, in nvy blue to match all the different blues of the "quilt top". In the back there is a lavander fabric that has some foam stiched to it (I'm sory but Ii don't have pictures and it's the best way I find to describe it) which gives the idea of batting and quilting.

I love this blanket despite everything. I know that one day when my mother is no longer by my side this blanket will always remind me of her. The way the smell of bleech reminds me of my grandmother Aurora (my mother's mother).

Progress on the baby front

My mother and I have been busy. I finished the bibs she started and knitted the yellow and the pink boots, she knitted the white and pink boots. The yellow boots will have matching scarf and hat. The cutest!!! But wait until you see the blanket she's knitting! A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!

Anyone interested in a swap???

I don't have many readers, so I'm not sure if this will even be possible to accomplish. But we have a saying about how if you never try you never succeed, so...
A good friend of mine (to whom I've made this and this and this) has a nearly 2 year old - oh the terrible twos - who is currently obsessed with pandas. I promised to make something with pandas in it, something simple like a bib or a pillow I don't know yet, but the thing is... I have fabric with mouses, cats, dogs, owls, rabbits, frogs, octopus, turtles, sheeps, bears, penguins, girafes, elephants, tigers, lions, zebras, monkeys, rinos, hippos, alligators and... guess what? NO PANDAS!!!
If anyone has a fat-quarter with pandas, please swap with me! I would prefer to give away some cats, just because I have more of it and it's a fat-quarter (some of the other animals are mixed together in the same fabric and I have only 20 or 30 cm "slices" instead of a nice and square fat-quarter). But I'm open to other options, as long as I get me some panda love :)

Open for debate

So I'm planning the whole decoration of the nursery, right?

I'm in bed all day, searching the internet, buying stuff online...

And I'm thinking about the curtains and the crib quilt, etc etc etc. Now that I know it's a girl, I've got the right fabrics and... I'm missing a quilt pattern. I'm all for squares, always have been and always will be, but besides squares, there are other patterns I like. I just don't know if Ii like them enough for such a high stakes thing. I mean, it's my first (and probably only, by the look of things) baby and I want it to be perfect. Am I being foolish to put such pressure in this? I know that I'll be making her other crib quilts eventually, maybe not curtains - those I plan to use for a long time - but why oh why is it so hard for me to decide which pattern to go with? Should I just do a sampler quilt? I like squares, bento-box, circles, disappearing 9 patch, bricks, I like a lot of things... I don't particularly like stars and pinwheels but... there're OK too.

Because of my limitations (both physical and experience-wise) I was just thinking of keeping it simple, but then my mom and my husband bullied me a bit into something more out of my comfort zone and then my sister in law said something that also got me thinking... I mean, I'm so confused and I haven't even started anything.

So... since everyone around me is already throwing their ideas at me even if I don't ask for them, at least YOU could give me your ideas. Yes... I'm asking...

What should I do???

A very special stroller quilt

(If you are here because of the Blogger's Quilt Festival, welcome! Please stop by more often and leave a comment. Here is my entry.)



Finally, I present you with the most special stroller quilt ever! My baby's obviously!!!



One thing you don't know about me is that I love naming everything, from dolls, to pets, to new recipes. I've decided to call this quilt "The Good News Quilt". I started it soon after knowing I was pregnant and because I didn't know if I was expecting a boy or a girl I wanted it to be colourful and gender-free. I meant to finish it before knowing the sex of the baby, so that then I would be free to start a crib quilt in blue or pink, depending. (That crib quilt is still just in my head, because I've unable to sit down at the sewing machine in these last weeks due to my pregancy complications.) Also, I wanted a bullet-proof quilt, that will be used outside, will get dirty, will be washed lots, and survives, hence the colours. And also, who can resist the simplicity of squares? No matter what i do, it's always my favourite design!



Cutting and piecing 300 squares of just 5 cm was quite time consuming but we have a portuguese saying that is: running because you like it doesn't make you tired. It's so true! I had lots of fun with this quilt.

I've talked about this quilt previously as a sort of the "making of" (at the time I didn't want to disclose who it was for), but here goes a detail of the flannel in the back and how I chose to quilt it, which was also opened for debate, but then I decided on straight lines every 3 squares, forming a 9 patch grid.
I know I said I wanted a quilt that could be either for boy or girl, but I used some squares in pink and actually the pale pink polka dot square you can see in this picture was what started the whole thing. I went through my scraps and this was one of the tiniest bits I found so I cut the rest of it in the same size. So I'm proud to say that this quilt is entirely made out of scraps I saved since I started quilting something like one year ago.



This was all done in a week I think, but then, as always, here came the binding... or the scary monster I should say. Well, this time around I knew I didn't need to hurry, so i really took my time and I've just finished this weekend, because this was something I could do from bed. I chose a solid yellow to match the quilting and because it popped out some of the quilt top colours.



As all pet owners already know, our dear furry friends always want to be in the picture so while taking these pictures my dog Sushi decided to appear (actually, it's my fault because that corner is his favourite place to be sunbathing and I was the one who went to take pictures there while he was gone, then he came back).
He is usually pretty shy but I have to show you these "backstage pictures" because it's just too cute to be true. Remember we are talking about a really small baby quilt, righ? And Sushi is quite big, he weighs 45 kg and measures 120 cm from head to butt (not counting the tail). But out of the blue he decided to lie down on the quilt. Yes, LIE DOWN really curled up like a ball. First he looked to both sides checking if anyone was watching and then slowly he did his thing. I was trying to guess what he would do, but he surprised even me! I laughed so much!!!

July 31st

(If you are here because of the Blogger's Quilt Festival, welcome! Please stop by more often and leave a comment. Here is my entry.)


I know that righ now it feels like a gazillion days away, but I'm already counting. On July 31 st, I'll be one year older, I'll be a mom... and I'll be singing at the top of my lungs at a Bon Jovi concert! Yep, can't even believe that after more than 10 years waiting since the last time they came to Portugal suddenly I got to see them last year and now again next year. I sent my dad out for tickets today and he was joking on the phone saying there weren't any tickets left (now, isn't that a mean thing to do to a pregnant woman???) but the truth is I was probably the first one to get a ticket hehehe He all but camped out at the store, he got there before all the employees. eheheh

I'm happy happy happy! I've been a fan (like a HUGE fan) for twenty years now and when JBJ will be 60 years old I will still think his voice is amazing! I'm happy happy happy happy happy!!!

Cultural (or generation) gap

(If you are here because of the Blogger's Quilt Festival, welcome! Please stop by more often and leave a comment. Here is my entry.)

I remember when I met my husband, ten years ago, his mother teased me about my habit of celebrating Halloween with my high school friends. I had been doing so since I was 13 and one of my friends hosted the most amazing Halloween party ever, turning her parents' house into a haunted mansion (it was an old house full of strange noises) and naming food with the strangest names (bolognese was monkey's brain and such). Every year the party was at a different house, one year I was the proud hostess, decorating everything and thinking of every detail trying to live up to that first and amazing party.

Next year, my mother in law bought underwear with ghosts and pumpkins to all of her offspring and I sensed things were starting to change. Still she insisted Halloween was just an american tradition that we were absorbing like everything else (Coca Cola, Walt Disney, Eminem). She said our tradition was Carnival and that reminded me of all those years of bad disguises because my mother had no imagination or patience for more. But if Carnival was still 100% portuguese, why do we see fat and lousy samba dancers shivering in next to no clothes in the middle of February pretending they are in Rio de Janeiro?

Anyway, with highschool long gone, my friends went their separate ways, which in some cases included Germany, England, Sweden... and my Halloween years ended. Every year I get a little bit sad when the day comes and I'm reminded that I have nowhere to go to (and noone to go with), but I suppose that now that I'm a grown-up, that's just life.

But yesterday... something happened that really showed me times have changed. A bunch of witches and pirates and vampires showed up at my door trick or treating. That was a first! I was so excited I got out of bed just to see their costumes. Alas, in our house the only treats we have are for our dogs... and we had nothing more than healthy fiber cookies to give them (remember I'm pregnant and addicted to chocolate so one more reason not to have sweets around). I felt so embarassed... I mean, here they are, knocking on someone's door, someone who actually enjoys Halloween, someone who would gladly give them treats more than anyone else, and all they get is healthy cookies??? With fiber and zero addiction of sugar? C'mon!!!

You'll see. Next year I'll be ready. And in some years, I'll be making my daughter the best Halloween costume ever and taking her treat or tricking too. Just you wait and see! hehehe

Blogger's Quilt Festival

It's that time of year again! Our dear Amy from Amy's Creative Side is hosting the Blogger's Quilt Festival. Whether you came here just to see my entry or you are one of my usal readers, welcome! Leave a comment, come back again, you know the drill!!!


This is the second baby quilt I made. Like the first one, it was meant as a gift to my friend's baby (who then became my husband's godchild incidentally) and it was used on the day she came home from the hospital.


I was inexperienced and felt more comfortable with a simple design, so I chose a brick pattern. Also, the father of the baby is a civil engineer (hence the bricks) and the mother is a lawyer, so the idea of books also crossed my mind.

I took pictures of every step of the way, because when doing my first baby quilt I didn't take a single picture and I learned my lesson!








It's called the "Bubblegum quilt! because of the shades of pink. This quilt was very special to me for one simple reason: I had been trying to conceive a child since before knowing my friend was pregnant and time was passing by and still no baby. I was by my friend's side every step of the way through her pregnancy and by the time her baby was born I still hadn't gotten pregnant. While making this quilt I cried at times, not out of envy or anything like that, but because I loved her unborn child that in some ways replaced the one I wished to have. I made sure that every stitch was full of love and in the end it was almost like therapy. I must confess that I saved a piece of my favourite fabric (the one with birds and flowers by Robert Kaufman) hoping to use it one day in a baby quilt of my own... and guess what? Now I'm expecting a baby girl!