What This Blog Is Not

I've been noticing a trend in these last few posts... they are plastered with pictures of babies and are all about Levin.  I'm worried this blog has lost its balance.  I'm worried that when I finally have enough posts to actually print it as a book, it will merely be Levin's baby book.

This post is not about Levin.

This post is about what I've been working on lately.  Well... a few of the things I've been working on lately.

The quilt I made for our bed

Last November I decided I wanted to make our bedroom quilt.  I'd never made a quilt before, but I couldn't find a quilt that I liked for a reasonable price.  I wrote about working on it in this post.  What I didn't mention back then was that I was feeling sick because I thought it was turning out ugly.  Good thing I didn't give up on it, because I think it turned out amazing.  FAR better than I had even imagined it could.  This picture doesn't do justice to how amazing it turned out.  That being said, I learned a lot and know what I'll do different next time.  I'm afraid it gave me the quilting fever.

The mess that was a room

This room has been a mess since the day we moved into our house.  For the first year it was where we stored all the tools, paint, junk, Houdini, and lumber while we remodeled upstairs.  We spent the second year trying to turn it into a guest room and bedroom for a baby.  But junk rooms are a lot like junk drawers; once established as the catch-all, it's almost impossible to reclaim.  Let it go down in the records, however, this room was reclaimed.  After two years and 57 days, the last errant item was removed.

Partially reclaimed

The cradle Ray and my Dad built

A little bit closer view

We don't have a crib yet.  The only thing keeping Levin in his own bed at night is the height of the cradle.  He hasn't learned to jump yet.

Not one of those drawers are junk drawers.  They are all organized and everything is neatly folded.

 The polka-dotted thing on the dresser is a hot air balloon Ande made for Levin out of paper mache.  It will be hanging from the ceiling by tomorrow... just waiting for the spray paint on the ceiling hook to dry first.

In the closet

My hand-made poof balls

 I made these poof ball things right before Levin was born... before we knew if we were having a boy or a girl.  I had a feeling our baby was going to be a boy, but the purple tissue paper was a siren.  It called my name and would not shut up.  Levin told me a few days after he was born that he liked the color purple and that I could leave them up.

The first proof that Ray's sickly looking tomato plants will indeed bear fruit

Hmmm, not much more to say about that.  Ray can farm.

Fabric for future quilts

I've had this fabric laying out on the couch for a week because just seeing it makes me get excited.  I finally figured out how to explain my excitement to Ray.  I said, "quilting is for me what hunting is for you."  He suddenly got it.  The first few weeks of nursing Levin were kind of brutal.  He was a SLOOOOOW eater.  It felt like I would barely get done feeding him and it would be time to start again.  Levin's pot-bellied gut can be attributed to me discovering online fabric stores.  I started reminding Levin it was time for him to eat again.  I poured over website after website looking at the new fabrics coming out and finding the places online that sold them the cheapest.  I finally narrowed it down to the 4 collections I loved most.  They arrived in the mail last week.  Now I just need to decide what pattern of quilts to make them into.

A little bit closer look

Whoops-a-daisy

I just wanted everyone to know that this house isn't ALL about babies.