I’m in L-O-V-E…

…with cloth diapers! Truly, they are much, much, MUCH different than I had pictured in my head, and everything that I “knew” about them was 100% wrong. I’m so glad that I gave them a try! Now I just wish that I could use them all of the time…

I showed off his cute butt the other day but in case you need another dose, here’s how cute he is in his cloth-covered bum:



You know that I was looking for options to avoid nighttime leaking with a heavy wetter. I tried the overnight diapers with mixed results. They leak about 50% of the time when I use them. But the cloth diapers? They haven’t leaked one single time in 6 nights.

Six nights.

No leaks.

That’s pure heaven for this momma.

Not that it means that he’s sleeping through the night – FAR from it! – but at least he’s not waking up ticked off because he’s all wet and I have to strip the screaming baby and the bedding at 2am. He’s apparently waking up to have a “party” in his bed…but that’s a whole other story.

Back to my new-found love for cloth. I really do like using the cloth diapers at night. Now, I will be honest here and tell you that I have yet to have to truly clean up a mess in them because it comes off as soon as he wakes up (it’s full!) so what I do clean is just pee, not poop. And if my day care was cloth-friendly (not something that I was interested in at the time when I searched for our day care) I would seriously consider switching all the way. But they’re not. And I love my day care…so we’ll be a mixed diapering family, I suppose. We’ll cloth diaper at night (and possibly on the weekends if I get some more diapers) for sure and use disposables during the day.

So being new to the cloth scene, I immediately started researching some accessories that I would need. Mainly a wet bag for when we’re out and about and a larger one (or a liner) as a place to put them at the house. I saw some cute stuff. And then decided that I could make my own. I went shopping on my lunch hour, went home and put the kid to bed then got to work on my idea and came up with this loveliness:





Isn’t it just perfect for a little guy? I love the old cars! The tutorial was fairly easy to follow, but there were a few moments when I scratched my head…and I’m still working out the kinks of making the hanging one for the laundry room door…but this one is perfect for now. Perfect for my diaper bag. Perfect for the laundry room floor. Just perfect.

I even went all fancy and lined it with PUL so that it's truly waterproof…



I think that it’s just as nice as one that I could have bought online at a diapering retailer or etsy. Too cute. I’ll post some pictures of the bigger one in action once I get it finished. Maybe tonight. Maybe tomorrow night. Heck, it might even be one night next week…having a husband playing softball one night a week means having one night a week when I don’t have to “pretend” not to be crafting something! Score for both of us!

What do you think? Too cute? (Yes, I understand that I’m fishing for compliments...LOL!)

My First Project of 2011

Did I share my new project with you guys yet? I don’t think that I have…probably so that you wouldn’t think that I was crazy with a capital “C” for attempting such a feat. I swear that I couldn’t help myself. That excuse works for a lot of things, so I figured that this might be one of those times. It’s sort of like when you fall in love…you see someone (or some craft project, in my case) and just simply fall. Just like that. See, you couldn’t help it, that excuse works, right?

Here’s what caught my eye.

source - but don't go there since she's "on vacation"

Le sigh.

It just looks lovely. Love the colors, love the texture…love everything about it. And I had.to.have.it. Now. I even love what she said about who she was making it for instead of telling her daughter the truth. Oh wait, since her blog is on "vacation" mode, you can't read what she did.  I'll sum it up for you - when her daughter asked her what she was working on, she told her that she was making a blanket for her best friend.  Then she gave it to her daughter on her birthday...how sweet is that?!?!  Insert another loud, longing sigh here…

But I’m a horrible liar. It’s one of my best qualities, according to my husband. There was no way that I could make that blanket for Jenna without telling her who I was making it for. Just can’t do it. Plus, I thought that it would be more fun if she picked out the colors herself, so that it could be “our” project. And by “our” I mean mine – since I’m the one doing all of the actual work. Sure, she got totally directorship in color selection, but I’m the slave here. At least that’s what I’m telling myself.

So you know me – I jumped right in. Never mind the fact that I don’t own a crochet hook. Never mind the other fact that I haven’t actually crocheted anything in oh, say…twenty years. Who needs to know how to read the pattern? Not me! Let alone understand what the pattern means and how to perform the stitches. Those are just minor details. (See how much like love this is? Overlooking glaringly obvious character flaws and dating the guy anyway?!?!)

But since I had already hooked Jenna on the idea of that blanket, you know that I had to keep going, right? Well, I’m proud to say that after two or three days of practice runs, I hit the ground running and am only now slowing down for air. I’ve made about 50 of the little squares…and let me stress the word little. It hit me the other day exactly how small these little things are...which led me to quickly try to calculate exactly how many of these bad boys I actually need to make. Which gave me a headache. LOL!

I was originally thinking that I could make it 15 squares x 10 squares. But after I got into my groove on how to make them neatly and prettily, I realized that 15 of these squares lined up isn’t really all that long. But it took me actually laying the squares out on the living room rug with Jenna beside me (I needed someone to ooh! and ah! over my work, you know) that it really hit me. 15x10 just isn’t going to cut it. That actually barely covers her body, much less with enough leftover to give her some “wiggle room.” What a conundrum…

You’ve seen my inspiration. Each square is made up of three circles, rings inside of rings if you will. Right now, I’m keeping the colors a repeat on the outer and inner circle and then a contrast color for the middle ring. So if my two colors are hot pink and purple, then my innermost circle is hot pink, the middle circle would be purple and then the outer ring would be hot pink again. My anal-retentive self created a chart so that I make sure to combine every single color with every other single color – because who can just do that in their head, right? According to my chart, if I don’t repeat any of the color combos, then I’ll have 64 squares at the end of it.

If you’ve had your morning coffee (or Coke) then your math skills are on the same page with mine. 15x10 does NOT equal 64. It equals 150. And that’s too small. Going up just one 5 square set on both height and length looks a little closer to what I’m thinking in my head. But once again calling on my keen math skills, 20x15 = 300 squares = a LOT of darn work. This is what jumping in with both feet without looking means.

So this is where you come in, bloggy friends. What would you do? I can only see two options. I can make the 300 squares that I think that I really need…or I can make the original 150 squares and then add a wide border to the blanket and see where I stand. The theory with option #2 is that if after adding the border I still don’t think that it’s big enough, then I could add another row (or 3) of squares outside of the edge and then make another edge. I don’t know if that will translate well through words only, so here’s a quick sketch for you…

Option #1

Option #2

Which route would you take? You know, if you were me. Which you’re not, clearly. Because any sane person wouldn’t even attempt a project like this with a child aged 6 months in their house. Then again, I never said that I was sane! Or that it would turn out perfect…there are many squares where I got off in my counts and they’re not perfect. But it’s still made with love, and that’s what counts, right? Man, I hope so! Especially if I have to make 300 of those little suckers…

Another Meeting of PWA

In case you've forgotten, PWA stands for Projects Whores Anonymous. It's a club that I proudly sit in the President's chair for...I'm not ashamed.

And the project bug hit me pretty hard this past week. I wrote here about this project that I really fell in love with. For one thing, they would be made completely from scraps of material that I already owned, having only to buy the batting. Cheap = lovely in my book these days as we prepare for another mouth to feed around this house! And for another thing, I knew that it wouldn't be a long-term commitment...you know, in case I got interrupted in the middle of the project for a little thing called labor.

Much to my dismay that didn't happen though! I was able to start and finish this project all in one afternoon, then a nap, and then the sewing in the evening. Because that's how my energy level is at this point!

So here's the final result:
And some close ups since I did them all a bit differently. I did the first ones following the instructions letter for letter. Even though with the miracles of modern cameras, I see how clearly not straight my lines are! But if anyone other than me ever noticed or pointed that out, I'd give them a reward...
Then I got a little "wild and crazy" and decided to mix things up a bit on the quilting portion of the project...
Oh yeah, it's just one wild party around our house right now! LOL!

Of course now that I see that this is something that can be compelted start to finish in less than an hour and a half (depending on how badly you may or may not slice open your finger with your rotary blade!), I want to make more. Plus, I can see that 6 coasters in a house is NOT nearly enough. I need some at the kitchen table. One on my nightstand. Another for Brent's nightstand. Then a couple for the little table that sits between our recliners. And last, but not least, some spares to have for the actual coffee table.

Yep, more MUST be made!

PWA Meets Again!

I hope that you all enjoyed the long weekend - I know that I did! Although it was a lot of travelling for Jenna and I (as Brent had to work), we had a great time with family this weekend and a WONDERFUL baby shower to boot! While I'm waiting on some pictures to come in from other family members, I thought that I would share another project with you.

I hesitated to share this, since I made these both as a gift for a friend that just had a baby boy last week, and for myself...but I decided that with a newborn at home, she doesn't have time to be reading blogs anyway and it won't spoil anything for me to show these off now.

I got home from my travels and after resting/cleaning up the house a bit, I settled down to sew what I had cut and pieced together last week. I've seen these fancy burp cloths on etsy and something similar that OMGMom makes:

source

And after seeing one in person from my husband's cousin on Mother's Day, I knew that I had to try my hand at making them. Of course, I had to put my own spin on them so that I wasn't totally copying...and here's what I came up with:

Instead of a solid piece of material down the middle of the burp cloth, I just put trim on the bottom edges...a few inches in. And I did it on both ends...

I also saw some for sale at Babies R Us that had the material all around the edges...maybe I should try that next?

What do you think? Good enough to give to a friend as an extra gift? Cute enough to sell on etsy? I LOVE them and have another set cut and ready to sew for myself!

PWA is Called to Order!

Ok, in truth, this project’s life span cannot be blamed entirely upon me. My wedding must take some of the blame. Let me explain.

Back when Brent and I were dating, the bedspread that he had on his bed was…well…let’s just say that it has LOTS of character. Isn’t that what you say about an ugly couch? That it has “character”? That’s what I’m trying to say here. It was warm…I definitely will give it props for keeping me nice and cozy during the night, but in the looks department it was sort of…lacking. I determined that it would be really cool to make a new bedspread.

At this point I had made a few blankets and had just finished a baby quilt for one of my best friends (Maid Momma from our wedding for you A Bride…Again readers!) and it turned out beautifully. Brent made the comment that it was so nice and how cool would it look in a larger size. Which got me thinking…and the life of a new project was born. I spent the next few months gathering my supplies…different yards of material to piece together into my quilt and then when I had 10 or so different patterns, I got some outside help (Thanks, Aunt Ann!) to determine which material needed to make the final cut and which ones could be discarded. OK, so to be 100% honest, I probably had 15 different materials, and that really was too many.

So we narrowed it down, and I cut out my pieces. This is what I was left with…

And these were my FAVORITE pieces!

For some reason, the flash was destroying some of the coloring…sorry for the darkish picture.

Anyway, in my head, I envisioned sewing these into a pattern of squares on their side (Would that be diamond-shaped?) and then covered with a lattice of chocolate brown ribbon to hide the spots where the square seams didn’t meet up 100%. Trust me, it was gorgeous on the baby quilt that I did. (I looked and looked for a picture of it, but can’t find a single one!)

Then the whole piece would be trimmed with some more of this…
Once again, the flash was weird. Sorry. Can you envision what I’m making? Pretty, right?

So here’s what happened…I bought all of the material and got all the squares cut. I even laid out the pattern of the squares and put them all in order. And then we got engaged…which was GREAT news! But between the wedding stuff starting and then moving in together about two months later and all of the packing/unpacking that a move like that involves, the quilt project got lost. Yes, you read that right, I lost all of my hard work.

But since I’m a slacker and all of my boxes weren’t unpacked at the time that I realized that it was lost, I didn’t worry too much. So a month passes…and then two months…and before I knew it, six months had gone by. I did search for the squares during these times, but I can be honest and say that I probably didn't look that hard. Before I knew it I looked up and realized that almost a year had passed without me seeing these beauties. The wedding happened, the honeymoon was over…and I really started looking for the squares. I got buoyed when I found the extra material…but no squares. Hmmm…and then, unbelievably a miracle occurred. I found the squares!

And yes, there WAS screaming, jumping up and down with joy and a small celebration of sorts around the living room when I uncovered them. And you might think that I immediately went to work on it…but not so much. I was newly pregnant and didn’t have the energy. I did re-organize and get the pattern re-established and in a more useable manner. But that was it.

Until last week…when I realized that I am a Projects Whore and PWA (Project Whores Anonymous) was formed. I had new projects in mind, but decided that I needed to make some progress on these older projects first. So that’s exactly what I did. I put my nose to the grindstone and worked like a DOG on it. It turns out that my hard work paid off – in less than a week of working on it again, here’s what I had… Do you sort of see the ugly comforter underneath it! Yuck!

What do you think? Do you like how it came together? Brent and I really like it…the next step is to do the ribbon-lattice part, which means stopping and buying the actual ribbon. In the meantime, I can work on my red/white and denim project, right?!?! Right!

I “Might” Be A Project Whore…

I guarantee you that my Mom laughed at that title! Love you, Mom!!!

You see…I have a problem. And since the first step to fixing a problem is admitting that you have a problem, I feel like I’m making progress. I don’t think that it’s a really bad problem…but maybe that’s just me and part of the whole overall problem. You know like when alcoholics say that they don’t have a problem when everyone else can CLEARLY see that they have a problem? Yeah, I might need to start a PWA group (Project Whores Anonymous)…we’d need to have meetings and form support groups and stuff. And I’m not knocking AA and groups like that…they do help people. I’m just thinking that I should start my own group – want to join?

I think that it starts with the wedding…SO much inspiration…so many cutesy projects that you can do. Just project overload. Then it’s settling into your new home as a married couple, finding your style and decorating and such. Curtains need to be made, painting needs to be done, and if you have a crafty hubby – tile needs to be laid. What was that, honey? You don’t know how to do that? Oh, well, I think that they offer classes at Lowe’s…smoochies! Love you! Thank you so much!

But like I was saying, acknowledging that you might have a problem is a step in the right direction. Here’s my problem: I’m really good at envisioning things that I can make and do and all. I’m even really good at finding the materials (sometimes on sale!) and gathering them all up. I can even manage to get started and do the first few steps…and that’s where my grand master plan falls apart. Somewhere between step #4 and completion…I get Project A.D.D. or something and get side-tracked. Usually for good reasons. But no matter if the reasons are good or lame, the project stalls and then before I know it…time passes. And the project gathers dust. Or is forgotten completely.

These are all things that I realized last week…after spending $40 on new fabric for a few things that are buzzing around my brain to be all crafty with right now. as I unload my purchases and start to wash the fabric (it MUST be washed before sewn!) B gently (or bravely?!?) points out to me that I have fabric already. What do I need more for? As I share what I’m planning on doing with him, he just sort of smiles at me and says ok. But this is a look that I’ve come to know. It’s directed at me and usually means more than just ok.

As I sit and ponder what he could POSSIBLY be implying…it hits me. I’m a project whore. I move from one project to the next with ease and serenity…sometimes finishing things up and sometimes not. There’s always something else to focus on…the grass is always greener and so forth. You get the idea, right?

Since the washing machine was already started, I finished that task, but when the material was all washed and dried, I forced myself to fold it and put it aside. I did NOT immediately start sketching out the new pattern in my head. I did NOT cut any of the material out to take along with me as I collect the remaining pieces needed to finish it. I have not spent more money on these projects on my head. I decided that I needed to finish up some other sewing projects first.

OK, so maybe I decided to finish up ONE project…baby steps, people!

And you know what? After less than one week…ONE WEEK ladies!...I got finished with a big project. Or at least more on my way to being finished. I at least made enough progress towards finishing that I could justify cutting out a pattern for the project that’s been fermenting in my creative brain for the past week. Seven little bitty days made a big difference.

It should show me what determination can do for a person. Or what withholding a prize can do to motivate a child…because that’s what I am. A child. Who needs to be bribed and scheduled to finish her work…don’t expect miracles, but progress is nice.

So you want to see what I’m talking about? Do you want the new or the old? I have pictures of both because I’m cool like that…

Here’s the new project as a teaser…then I’ll explain more about the old project tomorrow. And maybe posting about my progress will make me more accountable? Maybe you ladies can hold me to my tasks by asking me how things are going? Maybe…don’t worry though, I won’t bite and get mad when you “gently” remind me that there are other things to be working on, I promise!

So here’s my new project… Well, that’s at least the material that my new project will take shape in…I can’t WAIT to start on it! I cut the pieces out last night…but I have to set another new goal with the old project to finish some step before I can let myself work too much on this one! Help keep me strong!!!