It's all my daughter's fault.
See, I've never been particularly crafty. Artistic, yes, crafty, noooo. I don't glue-gun. I cringe at the thought of glitter and bling. No pipe cleaners, pom-poms, googly eyes and tissue paper. Not here, no way! The extent of my DIY is I can design a card in Photoshop, hit print (I CAN change the ink when it runs out) and fold it in half. Voila! Better than store-bought, am I right?
See, I've never been particularly crafty. Artistic, yes, crafty, noooo. I don't glue-gun. I cringe at the thought of glitter and bling. No pipe cleaners, pom-poms, googly eyes and tissue paper. Not here, no way! The extent of my DIY is I can design a card in Photoshop, hit print (I CAN change the ink when it runs out) and fold it in half. Voila! Better than store-bought, am I right?
Our Stella
So
when we were expecting my youngest daughter, Stella, and her baby
shower was quickly approaching - people wanted to know - what was our
"theme"?
Ugh, the theme!
I don't think people understand how truly important that small thing can be. If you have ever had a child, you might know what I am saying. It seems silly, almost, to stress over something that your baby isn't even going to be aware of. In all reality, it's not about the baby. It's about what the parents can tolerate looking at day in and day out; dressing the baby, washing the clothes and bedding, and perhaps even painted on the walls. You have to be careful with your theme selection, your sanity could depend upon it.
Ugh, the theme!
I don't think people understand how truly important that small thing can be. If you have ever had a child, you might know what I am saying. It seems silly, almost, to stress over something that your baby isn't even going to be aware of. In all reality, it's not about the baby. It's about what the parents can tolerate looking at day in and day out; dressing the baby, washing the clothes and bedding, and perhaps even painted on the walls. You have to be careful with your theme selection, your sanity could depend upon it.
My boy, Killian
For
my son, Killian, we had a Winnie the Pooh theme. (That was a selfish
decision, really. Mommy loves that bear, and you can never have too much
Pooh). Oh we had it all, wall-hangings, blankets, singing stuffed
animals and clothing. Killian, now 13, would probably die from
embarrassment if I mentioned it now, but he was my Piglet. Ok, he is
STILL my Piglet, just a little more like a wild boar with his attitude
and appetite!
Sass A. Frass (better known as Kassidy)
My
first daughter, Kassidy, was easy. Butterflies! Lots and lots of
butterflies! And PINK! TONS of it! We were so excited to have a girl,
(although I was never much good at being one myself) we figured pink was
key to nurturing a sweet and gentle disposition. So we swaddled that
babe in as much pink as was humanly possible, gave her wings and hoped
for the best! This was my lesson. I now hate butterflies, sick to death
of them! She is 9, and I still can't stand them! She is also Lil Miss
Sassy Pants, so that sort of blows my color theory out of the water.
Sephie Doodle
So
then there was my Persephone. I am willing to admit that I got lazy
with Sephie's theme. Pink and brown, because it was in abundance at the
time and it complimented her ginger complexion. When she was born, I was
a single mother just trying to make it through the day, so simple and
easy was perfection. As we get closer to her 5th birthday and her
extreme level of sauciness becomes more apparent, I've come to the
conclusion that pink is evil. It should come with a warning label, for
real. Keep your daughters sweet - don't do pink!
And then came Stella.
I tried to be a little more selective with a theme for her, she is our last baby, so I wanted to to do it right. No Pooh, butterflies and definitely not pink! We had considered owls, because owls are my personal favorite animal, and lately they are just everywhere you look, but that felt a little like choosing The Hundred Acre Woods for my boy, so we nixed it. We moved on to the idea of frogs - her Godmother LOVES frogs - but most of the items we found with froggies on them were geared for boys. I don't do animal prints, not a fan of Dora, Bubble Guppies, or Disney Princesses really and NO FREAKING PINK!
So the hunt was on to find the perfect theme. I searched through thousands (probably more like hundreds, but whatever) of crib sets online, hoping something would just grab my attention and I would just KNOW. Hours were spent scrolling through a sea of thumbnails....
And then I found it.
It was a patchwork crib set. I was in love! It wasn't particularly girly, there was no clear idea behind it, just a mish-mash of fabrics, sewn together in an aesthetically pleasing configuration that I was just wild about!
I had to have it.
Just had to!
Then I saw the price tag.
Mind you, this was not a handmade crib set. It was a mass produced interpretation of what a crib quilt should be. I may not have fully understood it, at the time, but spending $300 on something for an infant that really doesn't give a shit what she shits on, seemed - excessive.
It was a pieced set. I didn't really need the coordinating wall-hangings. Nor did I need the matching sheets, I could buy something that complimented the quilt and none would be the wiser. I remembered reading that they were now advising that you not use bumper pads - score! That left the "blanket". Singularly priced at near a hundred dollars, it still felt better than $300 for a bunch of crap I didn't really want or have use for. I added it to my registry and put it out of my mind.
Okay, no I didn't.
For days it nagged at me. That voice in my head likes to talk, (rarely shuts up, really) and it just wouldn't let it be. Over and over it reminded me that I had a brand new sewing machine in the basement. I had been looking for a good reason to open that box... then I countered with the best argument I could muster - if I pulled out that machine, my fiance would expect curtains and throw pillows and pretty little dresses for the girls, isn't that why we bought it in the first place? I then reminded myself that he is a very patient man and he still believes me when I tell him I'm working on it - it could be years before he really expected me to truly produce anything. (God love him, he is the best).
I tried to be a little more selective with a theme for her, she is our last baby, so I wanted to to do it right. No Pooh, butterflies and definitely not pink! We had considered owls, because owls are my personal favorite animal, and lately they are just everywhere you look, but that felt a little like choosing The Hundred Acre Woods for my boy, so we nixed it. We moved on to the idea of frogs - her Godmother LOVES frogs - but most of the items we found with froggies on them were geared for boys. I don't do animal prints, not a fan of Dora, Bubble Guppies, or Disney Princesses really and NO FREAKING PINK!
So the hunt was on to find the perfect theme. I searched through thousands (probably more like hundreds, but whatever) of crib sets online, hoping something would just grab my attention and I would just KNOW. Hours were spent scrolling through a sea of thumbnails....
And then I found it.
It was a patchwork crib set. I was in love! It wasn't particularly girly, there was no clear idea behind it, just a mish-mash of fabrics, sewn together in an aesthetically pleasing configuration that I was just wild about!
I had to have it.
Just had to!
Then I saw the price tag.
Mind you, this was not a handmade crib set. It was a mass produced interpretation of what a crib quilt should be. I may not have fully understood it, at the time, but spending $300 on something for an infant that really doesn't give a shit what she shits on, seemed - excessive.
It was a pieced set. I didn't really need the coordinating wall-hangings. Nor did I need the matching sheets, I could buy something that complimented the quilt and none would be the wiser. I remembered reading that they were now advising that you not use bumper pads - score! That left the "blanket". Singularly priced at near a hundred dollars, it still felt better than $300 for a bunch of crap I didn't really want or have use for. I added it to my registry and put it out of my mind.
Okay, no I didn't.
For days it nagged at me. That voice in my head likes to talk, (rarely shuts up, really) and it just wouldn't let it be. Over and over it reminded me that I had a brand new sewing machine in the basement. I had been looking for a good reason to open that box... then I countered with the best argument I could muster - if I pulled out that machine, my fiance would expect curtains and throw pillows and pretty little dresses for the girls, isn't that why we bought it in the first place? I then reminded myself that he is a very patient man and he still believes me when I tell him I'm working on it - it could be years before he really expected me to truly produce anything. (God love him, he is the best).
Our family!
I haven't stopped quilting since that day, and it's all Stella's fault.
I am always working on a quilt. If I'm not on my machine with it, I am designing a new one, researching fabric, attempting to learn a new technique.. it never ends.
My house is never clean anymore, and my family has had to forfeit the dining room table, but I am happy!
I still don't have curtains, by the way.. and I still blame the baby.
My next post will be a walkthrough of making that very first quilt, wooo!
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