sam's quilt, part 1

i decided before we knew sam was sam that i wanted to make a quilt for "the baby." as soon as we found out he was a boy, i chose some fabric for his quilt.

i bought a yard and a half each of the argyle and the light blue. the light blue is for the back of the quilt (30% off at hobby lobby). then i got batting. i got poly-fil, fairly good quality (from what i could tell) in the crib size, which was just big enough to fill the 44" x 54" material (i think the crib size batting is around 45"x64") and that was 50% off at joann fabrics. i also got pins, brown thread, and bias tape (not used yet).

saturday night i decided to start on the quilt. i ironed the material because it was a little wrinkly and i didn't want that to affect the quilting. justin vacuumed the floor for me, and i laid down the backing, then the batting, then the argyle top. the batting had some overlap, so i just tried to get it even from side to side and top to bottom.

after smoothing and straightening for several minutes, i started pinning. i started from the middle of the quilt and worked out to the edges. the pinning alone took me 45 minutes to an hour, which was a combination of that being how long it takes and being halfway to my due date. i would pin every few inches just to be sure it stays together the way you want. you don't want to put that much work into it and have it not stay in place.
(most of the photos were taken with my lensbaby with its 5.6 aperture because that's what i had on the camera.)



i chose the material partly because i liked it and partly because there were lines to follow when i would begin sewing. i have trouble keeping those lines straight, so i need all the help i can get. i began sewing down the edge of every third diamond, which ran my stitching diagonally across the quilt. i worked from the middle to the side, and then back to the middle to the other side, just in that one direction.



after that was done, i did the same thing in the other direction, every third diamond, working from the middle to the sides.



i must mention that you need to be careful of a few things. first, those pins will stab the crap out of your fingers and arms if you aren't careful. i had to get a bandaid when i was wrangling with it on the first few passes across the quilt. second, read your manual if you aren't familiar with the sewing machine. thankfully i adjusted the tension because it had been set to something i didn't need it set on. third, no matter how smooth and beautiful the front of the quilt may look, your quilt backing can pucker and make ugly little folds that get sewn right in. i have considerably less of those than i thought i would, so i am happy, but just be sure you are keeping everything smooth as you sew and remove pins. and last, if you want to get it "perfect," go slowly. i'm not a slow-goer, so my stitching isn't as straight as it could be, but that's ok with me. just a word of warning.

and here is a non-lensbaby photo of the finished little imperfect, puffy diamonds.



i still have to trim and tape and sew the edges. i'm pretty satisfied with the progress so far. :)

it's a boy!

which everyone knows by now, but i haven't gotten to share all of my photos and info yet. ok, most of my photos...i am not posting ultrasound pics of his junk. i can't do that to him. lol.

the ultrasound lady told us that everything looks good. we looked at his heart, his stomach, his kidneys, his spine, his nasal bone, his arms, and his legs. she squished the thing around when she was trying to tell us if he was a boy or a girl for a long time, and she didn't say anything. i got worried that she couldn't see it. i said, "...it's a girl?" (not for any reason but to get her to respond.) she didn't reply.

she prodded around some more. she finally froze a photo and typed "baby boy." i couldn't believe it. justin was really in shock because for two weeks he had assured me that it is a girl. for the rest of the time we were in awe over everything we could see and how healthy he seemed to be. we watched his heart beat and saw its four chambers. we watched him yawn. our incredible little gift from God.

and now for some ultrasound fun:


here you can see his good little spine. his face is turned away.

facing the wand. yes, he does look like a skeleton monster, but that's because the ultrasound isn't a real photograph. lol.

just baby sam, hanging out, looking skeletal. :)

with his arm bent and elbow touching his knee. look at that little nose.

sweet little profile and hand under his chin - you can even see his four fingers and thumb.

so we are, of course, very, very excited. we are very, very blessed.

a little update

a week and a day ago, we went for a checkup. justin got to hear the heartbeat on the doppler for the first time. he was so excited; it was priceless.

the heartbeat was in the 150s and was very strong. everything seems to be going well, so that is good, and after everything we have been through, a bit surprising.

baby has not been as active as i had hoped, though i know that is normal. it is reassuring to feel him or her wiggle around sometimes, though. i know there will be a time when he or she is kicking the crap out of me and i'll wish i never said that. ;)

something i haven't mentioned before is our next st. louis appointment. yes, another one. this one is different, though. because both my dad and justin's brother were born with heart defects, we are having a fetal echo done to check the baby's heart. i am not really worried that anything will be wrong, but i asked the doctor what the benefit would be of getting this done versus not having it done.

he said, "well, it could be that nothing is wrong, but if you don't have it checked and the baby is born and something is wrong, the baby will have to be airlifted to st. louis for surgery. if something is wrong and you know beforehand, you will deliver in st. louis instead." the thought of having my baby taken away on a helicopter and being unable to leave the hospital to go be with the baby is totally and completely unbearable, so we are going to have it checked out. that appointment is just over a month away. again, i'm not really concerned that something will be wrong, but i have to make sure.

we find out if the baby is a boy or a girl in five days. i can't wait. i am so ready to start getting things ready around here, register for cute little baby things, and make things for the baby. :)