Hi Friends! :)

A little update, in bullet form, for my friends.

• I finished a quilt for my cousin's soon to be born baby boy -- Jax

• She loved it, and it goes perfectly with their Red Sox theme.

• I made a little bunting to go with it with the other leftover triangles.
• My good friend Kelly correctly surmised that I quilted it with vertical lines to give it the pin stripe look of a baseball uniform (and to keep things from getting too complicated). ;)
• It is my husband's Spray Season (I capitalized it for good reason - the thing deserves its own capital letters).  He leaves by 5 am, and gets home between 9:30 and 10:30 p.m.  He is working ridiculously hard.
• I tend to lose it a little bit during this time of year, along with swearing off all aspects of country living, so I've been taking naps during the babe's nap-time... thus the quiet blog for the last couple weeks.
• He'll be done some time in the middle of July; days off only happen if it's windy.
• I had the most wonderful appointment with my midwife last week.  She specializes in home-births, but because we live so far from the hospital, she will be working as my doula and giving me concurrent care on my VBAC journey.  She (TMI) told me I have a great, roomy pelvis, and I've been glowing ever since.
• Grandma watched Steiger for that appointment, as well as for my appointment for the two hour glucose test.  Not a fun test, and not the best way to test pregnant women for gestational diabetes in my opinion, but since I am declining major surgery, I am picking my battles, and I did the test.  I passed (*phew*  One less thing to worry about!)
• My older brother and sister-in-law and nieces are coming in July.  I will get to meet my new niece Libby, and give her her quilt.
• My SIL has asked me to make my niece Molly her big girl bed quilt.  I'm working on it, and need to finish it up in the next couple weeks!

• The fabric is Riley Blake (Sweet Divinity and Quite Contrary), pattern is Thimble Blossoms Marmalade, and it's taking me quite a while because each petal and piece has to be planned in conjunction with all the pieces around it.  
• But it's cute. :)

• I got my Goodie Bag Swap bag from Linda!

• She spoiled me... (bag is Anna Maria's Sidewalk Satchel, and the goodies are just fun!)

• Here's a link to the bag I sent.
• I drank the Kool-Aid and ordered my book.  
• I got to have a girlie day with Amanda a couple weeks ago, and hope to have a sew date soon. :)  She's even cuter and more genuine in person than on her blog... we went to two quilt shops, a shoe store, wandered the farmer's market, a cosmetics salon, and a yummy salad place for lunch... oh! and frozen yogurt.  It was a good day. :)
• I've got an apricot pie in the oven that I am going to photograph before I post this. I hope it looks (and tastes) as good as E's pies. 

• Re: the bun in the oven -- I'm at 24 1/2 weeks.

• The belly's feeling big, and making me a little nervous for where it'll be in another three months... but the baby's super wiggly, which always makes me happy. 

With ♥ from farm country!

-Tracey

P.S. The winner from my giveaway forever ago, is The One & Only... I will email you. :)

All the pretty triangles...

Steiger wants to live outside.

Other than gardening, that means Mommy doesn't get much done...

So today, we compromised. And I accomplished this:

Yes, that is right... While Steiger rode his four-wheeler, 

Mommy got her extension cord, portable table, pretty triangles (from this fabric) and set up shop.

The deal was that when we had sunshine on the table, we moved to the back (where he played with the hose, and the sewing machine did not follow...neither did the camera).

These are in no particular layout whatsoever yet, just sewn together however... but I am going to love this Bringing Baby Home quilt.

In my opinion, gender neutral is difficult to achieve, but by-golly, I think I've done it.

♥

WIP Wednesday - 6.8.11

Thank you for all the name suggestions!  There are some to run by the hubs later! :)  (Though I just wish he would agree to Dane Allen already... but maybe it will be a girl!). :)

I had some finishes this week (in part thanks to y'all's encouragement)

If you haven't seen it -- Scroll down or click here to see my niece Libby's diamond quilt.  It was my own design, and though it gave me some trouble, I am quite proud of it. :)

I also finished the bag for my Goodie Bag Swap, and got it in the mail!



The pattern is Amy Butler's Cosmo bag from Style Stitches, and holy interfacing batman!!  I think each piece is interfaced, but it did turn out nicely.

The outside is a Michael Miller damask and dot, and I lined it with some Riley Blake Sugar and Spice.



I hope my partner is as much of an aqua and red fan as I think she is. :)
And I hope she likes big bags too... this one's almost as big as a two year old.

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Laugh at with me if you'd like, but I started a new project. 

Inspired by the Honey Palette in Tula's new Prince Charming...

This little montage, Adrianne's baby mish-mash quilt, and this gorgeous quilt

I pulled some fabric for my "take to the hospital" quilt... plan is to make it perfect whether we have a boy or a girl...

If Steiger goes to bed at a decent time, I'll have a shot of progress for this one soon!

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I need to finish a quilt for my older niece and cousin's baby by the end of this month... so I hope to have plenty to show you soon! :)

Oh!  I almost forgot -- I'll get the giveaway winner posted ASAP (probably tonight), and I got a hair-cut today.  

22 weeks here...

Linking up with Lee!

It's a...

Baby!

There were times I doubted our resolve, but we made it through our ultrasound on Friday without peeking between the legs.

And I'm thrilled with a healthy baby... really and truly.

Jay is sure there's a boy in there, and that is what I think too, but I was completely wrong with Steiger, so I don't trust myself.  This baby is measuring right on schedule (Steiger was about a week ahead), so that makes me think maybe there's a chance it's a girl.  During our sonogram, he or she kept playing peek-a-boo with us, and had two hands covering the face most of the time.  The tech had to work hard for those shots. :)

You know, it's funny... when I was pregnant with Steiger, I really wanted to find out.  My priorities though have shifted now.  After the ordeal that was my son's entry in to the world, the infertility struggles of those close to me, the softness and humility that comes from actually being a mom, I really don't care what gender this babe is.  (Besides, I'm having too much fun planning my "If it's a boy" and "If it's a girl" quilts!)

My prayers now are that the baby is healthy and strong, and that he or she meets us without surgery or complication.  If we do need medical intervention, I just want it to be because it is truly necessary, and not because of convenience, an arbitrary ban/policy, or poor medical care.  I'm doing what I can on my end to take care of those things; I suppose I have to trust God with the rest... If you're the praying kind, I covet all your prayers to that end. ♥

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I just noticed the follower number is precariously close to reaching a new milestone, and I feel like celebrating the end of school, and a healthy so far pregnancy...

Let's see... I'll give away a half yard each of the dots in the DS Quilts collection.  They're really cute, and appropriate beings that one is more "boy" and one is more "girly."  

To enter: 

- Leave a comment with a boy name suggestion (we're good for girl names, but really stuck with boy names; how do you follow a name like Steiger?)

- Followers get an extra entry.  I think I'll close this on Wednesday.

Now I need to get back to work on finishing up my Goodie Bag Swap ... it's going well so far, but needs to be mailed soon!

(Amy Butler's Cosmo bag from Style Stitches)

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* I had a request that I let you know which ones I like... well let's just say that if you and I were naming this baby we'd be great!  Jay and I only agreed on Steiger when he was born.  We didn't even agree on the middle name, but Jay gave me my way and allowed his first name as Steiger's middle name.  If I was naming the next one, he'd be "Dane Allen" ... but Jay doesn't like the name Dane.  I really want to have a name before labor, because whatever happens, it's bound to be intense and really emotional... I can see that cute husband of mine giving me the name I like because he is either so dang proud of me, or wants to give me some relief (or a mixture of both).  I plan to go over these suggestions with him after Steiger goes to bed, so keep 'em coming! :)

* The problem of finding a boys' name is compounded by our last name of "Jacobsen."  It eliminates all the "son" names, and some of the "en" names.

* I've also been a teacher for 6-ish years; I've met a lot of students, and some names are inextricably tied to those pupils of mine... for better or worse. ;)

Little sunkissed diamonds for miss Libby

I would like to thank you for the motivation.  I finished my niece Libby's quilt yesterday!



Fabric: Sunkissed by Moda

Design: me -- inspired by book Jelly Roll Quilts

A few more notes -- strip pieced diamonds made from jelly roll, added mitered frames to the blocks and then sashed in Bella white.  The setting triangles were a pain challenge, but it did all come together finally.

Honestly, I am so much happier with this quilt now than I was.  It didn't feel *perfect* because of the hodge-podgy nature that the setting triangles/sashing were done... but it all worked!  I added the charm squares as a border on the sides, because the quilt was quite tall and skinny without them.

The back:

Whatever I had left from my Sunkissed stash (I used pretty much all of it for this quilt).  The label says: "We love you Libby!  Made with love by Aunt Tracey"  And I think I included a date on there.

Measures: pretty big... far bigger than a quilt for an almost four month old need be...so she'll grow in to it.

But I hope this is her reaction when she sees it. :)

Love you Libby!  Can't wait to meet you this summer!

(P.S. Steiger likes it if you don't -- and we really do need to see you soon, because all this kid tells me all day is that "no baby play with Steiger's trains"... "no baby take my milk"... "no baby take Steiger's quilt."  Could you please show him that these baby creatures aren't so bad after all?) ;)

P.P.S.  I'm working on a boy version of this block that will be in the Bake Shop one of these days!

WIP Wednesday - with a finish, something girly, and a request

First - the finish.  Today was the last day of school!  Hooray!  Back to being *just* a mom. ;)


And the something girly: 


I wrote about it here -- 





But I got my little "If it's a Girl" quilt top done.  


The pattern is Swoon by Thimble Blossoms (aka Camille Roskelley), and I used some Modern Meadow, City Weekend, Farmdale, Hideaway, Katie Jump Rope, DS Quilts, Meadowsweet, and Sunkissed for the fabrics.

It's really so sweet and pretty.  The only bummer thing about it is that I didn't have enough of the Bella white, and added in some Kona, and it's a *slightly* different color.  Oh well, I really wanted to finish it, and didn't want to wait for the mail to deliver more of the Bella white (for inquiring minds - I prefer using the Moda Bella solids to the Kona solids; I find the drape is nicer, and the weave seems a little tighter to me -- the Kona has such great colors though, that I still often use them). 


Smart me, I made some extra HSTs while I was piecing the blocks from the trimmings, and I'm using them for a little pieced section of the backing.  Our big sonogram is Friday, and though I'm 99% sure we're not finding out the gender, my husband was wavering a bit, and thinks we're having a boy (which so do I), so I wanted to make sure I got the girly quilt done (or at least made some good progress).  

anyway - love this quilt (in progress)... and even had to add a sweet little detail to the sashing...

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I've also started on my "If it's a boy" quilt (part 1)


Inspired by Amy, I bought some of Ann Kelle's Ready, Set, Go! and came up with a little design.  The glitch though is that Steiger is in love with this fabric. 

 So I'm going to be making two of the same quilt.  I think the little man will be in a toddler bed for a while before moving to a twin, so I'll have a couple matching quilts, if this second child is in fact a boy (as Daddy suspects).


I just drew up some simple block diagrams, so there is a variety of block designs.  Here's my start.

And now - the request:


I've started quilting my niece's diamond quilt... and I just need a little motivation.  Would you 
mind sharing any?  It'd be really nice to finish it up. :)

My other WIP is just over half-way done!  21 weeks tomorrow...


(Please, forgive the end of the day hair... it was 5:00 when I took this picture after all, and I'm standing on a toilet).

Lots of other projects going on... here's to getting them done soon!

Linking up to WIP Wednesday... which is over at "Don't Call me Betsy's" this week. :)  
And lovely Lynne's "Fresh Sewing Day."