Thank you 2011.

You made my dreams come true in the form of a sweet little girl.

Scarlet Grace was my best finished project of 2011.

And here are a few more:

I might feel bad about the fact that my WIP/UFO list is far longer than my finished projects list for the year, but that little girl above explains it all.  I am not great with sewing during the first trimester, third trimester, and/or before baby is sleeping through the night.

For 2012 --

My goals:
- to publish a pattern (or 2 or 3)
- to tidy up my out of control stash/WIPs by actually completing a good chunk of projects (in other words, I wanna be like Kelly) ;)
- to make a couple King-sized quilts
- to learn to knit (thanks Amanda!)
- to learn to can (again -- thanks to Amanda)
- to start some regular school time with my big boy
- to simplify my house
- to remember that we have one income, and stay within our means
- to continue to delight in my big man, little man, and little girl

Thanks for sticking with me through a slow blogging year!  I have no doubt my productivity will pick up with the number of consecutive hours Scarlet sleeps.

I think I can...I think I can...

10 days left...
The quilt top for Steiger's new big boy bed is complete and ready to be basted, quilted, and bound.

He picked out most of the fabrics, and I'm happy to say this quilt was an all stash quilt. :)

I pulled out my Christmas Bee quilt from last year... debating whether I want to try to finish it, but I think I will... (try that is)

I've decided that because she is too young to know any different, and this is the only Christmas where she will actually be inexpensive, Scarlet's quilt will probably wait... as it still needs borders and the rest.

Scarlet has become my little sewing buddy, as she has learned how to sleep in her swing. ♥ (Steiger never would)

I miss her when she sleeps (and have been known to wake her up at times), so this is nice, because I can still see her. 

Off to play with Steiger while Scarlet is still napping!

Merry early Christmas!

pink and red

A happy (belated) Thanksgiving from our family!

I haven't been sleeping much, but we are doing really well. :)  Thank you to those who have been checking on us!

Baby girl turns seven weeks tomorrow (wow).  She and I have big plans to hit JoAnn's and get a good deal on batting (hopefully there's some left!)

Lately she's working on her smiling (and Mommy's working on capturing it).





(and you can see how her eating every 2 1/2 hours around the clock is giving her a nice little double chin).

She's oh so snuggly...



and does the cutest little stretches.



(I swear, if anything gets me to have a third baby, it will be these adorable newborn stretches)

I've done a little bit of sewing (it's taken me about a week/block). ;)

This will be for Scarlet's bedding set.  (It's Moda's Sophie collection, paired with chenille)



My goal is for Steiger and Scarlet both to get new bed sets for Christmas... hopefully I make it!



And here's our recipe for pink salad (aka "Overnight Cranberry Salad")

1 lb. fresh cranberries
2-3 apples
1/2 lb. miniature marshmallows
1 c. sugar
2 c. freshly whipped cream

Core apples (can peel, but we don't).  Chop apples and cranberries well (I pulse them in a food processor).  Add marshmallows and sugar (I use less sugar than it calls for).  Mix together and let it sit overnight.  Next day, fold in the whipped cream... Delicious (and so easy!)

Welcome miss Scarlet Grace

Scarlet Grace
Born 10.7.11 at 5:27 am
7 lbs, 11 oz.  21 inches

Friday morning, I got to send the mass text message I've been praying to send -- "It's a Girl!  It's a VBAC!"

Miss Scarlet Grace was born Friday, October 7 at 5:27 am after a very fast, furious, and completely natural labor and delivery (was in transition before we got in the car, in transition for our 45 minute car ride and showed up at the hospital completely dilated...yay!)

My (incredibly skeptical) OB came in to the delivery room while I was crowning (I also had a midwife, who met us in the hospital parking lot, and played doula, and kept everyone away to let me labor down a little more until I really was feeling a spontaneous urge to push).

As I was pushing, I told everyone not to tell me what the baby was, because I wanted to find out for myself.

Seeing, and holding my little girl was truly the stuff of dreams come true... my own little miracle.  And thus her middle name.




I'll be writing up her whole birth story later, but in the mean time, this is our first family picture -- just a few hours after birth Friday (taken on my mom's iphone because our camera was MIA after the faster than expected onset of labor).  I was on a high all that day (and got no sleep).

Some of you have followed my story, and know I had invested heart, soul, and body in to doing what I could to let this birth go differently than things had gone with my son, and it all still feels overwhelmingly blessed.

Steiger loves her.

Big brother meeting her the first time

He calls her "his baby." (And he's the one who "knew" we were having a girl)

Daddy loves her...

But she's definitely Mommy's girl.

Thank you for all your love and support during this pregnancy!  I'll get pictures of her with her quilt soon (it rained yesterday)...

In the mean time, we're doing really well.... just the normal new mommy stuff (you know, sore bottom, sore boobies, and no sleep) to navigate.  I'll take it!  And I've decided pink looks good on me. :)

If you want to read our story from my midwife's perspective -- you can see it here.

an impulse project for baby

I'm the appointment queen these days...

And because two of my appointments are a block or two away from my local quilt shop, I stopped in and bought a little kit for this blanket.

I had a crush on this Joel Dewberry Heirloom voile, and when I saw it combined with an oh so soft, low-pile creamy colored linen, I bought it.

Basted the next day, quilted it with an all-over meander last night, and got the binding on this morning.

If you'll notice the rice behind my husband is turning golden... almost harvest time, maybe this week...

If you ask my son when this baby's coming, he'll tell you at "harvester time."

On Tuesday, UPS is set to deliver the backing fabric for this quilt... hopefully I'll manage to finish it!

a foodie post... (with raspberry cream cheese coffee cake recipe)

Not a lot of sewing going on here...

but I did have a few food related somethings to share. :)

We have a lot of tomato plants, with a lot of tomatoes.  And my husband loves tomato sauce... (gotta have that lycopene, right?), so I wanted to make some.  Trouble is, peeling and seeding is a pain for me; I just hate doing it and it's messy.

With inspiration from my friend Amanda, I washed,



Chopped (skin, seeds and all), added some basil, salt, pepper and onion and simmered.



Threw it in the blender (we have a fancy-pants VitaMix blender my mom gave me; Amanda uses a hand-held immersion blender to make hers), and then in to zip-loc bags and in to the freezer.  They smelled delicious, and were so easy.

_______________________

Sunday morning, I made my husband's favorite breakfast -- a raspberry cream cheese coffee cake (we eat this every Christmas morning).

Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

3 oz. cream cheese

4 T. butter

2 c. biscuit mix

1/3 c. milk

1/2 c. raspberry preserves (we use seedless - and you can use a bit less too)

1 c. powdered sugar

1 to 2 T. milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Mix the cream cheese, butter, and biscuit mix until crumbly.  Blend in 1/3 c. milk.  Knead on floured surface 8 to 10 strokes.  Roll to approx. 8" x 12" rectangle and turn onto a greased baking sheet.  Spread with raspberry preserves down the center of dough.  Make 2 1/2" cuts at 1" intervals on long sides; fold strips over filling, sealing well.  

Bake at 425 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes.  Make glaze with powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla, and drizzle over warm coffee cake. 

Serve and enjoy.

____________________________________

And lastly, since I haven't had a pumpkin spice latte yet, I decided to make some pumpkin spice caramel corn (again, inspired by Amanda). :)

Recipe here. 

Enjoy!  36 1/2 weeks now... (Steiger came at 38, 1 day... we'll see what this baby has in mind, but I'm getting large!)

And baby... if you're a boy...

...then this will be your quilt.

I made it with sweet little puppy dogs, and colors that I thought were as handsome as you will be.  And I threw in lots of contrast... so you'll move your little eyes over all the different pieces.

The fabric is as soft as you'll be.

Even on the back.

Your big brother is getting excited to meet you.  Last night he was carrying his teddy bears around, telling me that he was holding his baby brother or sister, and laying them down gently, and setting them next to him to watch Finding Nemo.  (Though he is rather convinced you're a girl.)

Truth is baby, we're all exited to meet you.  

We're doing all we can to give you a happy entry in to the world.

Even if I can't believe how soon it is going to be.

------------------------

Specs for my bloggy friends - 

The colors were inspired by Aneela's puppy dog Pips.

Pattern is a modified Bento -- measurements courtesy of Kelly... (she lists them here)

The border is a gorgeous Slatey blue Cross Weave from Moda.  

Quilted in an all over stipple/meander, and bound with some French General wovens.

♥

on Quilt Story today...

Heather and Megan have featured my "if you're a girl" quilt on Quilt Story today. :)  (If you're new here... hello). :)

It inspired me to sit down and start quilting the "If you're a boy" quilt.

I have to say something I love about these two quilts -- they are both so "me."  Oftentimes I make things based on what I think other people would like (I make a lot of gifts), but these two quilts... I picked what I loved (in gender specific colors of course), and went with it.  Actually -- I did that with my "hospital quilt" too... 

We hit 34 weeks yesterday, and I am feeling it.  I need to take a 34 week picture, like I did with Steiger... 

Yesterday my house smelled like Thanksgiving.  I baked a turkey and made a big batch of gravy (mmmm....), and had a chicken (for chicken 'n dumplings) in the crock pot.  Today I need to finish the chicken 'n dumplings, make turkey soup, and make lasagna.  The freezer meal prep begins... (and the husband has been given strict instructions not to touch them until AFTER this baby is born).  I think I need to plan a trip to my grandma's swimming pool in there too... and a nap too, of course. ;)

♥

(I have to admit though -- even though I'm still pretty nervous about labor and how everything's going to go, I'm getting pretty excited to hold this sweet babe... and see who it is hanging out in there with me)

big and boring.

This post serves a purpose no greater than a way to connect with my bloggy friends.  I have very little sewing related to share, but figured I might say hello anyway. :)

I knew there was a good reason part of me feared the end of pregnancy.

I'm huge.

Here, I'll show you a picture from camping a week or so ago.

You'll never guess what happened to us while we were camping.  

I've whined about this before, but we got attacked by squirrels while we were camping.  

THIS IS THE SEVENTH TIME!!!

The car is still being worked on, going through insurance takes longer, but at least it's covered.

It cut our little camping adventure short by a day, which was a big bummer, but thankfully, Jay's parents were there to rescue us, and drive us back down the mountain (they had come up to visit for the day).

*sigh*

(I told you I was huge - and no, Steiger wasn't in to the family picture)

In happy news --

- I got the "If it's a boy" quilt basted, and hope to quilt tonight.

- I have two fabric packages coming in the mail this week -- Secret Garden from Sew Love Fabrics (I pre-ordered it), and some Sophie from Burgundy Buttons.  I have been in love with this particular print for quite some time... (and have an entire girly room built around it in my mind).

- I've been swimming almost every day... it feels so good on this belly, and I'm hoping it will keep me in some form of shape for labor. :)

- I've also been napping.  Napping is so sweet. :)

- My friend Amanda is coming to sew with me...yes, the Farmer's wife chica.

Anyway, not much substance here, but I miss everyone. :)

♥, Tracey

Miss Molly's Petals quilt

Other than cooking a baby -- this was a big project for me this summer.

My niece Molly was moving in to her big girl bed, and my brother and sister-in-law hired me to make her quilt.

It is a double size, but has a long drop, so the quilt ended up measuring queen size in the end, and was definitely the biggest quilt I've ever done myself.

So big, in fact, it was hard to get a good picture.

The fabrics are all from Riley Blake (Sweet Divinity and Quite Contrary), so I decided to enter it in to the Riley Blake contest... (I wasn't chosen as a finalist, but my friend Amanda was... so vote for her!)

The pattern is Camille's Marmalade.

I resized things a bit so that it would fit her bed perfectly.  

And it does. 

Because my sister-in-law wanted a scrappy look (rather than using a consistent solid like in the original pattern), each piece had to be carefully planned in conjunction with all the others.

I quilted it at my friend Amanda's house (she has a sit-down long arm) with an all over loopy design.

I am so happy to say that they love it.  ♥