Welcome to the World, Baby Girl!

She's here!

Lila Ruth was born at home on June 5 morning at 4:38 a.m. after a very fast 3.5 hour labour. Lila was 6 lbs, 13 oz, exactly the same weight as Levi was at birth! 

Lila is sweet as sweet can be. 

Birth story to follow...

Checking In

I'm still pregnant.

My midwife acknowledged yesterday that when your first child comes early, it's that much more difficult when the next child arrives on a more "normal" timeline. So true! I'll be 39 weeks tomorrow, so it's not like baby-girl-to-be is late. It's just that I had it in my mind that she'd arrive earlier than Levi did and she hasn't. I'm also incredibly uncomfortable and unable to be on my feet for very long, which means I can't simply go out and walk the neighbourhood or run errands or go shopping or well, do anything. Even sitting at the sewing machine is a challenge, because baby is extremely low and pressing on my tailbone.

Wah, wah, wah! Sorry for the whining. I'm clearly cranky.

Here's another thing that's frustrating me to no end. I've been bit by the garment sewing bug and there are a ton of tops and dresses I'd like to try making. Except a) being pregnant, I can't take accurate measurements of myself and b) I'm going to be breastfeeding for the next year and the tops aren't really BF accessible (Staple dress/top, Wiksten tank, Eucaplyt tank). All of the BF shirt/dress patterns I've come across are made with knits and we've already established that I do NOT like working with knits.  I'm thinking of making the Staple dress as a top and just pulling it up for breastfeeding, but I'm not sure which size to make. Making a muslin makes sense, but as long as the baby is in my belly, it won't really help. Except, the top does have shiring which should be forgiving, so I might just throw caution to the wind and make one up. Yeah, let's go do that, shall we?

WIP Wednesday: Catching Up Yet Again

It has been a long time since I've written a WIP Wednesday post. In fact, it's been over two months! There have been several finishes since then, like the iPad Mini cover for my Mom (check out my review of the pattern from Patchwork Please! here), a few double sided receiving blankets for baby-girl-to-be, a ton of Farmer's Wife Sampler quilt blocks and two dresses for baby! I love these so instead of links, you get photos:

I have a ton of projects on the go right now. In my last post, I outlined some of the things I'm working on, or thinking of working on. I've decided not to join Tula Pink's City Sampler quilt-a-long. With baby set to arrive momentarily (I'm 38 weeks today!) I don't think I can keep up with three blocks a week. I'll make the blocks eventually, but now it not the right time to get going on this project.

The WIP I'm most motivated to work on now is somewhat related though. It's a baby quilt based on Elizabeth Dackson's Modern Circuitry pattern using Tula Pink's Salt Water line (and a few other prints mixed in for good measure). Here's the test block I made (the photo is not very good, but you get the idea).

I'm also motivated to catch up on my Lucky Stars BOM blocks. I have April and May to piece and may even get started on them tonight.

Oh! And I finished the jersey knit dress I've been struggling with last night. I really want to write a dedicated blog post about the process, because it was my first time working with knit fabric and also the first time I've made a dress. But, since I have no idea when I'll get around to writing said post, here's a not very good photo of me (remember, 38 weeks pregnant and exhausted!) in the dress for your viewing pleasure.

On Deck
Staple Dress for me
Lucky Stars BOM -April/May blocks

In Progress

Tula Baby quilt
Farmer's Wife QAL blocks
3x6 plum chartreuse quilt - ready to be sashed

Hibernating projects

Curious Nature quilt - no progress

Sew Intertwined quilt -no progress

Flora Charm Quilt - no progress

Levi's Growth Chart - no progress

We Bee Learning Bee/Levi's Bed Quilt - No progress

Unfocused

I have lost all ability to focus on any one thing for any length of time and it's driving me crazy! It's taken me four days to write a series of cheques for my employer health benefits (for while I'm on leave) and I still need to address the envelope and mail them off. I bought ingredients for a lochen kugel last week that I only got around to making this afternoon. I should totally make applying for my EI benefits (Canadian maternity leave) a priority and yet have I even started re-familiarizing myself with the process? No, I have not. This must be an end of pregnancy thing right? Because I'm generally a get 'er done person, at least in my non-sewing endeavors.

Sewing-wise, I do tend to have start-er-itis, which results in lots of works in progress. I'm even more guilty of this lately, which is ridiculous because, you know, I'm about to have a newborn to look after! I think I mentioned that I've been working on a jersey knit dress? Oh my, I haven't blogged about this yet! Okay, well, I decided to make a dress and I've never sewn with knits before and I can't say it's been enjoyable. As a result, it's been a drawn out process and I'm not even sure it's going to fit properly. Ugh.  I'll write a dedicated blog post about this dress, but here's a sneak peak (and yes, that's ice cream, helping me out in my time of need):

Rather than focusing on finishing this dress, y'all know about the many double-sided receiving blankets I've stitched up the past couple days. And the Farmer's Wife Sampler blocks that I've been chipping away at...  You'd think these various projects would be enough to capture my attention, but you would be wrong. I'm also marinating on the following:

1. The Staple Dress - I've bought the pattern and I have the fabric (purchased ages ago thinking I'd make a Wiksten tank dress). I wanted to make this right away but realized it would be better to wait until I could measure my waistline accurately, which is to say, after baby is born.
2. April & May Lucky Stars BOM - I've fallen behind on these blocks. For some reason, the Liberty prints I chose for this quilt aren't speaking to me so I keep putting the blocks off. I've chosen fabric for the May block though and keep thinking about stitching it up, but then I get distracted by something else.
3. Tula Quilt - I had planned to make a quilt for the baby, remember? Cutting all the fabric was my April goal for the A Lovely Year of Finishes. Didn't happen. Yesterday I got it in my head that I could make the quilt top before the baby arrives. I started cutting last night. But I'm not feeling it tonight, so yeah. Probably not going to get done.
4. Tula's City Sampler QAL - Because I totally need yet another quilt-a-long that I won't keep up with right? And yet. I LOVE Tula Pink and I love her new book and Sara of Sew Sweetness is hosting the QAL and it's only three 6 inch blocks a week and I've been part of a 10 inch charm swap of Tula prints so I have a ton on hand which would be so fun to use for this quilt and, and, and... Well, resistance is futile.
   

There's also the fabric I bought to make another Swingset tunic for the baby with, my 3x6 blocks to sash and make into a quilt top, and several hibernating WIPs that I can't even begin to list.

Does anyone else out there struggle to maintain focus? When is too much, too much? And most importantly, what should I tackle tonight?

Nesting

For many pregnant women, nesting involves cleaning and organizing their homes. Not me. I outsource that stuff. No, my version of nesting appears to involve making extra large, double sided receiving blankets out of all the flannel in my stash.

 Two down, another two planned for tomorrow!

Levi's version of helping me get ready for baby involves waking up at 5 a.m. and immediately going for his beloved drum(s). I managed to distract him with an episode of Bubble Guppies, which is slightly easier to take than a drum solo before sunrise!

Pregnancy Sewing Set-Up

I become green with envy when I see pictures of other sewing bloggers' sewing studios. I dream having a dedicated sewing space. I'm not greedy: even a corner of a room when I could leave my sewing machine all set up and my project du jour laid out would be grand. Alas, this dream will not come to fruition in my near future. We are a soon-to-be family of four living in under 1000 square feet (quite comfortably!) and my dining room table does double duty as my sewing space (remind me to show you my fabric and sewing storage unit one day soon - it's awesome!).

I've been trying to stay off my feet the past few days, in an effort to keep baby-girl-to-be from coming too early. I don't know why it never occurred to me before that my ironing board could be lowered down enough to allow me to press seams while seated, but it took being 37 weeks pregnant for me to come to this realization. Behold, my fancy new sewing set up:

I think I'll be keeping my ironing board at this height from now on. It's just so convenient! Oh course, if I need to do any cutting or trimming, this arrangement won't work. My cutting mat would need to be on the other side of the table and I'd be forced to, you know, stand up (the horror!). But this works just perfectly for sewing up my Farmer's Wife blocks. Here's what I accomplished yesterday:

 #31 - Evening Star. I love this Joel Dewberry print from Notting Hill.

#17 - Cats & Mice. This block was really tricky because of all the tiny little pieces. I tried so hard to maintain accurate seam allowances and starched my pieces to avoid stretching but, even so, the block came out wonky and I lost corners. This is a block that I should have paper pieced. I may redo it, although my Instagram friends pointed out that in the grand scheme of the quilt, the cut off corners won't be noticeable.

Oh! Yes, I drank the washi tape kool-aid!  Isn't it grand?! There was a fabulous selection at The Paper Place on Queen Street West here in Toronto and I had a really tough time narrowing my choices. I ended up buying way more than necessary. Oops!

Blogger's Quilt Festival: Baby Quilt Category

It's that time of year! Amy over at Amy's Creative Side is hosting the Blogger's Quilt Festival. It's an opportunity for all us quilt bloggers to share up to two quilts we've made with the online community. A chance to oooohhh, ahhhhh and kvell over each other's fabulousness, if you will.

If this is your first time visiting Modern Balabusta, welcome! My name is Lisa and I live in downtown Toronto with my husband and 2 year old son and are expecting baby-girl-to-be in the next couple weeks. This blog chronicles my sewing and quilting adventures. I'm so grateful for the many  friends and connections I've made in the online quilting community through this blog, Flickr, Instagram and Twitter.

This is my third time participating in this festival and I'm entering my Bungle Jungle Stars quilt in the Baby Quilt Category. It isn't a fancy quilt. In fact, it took less than a week to put together, which is crazy fast for me. This quilt held a couple firsts for me. It was the first quilt I spray basted and the first time I quilted with fleece. You can read more about the making of this quilt here.

Despite the quilt's simplicity, I was totally thrilled with the finished result. It just reads BABY to me and it makes me happy to think of my cousin and her son snuggled under it.

Quilt Stats:
42 x 42 inches (approximately)
2 Moda Bungle Jungle Charm Packs
1/2 metre of Kona Papaya for the Wonky Stars
Orange fleece backing
Binding is Raspberry Stripe from Marmalade by Bonnie & Camille for Moda