Sew Crazy

Early on in my pregnancy I had this crazy idea that I was going to sew all my nursery bedding myself. While I know I could have done it, my mom politely reminded me that I don't like to sew all that much.  My instinct was to protest but I knew she was right.  So instead of sewing a whole set, I decided that I wanted to make some sort of keepsake for my first baby and started researching baby quilts.

I've never quilted before so at first I looked at a lot of basic patterns with easy patchwork styles.  While these would be easy, I found them to be really boring.  Then one day when browsing quilts on pinterest I came across Frozen Knickers on Etsy and fell in love with her patterns.  I picked out the dots n' boxes pattern as it goes perfectly with the painted rug I just finished.

I knew right away that I would mimic the grey background and white box border to let the boxes be the star. At first I looked to buy a bunch of fat quarters from Joann's. I quickly learned that most of the patterns were just too small for this kind of quilt. I then started flipping through page after page of fabrics on Spoonflower and Fabric.com.  I was worried about the colors on the screen not matching but decided to take a chance and order 1/4 yards from Fabric.com (Spoonflower was a little pricey for this project).  Here are some of the fabrics I bought:

This particular pattern involved a lot of ironing, cutting, and then sewing in phases.  *Note - I took lots of pictures of this at first but then realized that I was giving the pattern away and didn't want to rip off our Etsy friend at Frozen Knickers.  What I'll tell you is the pattern was clear and the steps were easy, but tedious.  Overall it took me about a month mostly working in the evenings and a weekend or two. The finished front looked great but my lines weren't so straight if you looked up close.  Regardless, I thought it was good enough that I wanted to find someone to quilt all the pieces for me (my Janome isn't that fancy).  A quilting friend at work recommended a nearby quilter who not only put all the pieces together but did the binding too!  Totally worth it in my opinion.  Stay tuned for the finished product!

Neutral Nursery

I recently joined One Kings Lane, a discount designer site for the home.  And I have to say, where has this been all my life?? 

While many of the items on the site are above my price range (even with the discounts offered), I was pleased to see that there were many home accessories that are absolutely affordable.  The gorgeous yellow pom pom throw in the inspiration board below is currently on sale this week for only $39.99!  

A couple posts ago I mentioned the idea of converting our office into a nursery.  With perfect grey walls, canary yellow and white accents would look fantastic.  I know that yellow and grey is by no means a new combination for home decor, wedding colors, etc. but I haven't seen much of it for a nursery.  I can just imagine a long list of DIY projects starting up: fun yellow print curtains and a quilt, martha stewart's tissue paper pom poms hanging in a corner, a knit pouf for a foot stool.  Could all this be done in 9 months?  

    

Eventual Office Overhaul

The office at Hunter Drive has unfortunately served as the junk room/laundry room/yard sale staging room since the day we moved in.  With the absence of a garage I consider this type of disorganized space to be a necessary evil, but also a shame as the wall color in this room is my absolute favorite shade of grey (it's Valspar's Polished Silver).

While we've had a lot of ideas for the office, we've decided to hold off on any major changes in anticipation that this will one day be a nursery. And no, we are NOT pregnant.

I know grey walls for a baby might seem a little drab but the possibilities are endless for a modern, gender neutral space with lots of fun and colorful accessories.  Here are some inspiring spaces I've found online:

found via back {to}domestics

A nursery in progress by a friend from high school via the facts of Lauren

Project Nursery by wyattsmom

Project Nursery by mscott218

Oooh this is going to be so much fun!  From watching my friends and sister-in-laws prepare for new babies I know this will someday be a huge life change.  For now, I'll just dream about the decorating...