A Simple Quilt Patch Tutorial

I realized today that I have an irrational fear of slipping on wet sidewalks.

I went out to get the mail and I tiptoed the entire way there and back... I even tested the traction on my shoes. Twice.

By the way, the traction was just fine.  I wouldn't have hydroplaned in them even if I tried to on purpose.

Being that it was too rainy to take the dogs for a walk and I didn't have a hubby to entain me during naptimes [National Guard weekend], I took to fixing a quilt of mine that has been out of commission for over four years.

That's right. It's been needing work practically since I got married.

I made this quilt in high school.  I can proudly say that it is my very first quilt ever done [except the actual quilting part.  Ironic?]. It was my bedspread during my two years in college dorms.  Sadly, a couple months after I got married the quilt was viciously torn apart by a wild monster -

affectionately named J.J.

He was my pet while Josh was doing six months of Army training right after we got married. Not my favorite pet, being that he bit my ears, was super boring, smelled, and nibbled himself a hole through my precious quilt.

I spent a lot of time searching for the proper way to fix holes in quilts, but all the tutorials I found either were way to complicated or didn't make any sense.

So the poor thing sat in boxes and moved four times while waiting to be put back together.

At one point I actually mapped out a plan for fixing it that involved re-sewing another block over the original and then trying to free-motion quilt the original pattern over the newly sewn patch.  Reality is, I'm not that good - or that brave.

So I instead came up with this Simple Quilt Patch that, now that I'm finished, I'm actually pretty happy with.  The quilt looks a little bit more on the homemade side, but what's a good family heirloom without some personality?

A Simple Quilt Patch Tutorial

Time: about an hour for each patch

Supplies:

• Proper sized matching pieces of fabric for front and back [if patching is needed on both sides]
• scissors
• iron and ironing board
• pins
• needle
• thread [I used glaced quilting thread - the kind that is typically used for hand quilting]

Instructions

*the pictures were taken while I patched up the back of the quilt - it is the exact same process for both sides.*

One - Cut your piece of patching fabric large enough to cover your hole, plus at least 1/4 inch extra room on all sides.

Two - Place your fabric wrong side up on the ironing board. Fold each edge 1/4 inch inside and press with your iron, one by one. Then flip the fabric over and press, with edges still folded. This will give your patch clean edges.

Three - Pin your patch over the hole.  Make sure that the quilt fabric along you will be sewing into is still is good condition.  You don't want to have your patch rip off due to unravelling anchor fabric.

Four - Start sewing!  I started at a corner and then just hand stitched my way around.  As you can see from the picture, I did really small stitches [only about 1/8 inch long, at most].  This was to make sure that the patch would be really tightly sewn to the quilt, being that it will be the only barrier between the hole and the mean world.

Five - When you get all the way around, tie off and admire your work!

Six [Optional] - once your get both sides patched up [if needed], you can re-quilt your patched up area to match the rest of the quilt.  I did not feel brave enough to attempt this, because my quilt was originally quilted by a machine using software.  I'm not that good of a free motion quilter; maybe in 20 years if I work at it.

End notes - I was actually shocked how well the blue patch camoflauged its way into the quilt.  I really wasn't expecting that, so bonus!  And even though the underside patch is definitely noticeable, it was a piece of the white fabric that I had used on the front, so it complemented the quilt as a whole.

a quick game of where's waldo the patch?

I honestly don't know if, at this point, the quilt will be able to withstand any serious washing in a washing machine. I am going to have to give it a try soon, though, because I found a few stains that were most likely made by a dog during some midnight sneakings to cuddle on the blanket while it hung out on the floor.

Update 1/31/13: I sent the quilt through the washing machine - it survived!

 What do you think?  Have you come up with any awesome ways to patch up something worn and loved?

Some Not-So-Professional Breastfeeding Advice

**This post is going to contain some personal information about myself and about the lactacting human body.  Nothing gross, but I will be using the appropriate words for related body parts and will be using some description. If you don't really want to know, then this is not the post to read.**

I have a lot of friends right now who are pregnant, or have just had a baby within the last two months. I mean a lot.  I think at last count I was up to 10.  It might be even more at this point.

Anyway, with all the pregnancy announcements and Kiddo recently turning one, memories of the joys and the tears of new parenting have been coming back in full force.  I was wondering what advice [in the midst of all the massive amounts of advice!] I actually wish I had been given specifically concerning breastfeeding.

Why just breastfeeding?  Well, because I had a really awful time with it for the first two months. As in, I wanted to quit every single day for two whole months. I'm not exaggerating.

When I was pregnant, I couldn't imagine why so many new moms quit breastfeeding after only a couple tries.  Honestly, I thought they were just lazy. And then, I had a baby - and I tried to breastfeed.

Before I get into my story, I want to preface by saying that breastfeeding might go really smoothly for you.  I truly hope it does.  Conversly, you might have trouble breastfeeding because of things outside of your control, like poor milk production or something medical. I don't want to scare you into or out of breastfeeding.  I simply want to encourage any new moms out there that are struggling and looking for help. Breastfeeding is a personal decision, and no one should ever feel pressured into or out of it.

I spent every feeding at the hospital in excruciating pain. I would have to pinch myself or kick something just to distract myself from the pain.  It hurt so badly that eventually I couldn't even let my daughter latch. I would get her just close enough and then involuntarily yank her away just before because I was so scared of how badly it was going to hurt. My husband woke up at 4 a.m. our second night to me having a complete meltdown over my inability to breastfeed properly.

Engorgement came, making it even harder and more painful to latch.  I had cracked, and eventually, bleeding nipples, which only added insult to injury.  Then, a clogged duct - the only cure for it was to breastfeed even more often.

This went on for over two weeks.

By the time the pain became more manageable, Kiddo wound up in the hospital with a skin infection.  Over those two days with her in the hospital, I essentially went back to square one with breastfeeding her.

I spent innumerable nights crying because I wanted to quit, but I knew I couldn't. We needed to save our money so Josh could go to school, so breastfeeding was our only option.

 To those ladies whom I judged, and judged harshly for quitting, I apologize.

Eventually, slowly, breastfeeding got better.  By month three, Kiddo got better at it, and so did I. I learned a lot about breastfeeding over the past year, enough to write more advice than any new mom would care to hear, so I'm just going to stick to three things.

My Three Bits of Breastfeeding Advice:

1. Get help while you're still at the hospital post-delivery.  If its available to you, ask to have a lactation consultant visit you at the hospital post-delivery.  If that isn't an option, see if you can get a nurse on the floor who knows her stuff to help you out. Ask, ask, ask. Even if you "aren't doing that badly."  Even if its 3 a.m. Make sure you walk out of that hospital as confident as you possibly can be about breastfeeding. Also, walk out of there with information about who to contact if breastfeeding gets difficult again.

2. Wear a sports bra at night.  I didn't think I needed to wear one because I'm not well-endowed.  Night bras were supposed to be for supporting the extra weight.  I found out the night after my milk came in that this is not the case.  Those bras are to hold nursing pads so that you don't soak yourself literally from head to foot.  Waking up soaking wet and freezing in the middle of the night is the last thing you will want to experience in those first few days with a newborn.

3. Get a buddy. I give this advice to all new moms, but specifically for those who are really struggling with breastfeeding.  I battled over quitting every single day for two months, and even months after I had a lot of days where I just wasn't feeling it.  I am so thankful that my husband stepped in to encourage me to keep going, to remind me the reasons why, and to even tell me a couple times that I wasn't allowed to quit breastfeeding for at least another week.  Without his support, I know I wouldn't have made it.  So, enlist your husband, your mom, your best friend - tell them to help you keep it up.

Along with my tidbits, I want to share with you my three favorite breastfeeding accessories:

1. Medela Tender Care Lanolin.
 This nipple cream was, by far, my favorite.  The consistency is less chunky than most lanolin creams.  Using this cream is like spreading softened butter on toast.  It's just easier - especially when you're sore.

2. Belly band/tummy sleeve/what have you.
 I got these while I was pregnant in order to stay in my normal jeans longer.  Turns out, I used them more for nursing convenience than to keep my pants up.  The belly bands work as a tummy cover for all those times you will be pulling your shirt up to nurse.  It's great for being in public, for keeping yourself warmer while feeding, and for protecting your tummy if you had a c-section. Coolest thing is they even help keep the extra post-baby flubbies tucked in :)

3. Johnson's Nursing Pads.   I tried every variation of nursing pad under the sun.  Reusables would get miserably chilly once they got wet, and most disposable pads would rustle or were huge. These pads come contoured and [bonus!] even have a little indent for your nipples to go.  The outside has a sticky if you want to adhere your pad to your bra. They don't rustle and they can hold a lot of leaking without getting you wet.

[These links go to my Amazon Associates page, where a percent of your purchase of these items through the links will come back to support this blog.  Thanks!]

So was breastfeeding worth it?

Yes, I can safely say, one year later, that breastfeeding was worth it. While I am truly excited to finally have my body back to myself now that I have weaned Kiddo, I realize now that getting to breastfeed her throughout her first year of life is something I truly cherish. It was the first time in my life that I fought to continue doing something I didn't want to do [with a lot of encouragement from the hubby]. To breastfeed was a choice I made to chose my family over my feelings.  Breastfeeding made me grow up, plain and simple.

I even think I will do it again, when kid #2 rolls around some day :)

Cloth Diapers at 11 Months

Welcome back to cloth diapering month by month with your host, me!  Ha ha, okay, seriously. I realize that my child actually 12 months now, so I am a little late on this post.  Hopefully you can look past my oversight :)

 This month was a little interesting in that we, well, didn't use cloth diapers for half of it.  We traveled a lot, and neither Josh nor I were interested in trying to figure out what to do with a car full of stinky diapers. But we're back in them, and I am so thankful to not be counting disposable diapers and trying to figure out how many more hours we have until we really do need to buy some more.

Adelle - 11 Months 

# of Children: 1

Gender: female

Size: 17 lbs, 27 in

Average # of Diapers a day: 9

Laundry Schedule: 2-3 days.

 Routine: 2 pre-folds used during awake times, all-in-ones during naps/bed

Diaper Size: One size diapers - middle settings; Thirsties covers - size 2, smallest settings; Disposables - size  3

Leaking?: This month's particular issue has been leaking overnight.  It is to the point that she has to wear a diaper with 3 layers of inserts.  Because of this, I am in the process of figuring out alternate fabrics for inserts that will hold more than the micro-fiber inserts we are using right now.

How's the Poo?: Kiddo is pooping more, and at more unexpected times.  About half of her poos happen while in prefolds and covers, so we're going through covers faster than we used to.  Josh and I have talked off and on about getting a couple more covers. My guess is we will be having the discussion again soon.

Did you Use Disposables?: Yes - actually, half of this month Adelle spent in disposables.  We traveled through 4 states over 2 weeks time, and even though I am an advocate for using cloth diapers as much as we can, using them while travelling was not something I was interested in doing.  At all.

Any Changes: Two things -

1.  The end of this month was also the end of a pretty serious growth spurt.  We have been changing the setting slowly on a few of our diapers and covers (exciting!).  


2.  I started using cloth wipes again, once we got back.  Its been kind of relieving to not have to pick through dirty diapers to pull out wipes anymore.

Any Issues: Again, just the leaking. I'll let you know next month how we work through the overnight leaking.

Favorite Brand: Bummi's TotsBots are still my fav.  This month, they have been the only diaper to hold all Kiddo's overnight work.  I think it's because [1] the insert is made of hemp [which soaks up more than microfiber], and [2] because the insert is a tongue-style, it naturally becomes two layers of inserts when the tongue is stuffed in. I can add another insert in without the diaper  seams exploding or my child looking like a oompa-loompa.  I think the picture below will actually explain better what I can't explain with words:

Still Like Cloth?: I enjoyed the convience of using disposable for the two weeks while we traveling.  I thought I was going to be overwhelmed going to back to cloth again when we got home, but honestly, it was a relief.  The routine of using them actually helped me get back in the groove of being at home.

Ha ha :)  Hope you have awesome weekend and MLK Day plans!

DIY Paper Mobiles

The origin of this idea came from here.

 I think I said this in my last post, but I'm going to say it again.  Sewing with paper is ridiculously easy.  I loved not having to deal with fabric stretching or bunching up.  I used to do a lot of paper crafts [used to meaning when I was 10], but kind of quit as I grew up and, along with it, grew less creative.  These mobiles might have sparked some of my inner childhood creativity...we'll just have to wait and see what comes of it.

Okay!  So here's how this thing went.

Supplies

• lots and lots of cardstock paper in your choice of colors
• a ruler
• scissors or a paper cutter
• a working sewing machine
• thread
• paper clips
• thumb tacks or tape

Instructions

1. First off, some math [sorry!].  If you care about how long you want you mobiles to hang, you will have to do a little math. Each mobile I made was a total of 44 inches long, using 26 strips of paper. If you want them shorter, use fewer strips; longer, you'll need more.  For the sake of simplicity, I will run this tutorial using my measurements as standard.


2. Cut your paper into the same size strips, using either scissors or a paper cutter [if you have one].  I did 1x6.25 inch strips because I was using cardstock that came 4.5x6.25 inches.  You are more than welcome to choose your own dimensions - just make sure they are uniform.


3. Keep cutting until you have enough strips of paper - for me, I made 7 mobiles x 26 strips = 182 strips of paper. Oh yeah, and make sure you have the same number of each color :)


4. I arranged my stacks of strips in the order that I wanted to sew them together.  This made sure that all my mobiles were the same, and also made the sewing process go quickly.


5. Machine time - Give you mobile about a 10 inch tail of thread before starting to sew the paper. I recommend tying the bobbin and top threads together at the top of the tail, in order to prevent tangling issues.  This tail will be what gets taped or tacked to the ceiling.


6. Sew! Center your paper on the maching foot and go for it.  I gave about 1/8 inch between each strip.


7. When you're done with all your strips, end by making another thread tail of about 4 inches.


8. To hang on the ceiling, use either tape or a thumb tack.  I used thumb tacks because we have the crazy pebbly ceilings that make tape impossible to use.


9. The paper clips can be clipped to the bottom tail to give you mobiles some weight, so they don't fly around when the A/C turns on.

*Note: if you run out of thread in the middle of one of your mobiles [like I did], don't fret.  All you need to do is get more thread in your machine, and then start sewing again on the paper over the last couple of stitches.  After you've finished, you can go back and cut off the excess thread.*

Total cost of this project - nothing.  If you already have colorful cardstock floating around and access to a sewing machine, you are golden.

[Sorry about the poor resolution. Quick camera phone picture, you know?]

Just like the banner, I was pleased enough with myself to actually save my mobiles.  Two are hanging in Kiddo's bedroom, and the rest are in storage for potential use at another shindig. Speaking of storage, the mobiles store beautifully.  They just happily went into a manilla envelope, nice and flat and safe :)

Oh, The Places You'll Go!

but not yet, because you're still only one.

For Adelle's first birthday, I went with a Dr. Seuss theme - specifically, I themed it off of the book, "Oh, The Places You'll Go!"  I thought it was fitting, considering how much travel we have put this child through over the last year, and also because of the big plans we have for her life.  Nothing too specific, but we as parents want her to aspire big and desire to make good changes happen in our world.

For the decorating, I did four main things:

1. Decorated cupcakes like a mad woman.
2. Created hanging paper mobiles.
3. Drew up a banner.
4. Made a poster of her one-year-old stats.

Food consisted of:

1. A baby food bar [it was a birthday for a baby, after all!]
2. Burgers and hot dogs for the rest of us.

First off, a cupcake montage!

The picture in the middle?  My dad lost control of that cupcake while decorating it.  He did catch it before it landed... face down, all over his hands.

Oh yeah!  My parents came out for the party - which happened to be the best thing that could have happened.  I can't decorate cakes at all, however, my mom can. She knew what all we needed and then made it happen.

She even made Josh some gluten-free cupcakes, so he wouldn't be left out on the fun.

The inspiration for the mobiles came from Pinterest.  [Here's the link to the original source.]

I found out a couple things with making these - sewing paper is ah-mazingly easy. It doesn't stretch or tear or do anything annoying that fabric tends to do.  I'll give you a quick tutorial of just how easy these were in a couple of days.

Can you believe I actually drew that banner free-hand?  Me either.  I liked how it turned out so much that I put it up in Kiddo's room after the party.

Josh came up with a neat "game" for the party where everyone was asked to write or draw the places they want to go.  The original idea was more of a "where do you want to be in 20 years" but it turned into a lot of visiting or moving to other states/countries [which was still pretty fun].

Here's the poster I made with all of Kiddo's one year stats!  I got the idea from a couple of Pinterest finds [you can find them on my first birthday board].  All it took was a black foam poster board, metallic paint pens, a ruler, and some creativity!

You probably noticed that her actual stats are not on the board.  Her one year check up is today, where I will get all those much needed numbers.  Once its done I'll put up a finished picture.

Update: It's done!  Here it is, all finished...

she's a little kid!

...And here's a decent picture of us next to it :)

The baby food bar consisted of a couple of Kiddo's favorite baby foods [applesauce and Chex mix], along with a couple of your standard baby food fare.  Not only did the other babies show their appreciation of having food available to them, but even a few adults found out that pureed peas is a decent chip dip.

Party time!

"thanks, Jesus!"

Dellie got her own giant cupcake to smash. She was very excited about it.

She, however, is more of a cake-picker than a smasher.

yum.

To end, here's some pictures of the party!  Enjoy!

becky compares with the book.

burger makers extraordinaire

burgers on a corn tortilla

some of adelle's friends hang out

Happy First Birthday, Goob!

We did it.  We officially kept our child alive for a whole year.

We survived 14 hours of induced labor [sans any really helpful pain killers], and an unexpected c-section...

And winding up in the hospital two weeks later with a skin infection...

Moving from Hawaii when she was 4 months old...

And moving into the grandparents' basement for the summer...

Then finally moving to Arizona...

Dellie survived her mom...

And her dad...

Her first haircut...

Riding a horse...

Her first time swimming...

all 9 scorpions [and dressing up as one for Halloween]...

And her first Christmas...

Happy Birthday Adelle! We both love you very, very much :)