Receiving Blankets

(Bean's quilt, Baby H's receiving blanket, and Bean's burp cloths)

I've made two of AMH's receiving blankets so far; one for Baby H, and one for Bean. I'm not wonderful at sewing the binding on properly (I can't get both sides to be straight!), but I'm overall quite happy with how they've turned out!

Unfortunately, I only have a picture of Baby H's, as Bean's is packed snugly away in my hospital bag to bring to them when K has the baby. But something is better than nothing, right? Of course right!

I gave H's blanket to my step-sister D on Labor day. D and I have had an interesting past; as kids we didn't get along. As teenagers, we had a distant respect for each other. When we were forced around each other, we were friendly. Sometimes we spent some time together. But we were always STEP-sisters. I never felt close with D, or like she ever really considered me, my brother, and my mother to be part of her family.

But as soon as she had L, everything changed. She's loving, she's gracious, she's wonderful to be around. I genuinely enjoy spending time with her. I love making things for her; both her and J absolutely gush over anything I've made, thanking me 1000 times for the thought, using whatever it is as often as they can. For the AMH blanket, D&J have both thanked me at least twice, and commented to my mom how wonderful the blanket is and how much they appreciate it.

My mom says it's hard not to love someone who loves your kid so much. We definitely love L. He's basically my favorite person. Seriously, how can you not love this?

L, can you give Auntie a big smile?

So There's That

Today, I called my mom, got in my car, and drove to Joann's. There, I picked up a pattern (Simplicity 2274), a half yard of DS Quilts cotton (the name escapes me... Kitschy is involved, I think), and I bought a new sewing machine.

My old Kenmore was just that: old. My step-aunt bought it at a yard sale for 20 bucks. It was kept in her (Hoarders-esqe) house for x amount of time, then she gave it to me. It was a lovely, lovely thought. But it was not good. The tension was always off, it wouldn't pick up the bobbin thread any longer. I'd abandoned it a few months ago to go back to hand sewing.

But the influx of nieces coming my way has made me despair at the thought of two quilts to hand-sew, two receiving blankets to bind by hand, two of everything. And I'm sick of looking at all my quilt-y blogs and being unable to keep up. And so. My new sewing machine is here. Hooray 3 paycheck month.

For those interested (if any): she's a Singer Talent. Not the cheapest model, but very, very basic. I don't need much fluff, just something that can keep up. So far she's bound Baby H's receiving blanket, sewn 5 more rows onto Bean's quilt, and made a burp cloth for Bean.

Here's hoping there are LOTS more projects in my near future :)