Aurora's First Quilt

I made my very first quilt a few weekends ago. Rag quilts are the easiest quilts to make, IMO, and since the seams are part of what makes it pretty and poofy, your cutting lines don't have to be perfect. (This is good for me because I'm not very good at holding the fabric straight when I use the quilting roller-knife.)

Here is a photo of the uber-girly quilt (for me) that took me mere hours to cut, sew, and clip. Please excuse the mistake in the last row. I was so excited about the green that I forgot to pay attention to the other squares.

I had intended to boycott pink as much as I could (which isn't easy, because baby clothes seem to only be made in pink and blue) but my alternate choice of purple had a pretty wimpy showing at the fabric store, and damnit, I like pink!

The top is all cotton, the batting is warm and white brand, and the back is flannel. I would have liked a plain cream-colored backing but I couldn't find any and this worked out better anyway- the burgundy from the back shows through on the front to give it a little more color.

Mittens helped with perspective on the back of the quilt. She's even multitasking. Clever girl.

I enjoyed my quiet time at home with the boys gone that week (they went camping for 5 days) but unfortunately my hormones were raging. I alternately felt lonely that Gary was gone and angry that the place is such a mess with boxes still festering from his move. Stinky old hormones. Good thing nobody was around to feel my wrath. (Mittens is exempt due to cuteness.)

7 months, 4 days

Portland is wonderfully cool tonight, although the house still retains some warmth from the earlier part of the day. Mittens has been hanging around this evening, asking for petting and shedding all over.

Mithra, one of my newest family members, is sleeping on the front porch. He follows Mittens around the house daily, heeding not her hissing and annoyed tail lashing, clumsily begging for friendship. Of course, choosy Mittens will have none of it. Their nights are spent together in the darkness of the basement, although I doubt that brings them emotionally closer. To the right is Mithra wearing his favorite (and only, so far) wig. He's hoping to add to his collection but will have to wait until Halloween to do so. He's a chocolate point Siamese with slightly crossed blue eyes and a terrific yowl that could wake the dead.

Gary and Arlo, 35 and 6, are off camping this week. What a relief! As much as I am learning to enjoy their boisterous and noisy energy, having gone so long without having children in my life is making living with one, albeit part time, very challenging. Arlo is very smart, well-behaved, and has little or no behavioral issues, so things are going as well as can be expected. Plus he and Gary give me plenty of space when I need it. (And they're quiet when I nap. Wow!)

To add to the excitement of changing house companions, I'm now 29 weeks pregnant. I'm so glad that I was able to lose 20 pounds last summer; besides starting out in fairly good shape, it also laid the groundwork for some good eating and exercise habits, although as stress threatens to overcome me, they have been falling to the wayside.

Here I am two weeks ago.

My chiropractor, massage therapist, personal trainer, patient coworkers and supportive Gary are helping ease my body aches and pains, and I can truthfully tell people that so far, my pregnancy has been very easy.

Hallelujah!

The baby has gotten to the point of giving me mini earthquakes when she kicks (what IS she doing in there?), my digestion is slowing down a tad (hooray for fiber!) and there are a couple of other mildly annoying symptoms, but so far I have only tiny stretch marks, little swelling in my legs and feet, no protein in my urine, and just a little bit (ahem) of crying for no reason. I had only the briefest amount of morning sickness in the beginning, too. (My ex-mother-in-law had Hyperemesis Gravidarum, I believe, which is like having morning sickness 24-7 throughout all 9 months of pregnancy. It sounds positively AWFUL. (Way to hang in there, Linda!)

I started getting braxton hicks contractions a couple of weeks ago and I pee like crazy day and night (which is only a little bit different from when I'm not pregnant, if you know me) but my midwives say I'm doing fine and I'm looking forward to a continued "normal" pregnancy and hopefully a normal labor and delivery.

Here is a slightly out-of-focus ultrasound photo of the baby's head. She was wiggling around so much that day that it was hard for the tech to get photos, and this was the best. It was taken on March 24th, right after Easter candy went on sale. (ahem) The sugar COULD have contributed to her wiggliness, but who can say for sure?

The sun has finally gone down and I'm ready to snuggle up with a book. The house is so quiet without Gary and Arlo- I'd better get the cats in here for some yowling.