Finishing Touches

So, I'm finished. I've finished putting stuff together in the baby's room, and I'm officially finished with all my sewing and craft projects that I wanted to have done before baby arrives.
I'm pretty pleased with my progress. First the quilts.
My mother brought me home from the hospital in a blanket she made herself. I had a green version and a blue version. Not to sound like I need even more therapy, but I still sleep with one of those blankets--after wearing out the other one. I figure I've got about ten years left on this blanket before it's completely gone. But anyway, that made me all sentimental and want to make a few baby blankets for Claire. I am not going to pretend that in 30 years she will still be sleeping with one of these things, but I'm hoping they'll still be special and well-loved as she grows up.
I decided to make a "traditional" quilt reflecting some of our color and theme choices. I am not great at picking fabric that coordinates, so I worried this quilt looked too scattered, but it ended up very pretty.
There are all my pretty squares and strips. The thing I love about "traditional" quilting is probably the thing I also hate most--how everything feels like it has to be very perfect. I'm not very accurate at sewing (or cutting, or measuring) so this was really a true labor of love to figure out. It might look simple (and I'm sure to those who quilt, it is, painfully so) but for someone who doesn't like this sort of process, it's a challenge.
Here is the finished quilt. You can't tell all that well, but the yellow fabric is a Winnie-the-Pooh fabric with little bees, the purple is just a swirl print, and the border is a Winnie-the-Pooh theme (our theme is Winnie-the-Pooh, although we had some trouble staying true to it). The back is just the yellow print. The binding is the purple swirl. To quilt it I used my machine and just stitched the ditch. For my first time actually machine quilting, it didn't turn out terrible. There are errors, but I learned a lot on this project that will no doubt help in other projects. Everyone starts somewhere. Still, this is the quilt we've designated as "Baby's First" and will go to the hospital with us.

I opted to make a second quilt, but after the annoyances of the first and the fact I have trouble picking out fun coordinating prints and textures, I bought a fabric set from JoAnne's Fabrics. It didn't feel like it was cheating, because I still had to cut all the squares and pin everything together, it just had the right amounts (for the most part) of the fabric for the actual blanket. I had to buy pink fabric for the binding since they didn't use any on their "pattern". But I like this blanket because of all the textures. The back is the green flannel (also on front), it also features a silky pink and the brown is a soft furry fabric.
I stitched the ditch on the squares on the side, but for the inside of the center I tried my hand at meandering quilting. It turned out a lot better, and I could see immediate improvement of skills from the first quilt. The fabrics are all so different and fun, this quilt secretly has become my favorite. However, it has nothing to do with Winnie-the-Pooh--a serious violation of my theme that I was so adamant over (at the time)!
Finally I took scraps from both blankets and made a little security blanket with ribbons on the sides. I basically threw it together on a whim because I had such small amounts of fabric left, it wasn't worth saving. This isn't going to be big enough for an actual baby blanket, but she'll someday be able to use it to cover her toys, or she can carry it around with her for comfort without dragging a giant blanket around. This is a very small version of both of her original blankets (in the picture it's on the right side).
All three "quilts":
We also finally finished getting everything together for her room. The last load of laundry is in the dryer as we speak, but we hung the blinds and cleaned again just today, so it really feels like we're ready now.
This is the crib. We got a cute Winnie-the-Pooh mobile from my aunt, my father bought the (giant) crib, and the crib set is from my mom. Right now the bumper is in, but we'll remove it when she is older and can use it for pulling herself out of the crib. We have a sleep position-er (it's in the bassinet right now) so even when she starts rolling she won't be able to roll into it. I went back and forth on whether to use one or not, and I decided that the guidelines are negative to loose, ill-fitting, or "broken" bumpers--and that regular, stiff, secured bumpers, until a certain age, are quite safe. Besides, to me it feels like it gives the baby more privacy. With so much going on down below (three dogs peering in), it'll be a nice refuge. Of course, she'll be sleeping in the bassinet for the first few weeks until we get used to everything. We put her room across the hall from ours, but it still seems too far away. Especially for the first few weeks. So until then, the cute baby toys will hold the crib down for us. Oh, and the lamb in the corner is actually a sleep noise maker, so we're planning on clipping that onto wherever she sleeps. It makes comforting sounds "from the womb" (except it has a whale setting... I'm wondering where the whale has been... is that in reference to me?). We may even opt to clip it to her bassinet if we think it'll help.
Both of her dressers are actually bookcases, too. We removed one of the book cases so it could fit under the window, but this one we kept together. As you can see, she has a ton of toys and books just waiting for her enjoyment. We also have valances that match some of the Pooh prints (blue flowers) and it coordinates with purple and pink. So, these will be nice down the road.
My mom bought me a rocking chair and made a Pooh cover for it as well. I decorated further with some adorable blankets from family. The rest of the blankets are in the wood chest under the boppy pillow. I hope that will be easy access for when I'm rocking the baby. I also like the cute pooh lamp for some soft light for reading.
Finally, here is the decoration set up, and full crib/changing table. We have her name up on the wall, some framed pooh art, and lots of diapers (cloth and disposable) all just waiting for the baby. We're really excited. The room feels very comfortable to us and we have a lot of cool new things to use for the baby. I'm hoping she'll take to her new environment well--considering she's always elbowing me for more room, this seems like the spacious space she's been requesting.
As for other baby odds-n-ends, we have her pack-n-play permanently set up in the living room. We put the changing table on it for a nice diaper changing station in the living room. We figure it'll also be nice to have a place to put her if she's sleepy and we are busy. With three dogs, it isn't really feasible to just leave her somewhere on the floor. And the bassinet is already in my room next to the bed so the dogs can get used to seeing it. That won't last long, but for the first few weeks, it'll be nice to ease the worry of these first time parents!