Catching Up: Oh Baby!

I have been having so much fun lately in baby world. (Don't worry, I'm not having one!) In my circle of friends however, "baby" has definitely been in the air. One project I completed was a baby quilt for a good friend. It is so neat seeing her go through this phase of life. I met mommy to be in high school, and actually knew her husband from grade school. This couple has always held a special place in my heart and it will be so exciting to see their baby when she finally arrives!

Now baby "Addy" has a black and white nursery with all shades of pink in it. I kind of ran with the pink idea when making her quilt. The first step was choosing the fabric. I tried to choose an array of pinks with varying patterns and "visual weight." It was also a little challenging to keep the shades of pink clean. So many pink fabrics have a brownish undertone that makes them look a little dingy when placed next to something bright. Here were my choices:

The next step was cutting 8 circles out of each pattern. (If you ever make this quilt yourself I HIGHLY recommend getting this rotary cutting tool. It is a life saver when cutting circles!). I also cut out 48 white squares from a super soft Kona cotton :)

After cutting and ironing the pieces I stitched each circle to it's own square with a zig zag stitch. It does take some practice sewing in a circle!

Before assembling the blocks I made a pattern and numbered the squares to keep the pattern straight.

As each row was completed, the quilt really started to come together. This is where it got exciting!

I then stitched the rows together to finish the front of the quilt!

The next step was embroidering baby Adella's name on one circle.

After adding the batting and soft flannel backing, I finished it off with a black border. Here are a few pictures of the final product in the adorable nursery!

If you are thinking about making one of these I found the pattern on the blog Bijou Lovely. It is a perfect tutorial for beginners. She really explains things step by step even down to pinning techniques!

I had so much fun making this quilt and cannot wait for the next time I get to make this for another friend. (And ONE day myself!)

~Hannah

Long Overdue {Thank You's}

So you may have been wondering where I was for the past two months. Here is a quick update: I thought life would be roses after the academy. It turns out that break-in is very grueling like the academy. Mark typically worked long shifts, sometimes 18 hours! On top of that, he was being graded and critiqued constantly so he was dead tired when hen got home. All of this meant I was still pretty much living in academy mode, taking care of everything from groceries to cooking to laundry and everything in between. In June and July Mark worked the graveyard shift. This was definitely something new for us. Also, I started working as an optician in a near by town. It just so happened that my first day of work was Mark's first day of graves. This might not sound like a big deal but it was a drastic change for me. In one day I went from staying at home and seeing Mark every evening to not seeing him for 3-4 days at a time.

A good illustration of our schedules was our bed: If you know me, you know I make my bed EVERY day. I love crisp, clean sheets and there is something about making the bed that makes it more inviting to crawl into at night. When mark was on graves, we did not make our bed for 6 weeks! The only reason it was ever made was if company came over. You see Mark would get home as I was getting up for work in the morning. He would then crash and sleep until 3:00 then be out the door before I got home from work. There was pretty much always someone sleeping in our house!

While Mark is on break in he has a constantly changing schedule. Every three cycles he has a new training officer and a new shift to work. So we never could settle into a routine. This is very stressful for me. It would be easier if I lived in the same town as family and friends, but being two hours away from them made me feel very overwhelmed at times.

Tonight Mark is on his final graveyard shift! After tonight he has three more days of break in but he will be working the exact shift he is assigned to for the next few months. I FINALLY feel like we can become settled and establish a routine.

With that I have a few thank you's in order:

Mom & Dad. You have been my biggest supporters through the whole academy and these past few months. You have given me so much guidance and prayed for me so much, I don't know what I would do with out you. You were always a phone call away, and even a two hour drive away when I really needed you. Thank you for standing by me all this time.

Sissy. I absolutely love having you close. Thank you for coming to visit me and for always being an open ear when I needed to vent. You have a knack for making me laugh, and I always feel special and loved when you are around.

Jocelyn. I was so fortunate to have someone who understood what I was going through. I loved being each other's support when the husbands were gone. You were always there to listen, and you challenged me to grow in ways I wouldn't have on my own. You are one of my best friends and I can't wait to see what adventures are in store!

Carly. My best friend since 2nd grade. You know me better than I do myself sometimes! Thank you for staying at my house every week during the academy. Even though we are in different cities now I know I can still call any time day or night when I need an opinion or advice.

I definitely I had a bust of energy this evening knowing that tomorrow is the start of another chapter. I made dinner, did three loads of laundry, mopped, vacuumed, dusted, and scrubbed the entire apartment, did my monthly deep cleaning of all things Hudson, and wrote this blog. Needless to say I am ready to kiss break in good bye!

I will be posting a few things in the next few days titled "Catching Up." These are simple little projects I worked on but didn't have energy to blog about these past few months.

~Hannah