Little baby Ami's jumpers are coming along swimmingly. In fact, the jumpers were finished on Thursday! Only the bloomers are left and the only thing stopping me is the pattern. Apparently, you can only make this pattern when the baby is born and ready to wear the garment as soon as you finish it. The bloomers require you to measure the baby's waist and thighs in order to put in the elastic. Being that the baby is, oh, not due til the beginning of February AND I don't anticipate her wearing it until late summer, there's no way for me to estimate how big her waist and thighs are. Googling did me no good. So the only thing left is to snoop shop with a measuring tape in hand.

With nothing to do until I could get myself to a store, I decided that it would be okay to start something new. Oh, sure it would be fine because the bloomers will be done in time and I was still on a quest to find matching fabric for the quilt. I decided to make Simplicity 4112, the Built by Wendy top. With only for major pieces, I totally thought I'd be able to finish it in a day. The plan was to start the top on Friday morning to finish in time to wear to a holiday dinner later that evening. Everything was going well until 1. I dropped my iron and then it spit gross water on the right front and left a stain... a few shots of OxyClean later, it virtually disappeared. But because of that, no new top to wear to dinner. 2. Today I'm ready to put the buttons on and my button holer isn't working as it should. It works fine going down one side of the button hole. Then as it makes it's way up, it starts to stall and doesn't move up unless I assist it. Okay not good.

Apparently my iron and my sewing machine are trying to get me back on track to get those baby projects done. So yes, yes, the Built by Wendy shirt is on the backburner and full time focus is back on the quilt. I've finally found matching fabrics and I must say, I'm really excited about this one.

As of tonight I've made my practice square and have cut out all of my strips! I'm ready to roll. First priority for tomorrow is to get on that log cabin train!

Only two more working days left until the baby gifts are due. As of tonight, the bloomers for the jumpers still remain elasticless. One of the jumpers is actually a dress and the other one is more of a top. The dress version would be fine without bloomers, but would it be bad to gift the top version without them? I'm not sure if I have time between now and Saturday to head to a store to measure waistbands and thighs, and I'm not so sure that stores will have bloomers in stock right now. It's the middle of winter! Are spring clothes out already?

As far as the quilt goes, the top is done and the sandwich is complete. Want to see something neat-o? Check out the seam allowances..

Is that cool looking or is that cool looking? I still need to decide on a final quilting pattern before I get down to it. That needs to get done tomorrow and binding needs to be finished by Friday night. Then I can breathe and hope that the parents squeal in joy when they see this quilt. Okay, maybe not squeal in joy, but at least be as stoked about the quilt as I am. If not, I'm taking it back and then vowing never to craft for others again. Maybe not NEVER, but definitely be more selective. But reading this today really made me mad. I deliberately picked fabrics and colors that suit my friends and what I think they'd like little Ami to have. And I'm pretty sure I'm dead on. If not, and I'm wrong, I'll be majorly embarrassed in front of 50+ people (yes, this is a very popular couple). If that's the case, I'll just hope that people will remember that I'm the woman that brought the kick ass cupcakes and not the one who made the lame ass quilt.

But on a happier note, I made my first pie last week! In honor of Nova's Piehole Wednesday, I proudly present to you my first pie ever!

Filling: Deep Dish Apple Pie, Cooks Illustrated
Crust: Fool Proof Pie Crust, Cooks Illustrated

Notes: It's not the most perfect looking pie or the best pie I ever tasted, but for a first try, I didn't do a bad job. Despite the fact that I misread one part the crust instructions, it still came out really buttery and flakey. I used half Granny Smith and half Pink Lady apples. The texture of the apples was great, soft with a slight crunch, but not mushy. But the filling was a bit dry for my taste. I took this to my BFF's holiday dinner and everyone loved it. My BFF actually really liked the filling the way it was. I think I just prefer it with a little more "juice." The CI recipe is for a filling that doesn't sog out the bottom crust or shrink away from the top crust. This filling did that exactly, except that in the process, you end up draining all the juices. I'll definitely keep making this crust but I want to play with the filling a bit.

So kids, the quilt was a HUGE hit! And so were the dress and the top. But let me tell you, BOY was I nervous as the gifts were being opened.

As each present was opened,

"Oh, onesies!"

"Yay, bibs!"

"Cool, pacifiers!"

"Cute t-shirts!"

I was thinking to myself, these are all registry gifts! These gifts aren't fun all all (except for some cute t-shirts and a black bob marley onesie that said "roots rock baby" -- I want one!). But what if what they really want are all the practical things because they need them? Will they like my handmade gifts?

I mean, I would like my handmade gifts, especially if all everyone was getting me were registry items, right? Granted, I'm biased because I'm the one that spent hours and hours on these gifts. But you need something special to be the potential item to start the heirloom collection, right?

So they finally get to my gift, and it is the LAST gift they open. And I'm ALL nervous. The last gift needs to be a good one. She got plenty of other blankets and ones that match the crib sheet set. This is just another blanket and it doesn't even match the pastel pink of the crib sheets. They even got their Baby Bjorn and breast pump and were totally stoked about them. Can a quilt and some garments top that?

And yes, yes it did! (Apologies for the dark photos. It was raining like crazy this weekend so it made outdoor photos and good light nearly impossible)