New Kitchen

The girls are 18 months old now and are very much into turning the knobs on the stove, peering into the oven and "helping" me cook. It was time for a play kitchen.
We have a tiny space at the end of our counter and I wanted one that would fit and still be fun. I also wanted wood and for it to have a realistic, contemporary feel. After a long night of scouring the web, I landed upon this very helpful review from the folks at ohdeedoh.
The Educo Gourmet Kitchen fit all my requirements and was within my budget - score! A few clicks later and it was on its way. Assembly was a breeze and it seems very sturdy and well made, I am hopeful that it will survive triplets.
When the girls got up this morning, they saw it from down the hall and made a bee-line for it. I had this dish set that we received as a gift and also bought them this coordinating cookware set. I wanted to go with metal or wood, but let's face it, plastic hurts a lot less when it hits you in the head or lands on your toe. Green Toys products are made from recycled plastic and are cute and durable; I'd recommend them.
Internets, this is why I had children.

Dressed for Summer

Oh, to be the little girl who gets to hop, skip, jump, run, somersault, swing, slide, tricycle-ride, and eat frozen treats in these outfits all summer long! Sigh.

You can't win them all

Little Miss Bee is the best mama to her baby dolls. Each and every night they get a bottle before being tucked into bed. They then get a bed time story “read” to them. Before Bee heads off to bed herself, she pats them on the back and tells them good night. Super sweet, right?

When I saw the pattern for the doll carrier in the Oliver + S book I thought it would be perfect for the little mama. I phoned my sister and started describing it to her. I was barely two sentences in when she yelled out, “You HAVE to make that for Bee. She is driving me crazy with the one we’ve tried to fashion. It doesn’t work.” Auntie to the rescue!

Well, it turns out that Miss Bee wasn’t as sure about the doll carrier as her mommy and I had been. Upon seeing her most beloved baby doll strapped in she kept proclaiming, “Oh, no baby! Oh, no!” And then she refused to try it on. Harumph. But, I have high hopes that one day, when it is her own idea as they must be when you are two, she’ll be wearing it everywhere with baby safely strapped in.

Hello, baby

When a bouncing baby girl enters the world just ahead of the summer season there is only one possible baby gift, a dress with bloomers. Wait a minute, it’s really the bloomers I find most necessary. How cute is a poofy, diapered bottom covered with a ruffly legged pair of bloomers? Cute, I say, very, very cute.

A delightful night's sleep

Little Miss Lou thought I was visitng over the long holiday weekend to celebrate her birthday. And she was right, but it also provided the perfect opportunity to give her a suprise bed makeover.

When she went back to school on Tuesday I went into action stripping away the old bedding. In its place went a new bed skirt, white jersey sheets, and the half square triangle quilt.

I anxiously waited the bus drop-off and tried to casually suggest she change out of her school clothes into some play clothes for an afternoon outside. We all followed her upstairs to her bedroom. As she went into her room she exclaimed, "What in the world?!?!? These are my favorite colors." Awesome!

When I talked with her the next day I asked how she had slept in her brand new bed. With a big smile on her face she explained, "It was delightful." My sister further elaborated that as soon as she got up that morning Little Miss Lou was found carefully making her bed, smoothing out all the creases, and proclaiming that her little sister Little Miss Bee was not to touch it.

Yeah, I think she likes it!

The quilt is done!

The quilting is completed and the binding attached. I handstitched 26 feet of binding in 7 short hours. That might not seem an impressive speed but I’m blown away. I had set aside time over the course of three weeks to finish the binding by hand. And you know what? I only needed 20 or 30 minutes here and there over the course of 10 days to get it all done. I’ve clearly gotten better at this hand stitching business. In fact, I really enjoyed it. I was a little sad to see it come to an end.

The next time you see this quilt it will be donning Little Miss Lou’s bed and I can’t wait to see her reaction. I hope she loves it half as much as I do. Stay tuned.

We all scream for ice cream

When I first bought the ice cream dress pattern I was really only interested in making the blouse. (I have to admit I thought the dress with the pockets and contrasting yoke and hem band looked a little like an old lady’s housecoat.) But as I finished my first blouse I kept thinking how cute the dress, as view B, would be done in bands of solid.

As I bounced my idea off my favorite partner in sewing crime, we veered off in the direction of using what is already in the fabric stash. I already had white and pink solids. Being an excellent enabler she pointed out that all I would have to do is buy a bit of brown and I could make a Neapolitan dress. Get it? An ice cream dress done as Neapolitan! I loved it!

So I made two. One for Little Miss Lou and one for her partner in crime, Little Miss Bee. I cannot wait to get my hands on some pictures of these girls side-by-side in their ice cream dresses. And in that picture I think they should be eating ice cream cones. Neapolitan, of course.

Rainbow Bright

Rainbow colored pencils all lined up in a row makes me happy.

A finished pencil roll makes me very happy.

It's the middle bits of this story where the sad part lies. It was being stooped over my kitchen table for what felt like hours and hours cutting 60 – 1.5” wide strips after ironing 20 bits of carefully chosen fabric that had me feeling sad. Then on top of that there were the pockets, the pocket linings, the exteriors, and the flannel linings. So perhaps it was my insane decision to make three pencil rolls at once that contributed to my unhappiness. My reasoning was that if I was going to suffer through all that cutting I might as well have three items to show for it.

I know I can’t be the only sewer out there who suffers from this logic, right?

Hello? Spring?

Around here spring seems to be having an identity crisis. It’s barely made it above 40F for more than a week and it's snowed…twice. This is not the spring I was hoping for. While mother nature makes up her mind, I’m beckoning her with a bit of spring and summer sewing.

First up, a set of playsuits for Little Miss Bee. Being fresh off a set of six playsuits these came together in no time at all.

And second, an ice cream blouse for Little Miss Lou. It was my first time with this relatively new Oliver + S pattern and I’m now smitten. In fact, it resulted in the first addition to the handmade list since I first rolled it out. Make an ice cream dress with solids for Little Miss Lou.

Now, how about some warmer weather?

Birthday Suits

It’s hard to believe that a year has passed since the Bean, the Bear, and the Bandit were welcomed into this world. Wow! One minute those teeny, tiny babies are being wrapped like burritos and in the next minute they are standing all by themselves. Again, wow!

I tossed a few different ideas around in my head as to what I should make to mark such a significant milestone. The only idea that kept coming back over and over again were the Oliver + S playsuits. I kept picturing three little girls toddling around the backyard this summer sporting coordinating playsuits. And that mind’s eye picture was all I needed to convince myself that not only was it the right present, it was the perfect present.

The girls may have been more interested in the ric rac and fluttery pennant I made for the front of the gift than they were in the playsuits inside. I think it is safe to say, though, that their mommy and daddy were more than a little smitten.

Happy Birthday, sweet girls. I wish you hours of blissful play.

The Half Square Triangle Quilt

My obsession with half square triangle quilts started after the doll quilt. I adored the crisp white with the pops of colors and the precise geometric arrangement. I had to make a human sized one.

It just so happens that my need to make intersects with Little Miss Lou’s need for an Auntie made quilt for her newly decorated big girl room. Of course, that big girl room prominently features her favorite color orange along with doses of white and turquoise. Sounds like the perfect quilt combination!

I had a few oranges and turquoises already in my stash and the rest came as a result of a 40% off sale at Joann’s. Then came the backbreaking part: cutting out 378 squares, each measuring 4 and 7/8 inches with the goal being a finished block size of 4 inches.

I am now deep into the block assembly process. All the squares have been stitched together and I am spending evenings at the ironing board. I alternately snip them apart into their half square triangles and then iron all those seams. (Oh, how I wish I could hire out the seam ironing!) The plan is to get all this done before the weekend so I can start on the fun part, the layout and quilt top construction!

Wish me luck.

No. 4 on the Handmade List

Olivia + Arthur

Let me introduce you to Olivia and Arthur, better known as Olive and Archie. They’ve undergone a name change as a way to distinguish big sister’s dolls from little sister’s dolls.

Olivia and Arthur were part of Little Miss Bee’s Christmas present. I couldn’t just stop at a set of dolls though. You see, I love gifts that are part of a larger theme. So along with Olivia and Arthur came a doll bed, mattress, pillow, and quilt.

The whole gift was a fabulous success. And how do I know, you ask? Upon opening it the little miss grabbed the neck of one doll, picked up the quilt, and desperately tried to fit herself into the bed. It was a sight that had us laughing all Christmas morning.

Sold!

Towards the end of last year one of my co-workers came to me and said she wanted to hire my skills, specifically my quilting skills. I laughed and blushed and said, “Oh, shucks.” But she was dead serious. She was ready to talk fabrics and design. I was hooked.

And that is how this baby quilt was born. It’s my Path to Pop Garden quilt scaled down to baby size, each final square measuring 7 inches. I worked in a color palette of greens and blue, the only real requirement of my “client”. The fabrics are from Nicey Jane, a line of fabrics I had somehow managed to resist buying up until that point, with a print from Bijoux thrown into the mix; a sunny stripe from Urban Chiks backs it all.

Winter has been cruel to New Englanders so I especially love how in the midst of all that swirling snow I was able to create this bit of spring. Can’t you just imagine taking baby outside on that first really warm spring day for some playtime on her quilt? I can. And it warms me through and through.

For my Valentines

Simple stitched cards made from scraps too lovely to throw away

An Oliver + S jumprope dress in gray fine wale corduroy with calico accents

A tiny baker's apron with ruffled detail

Triplet Supply List, the essentials

As I have been packing away the baby stuff to make room for three mobile little girls, I have been reflecting on how we managed to minimize the amount of "gear" we needed. There are almost no items that weren't used, and used a lot. It's quite amazing how little babies really need in the first few months, even when you have three of them.

For what it's worth, my list of essential items for triplets:

A local support group. Seriously, even if you are not the support group type, the advice and understanding (not to mention the used clothes and baby items) that you will get from veteran parents of multiples is invaluable. There are also lots of triplet blogs with different approaches and experiences.

Help. My mother-in-law lived with us for the first six months. Having her here allowed us to be the parents we wanted to be: every baby got held for every feeding and rarely did anyone have to cry while waiting for a sister to be fed/changed/bathed/soothed. Believe me, there was still plenty of crying, but everyone's needs got met in a gentle and loving way.

Diapers, wipes, some kind of diaper cream. I couldn't talk my husband into using cloth diapers but know other triplet families who did.

A dozen big flannel or muslin receiving blankets for swaddling. Our girls loved being swaddled until they could actually bust out and get their arms free at about 6 months.

A fuzzy blanket each for wrapping the baby in to take places and throwing over the car seat.

Sleepers and the little diaper shirts (we didn't use onsies because they just got dirty and were a pain to get on/off when the girls were small. If you do laundry every 2-3 days, you can easily manage with a dozen of each. My girls didn't wear "real clothes" for weeks.

Triplet moms to be: don't let anyone talk you out of nursing/pumping! I nursed two babies for six months and pumped for all three until they were ten months. I had a great milk supply (~75% of what they needed) and found it very manageable. That said, I don't know any triplet mom who was able to exclusively nurse all three from day one. You may be able to get there eventually (I wasn't), but you will likely work towards it over the the period of weeks or even months. Rent a hospital grade pump, it makes a huge difference.

A few different types of bottles and nipples to see what the babies like. I thought I would use glass bottles but didn't like them at all and am so happy I bought three and not three dozen.

Co-sleeper for having the babies sleep in your room. We got one that converts to a pack and play. Our girls didn't sleep in a crib until they were ~3 months old and that was only because they grew out of the co-sleeper. The girls didn't move into separate cribs (in the same room) until they were moving around and disturbing each other, around 4 months or so.

Stroller that the infant car seats can snap into. We bought a used Triple Decker and a single and double Snap and Go and used all three for different situations. When we moved up to a stroller that the babies actually sits in I tried out a bunch to find what I liked (and bought used). By that time you know other people with babies the same age and can benefit from their product testing before you spend your own money :)

For winter babies, the Bundle Me zipped covers or something similar for the infant car seats would have been awesome. By the time I realized how helpful they would have been it was nearly spring, so I didn't buy any.

I bought two slings, a Moby wrap and a Maya wrap and someone gave us a Baby Bjorn. The Moby was easier for me to carry two babies in but it was always a little awkward. I had visions of wearing one or two babies while wrangling the third but it didn't really work for me. I found that it wasn't possible for me to bend and lift a baby while making sure the other two remained correctly positioned in the sling (i.e. necks in neutral position and able to breathe). I did use the Baby Bjorn a lot as I walked our refluxy baby for hours (and weeks) around the neighborhood in the evenings.

Boppy pillows. Love the Boppy; great for nursing, bottle feeding two babies (one on either side of you) while nursing the third. They definitely helped me keep all three babies close during feeding times and when I didn't have a free hand.

Bouncy seats - the papasan style ones are great for newborns and up and our girls lived in these for months. So, so helpful for keeping one or two babies nearby and happy while feeding the third, or safely immobilized while giving one a bath or changing a diaper. We were given some like these from another triplet family.

Cradle swing - we had one baby who had reflux and wore ours out. It was this one and I bought it used from a nearby triplet family one desperate afternoon.

A doorway jumper. We have two that we put in doorways that are at right angles to each other and use them every day. They love to jump and laugh at each other and even the non-jumping baby gets in on the fun by crawling around the feet of the two jumpers.

I didn't buy high chairs until we were ready to start solid food at 6 months and then found ones that stack so we could fit them in our tiny kitchen.

Once the girls became more aware of their surroundings we started adding books, rattles, soft toys and two play mats/gyms but even the mats have been packed away (not the books and toys, of course).

Really, that's all we "needed" for the newborn/infant months. They really did go by in a flash. Who are these little people living in my house and where did my babies go?

Plus One

Take one adorable couple then add one gorgeous baby boy and what do you get? The plus one baby boy quilt, of course!

I knew I wanted to make Mr. E a baby quilt to welcome him into the world but I struggled with what it would look like. I wanted it to have meaning and not just be useful. Luckily, the internet is jammed packed with inspiration and I found mine at Film in the Fridge.

For me all those plus signs speak not only to the addition of a family member but also the addition of immense amounts of love to your life. It is the addition of a connection between mom, dad, and baby E. It is the addition of the best kind of chaos. The addition of rough and tumble play and scraped knees. It is the addition of memories just waiting to be made.

A new baby is so much more than the seemingly simple addition of one.

Kindergarten!

For more than a year now Little Miss Lou has been talking about when she was little. Because you know that at 4 going on 5 you are all grown up and ready to take on the world. Or really just take on kindergarten. And that’s just what she started doing last week.

As a complete, rambling aside….How did this happen? It was but yesterday that I met her for the first time. She was tiny little thing, only slightly bigger than a five pound bag of flour. Her car seat seemed to consume her and her beautiful, pink baby flesh. And poof, overnight, she’s five and getting ready for her first day of school. I certainly don’t feel five years older but one look at her and I realize time has been marching along. And in that gap of time a beautiful kid emerged, full of energy, imagination, politeness, and the occasional bad joke.

So, what was I to do but make her a kindergarten wardrobe? I may not be able to stop those hands of time but I can certainly turn out a handmade wardrobe special enough to mark this amazing milestone.

Of course, the patterns are from Oliver + S. They are simple, classic silhouettes and they’ve never let me down. I picked the jump rope dress (because I not so secretly wish they had an adult size), the Sunday brunch jacket and skirt, and the 2 + 2 blouse and skirt. For fabrics I wanted a palette of red, orange, turquoise, and blue. That led me to prints from Joel Dewberry, Heather Bailey, Cosmo Cricket, and Anna Griffin. And because not everything can be a print I chose some red broadcloth and red fine wale corduroy that feels as soft as velvet.

I couldn’t be more proud of the wardrobe I came up with. It’s perfect for a girl her age and will take her from late summer through fall and early winter. Imagine the dress on chilly days with tights and a cardigan. Or those blouses with a cute pair of cords and a long sleeve T underneath. And then there is the brunch jacket with a dark pair of jeans, some wild socks, and a pair of brown mary janes.

But all that pales in comparison to how proud I am of Little Miss Lou. Though she was a bit nervous she handled herself with such confidence that first day. Congratulations, my sweet Lou! I hope you enjoy every day of this new adventure.

Little Boy Blue

Not long ago I was lamenting my overflowing scrap basket. You know what I’m talking about. It’s that giant container of fabric scraps too good to throw out but not big enough to become projects on their own.

I’ve been playing in that pile of scraps, pulling together various bits to see what they might become. That first pile of scraps I pulled together has become a baby quilt, one I’m calling Little Boy Blue.

It contains fabric bits from Denyse Schmidt, Joel Dewberry, American Jane, and Tanya Whelan all in shades of blue, green, and brown. The design is simple and so is the quilting. It’s finished size measures just 36” x 36”, perfect for a handsome little fellow to play on and someday drag everywhere he goes. At least that’s how I imagine it being loved.

Conversation with a Four Year Old

Me: Should I bring you a present the next time I visit?

Little Miss Lou (not missing a beat): Yes, I’d like one of those bowls you keep fish in.

Me (stammering): Um, I think that’s too big to fit in my suitcase. They probably won’t let me bring that on the airplane.

Little Miss Lou (not missing another beat): OK, I’ll take a box of toys.

Me (stammering yet again): I thought you might like me to MAKE you something. Do you remember that flower pin I had on my sweater the last time I visited?

Little Miss Lou (so sweetly now): Oh, I do, Auntie J. It was so pretty on your sweater. Can you make me one of those?

Me (having regained my composure): Of course, I’ll make you one!

Little Miss Lou (twinkle in her eye): You know I love orange!

Baby's First Summer

I hope you didn’t think that in all the sewing for Little Miss Lou I forgot about Baby B. No, siree! I couldn’t possibly forget about sewing something special for that sweet, smily baby’s first summer. In fact, I started making her outfits way back in March during our last snowstorm of the winter season.

The must-have summer outfit for kids of all ages is the Oliver + S playsuit. It’s such a must-have that not one, but two, were needed. I know I’ve said how much I love it before but every time I make another I feel the love all over again.

The next outfit I made for her was the comfy jumper dress with matching gingham bloomers. I hadn’t actually intended on making her a dress this summer. Then I posted my first comfy jumper dress and the e-mail arrived. My sister was in love and couldn’t say enough kind words about it. Uh-oh. I couldn’t resist that. There is no possible way I could deny my sister or baby niece an extra bit of handmade lovely. And the fact that she looked adorable in it with her baby blues shining was just icing on the (ice cream) cake.