New Quilt For A New Baby

Early last week I got a new niece.  She's totally adorable by the way.  I wanted to make her something so I decided on a light weight patchwork baby blanket.  Similar to the ones I made my own kids when they were babies.  I left out the batting and made the back flannel.  It's a cozy blanket for the warmer months without the bulk of a regular quilt.  Although I adore quilting I find most traditional quilting patterns too tedious.  I appreciate when others do them, but I just don't have the patience for them.  I prefer very basic patchwork and large motifs.  This large motif pattern is FIERCE!  I adore it and I will definitely use it again.

Greenleaf loved holding her new cousin.

Room Redux (While she was out)

Greenleaf's room is about 10 x 10.  It's pretty much a square shape with a closet on one side and the slanted walls of the roof on the other. This is what it used to look like.  A loft bed from Ikea allowed her to have some more play space on the floor (and let the dog sleep under there).  A small fold down top desk in the corner also doubled as a dresser and a large wooden chest (made by my uncle) was her toy box.  This birthday she is turning 10 and I thought her room should reflect her tastes a little better.  Here's what happened:

 She requested a dark pink room with black designs.  The initial paint was a disaster (way too dark) and I ended up going with a pink that I knew was lighter than she wanted.  We bought a new bed from Ikea with great big drawers underneath.  Black sheets, throw pillows and a black and white checkered throw blanket.  Her room gets hit by the sun pretty hard in the summer so I bought these amazing black curtains that keep the heat out. I painted that old desk with a glossy black and stenciled a cherry blossom branch on it in the wall color.

I picked up this black chair from Target and it's just right for snuggling down with a good book.  My initial plan was to stencil black designs on one of her walls but I could not find a stencil that I liked.  I did however find these vinyl sticker thingies and I love them!  They are fantastic.  The mirror is from Ikea and it's probably one of her favorite things in the room.

I left the book shelves by her door because she really needs those.  She could probably do with another book case in her room and I think that will come eventually but for now the last change I made was:

Putting chalk board paint on her closet door.  Here she put up a verse that she learned at camp and drew some pictures.  So....yeah, that's her room.  Not the pink she wanted but she says she loves it just the way it is.  Actually what she keeps saying is "I can't believe this is my room.  Is this real? It looks like a magazine."  She's managed to keep it clean for the 2 days she's been home.  That's about the best compliment I could ask for.