Tula Pink Nursery! Part 1

I have been a long-time fan of Tula Pink's fabrics for quite some time. There's something about the bold, sophisticated colors and the darling patterns that just makes me smile. So needless to say when my cousin Stacey decided she wanted a custom nursery, I volunteered Hushabye as the perfect solution to a sweet, gender-neutral nursery.

I was still in Australia when we started planning, so through lots of emails back and forth, we nailed down our ideas for the nursery and I started planning. The baby is due in mid-July, so there's only a few more weeks until the nursery will be filled with even more joy in the form of an adorable little bundle of baby. 

Curt was up in Michigan a couple weekends ago, so I sent up the finished products with him, but not before snapping a few pictures! So without further ado ...

The quilt - Stacey and Rob liked patchwork square designs, so I did my own little version. Most of the fabric came from a few charm packs, using primarily the green, blue, and brown colors. In anticipation of a little boy, Rob requested no pink, but in anticipation of a little girl, Stacey and I thought it would be okay to throw in a couple little dollops of pink. I think it turned into the perfect compromise. The thing I love most about this line is that despite the hidden duckies and bunnies on the fabric, I would totally put this quilt in my bed room. Like I said - understated sophistication.

The back of the quilt is a solid blue-teal color with a stripe of squares. The color is way off on this picture, but you get the idea. 

This picture shows the color more accurately - I used the same color for a solid binding. 

I think that blue and green block is my favorite. 

I did an all-over meandering stitch to quilt it. 

Don't you just want to snuggle a baby right up in it? 

In addition to the quilt, I did a bunch of decorations and accessories:

Stacking blocks, using charms and leftover scraps.

I couldn't find my poly stuffing, so I stuffed them with scraps and alpaca roving. This made them lumpy, but kind of vintage-y, which I like.

A little embroidery - 

(Rob & Stacey)

Love those french knot roses! 

Buttons from my stash that matched the fabric perfectly. 

A maverick start hand quilted with embroidery floss in a hoop. 

And two tiny hoops with charms to coordinate with the nursery. 

I threw in extra charms for a boy or a girl.

A couple mini quilts with special meanings. 

This block is called "Mother's Dream" - I thought that was so sweet because this baby really is Stacey's dream. She has been ready to be a mom since we played dolls as children. Stacey and Rob are going to be great parents!

This block is "Dutchman's Puzzle" - in honor of our Dutch heritage and because, come on, who doesn't love triangles?!

The nursery will also feature a matching curtain and crib ruffle, made from this green fabric. Those are hard things to photograph, so I'll update with those when the nursery is complete and I'm up there in a couple weeks. But you get the idea :-)

I added a blue ribbon to the bottom of both the curtain and ruffle, I think it adds a nice little touch and matches the walls perfectly.

I also made a couple changing pad covers using this tutorial.

They don't look like much here, but you get the idea.

Again, I'll update with photos of these actually in the nursery, on the changing pad.

I also made a window seat and diaper stacker, but for whatever reason, I forgot to take pictures, so you'll have to wait to see good ones of those.

I made a few more things, but they are surprises for Stacey's shower this weekend, so I'll wait until Sunday to show you pictures of those. I'm sad I won't be able to make it to the shower, but I hope everyone else takes lots of pictures so I can share those too.

Stacey and Rob were so happy to see everything, they love it and can't believe how great it looks in the nursery. Stacey sent me pictures of the nursery in progress, and upon further review, I noticed you can see the window seat and diaper stacker, plus the crib skirt in action.

Aren't those blue walls the perfect match?

Alright, that's all I have for now. I'm off to work in a few minutes and I just realized I forgot to move my clothes into the dryer, so I may be going into work a little damp today.

Hope you are enjoying a warm, dry day! 

Coming Soon to a Computer Screen Near You...

Don't worry friends, I know I've been awol for a while now, but I'll be back shortly. See, with the whole Australia for three months thing, moving back to the states, finding a place to live, and trying to get settled back into work and life, I just haven't had the time or energy to put into blogging. Plus we have been living without internet for over a month now and wifi hotspots are not ideal for trying to blog. But next week we are getting internet at our house and I finally feel like my life is getting back to normal, so I will be returning to the blogosphere next week with plenty of updates and pictures of everything I've been up to. Until then, enjoy your long weekend and stay safe! 

Card Making

My sewing machine and fabric stash are packed away in storage in Tennessee right now, so what's a girl to do when creativity strikes? Make cute cards!

The Messer girls are very crafty when it comes to card making so they took me under their wings and shared their tricks. I've learned about stamping, embossing, Cuttlebug-ing, the list goes on and on. Sally works in a scrapbooking store so they have all kinds of supplies and super cute paper to work with.

We went into the store to pick out some new paper and they had an example of a 3D card that I just had to try and recreate. I looked it over, took a picture in my mind, and set out to make one myself.

This is not the first one I made, but it's the first one I photographed. I'll have to take photos of the rest of them when we get back to the Messer house.

All the cards use Kaiser Craft's Offshore line. I love the bright blues and the pop or orange. And the shapes are beautiful organic waves, perfect for an Aussie summer.

I stamped the images in a chocolate brown onto the orange paper. I edged the pattern pieces in different shades of blue. I left the middle section blank for a special birthday message.

This was generally the same idea, but with different placement of the patterned paper. I also embossed the orange spikes on the side pieces. For added sparkle I threw in some blue and orange rhinestones all over the card. 

This is a simple birthday card. I stamped the "Happy Birthday" using indigo blue ink. I love the strip of stripes down the middle of the orange and the bit of wonkiness it brings (intentional or not, I'll never tell.)

Same idea, different papers. I used a Fiskars punch on the orange to get the nice lacy look and topped it with a dark blue ribbon. I love the simplicity of this card and it's blank so it's perfect for any occasion! 

I've had so much fun making cards, I know this is something I will continue when we get back to the states. I have all kinds of cute paper at home but I think I need to invest in a few stamps. A quick trip to Hobby Lobby and I'll be a card making fool! 

Made it to Australia

I made it to Australia after way too much time in the air. I watched two movies on the plane- "The Time Traveler's Wife" and "500 Days of Summer." They were both good, the first made me cry. Apparently Curt watched on the plane and also cried, I'd recommend it.

I didn't sleep well on the plane, so I was happy to get a good night's sleep last night at the Messer's. We will be staying here for a few days before heading off to a camp in Adanac.

The weather has been perfect so far, but it's supposed to get hotter in the coming week. Last night we went to a pool party and they invited us back if it gets hot. We may have to take them up on their offer. The camp we are going to has a lake with a giant water slide, so that will be really nice when we get there.

Curt was only here for a day and got a lot of sun. He forgot to put sunscreen on- check out the burn.

ouch.

The Messer's have a beautiful garden with lots of flowers and produce. Dad- check out these watermelons, they look much better than yours ever did. Well, at least the critters haven't gotten to them yet.

Going to get out of the heat and eat lunch now, nothing like fresh fruit on a hot summer day! 

2010

Last month was a whirlwind- I can't believe it is already January, and so much happened in December I don't even know where to start.

Curt has been gearing up with the band to tour Australia again so there was so much to figure out with that. In the meantime, we were planning on moving out of our apartment and into another one across time. Our lease was supposed to be done in the middle of December, so we made plans to move then. However, we got into a little disagreement with our apartment complex and turns out our lease wouldn't be done until January. We still wanted to move before Christmas because after that, Curt would be leaving and I would have to move by myself - aka would not work.

Not too long before our planned move-out date, Curt decided it made more sense for me to travel with the band instead of staying in Nashville, working my buns off to make ends barely meet. He was right- we could just stay in our current apartment until it we left for Australia and put all our stuff in storage. He made all the arrangements and came to me with a well-designed plan. I couldn't say no- he was right, it did make more sense. No rent, internet, TV, electric, water, etc bills to pay and I could spend the time with Curt (they will be gone three months.)

I gave my jobs two weeks notice, and both agreed to put me on a leave of absence until I get back. We started packing up the house and ended up staying home for Christmas, which was a big help to get most everything in boxes. My dad came down last week to help us finish packing and move it into storage. A friend agreed to let us share her huge storage unit, which was wonderful.

Curt spent last Monday at a photo shoot, so my dad and I got what we could packed. Wednesday and Tuesday he had rehearsal and I had to work, so my dad was on his own and worked really hard. There was so much to get done and not enough time to do it, but we finished everything and cleared out of our apartment just in time to ring in the new year.

Curt left with the band just after the stroke of midnight and drove through the night to Michigan to play at a camp for the weekend. My dad and I left the next day and got into Grand Rapids just after midnight.

I had some errands to run on Saturday, then we went out to eat with my family. We decided on a newish Mexican restaurant and it was delicious! They don't really have Mexican food in Australia like we are used to, but Curt and I love, love, love Mexican food so I had to get in one final meal.

Sunday was my grandma's 82nd birthday so the family surprised her by attending her church and made brunch for her house afterwards. It was so fun to surprise her, she had no idea what we were planning, and it was nice to see the whole family before we leave.

Sunday night we headed over to Curt's parents' house for a bon voyage dinner. It was nice to spend that time with our parents and sisters, and dinner was good. So was the blueberry coffee cake we had for dessert- yum!

We packed up all the merchandise and extra luggage and Curt's dad drove us down to Detroit. We spent the night at a hotel there - and by spent the night, I mean took a little nap before waking up at 5 to go to the airport.

In total, the three guys had 10 checked bags and 7 carry-ons. Last year the airlines were really cool about waving the extra baggage fees and they got away without paying outrageous amounts. Not so much this time around- we got the Southwest employee who insisted on each bag weighing not an ounce over 50 lbs and wouldn't wave any fees. One hour and $300 later the guys were through the check-in line and on their way to security. We knew they would have some trouble, mainly because Curt is carrying-on his wireless rack full of nothing but odd looking electronics and cables. I couldn't tell if they made him empty it out, but I know it took them much longer to get through security than everyone else in line.

Curt's dad brought me to another hotel, which is where I am spending my day. I took a much needed nap, caught up on emails, made a few calls, and now I'm debating dinner at the concierge or a bath and my book.

I fly out tomorrow morning- please pray for clear runways and safe flights. The guys arrived in LAX a little while ago, so please also pray for safe travels for them as they leave from there for Australia tonight. Any air travel makes me sick to my stomach, and traveling alone really makes me crazy, especially when it's for a couple days, all by myself. It means leaving here early in the morning, lay-over in Charlotte, arrive in LAX, collect all my luggage, check-in and go through security there, sit around for umpteen hours, leave for Australia late at night, fly all night, and hope someone I recognize is there to pick me up when I arrive in Melbourne.

It's not fun, it gets lonely, but at least this time it will mean I will get to spend all that time with Curt, see more of Australia, and completely avoid the rest of winter. Which, until I got to Michigan this weekend, was really not that bad anyway.

Because I will be having a lot of extra time on my hands, I'm setting a few goals for the new year and my time in Australia.

I would love to attempt a Project 365- taking a photo a day. I know I can do this- it's the blogging about it that will be a challenge.

I will also be handling all the podcasts/video diaries for the band. Last year Curt got really behind on the podcasts, primarily because he didn't always have time to do them. Since I really don't have responsibilities while I'm gone, I told Curt I would take on the videos.

I knew I wouldn't bring my sewing machine, but I needed some kind of creative outlet for the next three months. I decided on watercolors. I bought a tiny little notebook and I hope to paint a few little pictures a week.

I will also be knitting, but I could only bring so much yarn with me. My goal is to work through all the yarn I brought before our return. That way I can justify the suitcase full of yarn I'll be dragging around the airport tomorrow.

So, to kick off my Project 365: Day 1, January 4, 2010.

A Severe Weather Alert for the People of Nashville

The Weather Channel app on my iPhone alerts me when there are severe weather circumstances, such as tornados, floods, storms, etc.

Or tonight, cold weather. Yes, the temperature could get down into the 20's and they feel the need to warn the people of Nashville.

And I quote:

"Unseasonably cold low temperatures expected tonight as a strong surface ridge builds across middle Tennessee tonight. Overnight lows will be 10 to 15 degrees colder than normal. Other than a few passing clouds, skies will be clear enough for temperatures to drop to around 20 degrees in most locations, and into the upper teens across the Cumberland plateau region. Winds are expected to become calm as the night progresses. Wind chill, the apparent temperature felt on exposed skin due to the wind, which in situations where the wind speeds are 5 to 10 MPH or even greater, can make it feel several degrees cooler than the actual air temperature, will not be a major factor tonight.

However, with the coldest temperatures of the season so far expected tonight, the following safety rules still apply if you plan to be outside for any period of time. Dress warmly and stay dry; this includes wearing a hat, a scarf or knit mask to cover face and mouth, sleeves that are snug at the wrist, mittens-they are warmer than gloves, water-resistant coat and boots, and several layers of loose-fitting clothing.

Do not ignore shivering, it is an important first sign that the body is loosing heat. Persistent shivering is a signal to return indoors. By observing the above safety rules, you have a good chance of avoiding the affects [sic] of hypothermia and frostbite.

Hypothermia, the result of an abnormally low body temperature, can happen with prolonged exposure to the cold. It happens when your body beings to lose heat faster than it can be produced, and prolonged exposure to the cold will eventually use up your body's stored energy. What makes hypothermia particularly dangerous is that when the bodies [sic] temperature gets too low, the brain is affected, making the person unable to think clearly or move well, and the person may not know what is happening and will not be able to do anything about it.

Frostbite is an injury to the body that is caused by freezing. Frostbite causes a loss of feeling and color in affected areas. It most often affects the nose, ears, cheeks, chin, fingers, or toes. Frostbite can permanently damage the body, and severe cases can lead to amputation. The risk of frostbite is increased in people with reduced blood circulation and among people who are not dressed properly for extremely cold temperatures.

When traveling, remember the following safety rules. Check and restock the winter emergency supplies in your car before you leave. Do not rely on a car to provide sufficient heat, the car may break down. Always carry additional warm clothing appropriate for the winter conditions."

I've never seen something so ridiculous, are these warnings really necessary? Last night there was a warning that Nashville may get 1 inch of snow. One inch of snow!? My parents just got 10 inches overnight in West Michigan and no one batted an eye. There are only two states between us, but I can't believe the mystique surrounding snow down here. 

Curt had hoped to get away from the cold weather when we moved down here, but it looks like this winter may be a chilly one for Nashville and we'll just have to suffer the cold temperatures without the joy of a white Christmas.

these are a few of my favorite things

The week before Thanksgiving I spent all my free time making quilts and baby accessories. I had two orders and two sets to make for my family to gift. So I set to work, didn't go to bed for a couple nights, sewed and stitched and quilted until my fingers could take no more. When all was said and done, I decided to make one more quilt for my cousin who is having a baby girl any day now.

So without further ado-

This quilt was made to order for my friend Lyndsie. Her friend is having a baby girl and the nursery will be pink and purple flowers and butterflies. There is also a touch of lime green in the mix, and when I found these fabrics, I just knew it would be perfect.

I went with a disappearing 9-patch design. It's always fun to see the different layouts this pattern will make. With this one, I decided to make all the 9-patches the same, with the purple flowers as the corner pieces and the green in the center.

The back is this cute flannel flower print that I had in my stash. When I looked at the registry, I instantly thought of this flannel and knew it would match perfectly.*

The binding is this perfect stripe fabric. All the right pinks, purples, and lime green, with a little brown that will match the rest of their nursery set.

Along with the quilt I made a whole set of matching accessories. This is my favorite part - burp cloths, bibs, a tag-along blankie, onesies, and fabric cubes.

A closer look at the fabric cubes.. I made these on a whim for my sister's last set, and everyone loves them! I never knew they would catch on, but I have to admit, they really are adorable. I made these a little smaller, somewhere in the range of 1.5" squares, perfect for little girl fingers.

Here are the onesies- the green one is just a circle cut from the fabric, the pink is a cute butterfly. I love how both of these turned out, and I love a cute, simple onesie to throw under a little sweater or zip-up. Or pair them with a little skirt- instant outfit!

I love the way this set turned out and so did Lyndsie, I hope her friends do too!

This quilt I made for my cousin Sarah out of my scrap pile. I knew I had to go all out with the pinks, but I wanted to throw in a little yellow and green for a nice pop of color. Sarah is having her first girl after three boys, so we are all excited for some pink in their lives!

The quilt is a mix of pink and white solids, the pink dots and green are from Lyndsie's quilt, yellow from the quilt below, plus some Amy Butler, Heather Bailey, and some other random pieces. I cute 5.5" squares and then just laid them out randomly. I tried to make sure the colors were evenly spaced, but I love the random nature and freedom in making this quilt. I will definitely be making more of these patchwork square quilts, they are quite classic yet modern with the choice of fabric and colors. And I love the mix of solids and prints.

The binding is an Amy Butler Midwest Modern wavy stripe. Have I ever mentioned how much I love stripes for borders? Well, I do.

The back was another flannel from my stash, and a perfect match- pink and green flowers. I can't wait until there is a little girly bundle of joy to cuddle under this quilt, and I know Sarah is very anxious to finally meet her too!

The next quilt was commissioned by my dad for a co-worker.

They are doing a brightly colored jungle theme nursery, but I didn't want to over-do-it with jungle fabrics so I decided on semi-solid colors. And I've been dying to try a zig zag quilt, so this was the perfect opportunity.

The quilt is made with half-square triangles using a white cotton sateen. The colors have little prints and details- the top blue has tiny flowers, the green is a stripe, the orange is small dots (I think), and the bottom blue has little white and yellow dots. I love these colors together and the zig zag wasn't as hard as I imagined it to be.

I did have to go for a jungle print on the back to keep it a little in theme, and I just love those animals!

The binding is a yellow stripe, same as the green, just in a different color. I love both those fabrics!

The baby's mom also ordered a set of blocks with his name -Arjun- appliqued on them. There are also numbers and shapes on the other sides. I threw in a different blue with white dots to make a different print on each side of the cubes.

I also made two burp cloths, four bibs, and two pairs of shoes for baby Arjun. I love how all of these coordinate but look so cute individually.

They had their baby shower at work today and the mommy-to-be loved everything, but the blocks especially, my dad said. My dad's co-workers also loved the set, so a big shout out to any of you who have found my blog via my dad. HI Meijer corporate employees - now get back to work.

Not featured today is a set I made for my sister's friend, which makes me quite mad. I think she took it back to school with her before I could snap some photos. I'll have to talk her into taking a few so I can post them. It's also a jungle theme, but in totally different colors and I love the way it turned out. Sage greens and yellows with a pop of burnt orange- I wasn't crazy about it at first, but it turned out to be my favorite quilt in the end. I also made some burp cloths, bibs and shoes for her. I hope the mommy likes them all as much as I do.

I have so much fun making custom sets for people, if you are interested, please email me at brittneydanderson [at] gmail [dot] com.

To end- a picture of some of the ladies in my family, after our long day of shopping. My sister and I went early Friday morning to snag deals at Old Navy, Target, and Joann's. Saturday morning started early with breakfast at Cracker Barrel with all these lovely ladies. It's a long-lasting tradition that is followed by all-day shopping and a sleep over. This picture is after shopping, before sleeping, hence the PJs and tired smiles.

*Friday morning I stocked up on flannel from Joann's for $1.50/yd! I like to stock up when it's cheap like that and save it for baby quilts. I was able to use stash flannel on 3 of the 4 quilts I just made, which makes me so happy. When shopping, I look for basic color schemes and patterns, like jungle themes for boys, flowers for girls, or cute dots for gender neutral quilts. The flannel is wide enough to fit most of my baby quilts without piecing and 2 yards generally gives me enough for the quilt back plus bibs, burp cloths, shoes and a tag along blankie.