In a few weeks time, I get to be an auntie and my girls get to be cousins. Over the last week we have been sorting through the baby bedding and putting a care package together for my sister in law*. Of course, the package had to be topped with a new quilt for the baby. The girls are also pretty excited about getting a cousin.

Sorting through the bedding I realised that I really do have a lot of baby quilts. It got me to thinking about what makes a good baby quilt and this is what I came up with:

• Baby's are not always clean - make the quilt washable
• Mum's are often pushed for time - make it MACHINE washable, quilt it tight so that it will hold up to the machine.
  
• Some Mum's are scared of what the machine might do - prewash and dry the quilt so all the shrinking is over and done with.
• Babies love cuddles and soft things - consider using flannelette backing.
• Babies temperatures are very sensitive - use materials that will breathe, avoid polarfleece or polyester batting.

And most of all, make something you enjoy making.


*For those of you who were at the engagement party on the weekend and are wondering where the bump was, all I can say is it's the OTHER sister in law.

I have a pile of craft books, a veritable collection. So many of them I pour over and think that one day.. Today just might be that day, or maybe that month.


These beautiful bloomers are taken from Emma Hardy's “Making Children’s Clothes”. I managed to finish then a few days ago. Rebekah has challenged us to finally tackle at least one of those projects that has been sitting, hidden in a book, this month. You read more about it here, but for now I’m eyeing up another pattern. Hot pink bubble skirts any one?

In the middle of the muddle the smallest things become treasures. My crafting space is a mess and my garden is even more so. However, I never thought I would get so much pleasure out of some failed cabbages and a few stolen hours.


The garden has become an collection of when the sun shines..when the baby is asleep..when I have time. It is nearing summer and I have only the midwinter vegetables planted. The strawberry patch is a neglected space waiting for me to replace the hose that broke last summer. The cabbages were bitter after a long winter, so I let them go to seed and the smallest cabbage turned out to not be a cabbage after all.


The shape of the leaves gave it away and so I just left it there in the hopes that is wasn’t a cabbage. It is slowly being joined by some other stowaways from the same punnet of seedlings. I think I will leave them there.

For someone who claims to be a quilter, there doesn’t appear to be much of that going on either. The last quilt I finished was months ago. I’m certainly not one of those people who can churn out a new project every week, pour over the newest fabrics while buying up large or even stop still for long enough to write about it. I used to dream of having days on end to myself to simply sew, but now I’m happy for just two hours. They have become very precious to me.

Every Tuesday night I sneak out of the house and join the local quilting classes. With my machine and bag in the car I am off. Two hours of not worrying about who is a sleep and who isn’t. Two hours of just me, my machine and some great friends. With such small bites, it has taken me a while to get even one top finished, but would you believe that there are two? I think I will have to call these my Tuesday Sanity quilts.

The baby is awake again. I must dash back to the muddle, and the little treasure in my life, who is getting bigger all the time. I will save the quilts for another time but for now here is a peek.

When I talk she coos and smiles, but when I sing, she just beams.

When I had Little e, my mother passed me my Plunket Book. It was carefully covered with a recycled greeting card. I seem to recall that my brother’s matches, but with a blue cover. It is nice to be able to flick through the pages and see that milestones are all the same, even thirty years on. The advice in the front made me chuckle so I thought I should share the “Suggested Routine Day”.


6:00 am Early morning tea for parents. The baby is changed, fed and returned to his cot.
7:00 am Parents rise
8:00 am Breakfast
9:00 am Sunbathe or exercise period for the baby in his cot.
9:30 am Bath and dress baby.
10:00 am Feed baby and put him down to sleep – outside if possible.
12:30 pm Lunch or dinner for family
1:30 – 2:00 Change baby, feed him and put him outside in the pram. Follow this with exercise period in crib or playpen
3:00 pm Afternoon tea and as baby grows older, an outing in the pram. Follow this with and exercise period in crib or playpen.
5:30 p.m Feed baby. Social time and then to bed in a quiet well ventilated room.
6:00 pm Family evening meal.
6:30-7:00 pm Recreation and relaxation.
9:30-10:00 Last feed for the baby. Change and tuck down.
10:00 Supper and bed for parents.

That mum is having a very long day, even if the baby is sleeping through the night. I like that she doesn’t clean the house either. I think we all look back and consider that there was some idyllic time for bringing up children, be it the 1950’s or the 1970’s. I console myself that this virtuous timetable was written at the same time as irreverent ( or even celebratory) songs like this (Miss Smith you will appreciate this one).

My time table is stuck to the fridge. It started as a list of things my mother could do to help when she arrived. I have added to it (in itallics) as I started to use it for myself whenever I had a spare moment. It reads: Meals, Laundry, Dishes, Sleep, Eat, Bathe. Much easier to follow and yes, I do need reminding of the last 3.

We had our last midwife appointment on Friday.

Last time, it took me by surprise. I felt sure I wasn’t ready to care for my baby without the training wheels. I found every reason I could to stall as the midwife left.


This time we were ready. E had picked out a gift, and I had even managed to get some photos developed. It’s high time I shared some.


The hat is from Janelle of Heartfelt fame and you can see more of the quilt here.