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Just another project in paradise

Recently I had the opportunity to work on a project that I have wanted to do for 10 years. It all started when I had a pair of jeans that I just loved that no longer fit and I didn't have the heart to part with them. 10 years later, I had a tote full of jeans and a dream.

With help from my mom, I was able to make a full size quilt with 3 different types of quilt blocks. 40-something of the blocks were a complicated pattern with 1 inch strips. Such detailed sewing is tricky on thick bulky fabric like denim. We also did 40-something simple blocks and 80-something plain blocks. Knowing that it would need to be quilted, we came up with a plan to try free motion quilting on the plain blocks.

I started watching youtube videos demonstrating free motion quilting by Leah Day. She is also working on a project to make a new pattern every day for a year, so she had tons of ideas. She also made a video describing the equipment she uses, which I had none of. So, after some debate, I decided to take the plunge and make the investment into the equipment. When it finally arrived, I hesitantly started. On the first blocks I did a simple meandering pattern to get a feel for the machine. It wasn't too long before I wanted to try more and experiement with designs. I decided that it would be perfectly fine to make this quilt a "sampler" and try a different technique on every block. It ended up being a ton of fun, especially compared to the other style of quilting, stitch in the ditch, which is a lot of straight lines and manuvering a very heavy quilt.

And yes, the quilt did turn out very heavy. I think we used 15 or so pairs of jeans, plus batting and backing. It feels so warm and cozy, just like a quilt ought to be.

Start to finish, here's the project in photos:

Jean Quilt

Month 5

Dear Ruby,

As I sit here and type this you are in your walker, lurching around the kitchen.  You keep chasing your new best friends, Trigger and Paco.

You've become kitten crazy.  You like your parents alright, but catch a glimpse of a kitten and all we hear are squeals of delight.  Sometimes they run to high ground, and sometimes you manage to corner them.  It won't be long and there will be nowhere for them to hide.

I was amazed at how quickly you learned to use your walker.  At first you just sat there.  Then you figured out kicking your right leg would push you left.  Then kicking the left leg would push you right.  In about three days, you were stumbling back and forth like a college student coming home from a house party; not very elegant, but clearly on a mission.  Now you can wheel yourself to around the house with ease.  Maybe I should setup an obstacle course so you don't get bored.

Foods have also entered your world.  So far you've had rice, oatmeal, bananas, apples, squash, avocado, carrots, sweet potato, blueberries and prunes.  You've liked it all, but I think your favorite is prunes.  I think thats funny.

You've also had your first two swimming lessons.  You aren't very interested in the other kids and don't particularly like to follow the directions.  But you do like to splash around, chase toys, and float on your back.  I have to admit: I think your swimming lessons are just as much fun for me as they are for you.  I hope its just one of the many things we get to do together.

Month 5 with you has been another amazing whirlwind.  Life before you is getting hazier in my memory, but thats alright.  Life with you is pretty cool too.

Love,
Dad

Looking innocent

Preparing Dinner

Eating Dinner

Out for a swim

Feelin' Lucky?

Our wee little one has at best a drop of Irish heritage, for which we gladly celebrated today. The Rubster rocked 2 seperate St. Patty's day outfits, one of which she put on for a 5 minute photo shoot yesterday, then promptly put in the mail for her friend Trey to wear today.

We also headed west to hear Carl's band play at Claddagh and thoroughly enjoyed some Irish tunes. You'd be surprised that Ruby may have been the only baby in the bar. Really? Like, do people hide their babies from fun or what?!? ;)

New Photos from February and March

Band Practice, First veggie, swimming

Splish Splash!

On Friday I started doing some research into getting Ruby into a swimming class. I emailed a swim school on Saturday morning and by Saturday evening, we had heard from the instructors and received an invitation to try a class for free on Sunday.

So, today we ran out and bought Ruby a swim diaper, paired it with this adorable green suit from my generous co-worker Deb, and headed off to the pool.

The class is held in the warm water pool at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in east Madsion. Seven other small people under age 2 made for a very fun time. Ruby was serious at first, but not scared. We sang a few songs and splashed around. We also did a variety of exercises to practice swimming basics and water safety. Much of it was lost on a baby of Ruby's age, but she definitely had fun. She practiced kicking, chasing a toy in the water, floating in the "boat" (photo with Carl), "jumping" in, and her back float. At this age they didn't do any underwater swimming, although Ruby seemed strangely eager to put her face in the water.

Ruby fell asleep on the way home and is still sleeping and hour later. I guess the little gal got all tuckered out. We had a ton of fun and we are still deciding if we want to keep going now, or wait until she's a little older. We'll keep you posted!

Winter Weekend Getaway

Katherin, Ruby, and I packed our bags and took off for the north woods this past weekend.  It was a much needed escape filled with skiing, snowshoeing, movies, games, puzzles, beer, smores, food, and many, many antlers.  Organized by Katie and Joe, we shared a ridiculously beautify cabin on Conners Lake in the Flambeau River State Forest with eight other friends.  The weather was perfect and the company was better.  It almost makes me want winter to last forever!  Or at least save up for my own cabin in the woods.

Winter Weekend Get-Away

The time has come...

At Ruby's 4 month check up Tuesday, we got the official thumbs up to start cereal. This has been a moment I've been excitedly dreading for a long time. When I was pregnant, I started researching the timing of the 1st introduction of gluten to try to give Ruby the best shot at not developing Celiac disease. I came across several scholarly articles that focused on the unique window of time between 4-6 months, where the immune system is developing, but is not yet fully developed, when the introduction of gluten is not considered a threat to your body. All the articles also emphasized the importance of breastfeeding during this time, which is what helped me stick it out, even when it seemed like pure torture. Many baby food books have suggested delaying the introduction to as late as 9 months or even a year. The scholarly research I've read pretty much all agrees this is not ideal and have found that even delaying until 7 months poses an increased risk in the likelihood of developing celiac disease.
Which brings us to yesterday. Ruby literally had a few grains of rice cereal in breastmilk and loved it! She quickly figured out the relationship between the spoon moving toward her, opening her mouth, and moving the food backward to swallow. It was really cool to watch. My plan is to advance her through rice and oatmeal and into barley cereal around 5 months old. Most Celiacs consider oatmeal a contaiminated grain and will likely have a few stray gluten proteins. Barley is a glutenous grain. We will need to do some small servings of barley, probably mixed with rice or oatmeal to introduce gluten, but not overwhelm her system.

With that said, I should explain that even though I know she's at risk, she has to eat gluten in order to be properly diagnosed in her future. We hope with careful introduction she'll never develop it at all. She can be tested between 3-4 yrs old, once her body has created antibodies that can be detected with a blood test.

Now, dairy is another story...