Here is the latest pregnancy picture. Its more of a baby hill than a baby bump now!
Bryson took the picture of me this morning. This was the final result after several tries on his part. He did a pretty good job! Oh, by the way, that is a wreath on the wall behind me. I just realized it looks a little strange with that spiky thing all around my head!

Count Down

In one week I could possibly have #3. I"m getting nervous! I hope I can handle 3 little kids! I hope the baby is a good baby! I hope the delivery goes smoothly! I basically hope everything a 9 month pregnant mom does.

I had my last check up appointment on Monday. I"m not dilating yet, which is good because if I was I would have needed to stay in UT. But I am starting to thin out. I"m not going to restrict my activity anymore because I really want this little girl, and my body, to be ready for her to come next week.

Of course there was a snow storm that started the day of my appointment so the kids and I were stuck in UT until Wed. because the freeways were closed. I"m glad that we got to stay longer (other than Ashelynn missing school) because we got to spend more time with my parents and my sister and her family who are currently visiting from TX. Here is a cute collage of some pics that I took while we were there of my kids, my nephews, and my sister's kids.



The next post will be the new baby!

Update and Quilt Directions

So I must have been busy last month not to write anything!

I did turn 30! Its still young, but I'm sad I can't say I'm 20 something anymore. I remember when my mom turned 30, so I guess it does make me feel old! No offense mom! :) For my b-day Bryant sent me some wonderful roses and my mom came up to visit. We went out to lunch and then had dinner here. We made steak and shrimp for dinner. It was really good. Then Bryant's parents came over for cake. My kids tried shrimp for the first time and really liked it. The shrimp didn't like Bryson though. He was up half the night throwing up from it! Poor little guy!
The next day some friends had lunch for me which was so nice! Thanks for the gifts and thanks Ashley for hosting!

The rest of Feb. went by in a flash it seems. Ashelynn had soccer and scored a goal in her last game of the season. We were so proud of her and glad that she had so much fun!


Bryant went to the Convention and saw a quite a few of our friends from Omaha. He also got to go to the state championship wrestling tournament. His cousin is a senior and was wrestling. Bryant has gone to his house a couple of times in the last 2 years to coach him a bit, which they both loved! Bryant loves that tournament and it made it even better because his cousin won state for his weight! Way to go Andrew! I helped with stake standards night again teaching the music to the kids. It seemed that all the practices were at the exact times that Bryant all ready had things planned months ago, so thanks to Ashley and my mom for helping watch my kids! The preformance was tonight. It was fun to watch and I'm glad that its all done!

So now its March and I only have a few weeks left of being pregnant. I'm getting nervous! I hope it all goes well and that I can handle 3 little kids! It will all work out because it has too!

Well here are the promised quilt directions. I really wanted to post pictures of the process, but I don't have time, or the ability to bend, that I would need to make another one! If they don't make sense I'm sorry! Email me if you have questions if anyone decides to try and make one!

Quilt Directions


You will need 1 yard of a cotton print that you really like for one side. Then another separate yard of the same fabric. With these 2 prints you will put the wrong sides together. So you will be able to see the print on one side and see it through the fray on the other side.

You will then need 4 separate yards of a soft thin flannel fabric (You don't want thick flannel because it will not fray). Small patterns on them are fine because if the pattern is small you really won't see it.

Iron all the pieces.

Layer the pieces on a flat surface. (I use my floor because my table isn't big enough to have them totally flat).

Match all layers as close as you can so all edges are the same. It won't work perfectly, because they probably aren't cut perfectly to a yard each, but do the best you can not to have some layers hang over others.

First layer is your baby print face down (the wrong side will face you). - --Smooth out all wrinkles
Second layer is baby print facing you.
*Smooth all over until flat with no wrinkles
Third through sixth layers are the flannel. Right sides facing you. Use the color you like the least first because you won't see that layer as much once its frayed.
*Smooth all over until flat with no wrinkles after placing each layer
The last flannel layer should be the one that matches the print the best because you will see that the most (this is the mistake I made on my last blanket and why the side don't match as well as I would like them too on mine).

Once you have smoothed all the layers out you start pinning using safety pins. Use a lot of safety pins! The fabric is going to shift a bit as you sew it. The more pins, the less it will shift.

Turn the blanket over so your baby print side is facing you. Smooth again.
You may have to re-pin if that layer shifted a alot

Once its all very flat and pinned you can draw your starting line
Use a washable marker and a yard stick to draw a straight diagonal line from one corner to the other on the print side (while you sew the lines the print side will be facing you).

You will need 2-3 spools of thread that will blend into your print side to sew the lines. Since you will we sewing so many lines be aware of how much thread is left on your bobbin. It stinks to have the bobbin run out in the middle of a long line!

Use a new heavy gauge machine needle to sew this. All the layers will dull your needle by the time you are done, and if the needle is too thin, it will break.

Start by sewing straight down the line you drew. Remember to back stitch the beginning and end of each line.

********Keep the fabric very tight as you sew the lines so the fabric doesn't pucker. It will pucker easily because of all the layers you so really have to work to keep it flat and smooth as you run it through the machine.**************

For the next and all following lines use the foot of your sewing machine as a guide. Place the outside of your foot next to the last line you did, then start the next line. You will be working from the middle to the outside corner.

Once you finish a side, turn the blanket around (print side still facing you) and start at the middle line and sew outward again.

When all lines are done you begin cutting.
Use a flat surface. Turn the blanket so the flannel side is facing you now.

Cut in between every sewn line making sure not to cut the 2 layers of baby print fabric

There is a tool you can purchase for this that makes it go much faster. Its a rotary blade for making chenille blankets. I've made several blankets using scissors to cut the layers. After one blanket my scissors were dull. After cutting several blankets, my scissors were ruined! The tool saves a lot of time!

After you have cut every space between your sewn lines you are ready to even out the blanket

Use a cutting mat, rotary cutter, and a straight edge guide. I have a quilting mat and a very long, wide, clear, quilting ruler and its called "O'LIPFA Lip edge ruler" Model No. 11111 I got these tools at Walmart.

First cut the edges straight. As you do this make sure to cut off any edges where some layers of fabric hang over others (this will happen as you sew it) and make sure to cut off any areas where the patterns may end (the white edges on a bolt of fabric where the patterns end may also have shifted and need to be cut off if you did not cut them off before you layered them).

Once you have straight edges fold the blanket in half and make all side even so you have a rectangle blanket. You have to push down really hard to get all the layers to stay before you cut them.

Then you bind the blanket. I use 2 1/4 inch binding. You can use whatever you like. Here is a link to a place that has great pictures on how to bind a quilt:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltlady50/sets/72157603685607210/

Here are some written directions also:

http://www.ehow.com/how_2074599_bind-quilt.html

After binding, wash and dry the blanket once or twice. (Empty the lint trap in the dryer right away! It will be extremely full!)


I really like making these, but they take forever for me! I hope this made sense!