row by row
It think it was at this point that I completely fell in love with this quilt. Limiting myself to Loominous fabrics and to fabric-repetition in the rows is not always easy for my patchwork spirit, but the effects are exactly what I wanted. It's strong, spicey and a tad dark side, but with pretty colors and woven details to keep things "me."
Oh! Also, I learned how to align the fabrics correctly after making just one mark - the diagonal crease line with my
. (I mark a line that falls at 1/4" from each corner of the top fabric and then arrange fabrics so that the line touches at a 1/4" from each corner of the underneath fabric.) That saves a good bit of time so that churning out these half rectangle triangles isn't a chore. I still have to trim each HRT after sewing, just as you would with half square triangles. At least the trimmings are pretty!
Today I finished my fifth row. She's coming along nicely! The colors look a bit duller here than they are in real life. When I photograph the finished quilt outside, hopefully I'll capture the rich tones.
I've chosen fabrics for the last two rows, which I hope to complete this afternoon, before Brandon comes home from work and we go work on the addition. Honestly, working on the addition is just as fun as patchwork these days because it's slowly but surely turning into fresh livable space! I plan to move the baby's dresser/changing table into the new master bedroom this weekend and pack it with diapers, clothes and all the essentials we'll use right away. I'm also eyeing the entry, which just needs trim. I can't wait to move some of our furniture that's clogging up the rest of the house into the entry where it belongs and roll out my new entry rug. It's the little things!
And then, when I'm not working on the addition I am most likely scouring the internet, Baby Name Wizard and my poor, long suffering friends about baby names. We've never had trouble choosing a girl name before, but this time has been different. So different. Still no name, but not for lack of trying. The phases:
A Girl! How fun! Maybe Cora, maybe Esme, maybe Penny, maybe Ivy... so many good options!
Drum roll: It's Esme. Esme Rosalie Hauser! (No, we've never read Twilight.)
Oh no, once we commit, Esme feels terribly wrong! Maybe after she's born it'll all feel right. Yeah, maybe we should just choose a name after she's born from among all our good options.
Several months interim in "it'll all work out" denial.
Crap. It's not going to work out. The names sound worse and worse. Stress. This baby is coming soon. Stress! (At least it's not birth-related stress.)
Clearly we haven't found the right name. Once we come across the right name, we'll know. Insert baby name books, websites, smart phone game apps.
I have now considered every name known to man. Brandon and I are going for different styles entirely. My guidelines for the right name are snowballing out of control (can't start with "A" or "L" or "E"; can't end in "ia"; must be feminine, but not very long, etc.). There is no name for this baby. Can we just keep calling her "baby"? A friend googles "baby" in other languages. It's that bad.
So, yeah, the baby name thing has been tough this time. I know we don't 100% have to choose a name before she's born or before we leave the hospital or etc. But, I don't really want this hanging over my head at a time when I hope to be enjoying my baby, and at a time when I might be very emotional anyways, for a whole number of reasons.
If only names could be built like quilts - row by row.
That would be easier.