Day 293 -- Sew....

To preface this discussion, let me just state that my mom and I are crazy. We realize this. We have come to accept it. We are not planning on modifying the situation.

After hours of searching on the internet, I was a little more than frustrated with the selection of boys crib bedding. I found a million girls sets that I could have snatched up and been happy with, but I just couldn't find that perfect boys set. I did, however, find some fabric that I fell in love with. So what other option did I have than to make the crib bedding? Settle for something 75% there from Pottery Barn and save a ton of time? No. Not an option. So I enlisted my mom's help to make a quilt and bumper.

This is what we started with. I bought a fat quarter bundle of fabric from Moda in the "Goodnight Monkey" line. It has an assortment of fabrics with retro sock monkeys in a bedtime theme. The colors and patterns are great. We had 35 different fabrics.

Did I mention we are crazy?

I am so glad we're crazy. This is the result of our efforts. It is just what I was looking for. Actually, much cuter than what I was looking for. The quilt is frayed on one side and basic quilted on the other. The bumper is quilted and backed with the blue polka dot. My mom machine stitched the red on the edges to the blue, then I hand stitched the other side down. I'm pretty proud of the result. It actually looks as good as store bought. I cannot wait to see it in a finished room. Grandma also picked up a stuffed sock monkey to go with the decor.



Here's a better look at some of the fabrics. Each time I look at the quilt, I think..."That's my favorite...no, maybe that one."



This little project took us about 2 1/2 days to finish. Well worth it in my opinion.

As if this wasn't enough, I had a specific vision for our master bedroom. I wanted bedding that had taupes, tans and bluish greens. This set from pottery barn was close. I love the stripes. I also wanted a bunch of different kinds of pillows as well. I calculated it out and to purchase this set with all the pillow cases, throw, etc, we were looking at $680. Ouch. I might be crazy, but I'm not that crazy.

I love shopping at Lorraine's. They have much better prices than JoAnn's. Much better. It's so cheap, it's practically free. Actually, it is free. Before you start searching high and low for this amazing craft store. I'm talking about my mom's house. It's our running joke that any time I need some crafty item, there's no need to go to a craft store at all, just go to Lorraine's -- my mom already has it.

Case in point: I was telling my mom about this vision and she said, "Come here, take a look at this stuff and see if you want any of it." She had planned on redecorating one of her smaller bedrooms and had bought all kinds of fabrics, pillows, throws, etc. She never ended up being able to do the room and has since changed her vision. :) Everything she had was perfect. It was exactly the color scheme I wanted and the fabrics and pillows were really beautiful. Sew... we decided to make the bedding for the master bedroom too. Did I mention we're crazy?

I ended up buying some fabric to add to her collection and probably spent about $175 on supplies and fabrics. A far cry from the $680. Here's the pile o' stuff that we started with.









And here is the final product:

We even had enough to upholster the benches and add some pillows there. We haven't done the one in the closet yet, but that is definitely on the list. Not bad, huh? Thanks Mom for everything. I LOVE it all. It is perfect.

Brian, I wanted to make our new bedroom special for the both of us. I hope you like it as much as I do.

Last but not least, they have started tiling the bathroom. Looking good! It is becoming imperative that we get a bathroom upstairs now that I am 8 mo. prego.