I took a leaf from Jenn's book
today and raided our scrap bin to make a spur-of-the-moment flannel
quilt top for Rilla. We are in the process of transitioning her to her
own bed in the girls' room. (My three big girls share a room, and we're
adding a trundle for little sis.) This is something that's always on
the to-do list during a pregnancy, moving the toddler out of our room
to make way for the newborn, but I admit I've been a bit lax with it
this time around. Rilla still nurses a little at night; that's part of
it. And also, she's very cuddly. Toddlerhood passes so quickly, and I
like to savor every breathy little snore of it.

A month or two
ago, we set up a (bedraggled old) child-sized futon next to our bed,
and Rilla has been starting out her nights there. At some point in the
night, she climbs into bed beside me. She's like a cat, the way she
sort of pours herself under the covers and curls up next to me with a
contented sigh. She's also like in a cat in the way she'll turn on a
dime and hiss and snarl at the blankets because they have offended her
somehow, and she's all flailing paws until the malevolent covers are no
longer touching any part of her body. A mercurial little creature, is
my Rilla.

Yesterday we moved the futon into the girls' room. She
thought this whole "sleeping with the big girls" thing was a pretty
swell idea right up until bedtime, when suddenly it was The Most
Offensive Idea Anyone Has Ever Had in All of Human History. But I
snuggled up beside her in the dark, and her sisters whispered to her,
and the devious plan I'd carried out earlier in the day—feeding her
marshmallows at naptime instead of putting her down for a nap—paid off
pretty quickly. She sighed, and sank, and slumbered, and when her limbs
began lashing at the covers I knew it was safe for me to slip away.
(Sob.)

Jane and I thought a special new blanket for her special
new bedroom might help ease the transition. Rilla doesn't have a
blankie she's attached to, though she does like the little patchwork
baby quilt I made her before she was born. It's way too small now, of
course. So this morning Jane and I pieced together the remnants of the
same cozy flannel plaids and prints I'd used for that baby blanket
nearly three years ago and came up with a sort of wonky, large-patch
quilt top. We've got a big piece of pink plaid-and-polka-dots to use
for the backing. I've never actually quilted anything before, mind
you—the baby quilts I've made are just patchwork tops with flannel
backing, no batting in between. I need to go buy some batting tomorrow
and we'll see if we can pull this thing off.

In the meantime, the quilt top seems to have passed Miss Rilla's muster.

The little embroidered kitty with flower umbrella at the bottom is a pattern from the Wee Wonderfuls "Tulip Fairy" Stitchette
set, which I bought a while back and forgot about until today. That
blank pink patch was just begging for a bit of embellishment. And I
have to say, I am completely enchanted. The Stitchette pattern is a
reusable iron-on which took all of ten seconds to transfer to our
fabric. Suddenly everywhere I look are blank bits of fabric crying out
for a little Wee Wonderfuls snail, or the mice pouring tea from that cunning acorn teapot, or that kite-flying ladybug, oh the cuteness of it all.