Iva Leigh Swing Dress

I had a hard time with this little dress. I started working on it during Kid's Clothes Week, but there weren't very many pictures in the pattern, so I had a hard time. I put the call out for help, and my Aunt Carolyn called me on Skype to walk through part of it. I put in about 20 minutes sewing every morning this past week, and I managed to finish it this weekend!

The pattern is the Iva Leigh dress by Bonnie Blue, and I made a six months dress. It seems to fit Zerah pretty good right now. She should be able to wear it throughout the summer. I bought the fabric from Joanne's; it is a swiss dot-white with little pink polka dots. It is fully lined with white Kona cotton. I also hand stitched the binding around the armholes, which was a first for me. I am generally in favor of machine sewing it on because I just want to finish quickly, but I took the time to tack it down by hand which really does look nicer.

I have started another one, and I am going to take pictures of the process so I remember how to put it together the next time I make it. I did iron it, but it appears a little wrinkled!


The skirt is really full, and it would be a great twirly dress for a little girl who is a little older. I did get to use my ruffler on the bottom which was fun. I also like the little buttons all the way down the back of the dress.

This makes my final finish for Jacquie's Spring to Finish Challenge. Here was my original list:
Barcelona Skirt for me-finished!
Sewconnected 2 blocks for Rita-finished!
Two Oliver + S 2+2 Tunics-finished
2 Swing Tops for Zerah-finished
2 Dresses for Zerah-finished one
Gingham Pants-finished
Spring Quilted Tablerunner-top pieced
9 Patch Quilt Top-squares finished

I added my postage stamp quilt, and it now has a pieced back and it is basted. I am still ripping out stitches. I can only deal with about an hour of this at a time. I have a total of eight finishes!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. The weather is beautiful here in the 70's, and we just got back from a 3 mile walk to the park where we had a picnic with cold fried chicken, pasta salad, and grapes. It was so nice to just be outside.

Postage Stamp Quilt Progress

Remember my postage stamp quilt? I started it two years ago this month. That is so long ago! I decided it was time to finally finish it in time for Jacquie's Spring to Finish challenge. So I pieced together the back last week, basted it last weekend, and started to stipple it.

I started stippling and sewed away for a long time. When my bobbin ran out, I flipped it over and found this mess on the back.

I thought I would cry, but I didn't. Instead, I have pulled out my seam ripper and started ripping it out.

...and ripping some more....

So, I am still in the ripping stage, and this will not be finished before the Spring to Finish Challenge ends. I will persevere, and it will be finished soon. I love it, and I don't know why it has taken me so long to finish.

Blogger's Quilt Festival-Spring 2010

This is one of my favorite quilts. It is the first quilt from a virtual quilting bee that I have finished. I have more in stages that need to be done! I can't believe how many blocks I have made and sent out for these Craftster swaps. Anyway, I love it. It was made during one of the Craftster Lap Quilt Swaps. It was first posted about here. I finished it last summer.

It is 82 x 96 inches, and it is the biggest quilt I have made so far. It fits my full size bed perfectly!
Members who sent me blocks for this quilt include:

athenamat
j_q_adams quiltdad
flashleyashley
ritapizza mochistudio
1boy1girl1kitty2
MissDisney
glittergirl94
klum78
sewhelpme
jenicat
whoopdedoo_5
southernflower
critterpants

I tried to tag each block that was made for me on flickr here, but it was hard to peruse through some of the galleries. I also tagged the participants in the list with their flickr page if I knew it and their blog. The bee was in the summer of 2008, and it is easy to forget! If you know of flickr pages or blogs for these people, leave me a comment so I can add their information. That is why it is important to make notes.:)

The back is pieced with leftover strips from the front in a strip and quilted with a 3" diagonal grid pattern. It was so much fun participating in this swap, and it led the way to many more swaps.

If you have a quilt to share, go over to Amy's Blogger's Quilt Festival Spring 2010. Even if you don't have a quilt to share right now, you should go check it out! There are so many beautiful quilts showcased and you are bound to find inspiration.

Wordless Wednesday

Kid's Clothes Week: Sundresses and Pants

For the last half of Kid's Clothes Week, I worked on two sundresses and a pair of pants. The sundress crosses in the back and is made of one piece of fabric. I love the way the back looks with the crossing of the straps.

I used Maggie's Classics Sundress 345 for the dress with purple seersucker gingham. I used my ruffler foot for the ruffle along the bottom and the back. It is a size 1.


For the pants, I used the Britches and Bloomers pattern by Jackie Clark. I made the size 6-12 months. These should have taken my about an hour, but they took several hours. My ruffler foot kept missing the back layer of fabric, and then I sewed it on the wrong way on the leg three times.

I do like the little back pockets, though. Next time, I know it will go together quicker. Plus, I have my patterns traced out already.

I made one more sundress out of some paisley fabric that I had in my stash. I decided to not do a ruffle on this one because the fabric is so busy already. I love this little pattern. It goes together so quickly. I think I could cut one out and sew it up in about an hour, so for a quick little dress, it is perfect.

I enjoyed Kid's Clothes Week. It really challenged me to find time to sew in the morning during the week. I am going to try and keep that momentum going by working on my postage stamp quilt for the spring Blogger's Quilt Festival. It starts next week, so get your quilt's ready!

Kid's Week Challenge: Day 2-3

I have been diligently trying to fit in time to sew in the early morning, and I managed to get this pattern traced, cut out, and started to sew. I then ran into a roadblock. I need pictures to help me figure patterns out, and this one is seriously lacking in the picture department. I am trying to make the sleeveless dress in the top right corner of the front of the pattern.

I started sewing the exterior to the lining as I thought the pattern read, but I am ending up with some serious bulk on the back where the buttons should go. So, I think I am going to put this one aside for a few days and call in for help. I may post some pictures here to see if any of you know how to do this!

Some of my cousins were in town last night, and I showed them the dress. My cousin (who is actually my second cousin once removed?) reminded me that her sister is a Bernina Master Teacher and knows how to sew everything. I am going to shoot her an email with tons of pictures to see if she can help me figure this out. Maybe we can try skype? She lives 2,000 miles away, so I can't just go over to her house-unfortunately. I hate having to stop in the middle of a project, but I don't want to mess it up.

I will be moving on to something else, and hopefully that will go smoother. I do get to pull out my pleater foot which I am very excited about. :)

Oliver S 2+2 Tunic

For the first day of Kid's Clothes Week, I finished two Oliver+S- 2+2 tunics.

I started making these a few weeks ago, but I sewed on the buttons yesterday morning during my thirty minutes of sewing. I really like how they turned out! I had not used Oliver S patterns before, and I was really impressed with how detailed the instructions were. This made it so much easier to sew. It is like taking a mini-lesson in garment sewing.

This is a 6 months size with fabric from Joanne's. I love the top one; it is made of little bunny toile that is so cute. It is a really faint design, but it is easier to see upclose than in this picture.


The second one is also made from fabric from Joanne's. I bought it off the sale table because I wanted to try it in cheap fabric first. My husband thinks the fabric looks like a hospital gown, so now that is all I can think of. Oh, well... it doesn't help that it buttons up the back!

I have some flannel that I would like to make another one of these out of for the fall.

We are also 1/2 way through the Spring to Finish challenge, and I have 5 finishes total. You can click on the button at the top right corner to go to Jacquie's original post, and I am keeping track right above it with links to the projects I am finishing.

sewconnected2, Spring to Finish Challengs, and Kid's Clothes Week Challenge

I have finished Rita's blocks for the sewconnected2 virtual bee I am in. She sent the most beautiful shot cottons. I love these fabrics; the colors are beautiful and they are so soft. She wanted blocks that remind one of home or wonky logcabinish. I made two because I loved working with these fabrics! For the top hear, I used this tutorial at Tallgrass Prairie Studio.


I used my leftover strips to piece together this wonky log cabinish square. I like the way it turned out with squares above squares or a diamond depending on the way you are looking at it.

I joined Jacquie's Spring to finish challenge back in the middle of April. I just haven't had time to post about it! I have several things I would like to finish this month, and I already have one finish to add to my list!
Here is my original list of what I would like to finish:

Barcelona Skirt for me-finished!
Sewconnected 2 blocks for Rita-finished!
Two Oliver + S 2+2 Tunics-need buttonholes and buttons
2 Swing Tops for Zerah-cut out
2 Dresses for Zerah
Gingham Pants
Spring Quilted Tablerunner-top pieced
9 Patch Quilt Top-squares finished

I wonder how much more of this I can finish! Some are already started so it looks good!


Kid's Clothes Week Challenge
I just discovered a new blog, elsie marley, and she is having a kid's week challenge in May. I am having so much fun making little girl clothes that I have to join in. The basic premise is to devote one hour each day to sewing kid's clothes. During the week, I don't usually sew because I just don't have the time after getting home from work, picking up Zerah, eating dinner, nursing, etc. My nighttime schedule is very scheduled, so I would have to stay up late to do that. I tend to go to bed right after she does (8:30) so I can get up at 4:20 to pump, nurse, and get ready to leave for work at 6:30. If I can sew while I pump, I can devote 30 minutes or so (early!)and maybe I can fit in 15 minutes at night? I am going to try! I have started cutting out a few patterns so I can start tomorrow.:) The great thing is that it coincides with the Spring to Finish challenge very nicely!