audreypawdrey

Baby Girl Plus Quilt

2012-01-23T06:17:00.001-07:00

This past week I finished a plus or cross quilt for a new baby girl. I wanted to try this pattern because I have seen it floating around, and I really like the way it shows off fabrics. Each of the squares finishes at 4.5". It is approximately 36" x 45", and it is a good crib size quilt. It was a lot of fun pulling out different fabrics from my stash, and using some scraps up to finish it. I really tried to balance low, medium, and high tones with this one, and play with different patterns, while trying to create a "girl" quilt that wasn't pastels. I am sending it off to the recipient this week, and I hope she likes it!

I am linking up with Crazy Mom Quilt's Finish It Up Friday! Go check out all the other finishes over there this week!

Swoon!

2012-01-19T21:22:00.000-07:00

Last year I was dedicated to finishing up quilts, so my reward this year is the opportunity to start new ones! Yay! I have been hoarding two fat quarter stacks that I used birthday money last April to buy since last April with the idea that I would make my daughter two matching twin sized quilts for her future twin beds when she moves up to a big girl bed. Right now she is 28 months and quite happy in her crib still, and we don't plan on moving her until it is necessary! So, I am planning ahead.

I was determined to wait until I found a pattern that I loved for her bed(s) before I used up my precious Pips. I love the single girl quilt, and I seriously considered that pattern, but I felt like a lot of the people would end up decapitated, which is never a good thing. :) I do plan on making one of those eventually, but not with my pips. It is such the perfect pattern for a little girl though! I do plan on making a throw using some of my scraps from this project and others that blend to put into this room eventually...

This past December I finally decided on the Swoon pattern, and all of a sudden it became a quilt-a-long hosted by Katy. This was my fortuitous moment where I decided that I was supposed to make this quilt!

Last weekend we had a sewing day with the Front Range Modern Quilt Guild, which is a fabulous group if you live in the Front Range area of Colorado from just south of Colorado Springs to Denver/Boulder (you should definitely join!), and my friend Kari was making a block for the Swoon-a-long, which I had already joined but hadn't started cutting. She figured out a way to make the block a little easier by omitting some of the seams, but the caveat is you need a little more fabric. I decided this was the way to go, and I quickly jumped on board.

So, I made this block on Monday and finished it on Monday! I did have to rip and rip and rip, but I would have been doing that anyway. I think that happens anytime you are trying to beat the clock of when nap time ends! I really love it, and Kari has a abbreviated version of how to do it on her blog, which will make sense if you have the pattern already.:)

I am very excited about this swoon-a-long, and if you haven't already joined, now is the perfect time!

Goodbye 2011-Hello, 2012!

2012-01-02T16:57:00.000-07:00

I didn't mean to be away from this space for so long. Things became incredibly busy around here with working full time, going to a fabulous quilt retreat, having guests for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and loving on my two-year-old girl. I have been sewing away, but I didn't have time to take pictures or upload them or much of anything on the blogging front, which means I have new things to share!

One of my favorite things to do on New Year's is look back at everything I have made over the previous year, so I am going to share that quickly here.

This past year I finished four quilts: scrappy disappearing nine patch, a yo-yo quilt, sewconnected and sewconnected 2.

1. Scrappy Disappearing Nine Patch, 2. Yo-Yo Quilt, 3. Sewconnected Quilt-Back, 4. Sewconnected Quilt, 5. Back of Wonky ABC Quilt, 6. Wonky ABC I-Spy Quilt

This year every quilt I made I absolutely love!

I also worked on several smaller projects throughout the year.

1. A Line Fall Dress, 2. Shearwater Kaftan in Loulouthi, 3. DSC_0147, 4. Memorial Day Weekend 038, 5. hexagon pillow, 6. Tablerunner, 7. FRMQG Mug Rug Swap, 8. back of tutu, 9. Pincushion I paper pieced, 10. School House Tunic, 11. Apron!12. Not available

This coming year I would like to complete the following projects:
-6 dresses for my daughter
-Dog Quilt-(almost finished!)
-Sherbert Pips Quilt-two of these!
-start my Farmer's wife quilt
-baby quilt for my new niece or nephew born in June 2012
-another baby quilt
-Geese in the Forest Quilt-started/ need to finish
-Christmas Quilt for next year
-String Quilt
-Spring tablerunner for my mom
-Finish one more wip

I am hoping setting these goals will help me get them done! Happy New Year everyone!

Little Owl

2011-11-01T06:19:00.000-06:00

I made my daughter, Z, an owl costume for Halloween this year. It is the first year that I made her one, but it was a lot of fun to make! She is an owl, which I don't think a lot of people got. Everyone thought she was little red riding hood, which doesn't make sense to me because her cape isn't red. I forgot to add an orange beak to her hood which might have made a difference. That is okay because she looked cute!

I used the Children's Corner Lucy pattern for her dress, and I used the cape pattern from Growing Up Sew Liberated for her cape. I then cut out many "feathers" for her cape and dress, fused them on using lite bond, and then sewed around each feather. The cape is size 3-5, and she is two so it should fit for a while.

She was so cute. She said, "I'm an owl. Hoot! Hoot!", and then she would move her arms up and down to flap her wings.:)

The weather was perfect. It was in the sixties when we started trick or treating and clear, unlike last week when it was snowing and we lost power for over 30 hours! It is supposed to snow tonight, too.;( I am glad it held off until after Halloween!

Blogger's Quilt Festival

2011-10-30T15:50:00.000-06:00

Hi, everyone! It is time again for one of my favorite blogging times of the year-Amy's Blogger's Quilt Festival! It is always so much fun seeing so many beautiful quilts and finding new blogs to love.

For this round of the festival, I want to share my yo-yo quilt that I finished this past summer. I first started this quilt in 2003, and it is the first quilt I ever started. I really didn't realize what I was getting myself into when I started making it; I just knew I wanted to make a quilt; I didn't have a machine, so it would have to be all done by hand. I am so proud that it is completely pieced together by hand without using a machine at all.

I could also call this my "traveling quilt" because it has definitely traveled. When I started the quilt, I was living in Birmingham, AL, then I got married and moved to Ft. Payne, AL where we lived for about a year. We then moved to Denver, CO, which is where we live now. It has traveled across the country with us as we have moved several times. I have worked on it while driving from Denver to Hobbs, NM to visit my brother, sister-in-law, and new niece, and it has been to Destin, FL several times over the summer to visit with my family. It traveled up to Newport, VA one New Year's Eve to go to a concert, and it has also been to San Francisco, Dallas, Atlanta, and New Orleans. I even worked on it on the ten hour drive from Denver to Yellowstone National Park several years ago. Many of my friends have seen me working on this from time to time over the last eight(!) years, which is so different than the quilts I have worked on with the machine. I like that it has traveled so much, and it was easy to take with me since it was hand sewing.

The finished quilt is 56 yo-yos across by 56 yo-yos down with the yo-yos being approximately 1-5/8 inches across. It is 90" square, which I think makes it a queen size quilt. It has 3, 156 yo-yos!

It is the quilt that I am most proud of making, and I am so glad that I finished it! Thank you so much for stopping by!

Be sure to go check out all the other amazing quilts on display by using the button below!

Book Club #2

2011-09-26T20:18:00.000-06:00

I finished another book club stitchette last night! I really like this one with the boy and the girl sitting on the couch sharing a book. I dressed the boy in orange and blue to make him an Auburn fan since it is football season, and I was watching the football game while stitching it. I am going to find a wall to hang these on and slowly add to the collection over time. They are really fun to make! The pattern comes from Wee Wonderfuls.

I am linking up with Stitched in Color below!

Book Club

2011-09-25T19:12:00.000-06:00

I am jumping into the world of embroidery and finished up this little book girl early this week. It is so nice to have something that I can work on late at night while watching TV, especially since my sewing room has been turned into a guest room. It is hard to pull out the machine when you only have 30 minutes to sew!

I ordered these book club stichettes a couple of months ago, but it took me a while to get started on them; I don't know why since they are so much fun! I am almost done with my second one, and it only took me a couple of days! The pattern is from Wee Wonderfuls, and you can order it here. When I went to link up, I saw that she has patterns for Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring, too! I need the fall one because it has little girl with a pennant saying "Go!". Wouldn't that be perfect on the front of an a-line dress in your team's colors? I am definitely going to have to make a little Auburn girl!

Fall Dress for my daughter...

2011-09-25T18:59:00.001-06:00

I made this dress for Z today! I used the Lucy pattern by Children's Corner in a size two, and the fabric is from Joanne's. It seems they always have at least one cute corduroy every fall, and I love this print with the deer, owls, bunnies and mushrooms. It is perfect for fall.

The Lucy pattern is my favorite for a simple A-line dress. I lined it with some bright green Kona cotton for some cute contrast, especially when she is running and kicks up her hem. I added a peachy orange ribbon to give it a little more interest as well.

The dress took about two hours to make, including cutting out fabric and a quick run to the store for buttons. I love it with her new fall boots she got for her birthday last week! I need to make more of these for her this fall. It has been a while since I have made little dresses!

I am linking up to Stitched in Color's Celebrate Color below.

Shearwater Kaftan

2011-09-25T18:45:00.000-06:00

I recently finished a new shirt for me! It was finished two weeks ago, but I couldn't get pictures of me in it. It is the Shearwater Kaftan by Make It Perfect in Anna Marie Horner's Loulouthi. This is the first time I have made this pattern, and I love how it turned out! It is perfect for the fall time.

It went together quickly, and I finished it in an afternoon. I love the little buttons on the side so you can wear your sleeves up or down.

I love this print by Anna Marie Horner, too. I may have to order some more so that I can make a skirt! I bought the fabric and the pattern at the Fancy Tiger in Denver.

I am linking up to Celebrate Color!

Happy Mail! Letters R and G for my ABC quilt!

2011-09-23T10:39:00.000-06:00

Way back in April, I attended a retreat in Ft. Collins that Amanda Jean of Crazy Mom Quilts was attending as well. I was working on my A block to finish up my sewconnected quilt, and it was fun because she was also in the Sewconnected Virtual Quilting Bee with me. She offered to make me a couple more letters, and I jumped at the chance to not have to make 14 more blocks. So a couple weeks later I mailed off some fabric to her and then mailed more this summer because I kept finding fun additions. Last week, she mailed me my "G" and "R" blocks which I love! Didn't they turn out great?

"G" is for grapes, golf, guitar, giraffe, ghost, garlic, and girl.

"R" is for rabbit, robot, roads, runners, rooster, rabbits, ruler, and rings.

Thank you, Amanda, again for making me such awesome blocks! Maybe I can finish piecing the top together this weekend. I might squeal with glee at this top when it is complete!:)

Sewconnected 2 Quilt Finished!

2011-09-21T14:50:00.002-06:00

I finally finished my Sewconnected 2 Quilt this past weekend! This quilt has taken me quite a long time to actually finish, but I am so glad I did because I love it! I gave it to my daughter for her 2nd birthday this past Monday, and I finished sewing the binding on Saturday night. It is 69 x 96 inches-hung sideways!

I am going to try to take another picture where it isn't so bright because the sun washed out the colors of some of the blocks...

I wouldn't have been able to make this so lovely, if it weren't for all the blocks sent to me from the other members of my swap, who were all amazing partners who made such beautiful blocks!
Thank you! I listed everyone who sent me blocks below with their flickr account first and their blog second. Go check them out! They are all so talented! If you would like to see some of the blocks up close, I created a gallery on flickr of most of the blocks I received (some blocks wouldn't post to the gallery?)
jqadams quiltdad
CarolinaPatchworks blog
imagingermonky   blog
handmadebyalissa blog
artistdoris-threadsofconversation,
sasikirina
sonjaartisania Artisania

ritapizza-mochi studios
quiltinkimmie
marilynkb /   Marilyn Butler

maddieandme blog
kirbyloulou Unraveled
sodeste blog
isaacsmama Adventures of a fabric junky

I am linking up to Fabric Tuesday at QuiltStory!

WIP: ABC quilt...almost done!

2011-08-27T16:06:00.000-06:00

I have been making good progress on my ABC quilt! I have all of the letters done, except for one "R" and one "G", and a friend is making those for me. Woohoot! Here are all the letters I have made recently...

"Y" is for yarn, yaks, yachts, yin and yang, yo-yo, yogurt, yoga, and yield or yeld.:) Look at the yield sign closely...

"Q" is for quilt and queen. "Q" is hard to find!

"V" is for Volkswagon, vans, valentines, vampires, vulture, victrola, venn diagram, violins, and vegetables!

"Z" is for my daughter Zerah and Zebras! I think this is my favorite because it has my favorite person on it! It was fun finding pictures and printing it on this printable fabric for her.

"X" is for x-rays and xylophone.

"H" is for hedgehogs, hippos, helicopters, horses and hands. I love the little handprint I included; she did not enjoy having paint all over her hands though, and she immediately started yelling, "off, off, off!"

I have started on the backing, and I need to add a couple of borders to it. I will share pictures of that soon. I would not have been able to make a bunch of these letters if it weren't for the generosity of several quilting blogger friends who sent me some novelty fabric!

Thank you, Stephanie of Scraps, Cheryl of jovaliquilts, Melinda of quirkygranolagirl, Michelle of Michellesews, and Avivia_hadas on flickr! These would not have come to fruition without your help!

Decisions...

2011-07-31T14:11:00.001-06:00

As I continue to work on my ABC quilt, I have come to a dilemma. I am not sure if I want to add sashing between the letters or not. I am at a standstill on making letters while I wait for some friends to send me a few other pieces and for fabric I ordered to arrive, so I thought I would go ahead and start adding the sashing between the letters for those that I have.

Once I did, I am not sure I like it this way. I think the extra white may detract from the letters themselves, which is what I want to stand out. Plus, it is 75" across without the sashing. With the sashing at 2.5", it will be almost 90" wide and crazy long, which will be harder to quilt on my own machine. Without the sashing, it will be 75" x 90", which is a good full size quilt.

Any opinions?

I have decided on how I am going to make the back, so I spent yesterday during nap time cutting around 40 2 1/4" x 5 3/4" blocks of some of my favorite fabrics. I am really excited about the back!

WIP: ABC I-spy quilt

2011-07-24T13:50:00.003-06:00

I didn't mean to be gone from this space for so long, but I have been working on a few things including my ABC quilt! I am so excited about how it is coming together, and I am now in the home stretch.

"K" is for kites, kisses, kangaroos, keys, king, and koala.

"O" is for oranges, owls, and octopus.

"J" is for jellybeans, jigsaw puzzle, jacks, jewelry, jack-o-lanterns, and "jump, puff. jump, jump, jump."

"I" is for ice cream, iguanas, ice cream shop, India, Italy, and Ironing board.

"L" is for lions, lemons, lettuce, leaves, lobster, ladybugs, letters (mail), other letters, and lawnmower. I love the lawnmower!

"N" is for nurse, numbers, and nest.

I still have g, q, v, x, and z left to go. Plus, I am going to write out my daughter's name, so I need another e,r,a, and h.

I wish I had some of the Heather Ross volkswagon bus print for "V". I am going to try some of the printable fabric to draw out some designs for v, q, x, and z. All I have for y is a little bit of yarn fabric, and I can't think of anything else except including some yellow fabric. For Z, I am using zebras and pictures of my daughter. I have a little x-ray fabric and a xylophone, but it isn't enough for the entire square. I did find something that may work for q, but it is in progress as well.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Yo-Yo Quilt is finished!

2011-07-05T19:12:00.000-06:00

I sewed the last two yo-yos together this morning, and it feels so good to have it be finished! My daughter thinks the yo-yo's look like flowers, and she points at it and says, "flowers" which led me to take the quilt to the park and rose garden this morning to snap some pictures of it.

I first started this quilt in 2003, and it is the first quilt I ever started. I really didn't realize what I was getting myself into when I started making it; I just knew I wanted to make a quilt, I didn't have a machine, so it would have to be all done by hand. I am so proud that it is completely pieced together by hand without using a machine at all.

I could also call this my "traveling quilt" because it has definitely traveled. When I started the quilt, I was living in Birmingham, AL, then I got married and moved to Ft. Payne, AL where we lived for about a year. We then moved to Denver, CO, which is where we live now. It has traveled across the country with us as we have moved several times. I have worked on it while driving from Denver to Hobbs, NM to visit my brother, sister-in-law, and new niece, and it has been to Destin, FL several times over the summer to visit with my family. It traveled up to Newport, VA one New Year's Eve to go to a concert, and it has also been to San Francisco, Dallas, Atlanta, and New Orleans. I even worked on it on the ten hour drive from Denver to Yellowstone National Park several years ago. Many of my friends have seen me working on this from time to time over the last eight(!) years, which is so different than the quilts I have worked on with the machine. I like that it has traveled so much, and it was easy to take with me since it was hand sewing.

It is fun to look at and see how my fabric choices have changed over the last eight years. When I first started it, I was working at the Birmingham Children's Theatre as the charge scenic artist, and I would use scraps from the costume shop. This led to realizing that corduroy isn't the best choice to use for yo-yos! I have several 4x4 sections that are made that didn't make it into the final quilt from these early days due to the material I used; I didn't know that wool, silk, and cotton might not be the best mixture of fabrics if you wanted to wash it at home. I plan on using those yo-yos for a doll quilt for my daughter, so they can still be used and loved.

The final quilt is 56 yo-yos across by 56 yo-yos down with the yo-yos being approximately 1-5/8 inches across. It is 90" square, which I think makes it a queen size quilt. It has 3, 156 yo-yos!

Honestly, if I had known eight years ago that it would take so long, I don't know that I would have started it, but I am so glad that I did!

Fancy Block #1-Gnome and Mushroom

2011-07-01T06:30:00.001-06:00

I attended a quilt retreat in Ft. Collins back in April taught by Penny of sewtakeahike on paper piecing. I left confident that I would be able to conquer paper piecing (which is due to Penny's awesome teaching), but then I didn't really practice my skills and started forgetting what I had learned, which is never good! Amanda and Melinda came up with the idea of making a fancy block each week to practice the skills we learned over the weekend. They have been showcasing their beautiful blocks over the past two weeks, but I had not had the chance to make one yet. This week I was determined that I would be able to play along, so I made this gnome and mushroom block!

The pattern is a free one from Sonja at Artisiana; isn't it so cute? If you aren't familiar with her patterns, you should definitely stop by and check her out. She has such cute ones! It took me a little while to get back into the swing of thinking the way paper piecing goes together, and I did pull out my seam ripper several times to fix a piece sewn on backwards. Overall, I like my little gnome, and now I need to decide what to do with him. Pillow? Mugrug? Placemat? Hmmm.....

Go check out Amanda's block at crazymomquilts and Melinda's at quirkygranolagirl!

I made this yesterday, and it is so good! I have never used Mt. Dew in a recipe before now, and I would never have thought of that!

WIP: Yo-Yo Quilt

2011-06-27T07:36:00.000-06:00

I pulled out my yo-yo quilt this weekend to see how much I had left before it would be finished. Penny, of sewtakeahike, is doing a yo-yo quilt along this summer, and it seemed like the perfect opportunity for me to finish up this quilt. Plus, as I have been slowly working on my 60 degree diamond stars, I kept thinking I should really finish my previous hand sewn quilt before I start another one.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that I really don't have a lot left to do! I have huge sections that are already pieced together that just need to be joined together.

My goal has always been for it to fit a full-size bed, so with a little help, I laid it out to see how big it is on our guest bed. I think it is big enough! So my focus this week is going to be to see how far I can get with this quilt over the course of the week. I spent some time yesterday while Z was napping sitting on the back porch, swinging, and piecing parts of this together. It was a very pleasant way to spend the afternoon!

This is the very first quilt that I ever started when I didn't know anything about quilting and I didn't own a machine back in 2003 (which is way too long ago!). I had no idea what I was getting myself into; I just knew I wanted to make a quilt, and I knew I could make yo-yos so I jumped right in! 3,236 yo-yos that finish at 1 5/8" inches across later, and I am close to finishing!

If you want to make one of your own, you should join Penny's quilt-a-long! If I finish this one soon, I might have to hop in to make another one; did I really just admit that out loud?:)

Back from the Beach!

2011-06-23T19:11:00.001-06:00

Hi, everyone! I have been visiting family in Mobile and Destin for the last two weeks. I returned home early this week, but I couldn't get Blogger to upload my pictures! I finally switched to the old editor under settings-basic, and it finally worked. I spent almost a week with my mother and father-in-law in Mobile and in Panama City Beach. I then went to Destin, where I met my mom, dad, brother, sister-in-law, and my niece.

We went to the beach several times over the week, and it was so nice to sit out on the warm sand.

We went very late in the afternoon since we had a 20 month old, my daughter, and a three year old, my niece with us. It was perfect! No sunburns occurred over the week!

We also drove over to Seaside, FL one afternoon. It is so beautiful there! It is where they filmed the Truman Show if you ever saw that movie.

I took over a thousand pictures over the week and a half, but I thought that might be a little much to share here.:) I was determined to get a good photo of my daughter on the dress that we could have printed on a 16 X 20 canvas. I had one printed of her last year, and it is so beautiful. I want to do one every year to make a big display on the wall.

This is the view from the pool we went to everyday. We stay on the bayside of Sandestin, and it is so nice. It is a short drive or bike ride to the beach, but it is much quieter. The girls were able to ride my niece's tricycle around on the neighborhood street.

We also went for several bike rides over the week. I enjoyed it so much that I have pulled my bike out of the shed, and we got a cart that hooks on the back to pull Z around in. I am going to have to work up to long distances. I try to walk three miles every day during the summer, but biking uses different muscles!

I loved these little beach signs. I don't think they would look quite right hanging on the wall in Colorado, but I loved that they were quotes from Emerson and Thoreau. I am a big fan of the Transcendentalists, and I love Walden by Thoreau.

We really had a wonderful time! I am happy to be home, but I miss everyone so much. I brought all kinds of projects to get done while I was gone, but I really had very little time to work on them. I am hoping to pull my sewing machine out this weekend; we have showing of our house tomorrow and an open house on Saturday, so it won't be until Sunday.

I have done a little hand piecing this week working on my stars, but most of my free time (late at night and while Z naps) has been spent devouring a Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson Series. I have read five of the six books that are out this past week, and the last one is on hold at the library. They are great if you enjoy urban fantasy books with vampires, werewolves, fae that are also mysteries. I went to a book signing by Charlaine Harris, who writes the Sookie Stackhouse books that the tv series True Blood is based on, and she recommended them to me while I was getting my book signed this past May. I have stayed up way too late this week reading! Does anybody else like these type books?

I am glad to be back, and I hope to have a few sewing related projects to share soon. I am slowly wading through my Google Reader, which accumulated over 1000 posts during a week and a half! Have a great weekend!

My luck continues!

2011-06-08T12:21:00.002-06:00

I won another giveaway recently that I just received in the mail from Gen X Quilters on SewMamaSew's big giveaway day a couple of weeks ago. The fat quarters are so lovely, and I love those buttons! She also made a business card holder, which I am going to put to use soon. It is such a lovely package, and I love it. I had to go pick up lottery tickets for my dad recently, and I am hoping my luck continues on those-very doubtful.:)

Farmdale Apron Dress

2011-06-07T12:42:00.000-06:00

I finished a new dress this past week using Alexander Henry Farmdale and DS dots, which I love together! I used the Portabella Pixie Claire Pattern with a few variations. The skirt, apron, and straps are from the Petal Knot Dress and the bodice is from the Apron Dress in an 18 month.

I was going to use the Petal Knot Bodice, but it was already too small for her. I cut out the pieces, sewed them together, and made the buttonholes; I then proceeded to try it on her before attaching the skirt, and it didn't fit! I was so happy that I hadn't finished the whole thing before putting it on her! So, I ripped out the straps and started over with the bodice. I also shortened the skirt by three inches, so she wouldn't step on the hem of it as she climbing around. We tried it out at a local farm this past weekend. It matches her bucket hat!

Terrain that I won!

2011-06-05T07:15:00.000-06:00

My luck continues! A couple of weeks ago Kate Spain had a giveaway for scraps from her newest collection of fabric, Terrain. I won one of the envelopes full of strips of fabric!

Isn't it all beautiful? I received a large envelope stuffed to the brim with strip ranging from 2-4" in size. I laid them all out to admire them and start dreaming of all the fun things I could do with these.

I think I will use these to make a strip quilt because I have been wanting one of those for a while. It is going on my list of things to make this summer! I may make a quilt like this one or this one. I have a few quilts that I must finish before I start another one, but I so want to play with these strips!

I know that I am going to have to buy some yardage of some of these prints because they would make such cute skirts or tunics, like the three prints together above that go from light blue with navy and orange stars to the tone on tone soft blue!

Bucket Hat

2011-06-02T12:47:00.000-06:00

This past week I made the bucket hat from Oliver + S's Little Things to Sew for my daughter. I love the way it turned out! I used DS for the polka dot side and Alexander Henry Farmdale for the blue side. I love that it is reversible, and she can put it on by herself!

She has been wanting to wear hats lately that she can put on; we were at the park a week ago when it was in the upper 70's and she was insisting on wearing one of her knit wool caps, so it was time for a spring/summer hat that is lightweight and will shield her face from the sun.

The pattern was super easy to follow and I plan on making several more for her to wear throughout the summer.

Ribbon!

2011-05-31T13:50:00.000-06:00

Last week a happy package arrived at my doorstep from Modkid! I had won a giveaway they had a couple of weeks ago for some of their new ribbon. They were taking some of these sample packs to Quilt Market, and they gave some away too!

I am so excited that I won! Look at all that beautiful ribbon! It is all two yard cuts, so it is perfect for embellishing dresses or a top.

I am including a picture of the back of the boxes in the same placement as the picture of the ribbons, so if you wanted some for yourself you can figure out what ribbon is what. I know the picture is a little blurry on the type, so if you have a question, leave me a comment and I will double check for you. I can't wait to use it!

Hexagon Pillow

2011-05-23T05:00:00.002-06:00

I finished my hexagon pillow this past weekend. I started it last week, and yesterday I added another row of hexagons, quilted, and put it together during nap time. I love the way it turned out!

I think it will go nicely in the corner of our breakfast nook, and it coordinates well with one side of my tablerunner without being too matchy-matchy.

I love this fabric on the back! I quilted on either side of the circles in simple vertical lines.
This is the first quilted pillow I have made, and it love the extra shape the batting gives it.

I did a envelope enclosure on the back with binding around the exposed edges of the quilt sandwich. I didn't want to hand tack the binding down because I wanted it to be finished during nap time, so I experimented with one of the fancy stitches on my sewing machine. The stitch is a big circle followed by a small circle. I thought that would look neat next to the circles on the back.

It adds a nice pop of color to the corner of the kitchen! Today was such a great day. I finished this pillow and then took my daughter to the park; the weather was beautiful which was great because it has been raining and cold here this past week.

Yesterday was not as good of a day, and if you don't like gross baby stories, don't read on! We have our house on the market, and we had an open house yesterday from 11-3.. We left at eleven in the morning and went to Chick-fil-A for lunch. The thought was we would have lunch and then Z could play on the indoor playground there. We started eating, and then she projectile vomited all over herself, my pants, and my husbands shirt. I felt so bad for the people eating around us! We had brought extra clothes for her but not for us! Needless to say, we couldn't go home until 3 and it was 11:15. So we had to go into Target, which was right next door, and pick up a new pair of pants for me and a new t-shirt for my husband, so we wouldn't have to walk around in yucky clothes for the rest of the day. We then went on to the park, and the rest of the day was great. Since then she has been feeling great, so it was some weird fluke. I learned to always have a change of clothes for me in the car when you can't go back to the house!

English Paper Pieced Diamonds

2011-05-22T19:07:00.000-06:00

I recently saw this post on Crazy Mom Quilts, and I knew it would be the perfect summer project for me. In a couple of weeks, I am traveling to see my in-laws and my parents in Mobile, Al. and in Destin, Fl. I needed some type of project that would travel easily and would allow me to work on a sewing project while I was there. I ordered some quilt patis and got started!

I am not very far yet, but that is okay! This will be a great project to take along to the park or for car rides, and I mainly plan on working on it when I am unable to pull my sewing machine out.

Life Under Quilts has started a Quilt-a-long for this type of project, and if you click on the link above, it will take you to the flickr group. She also has a great youtube video for how to put these together if you would like to start one too!

Auburn Mugrug from the FRMQG Swap

2011-05-19T08:01:00.000-06:00

Last week we had a meeting of the Front Range Modern Quilt Guild, and we exchanged mug rugs that we made for our partners. I blogged about the one I made here, but at the time I didn't have a picture of the awesome one I received in return. I had left it in Monument so it could be entered into the Monument Art Hop because I loved it so much that I wanted other people to be able to see it.

Melissa, who made this one for me, took a picture this past weekend to send it to me. I can't wait until it is in my house, so I can see it everyday. There are so many things I love about it! I went to Auburn University for college, and it was really neat that Melissa also attended Auburn. I had the best college experience, and I love Auburn so much. How cool is it that we went to the same school in Alabama, we now live in Colorado, and we met through the modern quilt guild? Just to give you a little insight into how deeply Auburn is rooted in my family check out how many people from my family attend(ed) Auburn: me, my brother, my husband, my brother-in-law, my dad, all of my aunts and uncles (6 of them), five of my six first cousins, numerous second cousins, and the list keeps going on.

She made it out of lots of blue scraps because I love scraps of fabric, and all of my recent quilts have been made out of scraps! There are people in my guild that don't believe I buy yardage (Traci), but I do.:) It is easier for me to use my scraps because I don't worry as much about messing up. So I love that this has so many blue scraps in it because it reminds me of my scrap quilts. I love the way she quilted it with the lines going all over-it seems so modern to me. I don't have a picture of the back, but she put on the cutest label with her name and the title of the swap. I wish I had done the same to my mug rug, and it will hopefully remind me to do that to my quilts in the future. Thanks, Melissa! I love it!

WIP: Wednesday

2011-05-18T14:36:00.001-06:00

It's Wednesday, and I have decided to make a list of my works in progress-mainly so I will remember not to start anything new! At least, I am trying to not start anything that is a huge project any time soon. A couple of my blog friends (Katie and GreenStyleMom) link on Wednesdays, so I thought I would join in!

W.I.P. Wednesday

Finishes:
This week I finished my tablerunner!

In Progress:
Hexagon Pillow

This past weekend I checked out a new Quilt Store in Denver called Snappy Quilts. They have a great assortment of fabric, and I picked up these fat quarters to make a pillow to go in our yellow kitchen that will match the tablerunner I finished this past weekend.

I cut hexagons and machine pieced them together using some of the skills I picked up at the retreat I went to a while back. It was tricky, but I am glad I am trying to learn new things.

This will be a pillow once I add one more row to the width.

Yo-Yo quilt
I am determined to finish this summer! I don't think this is the most recent photo of my progress, but I will have to pull it all out and rephotograph. I am at the joining it all together stage right now.

Paper Pieced Diamond Stars
I just started this one, and I don't have any pictures yet! My yo-yo quilt is too big to actually tote around anymore, so this is my traveling project.

Sewconnected Quilt

I have made the backing, have the batting, and I just need to baste and quilt. I won't get to this for at least another week.

ABC I-Spy Quilt
I am still collecting fabrics and making blocks.

Nine Patch Quilt a Long
I just need to add sashing, borders, and put it all together. I hope to finish this one this summer.

Back Burner/Tabled:

Geese in the Forest/Tokyo Triangles
I need to pull this one out again and see which blocks I still need to make!

Nine Patch Quilt #2
I was obviously crazy enough to start a second nine patch quilt before I finished the first.

Craftster Lap Quilt Swap
Top is finished. It needs to be quilted.

Star Quilt a Long
Top is finished.

Not pictured:
50 States Quilt
Lap Quilt Swap #2-Dog Quilt
Lap Quilt Swap #3-Picnic Quilt
Kona Solids Guild Challenge Quilt

This Weeks Stats:
New Projects: 1
Projects Finished: 1
Projects in Progress: 11
Actively Working On: 4
Back Burner: 7

I think it helps me to just see how many I have to finish to help encourage me to not start anymore new quilts!

Dressing Up the Table

2011-05-16T10:01:00.000-06:00

This past weekend I finished up a table runner for our kitchen table. I started this table runner this past fall using some 1 1/2 scraps I had left over from my postage stamp quilt. I really like the way it turned out, and I would love to have a big quilt made in this same style. That will need to wait a little while because piecing those little squares can be a little tedious. It wad definitely worth it though!

I used Alexander Henry Farmdale for the the binding, and I love it! They have that print at Joanne's and I want to make a skirt out of it too.

For the back, I used the last big pieces I had of my Moda Basic Gray Origins leftover from a skirt I made last summer and the gray leftover from the front. I don't remember the color of gray this is, but it is Kona from Joannes. I think I like the back as much as the front, and it took a fraction of the time!

I hope you are all having a great start to your week!

Blogger's Quilt Festival Spring 2011

2011-05-13T13:51:00.001-06:00

Hi everyone! I am so excited about this year's Blogger's Quilt Festival. It is one of my favorite times of the year because you get to visit so many wonderful blogs, see beautiful quilts, and discover new friends!

I want to share my Scrappy Disappearing Nine Patch Quilt today. I finished this quilt in February of this year, and it is one of my favorites of all the quilts I have made over the past three years. I started this quilt in 2008, which is when I truly started quilting. (Yes, it took me a while to finish!) I started collecting novelty fabrics and swapping with people online for bits and pieces of fun prints. Once I had a collection, I cut them all up into 2.5" squares to make a disappearing nine patch block. I used 2,052 squares to make the nine patches to make this quilt. I used a black binding with bright polka dots, and I am so happy with it. It works well to tie the quilt in together and picks up on the black 1/4" squares that are scattered throughout the quilt.

I am so happy with the way it turned out. It is approximately 81 x 94", and my original plan was to use it on our full sized bed. It is funny how things change as the years go by because since I started this quilt, I have had a daughter, who is nineteen months old now. Instead of on my bed, it may eventually be on hers! Even now, she loves to lay on it and look at all of the different novelty fabrics to spot all kinds of things, like tennis balls, fish, Auburn University, dogs, cats, and the list goes on and on. I think she will enjoy spending time looking for different objects and learning what they are for a long time to come-at least I hope so!

There are so many different fun fabrics in this and I love how bright and scrappy it is. It turned out to be a really neat way of showcasing so many fun prints that really have nothing to do with one another. I wanted to use a close up picture, so you could get an idea of how many different prints are in this!

I wanted to make a pieced backing using fabrics from my stash, so I pulled out this house print, polka dots, and a jungle theme print. I did have to go buy the red, but I think they work well together. If you would like to visit my original post here, there are links to all of the steps in the process of making this craziness. I made a tutorial for the disappearing nine patch, if you would like to make one of your own.

Thank you so much for stopping by! I am looking forward to visiting all of the people who comment here to see what you have been up to and to check out your beautiful quilts.

Have a great Blogger's Quilt Festival!

Front Range Modern Quilt Guild Mug Rug Swap

2011-05-10T08:01:00.001-06:00

Last night I went to the May meeting of the Front Range Modern Quilt Guild down in Monument, CO. It was so much fun and inspirational. I really enjoy these meetings so much, and if you live in the Denver/Colorado Springs area, you should go!

We had a mug rug swap at the last meeting, which I missed because I was at the quilting retreat in Ft. Collins, so I had to bring my mug rug this month. I love this little block, and I plan on eventually making a quilt that is like this full of all of my favorite books. I want to add book titles to the spines as well.

My partner is an author of young adult books, so I wanted to do something book related. I found these wonderful stitchery patterns at Wee Wonderfuls called the Book Club Stitchettes, so I had to try out embroidery. This is my first embroidery! I then added some books on the right side, so it would look like she was walking away with a stack of books. She loves Amy Butler, the colors chartreuse and navy, and books, so I added some Daisy Chain from Amy Butler to the binding and a few of the books.

I was inspired to add the ribbons to the spines of the books based on a block that I saw Melinda, who I met at the retreat in Ft. Collins, create for one of her bee members. I think it really adds a special touch to the blocks.

I really enjoyed being able to tote the embroidery around, and I plan on taking some with me this summer when I travel down to the South to visit with family and go to the beach. I have to take something to work on for the two weeks I will be gone, and this seems like the perfect project for sitting outside on the porch while visiting. I have another hand project that I am going to take with me that I will share later on this week.

I received an awesome Auburn mugrug from my partner, Melissa, but I left it in Monument so it could be a part of the Monument Art Hop. I am hoping my partner has a picture, so I can share it! It is so perfect for me, as I love Auburn, and it is made out of all these scraps, which I love. I love it!

I hope you are all having a great Tuesday!

Tutu!

2011-05-05T06:33:00.000-06:00

I recently made the tutu from Oliver + S' new book Little Things to Sew. I want to make almost all of the projects in this book! There is so much cuteness in there from little red riding hood capes to sunhats. Oh, why isn't there more time in my day?

I used four different colors of tulle that I bought at Joannes-a 2 yards of bright pink, a 2 yards of a soft pink, a 2 yards of a salmon and four yards of a soft yellow.

I love the way it ties in the back, and I love the way the different colors gives it a different look depending on the light. The ribbons are way too long, but I do like them long. I made it so it can be reversible with one side having the yellow on the outside and one side has the bright pink, so you get two different looks depending on how it is worn.

It is a little big for my little girl, but it is going to someone else for their birthday that I hope it will fit! It is for a 3-5 year old. I have enough yardage left over to make another one that is shorter for my girl. I couldn't wait to see what it looked like, so it is on over her jammies.:)

Other random things that are going on include:
- I have been trying out contacts this past week, and I have been loving them. I haven't worn contacts for six years, but I wore them for about twelve years straight before that. I think my head looks bigger; isn't that weird?

-If you aren't on pinterest yet, you should check it out. I have been loving it! Here is a link to my boards:
http://pinterest.com/audreypawdrey/
You can request an invite if you don't have one already, and it usually appears within a couple of days.

-There is a Front Range Modern Quilt Guild Meeting on Monday, so if you live in the Denver/Colorado Springs area check it out! It is a lot of fun, and the people are all great and inspirational.

-Elsie Marley's Kids Week starts next week. I am plotting what I can make, and while I know I won't have an hour a day, I am determined to make something.

-I am also up for the challenge behind The Summer of No Pants. It will have to be the summer of some pants for me though because I don't own enough skirts and dresses for this to completely work!

-This morning when I checked my email I saw the Kate Spain commented on my Barcelona Skirt that I made from her Central Park fabric. I about died! It made my day because she is one of my favorite designers, and she likes my skirt.:) Has this ever happened to you? It makes me wonder how she stumbled upon that posting, and is she really an Auburn fan. Either way, she said "Go Auburn" which made me very happy, indeed.:)

Have a happy rest of your week! I am so glad that it is Thursday.

Lucky me and unlucky me...

2011-05-04T08:30:00.000-06:00

I won a couple of blog contest a few weeks ago, and I haven't posted about them!

I won six yards of Moda Bella Solids from p.s. i quilt. They feel so nice! I have never used moda bella solids before, so I am excited about trying them out. The pink has already been used in the backing for my sewconnected quilt that is still not basted. I need more hours in the day! P.S. i quilt has a postage stamp quilt along that I am dying to do.

I won Big Felt Universe from Maya Made, who has a lovely blog. I read her daily, and I really enjoy it. I am really excited about using this book to make all kinds of felt creations for my daughter. I have accepted that I won't have time until summer, but watch out then because I am making a fruit cake first! This book has all kinds of felt creations in it, and I am looking forward to checking it out.

In other news, we are trying to sell our house, and it is officially on the market. That means that my sewing room is no longer a sewing room.:( These pictures are from three years ago, so you are seeing my old sewing machine and there was another table to the right of the computer for cutting that was added since then. This is the unlucky portion of my post.:)

It really had even more stuff than is pictured here including a huge shelf to the right that was full of fabric, felt and quilt tops.

Here is my sewing room now. It has been a lot harder to sew now that I have to drag everything out of the closet every night, and the house needs to stay clean. I know I was lucky to have a space that was dedicated to sewing for as long as I did, and I am hopeful that I will be able to reclaim a space in our future space. I am so hopeful that our house will sell quickly and that we won't lose money on it.

Block exchange!

2011-04-25T19:30:00.001-06:00

Last week Katy posted on flickr that she was looking to trade some fat quarters for blocks for a new scrap vomit/technicolor yawn quilt she is making, so I whipped these out this weekend. She made one not too long ago that I love. I realized that I do love simple patchwork blocks, and I may have to make a bunch more of these soon for me. I have too many scraps and this would be a great scrap buster quilt! It is the cutting of all the 2.5 inch squares that may put this one on hold until summer.:)

I hope you are all having a good start to your week!

Quilting Retreat: an awesome weekend!

2011-04-22T15:06:00.001-06:00

This past weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to go to a quilting retreat in Ft. Collins at the Inn at City Park. It was so awesome! The workshop was taught by Penny of sewtakeahike, and she is so inspiring, encouraging, and all around great. She makes the most wonderful paper pieced blocks that just amaze me, so I was so happy to get to soak up some information from her on how to paper piece. We had three workshops over the course of the weekend on paper piecing, improv piecing, and designing/executing your own paper pieced design. I met the neatest people, and it was great.
These are all the fabulous people I got to hang out with all weekend:
Penny-sewtakeahike.typepad.com
Melinda-quirkygranolagirl.blogspot.com
Carmen seaschell.blogspot.com
Amanda-crazymomquilts.blogspot.com
Tara-tinkerfrog.blogspot.com

When we arrived, Tara had put together the greatest gift bags for each participant. The bag is in the top picture stuffed to the brim with cool items.

She made us tags to wear so we could all learn each other's names. I love my name tag!

She also made a dresden pincushion for us to use on the trip. Can you believe that I previously did not own a single pincushion? I don't know how I made it three years of sewing without ever having a pincushion, but somehow I did. Thankfully, that was quickly resolved by this beautiful pincushion!

There were all kinds of goodies in the bag, including homemade soap, lip balm, and lotion. I can't wait to use the Saral paper after reading so many good things about it on Penny's blog. I am just starting to try embroidery, and I think this would be perfect for that. There was also a bag of scraps, a laminated notebook of graph paper, and an American Patchwork magazine. So many goodies were inside!

There was also a key chain that Tara made which I love. I am now using it everyday, and it really helps me find my keys in my huge bag of a purse.

On the last day, there were prizes for all the participants. I won this lovely stack of fabric. My favorite colors are blue and green, so this was perfect for me.

Isn't that bird print on the far left perfect? I can't wait to put these to use in a quilt.

At the end of the retreat, we swapped potholders! Everybody brought a potholder to swap to the retreat.

These are all of the potholders together from left to right: Penny, Carmen, Tara, me, AmandaJean, and Melinda.

I brought this potholder that I made. It was really fun to make, but I did not do the best job sewing the binding to the back!

I received a potholder from Penny, and it is so beautiful! I love that it has a pocket for your hand, so your hand doesn't get burned. The patchwork is so cute, and I adore the blue floral print. It is perfect!

The back has the most perfect fabric for a potholder that I have ever seen. This is such a great print.

On Saturday morning, we worked on paper piecing. We worked on a couple different projects to practice with, and I made this pincushion. Did you notice that I now have two pincushions? My collection has now doubled! This was really quite fun to make, and I think it would be fun to have the whole alphabet. These would be neat for beanbags for little kids, too.

On Sunday morning when I came downstairs, there was a brand new pincushion on my sewing machine that was a gift from Amanda Jean. Isn't it adorable? I love that it is reminiscent of her ticker tape quilts. She is so nice and funny in person, and it made me so happy to have a little pincushion that she made for me. Thank you again, Amanda!

So I went from having no pincushions to owning three in a period of three days! I love them all, and it will be so nice to be able to have one next to my sewing machine, one next to my ironing board, and one next to my cutting board. Now I want to make pincushions!

On Saturday afternoon, Penny taught us about improv piecing. I want to make my daughter a quilt one day out of the fabric I have used to make all of her dresses, so I made a dress that mimicked one that I had made her. I drew out the dress and then improv pieced it together with a curved seam at the bottom. Penny did a great job explaining how to do all kinds of different seams and piecing, and I feel like I learned so much from her. She is a wonderful teacher, and I encourage everyone who has the chance to take a class from her to do it! You have to go to her blog and check out all the awesome paper pieced blocks she has put together!

Sunday morning we worked on taking an idea and creating our own pattern for piecing it together. I created one for a dress based off one of my daughter's dresses. I am still playing around with it to figure out the best way to sew together the neckline, but I am really inspired to be able to figure out a pattern on my own.

There was also time at the retreat to work on our own projects, so I pulled out my ABC blocks from the Sewconnected Virtual Quilting Bee that I was a part of a while back to work on while I was there. I thought it was neat to work on this quilt while I was with Amanda Jean who had been part of that virtual bee. So I actually got to meet and sew with someone from a virtual bee in real life, which was really fun and exciting. These are the two blocks I finished for that quilt while I was at the retreat.

I couldn't have asked for a better experience. Tara cooked delicious food, Penny was a fabulous teacher, and Melinda, Carmen, and Amanda Jean were all such funny, nice, and wonderful people that it really made the whole weekend an outstanding experience.

Sewconnected wip: Quilt top is finished!

2011-04-08T06:13:00.001-06:00

Amidst all the cleaning we have been doing, I did manage to piece this quilt together over the last week and a half. I am loving it so far! It is 94.5 inches long, so it was hard to find a place to hang it for a picture!

I do love watching a quilt flapping in the breeze though-or a quilt top in this case. :) This is from the sewconnected virtual quilting bee that I was a part of a while back. I made seven blocks to go with the 17 I received back from the swap. I already have the back pieced together and the batting is purchased. I just need to find a couple of hours while Zerah is asleep when I can lay this out on the floor and baste it together. It always seems that is the hardest part-getting it basted! I am really excited about this one coming together.

I added a scrappy type border to make it a little wider as I want for it to fit a twin size bed. It is appoximately 68x94 inches, so I am hoping that will fit a twin size bed for her in the future when she is ready to move to a big bed, which I hope isn't too soon!:)

Fixing Up the House

2011-04-07T06:21:00.001-06:00

Last week I was off of work for spring break and my mom came to visit to help us get various projects completed around the house. We have a huge list of home improvement projects that we need to get accomplished soon, and we were so thankful to have my mom's help.

One of the things we worked on was painting the kitchen yellow. We previously had a leak in the ceiling above the breakfast area, and we had to patch it; therefore, we needed to repaint. In order to make the room cheerful and bright, we chose this pale, buttery yellow which turned out wonderful.
The previous color is in the photo below from Thanksgiving. We had a small Thanksgiving this past year because all of our family lives 2,000+ miles away.:(

We always liked the green, but it was time for a change. When we started started painting the yellow over the green, it was obvious how much darker the green really was than the yellow with a lot of gray built in. We also painted the bench area white to make it pop out more, so it doesn't disappear into the wall as much as it did previously.

This is how the kitchen looked when we did our walk through previous to buying the house 6 years ago now. I can't believe it has been that long ago. It wasn't bad, but the appliances were definitely on their last leg, and the cream was really dirty looking. I like it so much better now.

We also painted our front door! I was tentative to trying this, but it turned out great. I love the bold orange red color instead of the white it was previously.

We also accomplished a lot of spring cleaning type items including:

-cleaning eleven sets of blinds

-repainting the bead board on the lower half of the main bathroom walls

-repainting the interior windows in the kitchen, entryway, and the main bathroom

-painting all the baseboards and trim in the laundry room and half-bath

-donated four garbage bag loads of clothing, old sheets, and mix-matched linens to good will. I kept everything I could or would use in future quilts.

We accomplished all of this four days my mom was here along with a visit to the zoo and daily walks to the playground at our local park. We also celebrated my birthday with the trip to the zoo and yummy cupcakes!

Look at the beautiful tablerunner my mom brought for us to use for Easter! It works beautifully in our new sunny kitchen!

Since my mom left, we are still hard at work. My husband added new mulch to all the garden beds in the front of the house, and he sanded down the windows on the exterior of the front of the house. I have been painting them white. They were in really bad shape, and I like the contrast of the white more than the green that was there previously. I have painted two coats of primer and two coats of exterior semigloss on all of these since Saturday.

We are putting in 3/4 round molding in front of the baseboards in the entryway and in the kitchen. Most of these are cut, some are nailed in, and some are ready for me to paint which will happen later this week.

We fixed the fence in the side yard that has been broken for the past several years, and I have also cleaned out two cabinets in the kitchen of old food and random items.

We celebrated my husband's birthday, too, with a trip to the Children's Museum and lemon cake-yum!

Later this week, we need to add mulch to the backyard, paint the 3/4 round molding in the entryway and kitchen, clean out my closet, go through Zerah's toys and edit them down. I need to go through the bathroom again to reorganize the storage area and complete various other projects.

I did find some time to sew late at night while everyone else was sleeping, and I finished the quilt top I was working on. I need a sunny day to take pictures of it and then I will share!

Barcelona Skirt

2011-03-26T18:57:00.000-06:00

I finished a skirt for me this past week. I made the Barcelona Skirt by Amy Butler in Kate Spain's Central Park. I love the bright orange, and I think it will be perfect for watching Auburn football games in the fall with a denim jacket. I intentionally bought the orange because it was close to Auburn orange; does anyone else pick fabric based on football?:)

I received an invisible zipper foot for Christmas, and this was my first time using it. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be to put an invisible zipper in with a lining! I shortened the skirt about five inches, so it would hit at my knees. It will be nice to wear this summer, too. I am very happy with the way it turned out, and now I want to make more! The pattern is easy to understand and follow; it is a great basic a-line skirt pattern.

In other news, I signed up to go to this quilt retreat today! It is my birthday present, and I am so excited about it. I want to learn how do more paper piecing, and Penny, from sewtakeahike, is amazing at it. You have to check out this mixer that she designed and pieced. I just read about the retreat last night on crazymomquilts blog, and she is going to be there too! I can't wait to meet such amazing quilters and learn new skills!

I am actually including a picture of my head in this photo for the first time ever. I like knowing what people look like, so I figured other people did too.:)

Sewing blocks!

2011-03-20T21:29:00.000-06:00

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been making some blocks to add to my sewconnected quilt!
It has been fun pulling out the fabrics and finding fabrics to fussy cut for the centers of the blocks. I love the horses in the block above. I am slowly cutting into the small amount I have because I love it so much.

It makes me happy that I waited for so long to start putting it together because I didn't have some of these center fabrics at the beginning of last year.

I love the pink that is in the center of this one. I wish I had more because it would make the sweetest little dresses. I think it is the red and turquoise flours with the pink that I like so much.

I love the owls in this one! I tried to line the dots up around the center portion, and I like the way it turned out.

The last block is paper pieced. I need to add eyes and a nose to the little fox, but I can't decide if I want to try embroidery or add buttons. It is such a cute little pattern, and I found it here. I had to rip it apart,a and resew it so many times because I stink at paper piecing. I never cut the fabric quite right, but I love what you can do with it. I have a couple more blocks that I want to try, so I will keep trying!

I have also been sick over the last couple of weeks, but I am starting to feel better. I had strep throat, and then I had a bad reaction to the antibiotics which led to me being sick again with what seemed like food poisoning or the stomach flu-not fun! I am hoping that with spring coming soon, all the cold germs will go away for the rest of this school year.

I hope everyone had a relaxing weekend!

Sewconnected: wip

2011-03-02T05:30:00.002-07:00

I pulled out my sewconnected quilt blocks to try to finish up this quilt soon. I had a little helper, too! I have started making blocks to make it a little bigger, and I should be able to share those soon. Each block is 12 1/2 inches square, and I would like for it to be either a twin size or a full.

I am trying to decide how I want to arrange this. I can't decide between using white sashing for negative space and a place to let your eyes rest, or if I want to put them all together without sashing. I will probably end up using sashing so it will fit a twin size bed, otherwise I would need to make a lot more blocks!

School House Tunic

2011-02-27T18:51:00.000-07:00

This past week I made the School House Tunic by Sew Liberated in Central Park by Kate Spain. I found this pattern to be super easy to put together. This is the first time I have made sleeves on something for me, and overall, I think they went together well. I did have to use my seam ripper quite a bit because the fabric kept catching underneath, but that is all my fault.:) I made it in a size 6, and needed around 2 1/2 yards.

I plan on wearing it this week with some leggings and my dark brown tall boots. I think it is going to be cute! I hope everyone had a good weekend!

Scrappy Disappearing Nine Patch Quilt

2011-02-21T18:36:00.001-07:00

This past weekend I finally finished my I-spy disappearing nine patch! I started this back in 2008, and I finally quilted it this past weekend. It is so bright and cheerful that I am very happy with it. I also love how scrappy it is.It is approximately 81"x 94", so it will fit a full size bed. It contains 2,052-2.5" squares, and the little black squares are 3/4" square. I quilted it with simple straight lines going vertically. I used a polka dot on black for the binding.

I started thinking about why it took me so long to finish this one, and I realized that I finished the top before I got my new sewing machine for my birthday in 2009. I couldn't quilt very well on my old machine, so I was tentative about using it to sew this top up. When I did get my new machine, I was pregnant, and it was really hard getting on the floor to baste. I then became distracted with new projects, but I am so happy I finally pulled it out to finish!

I wanted to make a pieced back, and I had this great city print that I thought would work well for an i-spy type quilt.

Here is a close up of some of the blocks so you can see the complete craziness of all the novelty fabric it has from tennis balls, kittens, golf tees, to footballs and bats. I had to include some Auburn fabric, too.

If you want to trace the journey of this quilt, here is where I have blogged about it previously.
Cutting fabric and assembling squares
Starting to take shape
Progress
Top is finished!

I also wrote a tutorial for the disappearing nine patch block if you would like to try it out!
Disappearing Nine Patch Tutorial

Finishing up projects!

2011-02-20T13:39:00.001-07:00

I went to my first meeting of the Front Range Modern Quilt Guild yesterday down in Monument, CO, and I had so much fun. We met from 10-5 with a meeting at the beginning, lunch, and then sewing time! I have been seeing my blog friends participating in the Modern Quilt Guild across the country, but there had not been one here this past December. I missed the two first meetings because they coincided with the Auburn SEC Championship game and the National Championship game. As much as I wanted to attend, those were the two sporting events that I couldn't miss, so this was my first opportunity.

I had a lot of fun, and I finished some sewing in the afternoon. I am determined to finish up some of my projects this year, and I am bargaining with myself by not starting anything new until at least one thing is finished. I pulled out my scrappy disappearing nine patch that I started way back in 2008. The top was finished in October of 2008! I pieced a back for it last weekend, basted it this week, and between yesterday afternoon and staying up way too late last night, the top is quilted and the binding is attached. Now I just need to hand sew the rest of the binding down.

There was a small craft for us to make at the meeting, and we made these little flower pins. Isn't it cute? I think it would look awesome as an embellishment on a little girl's dress or as a hair bow.

I also had happy mail from my mom! She made us this tablerunner for Valentine's Day. I love it. I would love to have tablerunners for all the holidays, and now Valentine's is covered. I don't know why blogger keeps flipping my photos; it is driving me crazy! If anyone knows a way to fix it, I would love to know.

I realized I never shared the tablerunner that I made for my mom for Christmas. It is from Moda's Basic Gray Origins line. Her kitchen has green, so it works well in it.

Have a happy weekend!

Mini Quilt from Scandinavian Stiches

2011-02-16T06:19:00.000-07:00

Look at what I found at my local library! My library is about a mile and a half from my house, and I take my daughter for walks by it all the time when the weather is nice outside. A couple of weeks ago, we were walking by, and I spotted Scandinavian Stitches through the window! I have been wanting to see this book, and there it is! I was beyond excited, and we quickly ventured into the library before it could be scooped up by someone else.:) While I was there, I thought I should check out the other crafting books they might have and found Gees Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt, which is full of inspiration, and Doodle Stitching, which I want to experiment with more.

I have been enjoying all of these books, but Scandinavian Stitches has been great. I love every single one of the projects in the book, and they are all well explained. I want to make everything! I did make this little mini-quilt from the book.

I love the birds floating through space. It is about 10"x13", and it was fun appliqueing the little birds by using raw edge applique. Now I need to find a space to hang it up!

Camera Strap Cover

2011-02-02T16:02:00.001-07:00

We had two snow days in a row here in Colorado, but it was for cold rather than snow. The windchill was -14 yesterday! I also have had a cold the last two days-really sore throat and a fever. I did manage to finish up this camera strap that I had been wanting to make for a long time!

I love that this camera strap has a pocket built into the strap for your lens cover. I am so bad about taking mine off and setting it down somewhere that I don't remember later on.

This is my new camera that I bought back in August, a Nikon D5000. We had purchased tickets to go to an outdoor music festival, but we then decided not to go because I wasn't sure it would be the best environment for a year old. So we sold the tickets, and I got a new camera instead for my birthday, several months later. I love it, and it was a great choice to make not going to the show (which would have been tremendous fun).

My friend Vanessa has a great tutorial over on her blog LBG studio for the strap cover, along with numerous other tutorials. We actually went to high school together, but I didn't sew then. I think she might have, but we definitely never talked about it. I wish we lived closer now because it would be great to have an old friend as a sewing buddy now! Go check out her blog if you haven't been by before!

Birthday Banner Tutorial

2011-02-01T15:03:00.000-07:00

I have had a couple people ask me how to make the Birthday Banner, so I wanted to put together a tutorial on how I make these! The first step is to gather your fabrics. I have always made mine scrappy by pulling scraps and cutting off pieces of fabric from what I already have in my stash with an idea of the color scheme I would like to achieve in my mind. Another way to have a variety of fabrics that go together would be to use a Moda Layer Cake to cut the pennants out of.

Supplies:
-fabric for the background of the pennants
-fabric for the letters (I used a white polka dot on white for the latest banner, but I have also used small black polka dots on white as well.)
-2" strips of fabric to make bias tape
-Heat N' Bond
-thread
-stabilizer-I used Sulky Totally Stable, Iron-On Tear Away Stabilizer
-Word "Happy Birthday" template
-Pennant Template

Steps:
1. Cut out the pennant shape(s) from a piece of cardstock for your template. I made the top of the pennant 7 1/2 inches across and it is 9 1/2" tall.

For "Happy Birthday", you will need 26 pennants-one for each side of each pennant since they will be sewn together. You will need to add an additional pennant for each letter of the name, if you have a name at the end, for example, "Happy Birthday Anna." In addition, you will need an additional pennant to have before and after each word.

If you were making a pennant for the phrase, "Happy Birthday Anna", you would need 46 pennants total.

Formula: Add up the number of letters you need. Add a pennant for before and after each word. Then multiply that number by two since they are double sided for the total of pennants you need to make.

I traced my design onto a piece of cardstock to use as template to cut each pennant out from. I laid the template onto my fabric and slowly cut around it for each pennant. Be careful not to cut the template because you don't want your pennants to slowly decrease in size because you are shaving off a sliver with each pennant.

Once you know how many you need, start cutting! Once you cut these out put them to the side for now.

3. Now it is time to make the letter appliques. I made a word document you can download here as a Google Doc. Once it is open in your browser, if you select file--download--it will download as a Microsoft Word document, so you will be able to make changes to it as you would like to do. This way you can add your name or you child's name to the end in the same font.

You could also create your own Word document with the phrase as well. Here is what I used if you would like the same font as what is pictured here.
Font: Verdana
Size: 300
The whole phrase is also "bolded" and uppercase.

4. I printed the word document off the computer and then taped it backwards to my window, which acts as a lightbox. You want it to be backwards when you trace it on the Heat N' Bond, so it will turn out facing the right way on your fabric. I did this wrong several times, so you can learn from my mistakes!

I traced the letters on Heat N' Bond Lite, which I purchased at Joanne's Fabrics with the fusible webbing on the roll. I think it is around $2 a yard. A yard is more than enough for this project!

(I don't know why Blogger won't flip this picture, but this is what the packaging looks like.)

5. Once all of your letters are traced, it is time to fuse the bond paper onto your letter fabric. I cut out sections of my traced letters on the paper and placed it glue side down on the back side of my fabric. You don't want to cut out each letter from the paper to fuse it because you will be making it much harder for yourself; I know this from experience! Follow the direction on the Heat N' Bond packaging for fusing it to your letter fabric. This letter should be facing the wrong way; this is one I traced incorrectly so when I went to fuse the letter on my pennant it was backwards.

6. Now that you have fused the paper to your letter fabric, it is time to cut out the letters. You didn't cut out the letters previously because you would then have to cut them out twice.

Once they are all cut out, you will remove the paper from the letter.

7. Now it is time to grab the pennants you previously cut out. We are going to iron the letters onto each pennant. It helps to lay out all of your pennants on the floor and lay your letters out on them so you can see if you like the layout of your fabric.

Once you have decided which background fabric will match with each letter, carefully stack them up to take them to your ironing board.

Iron each letter onto the background fabric. I centered each letter on the fabric and placed the top edge of the letter 1 1/4 inches from the top of the pennant. I found it the easiest to just lay my ruler on top of the pennant, 1 1/4 inch from the top, and then center it by using the hashmarks. I didn't mark any of these; just carefully move the ruler away and iron the letter down. Iron all of your letters down this way.

8. The next step is to attach stabilizer to the back of each letter. I found that without stabilizer the background fabric will wrinkle up when you are stitching around the letters. I tried iron iron lightweight interfacing first, but this did not add enough support. I had the best success with Sulky Totally Stable Iron-On, Tear Away Stabilizer.

I cut several four inch strips from the stabilizer and then cut the strips into 4" squares. I went ahead and cut out all of my squares at once because it will be much easier to iron them on assembly line style.

I then held the pennant up to the light so I could see the letter through the stabilizer and fabric to make sure my stabilizer was aligned correctly on the back covering up the entire letter. If it isn't, the section that isn't covered will definitely pucker.

Iron a piece of stabilizer to the back of every pennant that has a letter. This picture is from the first time I made a banner and the pennant was a little bigger, so the interfacing looks smaller in this picture than it will look in real life.

9. The next step is stitch around all the letters to make them more permanent. According to the heat n' bond, you don't have to do this, but I want the extra security of making sure my letters don't come off. Plus, the stitching helps to make the letters pop out from the background.

To make the stitches pop, I used a bright pink thread for my stitching. My sewing machine has a computer display, and I selected the standard zig-zag stitch. I set the width to 4.0 and the length to 0.30. It will resemble a satin stitch. I am not an expert at this, so you should play around to find what works for you on a scratch piece of fabric before you start on your good fabric pennants. I just started at a corner and slowly stitched around until I got back to where I started. You want to be careful going around corners, leaving your needle down while you raise the foot to pivot so there is thread all the way around the letter without any noticeable gaps. When going around curves, just go slowly and watch carefully. I do not profess to being great at this, but I am happy with how they turned out; therefore, you can do this too!

10. Once you have all of your letters fused and stitched down, you will need to remove the paper backing from the stabilizer. If you gently pull, it should come off neatly and easily.

11. Sew the front and back of the pennant together. Place your fabric right sides together and stitch 1/4" from the edge from the top corner down to the point and then back up the other side.
I used navy thread in the picture above so you could see my stitch marks. Assemble all of your pennants in this manner.

12. Turn all of the pennants inside out. The stack in the photo shows turned pennants on the left and unturned pennants on the right.

I use this little silver tool for pushing out the point at the bottom of the pennant. It has a ball on the end, so you don't push a hole in your fabric. I picked this up at Joannes, but I don't remember the name of it. I found it in the notions aisle next to the needles and pins. I have also used chopsticks and the eraser end of a pencil to do this before.

13. Now it is time to make the binding! You will need to cut 2" strips of fabric for the binding. I sew it all together using this tutorial from Amy's Creative Side. She has that you cut 2 1/2 inch strips, but for this usage, I cut 2" strips. I sew them together using the same technique she has there. I don't cut mine on the bias for this application since it does not need to go around curves. Cut 2 inch strips from selvedge to selvedge.

Once you have one really long strip, it is easy to using a bias tape maker to turn your strip into bias tape. Feed your strip into the bias maker, and slowly pull it out while ironing it down. The fabric should fold down towards the middle as you pull it through the tool. You can do this without a tool by ironing your strip in half length wise and then ironing down the sides to the middle, but the tool makes it so much easier and is fairly inexpensive. I have an old one by clover that is 1"/25 mm. It will make an inch wide strip of single fold bias tape.

You can then roll your finished bias tape into a roll like this one and admire how pretty it is!
I am assuming that you will want your banners to be separate words like I did with a banner for "Happy", a banner for "Birthday" and a banner for the name.

I cut my binding to the following lengths:
"Happy" (7 pennants)-109"
"Birthday"(10 pennants)-130"
"Lucy" and "Anna" (6 pennants)- 102"
"Maggie" (8 pennants)-116"

14. You will then need to fold your fabric in half towards the center and iron down.

15. The next step is to sew the bias tape together. Fold the ends down 1/4 and then in towards the center to encase your raw ends.

16. Then carefully sew the short end down and start sewing up the side of the bias tape.

I start my pennants 30" into the bias tape so I have plenty of fabric to tie around a pole or a nail to hang up my banner from. Make this a length that will best work for you!

Once I have sewn 30" down the length of my bias tape, I start inserting my pennants into the tape. I did not measure between each pennant, but I tried to insert them into the tape so they were about 1/8th of an inch apart. Sew all of your pennants into the bias tape and finish off the other end so the raw edges are enclosed like you did previously.

Hang your banner up and enjoy it!

Happy Birthday Banner for Maggie, Anna, and Lucy

2011-01-30T12:46:00.000-07:00

Over the last couple of weeks, I have been making a birthday banner for my cousin Sarah's three little girls.

I made each banner separate so she can hang them up how she wants, and they will work for multiple hanging locations. I made one Happy and one Birthday banner, and then I made one with each of their names.

This way she can switch out the bottom strip depending on whose birthday it is.

These take a while to make because I had to applique each letter on the pennant background, but I am very happy with the way they turned out! Hopefully, they will help brighten up their birthdays starting in March!

I had to share this picture of the scrappy binding. I cut strips each night this week as I had time and sewed them all together Friday night. Yesterday, I trimmed the edges and used my bias tool to make bias tape out of the strips. I didn't measure the length as I was going along; I just wanted to make sure I had enough for the banners. I ended up with 34 yards of scrappy binding! I didn't use all of it, so I now have a nice bundle for my next project. I like the way it looks all rolled up! It is like a fabric cinnamon roll.:)

Daisy Chain Dress

2011-01-23T16:13:00.000-07:00

It has been busy around here since Christmas! I thought I would have more time to sew and more time to post on here, but it just hasn't happened. I worked on a dress for Zerah over the last couple of weeks that I just finished by sewing on the buttons this weekend. My mother-in-law sent me this fabric and the pattern back in the fall, and I have been eagerly anticipating putting it together because I knew it would be cute.

The pattern is The CuppyCake dress by Pink Fig Patterns, and I made a 2 out of Amy Butler's Daisy Chain fabric. The navy and white polka dot fabric is from Joannes. This dress needs a lot of fabric. It should be great for twirling, and I may cut it all up once she has worn it to make a quilt. I do think the skirt would make a great table runner, and it will already be sewn.:) I added a ribbon from my stash to the front bodice for that extra embellishment. I think it works really well.

The back criss-crosses and has a shirred strip. This was the first time I had used elastic thread in my bobbin, and I was really worried at first. I shouldn't have been because it really wasn't that difficult. It was really neat watching the fabric gather up once I steamed the elastic thread. It just shrunk right up; it reminded me of using shrinky dinks and watching them shrink in the oven, so much fun.

We have been cooking and cooking around here. Last night I made this black bean chowder recipe, and it was so delicious! I love soup in the winter and I need to find some really good recipes. A soup night each week sounds perfect to me.

I also have been playing around on Pinterest. It is a really neat way to bookmark recipes or projects that you would like to try later because it acts as a inspiration board with pictures that you pull from your favorite sites. You have to request an invite right now, but mine only took a couple of days. It is really neat; I am on there here if you want to look at all the soup recipes I have started collecting.:)

2010 Recap

2011-01-02T22:26:00.001-07:00

1. Aubie Dress, 2. Apple and Pear Jumper, 3. Pop Garden Frannie Dress, 4. Polka Dot Frannie Dress, 5. Madison Dress Front, 6. Ric Rac Jumper, 7. Jackson Top and Shorts, 8. Oliver S 2 +2 Tunic, 9. Oliver S 2 +2 Tunic, 10. Kid's Week Challenge: Sundress, 11. Purple Gingham Seersucker Dress, 12. Robin's Little Jacket, 13. Playsuit, 14. Taylor, 15. Iva Leigh Dress: Pink Swiss Dot Front, 16. Blue Gingham Iva Leigh, 17. Claire Dress, 18. Tiger Dress Back, 19. Analise, 20. McKenna Playsuit, 21. Owl Dress front, 22. Navy and White Polka Dot Crossover Dress, 23. Polka Dot Party Dress, 24. Fish!, 25. Olivia's Garden, 26. Far Far Away 2 Madison Dress Front, 27. Auburn Dress, 28. down the clothesline, 29. Patchwork Sleepsack, 30. DSC_0240, 31. Circle Skirt, 32. Circle Skirt, 33. Anna Tunic front, 34. Springtime Tunic: audreypawdrey, 35. down the clothesline 2

I love looking back over the year and remembering everything I have made. It is fun because through the pictures I remember why I wanted to make something and who it was for. This year I made many more articles of clothing than in previous years; it may have something to do with a cute little girl of mine! Zerah has already grown out of most of these, but I did make some for next summer; I am definitely glad I did!

I made three quilts this year ranging from a full size to a table runner. This is a lot less than in previous years, but I think I was gravitating to projects that could be completed in a weekend or a couple hours here and there. I worked on many that I hope to be able to share next year!

My absolute favorite thing I made this year is my postage stamp quilt. I just love it.:)

I can't wait to see what next year brings! I still have Christmas projects to post, but I keep forgetting to take pictures of a few things that I made for here. I hope everyone has a wonderful new year, and I am so happy to have all of you that stop by this little space.:)

Scrappy Christmas Quilt-finished!

2010-12-01T20:38:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I finished Zerah's scrappy Christmas quilt! I quilted it during Zerah's nap on Thursday, and I sewed the binding on during the Auburn/ Alabama game on Friday and Saturday night while rewatching the game. We won! I think we watched the game three times this past weekend. We are huge Auburn fans because my husband and I both went there, as did my brother, his brother, my dad, his dad, all of my aunts and uncles, most of my cousins, and really the list can go on and on.

I am very happy with the way the quilt turned out. It is about 46" by 46" square. It is backed with a soft green flannel sheet that I have had for a while. Six of the blocks were made from the Scrappy Christmas block swap I participated in last summer. I made the three blocks on the diagonal from the bottom left corner to the upper right corner. Zerah has already been sitting on it looking intently at all of the fabric, pointing at everything, and saying, "Dis" and "Dat". She likes it!

Scrappy Christmas Quilt

2010-11-21T07:52:00.001-07:00

I stayed up late last night finishing piecing this Christmas quilt together. It is going to be for Zerah. Last summer I participated in a Scrappy Christmas Block exchange, and I am just now getting all the blocks put together. I received six blocks from the exchange, and I made two last summer with one more added last night. I like how bright and happy it is! It is 46"x46".

I have been thinking of the Christmas traditions I want to start with my family, and I want to make a concerted effort to start establishing the ones passed down to me from my family and new ones I develop as well. One tradition I want to start is having a Christmas quilt that you sleep under starting Thanksgiving night leading up to Christmas day. I think that will be a fun way to start anticipating the season each year. I don't know if I will have this one finished by Thursday night (probably not), but hopefully it will be finished during this holiday season.:)

I need to finish making my Christmas presents, too! I have one almost finished and several more to go.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

2010-10-31T14:40:00.000-06:00

I finally fiished my postage stamp quilt! I am so excited that it is finished!

I started working on it during the spring of 2008, so it only took two and a half years.:) It is made with 3,800 1 1/2 inch squares-3,000 on the front and 800 on the back.

Each block contains 100 squares. The finished size is 80" x 91". I started piecing it on my mom's vintage 70's Kenmore sewing machine and finished with my Bernina. I stippled all over for the quilting; I used eleven bobbins of thread, which is the most quilting I have ever done on a single quilt. I really like the dense quilting on this one.

I started collecting squares way back then, and I participated in two rounds of a postage stamp swap on Craftster to get an assortment of colors. I knew I wanted to make blocks of one color, but I wasn't sure about the arrangement.

I tried a couple different variations, and I really liked some of them; I may go back and make another one in the future based off one of the variations I tried. I wanted it to be big enough to fit a full size bed when it was finished, so I quickly realized I would need a border or to separate the blocks. I am happy with the way it turned out.

I went with my daughter to the park to take pictures of it, and it is a little wrinkled from being squished in the bottom basket of her stroller. I kind of like the wrinkled look because it shows it will be loved and used.:)

I have always photographed my quilts in my backyard, but it was fun trying to get different pictures of it. It is currently back in the washer because it did get dirty from lying on the grass; we have a lot of geese in Colorado.

I actually sewed the binding on by hand on this one. It was the first time I have ever tried that! It felt like it took forever; it was about two weeks sewing for 30 minutes to an hour at night with a marathon sewing session during the Auburn vs. Old Miss game last night.

It is definitely one of my favorite quilts I have made, if not my favorite. I love that it is my own design and that it turned out just like I wanted.

If you want to see in-progress pictures, follow the links below:
May 28, 2008-starting, July 14, 2008, September 8, 2008 (layouts), February 23, 2009 -top almost pieced, May 29, 2010 basted and started quilting and then started ripping stitches out, and October 15, 2010-quilting.

I am entering this into Amy's Quilt Festival. I look forward to this event every spring and fall. There are some amazing quilts every year, so go look if you are ready to be inspired!

You can see my previous entries by following the links below:
Spring 2010 and Fall 2009

Thank you for stopping by!

Patchwork Dreams

2010-10-24T18:02:00.000-06:00

This past weekend I finished this patchwork sleepsack for Zerah. Ever since I first received Handmade Beginnings by Anna Maria Horner this summer, I have been wanting to make one! I decided I better make it soon before she was too old for sleepsacks! She is borderline too old at 13 months, but I love how she looks in them. I am not ready for her to have a blanket in the bed because that means she is no longer a baby.:)

So she gets to wear a sleepsack a little bit longer. I used the pattern from Handmade Beginnings but added about ten inches in length. The pattern is for a 0-3 month old. I also added another inch to the sides, but I don't know if I needed to do that. I can't wait to see her bundled up in it tonight ready for bed.

I also finished the quilting on my postage stamp quilt last weekend, and I am slowly handsewing the binding on. It is taking forever! I have put in about 5 hours, and I am not finished with one side yet. I have been working on it a little each night after Zerah goes to bed. It is nice to have a project to work on in front of the T.V.

In addition, I recently stumbled upon the Front Range Modern Quilt Guild! Modern Quilt Guilds have been popping up all over the country, but there wasn't one here yet. Friday, I stumbled upon it, and signed up immediately! So, if you are in the Front Range area and like modern quilting, go sign up! I am so excited there is a chapter nearby!

I hope to finish this weekend...

2010-10-15T06:39:00.002-06:00

Well, I may not finish the whole thing, but I hope to have all the quilting done! I worked on it this past weekend, and I am so happy with the way it is turning out so far. I have used five bobbins, and I have been to the store twice for thread. I don't know why I bought a little spool-what was I thinking?

It has been busy around here this past week. We had parent-teacher conferences Wednesday and Thursday, so I was at work from 6:30 am didn't arrive home until 8:30 on Wednesday. Thursday was 6:30 in the morning until 6:00 at night. I am so happy it is almost the weekend!

Keep those little legs warm!

2010-10-03T15:13:00.003-06:00

This past weekend I made fifteen pairs of legwarmers for Zerah for this upcoming fall/winter. She has so many cute dresses that she needed something to keep her little legs warm when it gets cold outside. I had a lot of fun picking out the socks to make these!

I don't think we will lack for choices for legwarmers for her to wear! I couldn't decide, so I kept making some, and making more, and finally I stopped at fifteen. I used this tutorial on how to make them. I found all the socks at Target for $1 each. So this project cost me about $15, which is pretty good for 15 pairs of legwarmers. I estimate the retail cost of these to be around $150-200. She now has a spiffy little collection.

Don't those little legs look cute in their argyle glory? I love argyle.
They go together so quickly, too. I think each pair took about 10-15 minutes. I may need to make some more for quick baby gifts!

I am off to go take our daily walk. I am trying to walk around 3 miles a day! It is so nice to just be outside in the sunshine-enjoying fall weather!

Baby Legwarmers!

2010-10-01T06:18:00.002-06:00

I love legwarmers on babies; they are so cute! I don't like paying at least $7 a pair for them. I was so excited to find this tutorial the other day on making legwarmers from knee socks, and I had to try it out!

Yesterday, I went to Target in search of knee socks, and I found these for $1 a pair! They were on sale from $2, which isn't bad either. So I picked up many pairs, so I can make legwarmers for Zerah to wear under all her cute dresses when it is cold and snowy here this winter for $1 each. I made the pair above in about ten minutes.:)

I had to share quickly, so all the pictures were taken at night when the light isn't great. The sale ends on the legwarmers at my Target on Oct. 2nd.

Little Woo

2010-09-27T06:34:00.003-06:00

This past week I made Zerah another Auburn outfit. I think this will be the last one for this fall because she now has plenty of Auburn themed clothing items: A-lined Lucy Aubie dress, Polka Dot Crossover Dress with orange ribbons, an Auburn T-shirt, a cheerleader outfit, and a bubble suit! She could wear a different Auburn outfit for six days straight!

The top in the picture is the Little Woo by Patterns by Figgy. It is a very easy pattern to put together; although, I managed to assemble it with the slit on the left side instead of the right side that the pattern calls for! The hardest part was cutting out the knit material; it kept sliding and wrinkling up. I love how woven cotton stays flat. used some scrap Auburn material that I had in my stash for the cotton on the left that peeks out of the side of the shirt. I made my own fabric covered buttons with little tigers for the buttons. That is my favorite part! I also love the orange binding around the collar. It is a 12 month size and the sleeves are super long on Zerah. She is petite, but they are possibly 6 inches too long! I am debating cutting off the length or saving it for when she grows into it.

The pants went together quickly on Saturday. I added an Auburn themed cuff to the bottom of this stretchy chambray material I had to make the little pants. They are a little short, so I am going to lengthen this pattern next time.

Last week was Kid's Challenge Week at Elsie Marley, and I did finish these little pants and top for Zerah. The challenge is to sew for an hour a day for seven days. I failed miserably at this! I spent an hour Wednesday night preparing the pattern (tracing the pattern, cutting out fabric) and two hours Thursday making the Little Woo Top. I only managed to finish the top on Thursday because I took the day off work, so I could sew during Zerah's naps. Saturday, I made the pants in about an hour. So I spent about about 4 out of the 7 hours of the challenge this past week sewing.

I think the next project I work on will be finishing up some old ufos. Hope everyone is doing well!

Zerah's First Birthday!

2010-09-26T11:57:00.004-06:00

Zerah had her first birthday last weekend! I can't believe it has been a year already since she was born. The time goes by so fast! I spent the week before her birthday getting some crafty items ready for her party.

I want to start certain traditions with her that stay the same as she gets older. One of the things I want to do is hang a birthday banner that she has her picture taken with every year on her birthday so you can see how much she has grown. I also like the idea of the banner being reusable and a non-plastic item, so I made her one for her birthday this year!

The pennants are about nine inches long and eight and a half inches across. Most of the fabric I used is leftover from dresses that I have made her this past year. I like that as we pull it out in years to come will be a reminder of all the little dresses that I made her this past year. There are a few pieces that haven't been made into clothing yet but will be soon. I took pictures during the process, so if anyone is interested in how I made this, I will be happy to post a tutorial soon.

One of Zerah's favorite things are ducks! It is one of the first words that she said and she loves rubber duckies, so I had to make her duck cupcakes. I have never tried making "fancy" cupcakes before, so I was super pleased with how these turned out. I watched this tutorial on youtube, which really explains how to make these 3-D cupcakes. My mom and I had a good time putting these cupcakes together the night before her birthday. I made Hershey Extra Dark Cake for the cupcakes following the directions on the extra dark cocoa powder container. I over filled the cupcake pan, and they overflowed in the oven! My mom and I were able to salvage them by trimming the excess off the sides, and it turned out fine.

The best part was as soon as Zerah saw the cupcakes, she said, "Duck!" and proceeded to suck on one of the duck's beaks. She got excited everytime she saw one of her cupcakes, which was my intention all along.;)

For her cake, I used the Great Big Cupcake pan from William's and Sonoma. It went together very easily. For the liner, I melted candy coating in the pan, and once it hardened, popped it out of the pan. I had to cut the bottom of the cake down to make it fit in the liner. I read that you can use small round pans for the bottom, and the cake will fit easily in the liner that way. I followed instructions that I found here for the liner. The cake was Vanilla with Vanilla Buttercream icing found on the package for the cupcake pan.

We used sprinkles to decorate it and a "1" candle for the top!

I need to get another picture of her birthday dress. My mom found it for her, and it was so cute. It is a smocked, light purple dress with cupcakes around the collar. So cute! It was a great birthday! She received so many beautiful handmade items for her birthday that I will share later on in the week.

Anna Tunic in Midwest Modern

2010-09-09T06:15:00.002-06:00

I finished another Anna Tunic this past weekend, and I wore it for the first time yesterday! It is a little wrinkled after being worn all day, but I wanted to snap a picture to share. I used Amy Butler's Midwest Modern line, and I made a small this time. It fits much better every where except under the armholes. It is a little high but wearable. I am debating cutting it a little lower and redoing it.
I love how it turned out!

Auburn Dress

2010-09-01T06:05:00.002-06:00

I made this dress this past week for a potential customer on etsy, but I think I may need to keep it! If I do sell it, then I am making one for Zerah, too. It is perfect for watching Auburn football games this fall. It will be cute with a long sleeve onesie underneath, too!

I like the way the back crosses over!

I sewed buttonholes on the ribbon, so it can be attached to the buttons on the front of the dress. That way the ribbon can be taken off for naps or for when it is being washed!

Circle Skirts!

2010-08-30T06:04:00.003-06:00

This past week I finished up my circle skirt class at the Fancy Tiger in Denver. I made two circle skirts! These were actually pretty easy to make once you figured out your dimensions. Since they are made using your own measurements, they fit perfectly! They have a jersey band waist so they are super comfortable, too. The class was a lot of fun, and there were only two of us taking the class so I received as much help as I needed. I do love small classes.

I am really happy with the way they came out!

Hoot! Hoot! Part 2

2010-08-24T17:45:00.003-06:00

I am making clothes for Zerah for her first birthday, and this past weekend I finished another owl inspired dress. I have been admiring applique recently, but I don't have an embroidery machine; my mom and my mother-in-law both do! So, I decided to try appliqueing an owl the old school way. I used some scraps from other dresses, my Anna Tunic (for his head-Zerah and I can match!), and some from my hourglass quilt. I fused the scraps on, and then zig-zagged around the owl. Although there are a few places where it isn't perfect, I am happy with my first applique experience!

I went a little crazy with the jumbo ric-rack, and I used my ruffler on the highest setting to make some serious ruffles. The ric-rack looks crooked here, but the wind was blowing the dress a little; it is straight!

This is the last owl dress that I will make her for this fall, but she may need one next fall, too!

Anna Tunic

2010-08-15T17:10:00.004-06:00

I finished a shirt for me this past week, and I finally got pictures this past weekend. It is the Anna Tunic by Amy Butler. I found it pretty easy to construct, although I thought it would be hard to do. It is fully lined, and it can be worn with the belt or without. I really like the collar area, and the way it closes in the back.

It is easy to slip on over my head without fastening the buttons, which is nice. I will be able to wear it to work or on weekends. I think it will look cute with either jeans or khakis, and I am really excited about wearing it. That is pretty good for one of my first handmade shirts for me!

I am definitely making it again, and I already have some fabric for a version out of Amy Butler Midwest Modern in green

Details:
Pattern: Amy Butler Anna Tunic
Size: Medium-I may try the small next time, as it is a little big.
Fabric: Joanne's

Hoot! Hoot!

2010-08-14T18:34:00.002-06:00

I have started making Zerah some clothes for fall/winter out of corduroy. I love corduroy. I found some really cute corduroy at Joanne's this past week, and I made her a little owl dress. I added some ribbon I had and a ruffle along the bottom out of some scrap fabric leftover from one of my quilts. It matches well, doesn't it? I love being able to use fabric that is leftover from previous projects, and it reinforces the desire to keep every usable scrap because it might come in handy. That is, of course, why my scrap bins are a wreck.:) I also found the cute flower buttons there as well.

I think it will be cute for October and for Thanksgiving. I really like the dark brown and orange together. Here are the details:

Pattern: Lucy by Children's Corner
Size: 12 months
Fabric: Joanne's

Rapunzel Dress

2010-08-06T16:49:00.003-06:00

When I saw that Heather Ross was coming out with more of her fairy tale prints in the Far Far Away 2 line, I knew I had to make a dress out of them. So I picked up the Rapunzel print and the coordinating roses to make this little dress out of for Zerah.

I have made this pattern before, but it about drove me crazy this time. I kept sewing the sides up in the wrong order enclosing the straps; I ripped out the sides no less than three times, but I like the way it turned out.

Pattern: Bonnie Blue Madison
Fabric: Far Far Away 2 by Heather Ross
Lining is orange and white gingham
Size: 18-24 months

I have been taking Zerah for three mile walks everyday this summer while I have been home trying to be active. It is nice to get outside in the fresh air. Here is the view on our walk today:

It was beautiful out!

McKenna Playsuit with Amy Butler Midwest Modern

2010-08-04T17:23:00.002-06:00

While I was down in Mobile, my mother-in-law, Shelia, gave me some of her scraps from her sewing projects and this pattern. I had to sew something last week because I had been away from my sewing machine for so long! I was suffering from withdrawal symptoms... So using some of the scraps and the pattern, I made this little playsuit for next summer. I am trying to make things ahead because Zerah has plenty of clothes for right now.:)

I like the way this turned out! The top fabric is one of my favorites. I really need to pick up some of this fabric for a shirt for me.

Pattern: Bonnie Blue McKenna
Size: 18-24 months
Fabric: Amy Butler Midwest Modern

Back from Vacation!

2010-08-02T10:10:00.004-06:00

Actually, we returned home early last week, but it has taken me a while to start sorting through photos, unpacking, washing clothes, etc. We went to Mobile, Panama City, and Sandestin over two weeks, and it was fabulous. It is so nice to have time to see family since we live so far away from them.

While there we went to the beach, Seaside, ate delicious seafood, and had a wonderful time. I had such delicious food! I tried to eat as much seafood as possible including three shrimp po'boys, fried oyster blt sandwich, red snapper pontchartrain, lime marinated shrimp on grilled grit cakes with mango black bean salsa, fried shrimp, shrimp and grits, grouper sandwich, and I know I am forgetting some!

Zerah did pretty good with traveling. I flew with her alone on the way down. We flew from Denver to Atlanta and then onto Mobile. The leg to Atlanta went great; she slept and played and was happy. From Atlanta to Mobile, she cried and cried and cried. I was that person on the plane who received all the nasty looks, but she was overtired and nothing much could be done. The return flight went much better because my husband was there to help with her.

I made a camera strap cover and bag to take down to my cousin-in-law, Shanna, who made Zerah a beautiful sweater. It is my first camera strap cover and I thinking of making some for my shop. It was fun to use some of my scraps for this project.

I also made a bag for her. It is a simple bag, but I really like the patchwork strip down the front.

Shanna and her mom worked together to make this cute set for Zerah. Shanna knitted the sweater which I love. Isn't it the cutest thing? I love the ribbon around the yoke. Sharon made the watermelon pillowcase dress that goes with it. They are so cute!I also came home with about twenty homemade outfits for Zerah from my mother-in-law. They are all so beautiful. I need to take a picture of all of Zerah's dresses that I have made and others have made for her so when she complains that she doesn't have any clothes to wear as a teenager, I can show her how rotten she was as a baby.:)

I should have more posts this week as I have made another outfit for Zerah since we have been back and I have been cooking quite a bit as well. If I haven't been around to visit your blog, I will get there eventually. My google reader has +1000 posts to read; it may be a while.

Olivia's Holiday Dress for Zerah

2010-07-11T12:21:00.003-06:00

Pattern: Portabello Pixie Claire
Fabric: Olivia's Holiday by Tina Givens for Free Spirit
Size: 18-24 months

I can't wait for Zerah to be able to wear this dress! Actually, I can wait because she is growing too fast as it is, but I think it will be really cute on her.:) I love how these fabrics work together, and this is fast becoming one of my favorite patterns.

Albuquerque and Sante Fe

2010-07-11T04:49:00.002-06:00

Over the 4th of July weekend we went down to Albuquerque to see my brother and his family. Albuquerque is almost a half way point between where he lives and Denver. It was a wonderful weekend! We spent some time in Sante Fe on the way back home as well.

These first two pictures are from Sante Fe. I love the architecture in both of these towns. It is so vastly different from the South where I grew up.

We to the Petrolglyph National Monument in Albuquerque where there are rock carvings in the volcanic rock from 200-over 2,000 years ago.

It is fascinating to think that these carvings could be that old!

We also spent some time in Old Town Albuquerque.

Isn't the carving in the tree beautiful?

It was a wonderful trip, and I can't wait to go back again.

Dress for the Beach!

2010-06-25T10:39:00.004-06:00

We are heading to the beach next month to see lots of family, so I had to make a beach dress! my mother-in-law sent Zerah this cute fabric a couple of months ago that she picked up in Mobile. Isn't it cute?

This is the Lucy Pattern by Children's Corner in a size 1. It is the perfect little A-line dress that is so easy to put together. It is also fully lined which is nice because you don't see any of the seams.

I picked up these buttons from Joanne's. They aren't the exact shade of green, but I loved the pink and orange dots across the center. I also topstitched all the way around the bodice and the bottom of the skirt.

Of course, I had to add a ruffle. I am on a ruffle kick! I have enough fabric leftover to make one more, so there is a custom one available in my shop.

More Pillowcase Pants and an etsy shop!

2010-06-23T21:49:00.004-06:00

I picked up another vintage sheet the other day and started making pants! I also opened up an etsy shop where I put all these pants for sale! I had been wanting to open one up for a while, but I just didn't have the time. I finally decided to build some stock and see what happens. Eventually, I will have some baby quilts listed in there, too.

I made a total of five pairs ranging from 6-12 monts to 2T. They are perfect for the summer because they aren't as hot as the knit pants, yet they are still really comfortable. I have been using them on Zerah when we go for walks to cover her legs from the sun, yet they still let the breeze through.

It was a lot of fun deciding what to use for the back pockets and for the ruffle along the bottom.

Some of the pants and the same fabric for the back pockets and some have two different fabrics because I like using lots of different fabrics. It reminds me more of a quilt, I think.

I also had to use ruffles and rickrack! So there is rickrack across the back pockets...
...and along the bottom of the pants on top of the ruffle.

These were really fun to make, and if they don't sell, my little girl will have plenty of fun pants!

Go check out my new etsy shop and tell me what you think! I also listed one of the Auburn tiger dresses that I made a couple of weeks ago.

Analise Dress

2010-06-11T16:19:00.002-06:00

I finished this Analise dress today, and it was a bigger project than I anticipated. The pattern is Portabella Pixie's Analise, and it is a 6-12 month size. I wanted to make this dress so I went searching through my scraps to see what I could combine. It ended up being pretty bright, but it reminds me of something Snow White would wear, so I like it.:)

This dress takes a lot of fabric. It has almost three yards of fabric with the majority in the skirt. I like that the skirt is so full. I love patchwork, so that is something that definitely drew me to this pattern. It states on the package that it is for and intermediate to advance sewer or an experienced quilter. It took me a long time to assemble all those squares for the skirt!

The back has an elastic piece that is inset into the bodice with straps that cross and tie at the back. I love the back of this dress!

I took some in process pictures, and this is the skirt before the bottom ruffle. It fit around me easily which is amazing since it is for a 6-12 month old.

The bottom ruffle took a long, long time. I used my narrow hem foot for the first time. It definitely takes practice to get it to work right, but I definitely had practice with this strip of fabric.
Isn't that a crazy looking foot? The bottom ruffle was 21 feet long! I could not believe it, and I had to measure it twice. That is a lot of ruffle! I like the way it did turn out, but it will be a while before I make another one. This is not a quick dress by any means!

Lucky, lucky, lucky!

2010-06-10T12:50:00.005-06:00

I have been very lucky lately in numerous ways! A while back, I won Handmade Beginnings by Anna Marie Horner from the blogtour while it was at Handmade by Alissa's. It came in the mail today, and I have been perusing it while plotting what to make first. It looks like such a great book.

Isn't this little jacket fabulous? It is so cute! I have some Lizzy House Duck fabric that I have been saving for a jacket, and it may end up being this one.

I really love the patchwork sleeper, but I do wonder if it is too late for Zerah to really use it. I also love the little booties, and I am making her some for the fall.

The sixth times a charm quilt top is awesome! I am definitely putting that on my list of quilts to make.Thank you, Alissa, for such a great prize! If aren't familiar with Alissa's blog, you should definitely check it out; she makes absolutely beautiful quilts.

In addition, SewMamaSew had a huge blog giveaway day a couple weeks ago, and I won a package from Foziewisp.

I was actually the third name that she drew, and she sent me a package! There is all kinds of goodies in here. I love the dresden plate patchwork pieces and the fabric scraps.

There was also a pattern, lace, trim, buttons, metallic thread, a flamingo applique, and pom-poms! I am going to have fun adding little bits and pieces to different projects. Wasn't that generous of her? Thank you foziewisp!

IN ADDITION, I also won a yard of fabric from Twiddletails, during Amy's Blogger's Quilt Festival! I entered this quilt and actually won a prize! I think I will be redeeming my prize for a yard of this owl fabric by Alexander Henry. Thank you to both Amy and Twiddletails for the great prize! If you haven't checked out her store, she has some great fabric with a section specifically for dots.:)

Pillowcase Pants

2010-06-09T08:58:00.004-06:00

It was so hot here in Colorado at the beginning of the week, and we don't have air conditioning. Well, we have a swamp cooler, but it is at the other end of the house from the bedrooms so it isn't very effective at night. So, Zerah needed something light to sleep in. I think they will also be good for when we go for strolls to keep the sun off of her legs, yet still let the breeze in-unlike all of her knit pants.

I went through my fabric to find something soft and comfortable and remembered all these vintage pillowcases and sheets I had picked up to make a quilt. Well, I have plenty, so I made some into little lounge pants.

It turns out you can easily make a pair of pants from one pillowcase. I had some yellow gingham sheeting which I used for the pockets on the back, and I had to add a ruffle to the bottom because ruffles are just cute!
I like the way they turned out. The one on the left is a little shorter because I rolled the waistband over to make it a wee bit shorter for Zerah to wear. The fabric on the right reminds me of Holly Hobby. Does anyone else remember her? Maybe these were Holly Hobby sheets originally. I like the way the yellow diamonds form that pattern on the front; that was sheer luck!

Tiger Sundress

2010-06-08T09:45:00.004-06:00

I recently finished a crossover back sundress for Zerah. I went to Auburn University so Zerah has to have some Auburn inspired clothes! This little dress has tiger faces all over to be like Aubie! It is a 12 month pattern, and she is a small almost 9 month, so it is a little big right now. It should be about perfect when football season starts.
One of my favorite design elements of this dress is the crossover back. Isn't it cute? I added ruffles all along the edge using my ruffler foot which is such an awesome tool. If you don't have one and want to make ruffles, I highly encourage you to pick one up. It makes it so easy!

I topstitched around the bodice and skirt as well.

I have played with the idea of opening an etsy shop and selling dresses. I am going to open one up soon, as soon as I can build up some inventory. It wouldn't be much of a shop if it only had one dress.:)

I will be offering these dresses for sale in my shop when it opens, or you can contact me to set up a custom order beforehand. I can currently make these in Size 1 or 2 in this fabric. If you would prefer a different fabric, let me know and we can set something up.

Have a great Tuesday everyone!

Accuquilt Giveaway!

2010-06-08T07:28:00.001-06:00

Amy's blog is one of my favorite's, and today she is giving away an accuquilt go cutter!

Go check it out!

Claire Dress with Amy Butler's Love Fabric

2010-06-05T12:01:00.002-06:00

I finished the Claire dress from Portabellopixie this morning. I traced out the pattern Thursday night, cut the fabric Friday morning, and sewed it all together this morning while Zerah slept for 3 1/2 hours! I found this dress very easy to put together. The pattern is very clear with tons of color pictures illustrating each step. This version is the Petal Knot Apron Dress. I do want to try some of the other versions as well. I am extremely happy I picked up this pattern because it was so easy and I love the way it turned out. The only change I made was using one fabric for the skirt instead of two prints.

This version is made from Amy Butler's Love line. I love this fabric and wish I had ordered more. I do have a little bit left, but not as much as I would like! It is a 12 month size.

One really neat thing about this pattern is she allows for you to sell versions of this pattern without having to pay extra. I wonder if I could sell some, if I made a few extra? I need to do something to produce some extra money so I can buy more fabric. :)

Blue and White Gingham Dress and the beginning of summer...

2010-06-04T08:57:00.008-06:00

Since I had some trouble with the Iva Leigh Pattern before, I decided I would go ahead and make another one so I would remember how to do it. It is made from teeny tiny check blue and white gingham, which has a name but I don't remember what it is called. 1/8th check? This one is a 12 month size which she should be able to wear at the end of summer and into fall. It will look cute with a little white cardigan for when it is cooler.

Instead of the sleeveless version, I made the one with puffed sleeves. This dress has a lot of firsts for me. This is the first time I have made puffed sleeves, piping between the yoke and skirt, and the first collar ever. I even put piping around it. I am very happy I was able to figure this part out! It isn't perfect, but I like the way it turned out. I love all of the buttons down the back, too.

I really enjoyed making this dress, and I actually did a lot of hand stitching with this one. I usually rush through that part and try to do it by machine, but I slowed down and actually tacked the binding on the armbands on by hand and tacked the yoke exterior to the lining yoke. It was nice to sit and think about why I was making this dress and why I enjoy making dresses for my daughter. She won't want to wear handmade dresses forever so I am going to make them for as long as I can. Plus, it is a way to show her my love in a different way. It is neat to see her in something that I made for her.

I love the classic look of this dress. My first thought when it was finished was that this is something that Scout Finch would wear. I can see Aunt Alexandra making her wear something like this to church, and Scout complaining that it itches. This one shouldn't itch because it is lined with cotton-no tulle here!

Summer is here and I am looking forward to going for long walks everyday! I would like to do a three mile walk every afternoon, and I am really lucky to live in an area with lots of parks.

These pictures are from the walk Zerah and I went on yesterday. We saw geese and little goslings. One of Zerah's favorite books is Gossie by Olivea Dunrea. I think I almost have it memorized from all the times I have read it to her, "This is Gossie. Gossie is a gosling. A small yellow gosling who likes to wear bright red boots-everyday." We love these books.

On our walk we pass a marsh area and a lake...

...and a farm where we see sheep...

... and cows and chickens, too.

I also love all the flowers that are popping up everywhere. These are some of my favorites.

I am looking forward to playing with Zerah, long walks exploring the neighborhood, and having extra time to sew! Happy summer to all of you!

Iva Leigh Swing Dress

2010-05-30T15:05:00.004-06:00

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

2010-05-29T09:34:00.002-06:00

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

2010-05-26T17:02:00.004-06:00

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

2010-05-19T05:46:00.002-06:00

Kid's Clothes Week: Sundresses and Pants

2010-05-16T16:37:00.004-06:00

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

2010-05-13T07:31:00.002-06:00

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

2010-05-11T05:30:00.003-06:00

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

2010-05-09T08:19:00.000-06:00

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!

Barcelona Skirt

2010-04-26T05:28:00.003-06:00

About a week ago, I finished the Barcelona Skirt by Amy Butler for me. The fabric is Modern Meadow by Joel Dewberry. I am very happy with the way it came out. I did have to change a couple of things because I don't have an invisible zipper foot, and I did not measure myself correctly. :) Once I realized that I was going to need a new foot, I was already half way done, so I kept going. There may be a way to use a normal zipper foot, but I wasn't sure how... Anyway, it worked out fine because I made a size bigger than I need to (much better than making a size smaller!) so I just turned the waist over and put in elastic. Since it is big in the waist, I am able to pull it on. I am thinking of adding a drawstring because it is still a little too loose. I love how the fabric is fraying at the layers!

Happy Monday everyone! Is it possible to put in an invisible zipper without an invisible zipper foot? Does anyone have experience with this?

Springtime Tunic

2010-04-17T08:27:00.006-06:00

I recently took a class at The Fancy Tiger in Denver to learn how to make a tunic. Christina, the teacher of the class, had pulled a pattern out of a Japanese sewing book which we used to make tunics. It was neat because you could make a tunic or a dress, but I chose to make the tunic so I might get more wear out of it. The class met for two hours, two Saturdays in a row. I believe that there were only five of us taking the class which was great because we all received personal attention from Christina in how to do each step and assistance with the fitting to our own bodies. Every ended up with beautiful tunics which was amazing. I will definitely take another class there soon.

I used Anna Maria Horner Little Folk's Voile in Meadow. This has to be the nicest fabric that I have ever sewn with; it has the prettiest drape and is so buttery soft. It was purchased at the Fancy Tiger.

The pattern is really too long rectangles that you then alter to your own body by adding a little curve here or there for the bodice and then a skirt piece you attach to the bottom. It is neat because you can really adjust it for your own personal taste. I suppose you could do that with most patterns, but since this is the first clothing I have ever sewn myself, I thought that was really neat. Now I just need it to warm up a little bit so I can wear it!

I am entering my top in MadebyRae's Spring Top Week's contest. There is more information about the contest here and here. I saw this contest going on last year, but I didn't have anything to enter. I was really amazed by all the beautiful tops that were being entered, but I didn't have time to make anything. I vowed that this year I would participate and managed to finish a top for me just in time! I am so excited about having something in the contest. Go check out all the wonderful entries here in the official entry pool at Flickr.

Cheap Patterns!

2010-04-14T05:55:00.002-06:00

Joanne's had McCall's patterns on sale this week for $1 so I had to pick a few up. I purchased M5693, M5695, M5743, M 5834, M5835, M4644, and M5697 for a grand total of $7. Retail value of each is 11.95, so they would have been around $84. I love a good deal! If you need patterns, I might check it out before Saturday.

Pink Seersucker Taylor with Bunnies

2010-04-11T20:54:00.005-06:00

This is the last outfit that we worked on while my mom was visiting a week ago. I finished it after she left to go back home. My mom brought the pattern, Children's Corner "Taylor", and the fabric when she came to visit. Isn't that fabric so cute? It is pink and white seersucker with embroidered pink rabbits. It was perfect for Easter!

I have not had tremendous success with putting in snaps in the past, so I went with buttons this time for the bottom opening. I think they look cute!

I also really like the piping around the neck and the leg openings. I will definitely make this pattern again. It was pretty easy, except for the piping. I always have to sew the piping on more than once to get it close enough to the piping so it doesn't show the edge. The elastic on the sides was tricky, but I think it will be easier the next time around, since I have made it before.

I have a tunic that I made for me to share later on this week! I also have started a new block for my sewconnected2 group that should be finished by the end of the week.

Little Pink Jacket

2010-04-09T05:33:00.000-06:00

While my mom was visiting last week, we made this little jacket. I added the buttons this past week to finish it off. I think it turned out so cute! I love the little flower buttons.

It is lined in white, and I really like how the white is turned down on the pockets. It is a six months, but it is still way too big for Zerah. When I make it again, I am going to take an inch out of the width due to it being so wide when I tried it on her.

I used the Robin's Little Jacket's pattern by Children's Corner. I am definitely making more of these, and the pattern was actually pretty easy to follow. I was worried that it would be difficult because it was a jacket, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Pink Seersucker Gingham Playsuit

2010-04-07T05:45:00.002-06:00

I finished the "Paulie" playsuit that my mom and I worked on while she was here last week. I had to attach the ruffles along the bottom and add buttons after she left. I like the way it turned out!

It is made from the Children's Corner Paulie Pattern in a 6 month old size. I used pink gingham seersucker that my mom brought from home; I am not sure where she purchased it. We used rickrack around the yoke and attached rickrack across the front of the bodice as well.

I love the sash on the back, but I need to get better at tying pretty bows.

I love the ruffles along the bottom of the pants. I used my new ruffler foot, and it was so easy.
I definitely want to make more of these. I think she needs the short version for summer...