new projects

I've been having a lot of fun in my sewing room lately.... working on odds & ends. I got several new sewing books for my birthday, like One Yard Wonders, there are soooo many cute ideas in there! And Sew Liberated. Well I've already delved into this one! There is the cutest little art smock in here & I just had to make one. No, I don't have anyone here tiny enough to wear this, but isn't it darling?I used some more of my IKEA fabric. Oh, & I changed the back a bit. The pattern calls for the elastic to go all the way around the neck. The child would then pull it over their head. I added ties instead. Here's the back:I had another fun project this week. I have to tell you a little story about this one. Ten years ago, a friend of mine asked me to make her little girl, who was turning three, a dress out of her favorite fabric. She had a blankie that she loved out of fish fabric. Of course I said yes! I made her a little jumper style dress and a matching one for her doll. Well...... just a few weeks ago her mom emailed me again. Seems her daughter JUST outgrew that little dress! Apparently she was wearing it as a little swing top over leggings all these years! She's a tiny little thing. Well, I found a very similar fabric (amazing after 10 years!) and made her a pair of pj pants to replace the little dress. I hope she likes them!You might remember about a year ago, I shared with you that I had been on a retreat with the women from my church. On that retreat, all of the ladies made quilt blocks with their favorite Bible verses on them. Well, this past Saturday we retreated again! I had stitched the quilt blocks into a top & had it ready for the ladies to help with the tying.... here's a peak!

I am anxious to get started on my swap quilt for the Winter Time mini quilt swap! I think I'll do that next.... I have checked out my swap partner's blog & flickr site & we have very similar tastes! This is going to be fun.

American Idol tonight! Hollywood week! I'm excited... anybody else?