Thursday, April 29, 2010

A pattern review... and other "stuff"

I know, I know, I said I was done making dishcloths! But then I saw this one posted on One Pretty Thing & I had to give it a whirl. It's like a burst of sunshine don't you think? Makes me smile every time I look at it! & it wasn't hard to make at all. Go ahead & make one! You know you want to....


I've also been doing some more sewing for my favorite baby girl...

Simplicity 2684 is a cute little pattern & easy as pie. I had this bird fabric lying around for a long time, wanting to be made up into something..... I decided it was a perfect match!

Of course, you know by now, I never make anything exactly the way the pattern suggests! I left off the ruffle on the chest & bottom & added my own version of bottom ruffle to tie the top in to the pants. I also used a decorative stitch on my machine around the hem of the pants, difficult to see in this picture but it adds a little decorative touch.

The small group I belong to for the Allen Quilt Guild was asked to make the raffle quilt for this year & I helped out with that. Then the ladies asked me to make a bag to put the quilt into, for it's travels to different guilds & shows this year. I used some of the leftover blocks & fabrics from the quilt & am quite happy with the end result....
So, that's what I've been up to! Oh & a little crafting for Mother's Day which I can't show you yet (hi Mom!). I didn't want you to think I'd been sitting idle, just because I hadn't posted my creations lately!



Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Happy Birthday Leigh Anne!

Twenty years ago today, this beautiful girl entered the world & my life was forever changed.... Ah motherhood! In some ways it seems like yesterday that they handed her to me & suddenly I was responsible for someone other than myself. What a learning experience! Nobody can teach you to be a mom. No book can explain it. You just have to live it, do your best & pray A LOT! Leigh Anne has made my job easy! She was an easy baby (ok, except for bedtime!), a smart & chatty toddler (complete with the OCD lining up of the shoes & photos on her dresser!), a beautiful ballerina and a hard working student.


Today she is a beautiful woman, smart and happy. She is a journalism student at Arizona State University. I'm so proud of her!


Hurry home sweet girl! Mom loves you!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

another top for me

I made myself another top today. Using pattern 3893 from Simplicity. I made view F, with the short sleeve and front placket neckline. It went together quickly & easily! I used a cotton fabric I bought off the quilt wall at Joanns (on sale of course!) I did not put a closure at the top of the neckline like they suggested. Honestly, the neckline barely opens & is fine without it. I also left off the tie around the waist. I made it, but decided not to attach it because it added too much bulk to the waist (heaven knows I don't need that!) All in all, I love the end result... it fits nicely. I will make it again, probably one of the other views with the v neck. I figure I can wear a tank or cami underneath it & it will look cute! Maybe a voile or drapier fabric would be cute too... so many possibilities!


What are you making today?

Sunday, April 18, 2010

sidetracked, again!

I have always envied organized people. You know the type, they keep a meticulous to do list (probably neatly typed up on word or something) & then they complete the tasks, one by one & check them off! They are typically fond of highlighters (yes, I am thinking of my oldest daughter, Leigh Anne, who is a highlighter freak and very very organized!). Everything has it's place and time. Nothing goes half finished.


Me, not so much. I'm easily distracted! Typically I have several projects going, several more half done & others cut & ready. My to do list is chicken scratched on a note pad. Or, rather, several note pads because I lose them. I have lists of where my lists are. Seriously! I love a neat & tidy sewing room with everything sorted by color & type... but.... mine is not like that at all. It's chaos. I try! I really do!


So this week I was working on a quilt for a friend (still unfinished), bought some fabric to make myself a new top (unstarted), plus numerous other projects. Went to quilt guild on Thursday night & my sweet secret pal gave me a bag full of goodies. Including, a skein of pink yarn & a copy of this pattern. Adorable, right? So, the organized people I know, like my daughter (who does not sew or craft by the way, but IF she did) would have added this sweet project to the bottom of their to do list, finished up the quilt and the top and THEN made a hat. Sounds logical. But, I'm not logical.


So, off I go to find the right crochet hook (which was surprisingly easy! I have them all in the little pockets of my organizer that Annie made me for my birthday! Hooray for organization!) And this is what I made this weekend! I really hope it fits Mackenzie's adorable little head! It was fun to make, I did it in an afternoon..... so Thank You to my secret pal, whoever you are! Tomorrow I will finish that quilt, start the top AND reorganize my sewing room. Unless I think of something else to do. Which could happen. Ok, it probably will happen. But I do mean well!

Sunday, April 11, 2010

fabric flowers

Maybe you figured out by now what our scrappy project is for quilt guild this month....

Fabric Flowers! I've been having fun trying out different tutorials I've found online so I can share them with the guild members on Thursday. You already saw this lovely blossom:which I made using this tutorial. It was fun to do using a combination of machine and hand sewing.


Next I played around with some felt flowers that I found on Betz White's blog:
I made these using this tutorial. They were fun and easy, again using a little bit of machine sewing & mostly hand sewing (oh, & a glue gun!)

Finally, I tried out this sweet little flower:
I made it using this tutorial from Pink Paper Peppermints. Though it looks the simplest, it was probably the fussiest to make.... but not terribly hard.

So, three fabric flowers made. We'll see how the week goes, if I have time to try some more (or even create one of my own?).



Thursday, April 8, 2010

flowers!

I've been playing around with fabric flowers.... I especially love this one that I made using this tutorial. I made the circles for the petals considerably smaller than the tutorial suggested, only about 2 1/2". I can't imagine how big my flower would have been if I had used 4 1/2 inch circles like it suggested! I put a pinback on the back of the flower.
now it can easily be pinned onto Ally's spring skirt... or this little outfit that I can still just give you a peak of since I have not mailed it off!

Flowers have also been appearing on cakes here on a regular basis! Here is the cake that Ally made Easter weekend for our pastor & her family. The flowers look a bit red here, they were really bright pink. So springy & cheerful!

Ally begins level three tomorrow night. I'm anxious to see what she learns next!

and these flowers have been popping up in my front yard, along with beautiful flowers that my hubby planted there for me last weekend!
Happy Spring everyone!

Friday, April 2, 2010

Happy Easter! And a spring pattern review

I hope you all have a wonderful Easter weekend with your families. My kids are home today (Steve is still snoozing, no surprise there! That's what 17 year old boys do on their day off. Ally has a friend here to hang out). It will be just the four of us for Easter dinner. We've gotten pretty used to that, being far away from our extended family. We will come home after church & make a nice ham dinner. Oh, & the kids will help out with the annual Youth Group Pancake Breakfast before church. It will be a nice day!


When Ally & I were in Ohio, she kept noticing cute ruffly skirts for spring. She asked if I would make some for her. Why not? I picked up a couple of different patterns. She chose the fabric for this first one:

This is McCall's 5920. It's a girls pattern, goes up to size 14 which fits Ally perfectly. She normally wears about a size 5 juniors. The pattern has 6 different views with different yokes, ruffle combinations, etc. This is view D.

The pattern went together very easily and I finished it in one day. The yoke is nicely lined, encasing the top seam. If I make this view again, I will do the ruffle on the bottom differently so that the bias tape above encases the bottom seam. Other than that, I would do it exactly the same. Even the zipper went in smoothly (in the back).

The fabric we used (the green and the pink) are both Michael Miller fabrics, sorry I don't know the line (it's Whimsy, I just found it!). Oh, & you will be seeing more of this fabric from me soon. Ally had me buy extra to make a coordinating outfit for a certain little cousin who she (and I!) is particularly fond of! You'll have to keep checking back for that!

Ok, I am off to bake a cake (quit moaning! It's going to come out perfectly this time!). All of you have a wonderful Easter!