In the meantime...

Maggie's quilt is in the mail, and her mama wants a surprise...so, Part II is delayed a short while.













In the meantime, I made this doorstop via the excellent instructions from Oh, Franson!...




Because our old arrangement could not work any longer!

The dogs don't seem to notice it's filled with beans, so I won't revert to my alternate plan to use aquarium rocks.

Oops, I didn't read the directions to use a 1/2 inch seam on the nine patch square. That's a quilter's brain for you. I like how it turned out anyway.




I love patchwork binding, although I have yet to use it on a quilt. So, I took i heart linen's advice and made a roll up for some future use.



And finally, this is the breathtaking sunset I saw today. What can I say? I'm a lucky girl.

Maggie's Quilt, Part I

A good friend of mine asked me to create a quilt for her daughter's move to her first big bed, an antique heirloom bed, around her 2nd birthday in November. I'm honored to be asked, and to have a quilt to make for someone so sweet makes it all the more fun. Several months ago the process began...

The request:

1. Double size quilt with a ruffle edge.
2. Cheerful fabrics in pinks, yellows, greens - no white background.
3. Coordinating pillow cover with ruffle.

The fabric:

Over email and Kaboodle (an awesome site for wish/shopping lists), we weighed several fabric collections like Moda's Simplicity, Tanya Whelan's Ava Rose and Heather Bailey's Freshcut. She chose Freshcut with pinks and greens after seeing this quilt and this one on flickr.

I ordered the fabric on ebay from epb dolls. I have nothing but good recommendations for this seller based on three orders I've placed. I also added in some left overs from my Freshcut quilt.

The pattern and piecing:

We chose the giant Carpenter's Wheel design, and I sketched it out on my graph paper. There are similar directions on Quilter's Cache, though you'd want to adjust the size of the blocks to match your dimensions. In my case, I wanted the main design to be 64" square, so I used 8" finished blocks (8.5" unfinished) for the Carpenter's Wheel. What helped the most was laying out the colors and blocks between each step of cutting, pinning and sewing rows together.

Isn't that lazy dog so helpful?

Then I added 8-12" of borders to make the entire quilt about 80"x84", plus the ruffle to be added at the end.

Here it is lying over my queen size bed.

I had orignally planned to piece the back with remaining fabric, but it fortuitiously turned out that I did not have enough. So, we decided on a large print peach and pink floral fabric to tie it all together.

In Part II, I'll cover the quilting and ruffle.

Free Motion, Baby!

I've mentioned how much I cherish my vintage sewing machine. The only disappointment is that I could not free motion quilt since there was no way to drop the feed dogs. Alas, I was wrong! While reading about how to machine sew a button, I discovered the feed dogs drop by a screw underneath my machine. I've thumbed through the machine manual several times and this is the only mention of dropping the feed. I was thrilled to say the least! Now, there's a darning/free-motion foot on it's way to me, and I'm ready to practice, practice, practice.

I have pieced and sandwiched a quilt for my friend's daughter that I'll show off soon, but I've been trying to decide just how to quilt it. It seems fate has determined that there must be some stipple quilting incorporated. Once I get the technique down, I may give it a try.

Here's a helpful video of free-motion quilting:
CrazyMomQuilts (a great quilting blog to check out otherwise!)

Wish me luck!

Baby Jane update - July

1. G8, Justin's Comet, 2. A1, Pinwheel Gone Awry, 3. A2, One two buckle my shoe, 4. D10, Battlefield

Above are four of eight blocks I completed in July. My favorite is the star, which is my first hand-pieced block. Yet again, many of these were completed over two crash-course days because I fell behind the group. But every time I get back into the swing of Dear Jane, I remember how good it feels to accomplish a single, sometimes complicated, often imperfect, 4.5" block.

And every time I update my virtual design wall, I'm excited to see the quilt coming together. 44 blocks complete - over 25% of 169 blocks. Yeah!

Hooray for Headbands, indeed

Want a quick and fun summer project? Make a few of these fantastic headbands:

I made several of each yesterday for myself and a few for gifts. I think these will save my hair from the chopping block, since after 6 months of growing it out, it's at that annoying chin-length stage that I can't do much with. I love these, and best of all you can use your favorite scraps, particularly for foofangle's reversible version. Heather Bailey's pattern includes adult, child and baby sizes. Easy as pie.

foofangle's "Best Band Ever" tutorial

Heather Bailey's Hooray for Headbands (TM) Free Pattern

Waste Not

My family would call me "thrifty" - they might even call me "cheap". My husband is a saver but doesn't mind to pay when he wants something now. We compliment each other this way - I encourage him to look around for a better deal, he encourages me to buy a little more impulsively. But some things you can't take away from a girl. Like my inherited philosophy of "waste not" from my grandmother and her twelve depression era siblings. They certainly couldn't afford to let one item go to waste on the farm.

In keeping with that notion, I made a few things from items that would otherwise have been tossed out, and thought it might spur ideas on how you can recycle items usefully. I'd love to know (i.e. borrow) your ideas too!

Dust Mitts
Made from old undershirts, double layered and sew into rectangles with one side open for hand. I like using these more than torn up shirts.

Hankies
Sewn into squares, embelished with different colors in decorative topstiching.



Jean Skirt
Made from holey jeans, great tutorial here: Savvy Seams










Coffee cup wrap
Ok, so Starbucks doesn't fit the thrifty theme, but I go to our neighborhood coffee shop every couple of weeks when we walk the dogs on a specific path. This wrap works the recycle theme two ways: it's made entirely from cutting scraps and it's one less item to throw away with that coffee cup. I used a cardboard wrap as the pattern and secured the tabs with Velcro.

The Girl has new clothes

Last week I sewed some new clothes for myself. While I don't think it's the most cost or time efficient path to a new wardrobe, I enjoyed it more than I thought and am pleased with the results.

A-line skirt and apron
Pattern: Amy Butler's Barcelona Skirts
Materials: A.B.'s Midwest Modern in lime and Joel Dewberry Manzanita blue damask, white cotton muslin lining



First, I love how the A-line skirt turned out! Working carefully, the skirt and apron took me two days to complete. The pattern is well-written and includes simple-to-follow diagrams. I made a size 6-8 small, but the fit was a bit tight and I adjusted 1/4 inch on each seam allowance. With a mirrored verticle design like this fabric, I only needed 1.5 yds for the small size. The directions for the invisible zipper made sewing my first zipper a success. The length was mid-calf before hem, and after help from my husband-turned-sous-tailor, I hemmed the skirt to an even 14 inches from the floor.

I sewed this beautiful velveteen rick-rack (found at MJ Trimming) directly on the hem line before turning to hem. This way, when the hem is turned under, only half of the rick-rack shows and the stiching line is not visible. I also wanted a blind hem instead of a top stitch as suggested in the pattern. After unsuccessfully attempting the blind hem stitch on my sewing machine, I tacked the hem by hand. I really like the polished looked.

The reversable apron was easy and I kept it's length the same. I had been most excited about making the apron, and I do like it, but it's honestly not going to be used as much as the skirt. It will be a nice addition in cool spring months and fun to wear around the house and with jeans.




Anna Tunic
Pattern: Amy Butler's Anna Tunic, tunic length
Material: Amy Butler Midwest Modern in lime, white cotton muslin lining



I am less pleased with the results of this pattern. A fabric other than 100% cotton would lend a better look, and I don't think the lime color looks great on me. I chose a size medium based on an in-between bust size, but the gathered nature of design meant the medium looked HUGE on me. I adjusted the sides several times until I got a more hourglass shape that I liked. Next time I will make the small size and adjust from there. The buttons are extras from my stash - 3 matching pearlized and one top turquoise button.

To my surprise, I liked the tunic better without the belt. It is a comfortable shirt and I will wear it around the house or running errands. For the Fall, I may make the mini-dress or dress length to be worn with a long sleve shirt and tights in the cooler weather.



Overall, not too shabby for the first clothes I've made since high school.