The beginning...

I have actually been a busy little bee of late. I just don't have a ton of completed projects to show. I am working on the girls' room currently. I have done a lot of rearranging and adorning of sorts. When I first saw Darla I knew that it was perfect for my girls. I got this fabric last summer on clearance. Wahoo. Can't beat sales! This is Felicity's quilt. I actually just used leftover fabric from Juliana's quilt top (which is still incomplete) and used the strips and leftover patchwork.

I liked the contrast of the horizontal stripes with the vertical lines of the quilting. I quilted these about one inch apart. I thought it would take no time at all. I was wrong. I think next time I will quilt 2" or 3" apart and "fill in" if I think it needs more.

I used Red Pepper Quilts' method for applying the binding and wowza...love it! Not a big fan of hand sewing, but with her method you can't see the machine sewing from the top and only the back, so it still has a bit of the feel of the binding having been sewn on by hand. I found that I actually had an easier time sewing it on by not pinning it. When I was pinning it kept bunching up on me for some reason. Anyway, I just used a white solid for the back, but you can see the quilting better from this side, and I like the simplicity of it.

I am currently working on Juliana's quilt, some curtains, and some pillows to complete their room.

My Folklore Bag

My local quilt shop was having a sale. Can't resist a sale. I some of the Authentic line and knew I needed some for a new bag. I wanted a tote, and I wanted pleats. I started browsing for ideas online and in my stash, and nothing was exactly what I was looking for. We spent an evening at Barnes and Noble and had a couple of hot little gift cards in our hands. I spotted the "One Yard Wonders" book and put it in my stack. This book is chock full of different patterns. Some of them more interesting than others, of course. There are a lot of child and baby oriented patterns, but I like that. I have little kids. The bag patterns look solid and not just your basic totes and messenger bag patterns. It definitely has a nice variety of small patterns that would make great gifts, and a lot of them don't even need a whole yard. Anyway, it was the Folklore Bag that really caught my eye. The pattern went together well. I didn't like how she had you attach the top, so I did it my way and my new Authentic bag was born.... In fact, I like it so much I ordered more and hoping that soon my new Authentic quilt will be born. *grin*

Happy New Year!

Wow. Can you believe it? A new year. Last year was a full one for us and very blessed. Kurt took the CA bar, got a job, we bought a house, moved across country, and we are having another baby. Plus, all the sewing adventures of this year. My little shop has been a fun little adventure. I tackled my first quilt. I got a serger and wrote an article about it for Sew Mama Sew. I learned how to use a walking foot, ruffler foot, and darning foot (for free motion quilting). Sometimes all you need to do is reflect on the past year to realize just how much has happened. Today is also our anniversary. We have been married five years, and I can't imagine a better person to start each of my new years with than my husband. I truly am blessed.

Here are my two big Christmas projects that I tackled.


Christmas Eve before the Vigil Mass

I made the Village Frock by Sugar City for the girls' Christmas dresses. I used a red suiting material. I liked how it flowed, but I admit it made binding it tricky at parts and hard to press. The pattern is well put together and not too difficult. The neck is probably the hardest part. It just takes time with all the gathering. This is a pretty short dress. It was long enough for Juliana but the size two for Felicity barely covers her little bum. I had a feeling it was short, but I was in a rush. Never a good idea to put off a project until the day it needs to be done. :0) I want to try the shirt version next.

Christmas Day- Opening Presents!

I also made some pettiskirts as one of the girls' presents. They both loved them, especially Felicity. She says all her dress up clothes make her look like "Cindewewwa" (aka Cinderella). This is her "Cindewewwa" skirt. I admit...this was a bit of a daunting task. All the cutting and the sewing of yards and yards of chiffon. The first one took me five hours of just sewing. However, the second went much, much faster. I used this pattern from my shop. She has some great directions for making use of your ruffler foot, and I have to say I don't know if I would make one of these without one or at least a gathering foot. It really eliminates a lot of steps. I can't imagine trying to gather all those yards of ruffles by hand.