Sunday, June 29, 2014

wearing patchwork makes me happy!

patchwork quilt skirt

After procrastinating finishing the hem for so long it's silly, my patchwork skirt is now done! :)


skirt in tree

is hanging a skirt in a tree sillier than picnicing pillows?  I think perhaps it is.  and you know what?  I like taking silly pictures :)

patchwork plaid

I bought the fabric from Joanns probably three years ago, it was a pre-made patchwork so making my skirt was actually very simple.  The pattern was Flirting the Issue by AMH.  Another yard and a half out of my stash! :)

linking up to Quilt Story, show and tell tuesday
stitch by stitch

Friday, June 27, 2014

Let's play pretend!

let's pretend that pillows picnicking in the back yard is a normal thing, ok?


backyard pillow picnic

why are my pillows picnining in the backyard with new pillowcases on you ask?


pillowcase picnic

because the lighting is better outside, of course  :)


pillowcase threesome

of all the silly things I've done to get decent lighting in photos, this feels like the silliest.

what about you?  what odd or silly things have you done for blog photos?

pillowcase stack

these three pillowcases, plus one other I made awhile ago, make four {aren't I good at math?}  to be donated to charity.  Now I just need to find a place to donate them to :)

linking up to TGIFF, submarine sunday, Quilt Story, show and tell tuesday


Fort Worth Fabric Studio Blog

stitch by stitch

Friday, June 20, 2014

Friday Sashiko Finish

dragonfly sashiko, fixed

I finished stitching my dragonfly sashiko,


dragonfly sashiko 2, fixed

now I need to make it up into a finished something-or-other.  probably a pillow :)

I'm linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts and show and tell tuesday



stitch by stitch

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

I messed up big

rotary cutting slip

ok, so I was working on my cracker quilt.  I have eleventy-billion five inch squares that need to be cut on the diagonal so the resulting triangles can be sewn to the rectangle units I've already pieced.  

Everything was going fine, until my rotary cutter got a mind of it's own and veered off away from the ruler.

I had precisely enough blue plaid five inch squares to make my quilt.  The fabric is an OOP '30s print from Connecting Threads.  

The panic hit a split second before the little voice in my head you're always saying it's ok to substitute something from your stash.  no need to madly search out a source of a fabric match.  introducing another fabric to the quilt just adds interest.


rotary cutting mishap

so I went and had a look through my stash.  and found a half yard of the blue plaid I forgot I had.

tomorrow I will cut a five inch square of fabric from my stash.  no panicked searching for more of an OOP fabric.  and all is right in my little quilty world again  :)

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

dragonfly sashiko progress

dragonfly sashiko

thanks to the many doctor appointments and sports events I have been to for my boys, I am nearly done stitching the dragonfly sashiko.  {I take it with me most places we go}

soon I will need to have a rummage through my stash and decide what this will be sewn up into.

linking up to show & tell Tuesday, WIP Wednesday,


Fresh Poppy Design

Sew Fresh Quilts

Sunday, June 1, 2014

suit coat upcycled to General's uniform

Recently, my three boys participated in a Living Timeline for school.  They each chose a historical figure, dressed as that person, and gave a short speech about their life.  18 kids or so were in the living timeline.  Oldest to youngest, my boys were Thomas Edison, Harry Houdini, and General Stonewall Jackson.

Since Edison and Houdini mostly wore dark suits, those costumes were easily taken care of.


thrifted coat

For the General's uniform, I thrifted a grey men's suit coat to upcycle.  I shortened the sleeves and body.  The coat had gold buttons on it to begin with, so I removed them and saved them to use later.


yellow felt for a general's colar

I cut an 8 1/2" x 11" piece of craft felt in half and sew the pieces end to end.  Then I sewed the yellow felt to the underside of the up-turned color.  Once I rearranged the gold buttons the coat looked like this:


stonewall jackson coat

Four of the buttons fell off during rehearsal, so I sewed on replacements, and another fell off during the performance.  I guess I need more work on my button sewing technique :)


stonewall coat two

I loved this opportunity to sew for one of my sons  :)

However, this project has made it painfully obvious that outside of piecing a quilt, my sewing skills are all but nonexistent.  I would like to change that, so I can sew more things for my family.  Perhaps even conquer my fear of sewing clothing  :)

stitch by stitch
Fresh Poppy Design

Sew Fresh Quilts