Sunkissed Fabric...Nearing the End

About 9 years ago I found the internet quilting world. I also found on line fabric stores. My very first purchase was Sunkissed by Sweetwater. Now, maybe that's the reason why it remains my all time favorite fabric, but whatever the reason, I am still smitten these nine years later.

 I loved this fabric so much that I bought this art piece to hang in my sewing room. It shows 12 of the fabrics from the line, but there were many more. I bought yardage of some and a jelly roll so I could have at least a little of every fabric.

I made this quilt from the Moda Bakeshop to showcase the fabrics. This was my first "modern" quilt that I ever made. I love how cheerful and springy it is. It is still a favorite quilt and has had much use since I finished it in 2011. If you look in my archives for March you can see the beginnings of this quilt. I finished it in September, so there are more posts about that.

 Fast forward to today. I am making a 36 patch quilt and have decided to use ALL my most favorite fabrics and designers so I will always have a bit of them. It makes it easier to let some of this fabric go into other projects.

These are the two blocks that represent my Sunkissed crush that I have been nurturing for these many years. I don't think I have enough to do one more, but I might.

 So with my whole 'letting go' process I decided to make a new dress for Miss N. She needs one for spring/summer and this definitely fits the bill. I feel nothing but happy to finally put this fabric into something that will get some use, instead of sitting in my stash.

This pattern is the Geranium Dress by Made by Rae. I have used it countless times to make dresses for my girl. There are lots of variations so it doesn't always look like the same dress.

And now my Sunkissed tale has come to an end. There are still some small scraps that will get used up eventually. I have asked both Sweetwater and Moda if they will ever consider reprinting this line, but so far, no luck. But if they ever do, I will be on the lookout to purchase some again, because it is still my most favorite fabric ever. Tell me, do you have a fabric line you feel that way about?

Have a lovely weekend my friends.

A Christmas Dress

So much of Christmas sewing is secret, but the dress I made for Miss N is not. Her mother knows about it and as an almost 3 year old, N doesn't read my blog, so I can show it to you here.

I used the Geranium Dress pattern with the expansion pack for the collar, sleeves and the sash. I have long wanted to do a dress with a sash. I loved sashes when I was a little girl. The fabric is Sarah Jane's Peter Pan line. When I first saw it, I just knew the plum and pink had to be a Christmas dress for N. It's hard to tell here, but there are also gold metallic stars on this fabric.

 I found the perfect fancy buttons in my button jar. They add a bit more holiday sparkle to the dress. You can see the gold stars better her.

 And here is the lovely sash all tied up in a bow. It gathers at the side seams where it is attached to the dress. I also had just a bit of pink left so I put a small border around the bottom of the skirt. I love that detail.

And of course, there had to be pockets. My girl loves pockets. I cannot wait to see this on her. We will be there for Christmas this year, so I will get to see it in person.
Have a great Thursday and I'll see you soon.

Weekend = End of Week

Made it to the end of the week and I did make forward progress on some things. I love it when I can see the progress at the end of the week. Weekends I usually only do some hand work in between all the chores and errands.

 Remember these balls of fabric "yarn" from the other day? Well I have to say that those crocheted up pretty fast. Even I was surprised how fast.

And they made this cute little semi-oval rug for my honey to land his feet on in the mornings. It will really matter next winter.

I hand stitched the binding on this little sweetie one afternoon. I didn't get a picture after the clips were off, but trust me, it's cute and is hanging up already.

 Then I whipped up this little set for Miss N. Thimbleanna had a cute dress on her blog for FinallyAGirl and when I saw the pigs I squealed and rushed to get some. Anna has an Etsy shop and sells this sweet piggie fabric. I had the perfect pink buttons too.

 And of course it needed shorts to go with the top. I only bought a yard of the pig fabric, so I looked through my stash and found the perfect pink, just by chance. I appliqued the little pig on the back of the waistband on the outside to show where the back is, and I love how cute it looks.

So here is the whole outfit. The top is the Geranium Dress from Made By Rae. The pattern offers a shorter look for a cut top. I cannot wait to see this on her. Going to try and mail it out this next week.
Have a great weekend. Talk to you soon.

Fat Quarters Are Not Just For Quilts

About a month or so ago, I bought a fat quarter bundle that was offered to me from an on line retailer. I can't remember now who it was, but I think it was from pineapple quilts. I might be wrong. Anyway, when it came it was even cuter that the photos had shown. I immediately wanted to do something with it, but I really didn't know what. I did know that I didn't want to just make it into a quilt. When I saw the fabrics I thought they would make a cute dress for Miss N. I have been making her variations of the Geranium dress from Made By Rae. She is only a size 2T so I thought this might work. I got out my pattern pieces and discovered that with a little finagling, I could get all the pieces I needed cut out. And this was what I came up with:

   I was able to cut the bodice and the bodice lining from two fat quarters.

 I cut the collar and the band for around the waist from another fat quarter. I really wanted a sash for this, but had not quite enough fabric.

          Found some cute brown buttons in my stash to put on the back.

I made the skirt from 5 fat quarters after doing a bit of math to figure out the best way to cut them.

 Then the pockets were cut from some leftover from the back skirt. Miss N loves pockets and her mom said I should make them bigger, so I used the pockets from the size 5 pattern. This one is on the bears and honey side.

And this one is on the bees side. So it is definitely very doable to make something besides a quilt from a fat quarter bundle. A good pattern, some math skills and have fun with it!
Talk to you soon.

Ombre Confetti Dress

I am being very good not buying fabric this year. I know it's only February, but still. The only fabric on my list of must have some was V and Company's Ombre Confetti Metallic. I never am attracted to fabric with metallic in it, but for some reason this just spoke to me.

As soon as Fat Quarter Shop notified me it was in, I place an order. I bought one yard of three different colors. It was so hard to decide which to buy, and I couldn't afford them all, so I also bought a jelly roll so I could have a bit of everything. And I was not disappointed.

So here is what I made first:

This is the fabric I selected for my first project. This picture doesn't even do it justice. It's much prettier.

I made a new spring dress for Miss N. When I saw that fabric I knew this would be one thing I would make with it. I really finagled with the cutting to get the ombre the way I wanted it.

And I was so happy to be able to get a section of the darker part for the collar. This is the first dress I have added a collar to. This is in the expansion pack for the Geranium dress by Rae. The collar was super easy to add and it really makes the dress, I think.

So one more shot of the finished dress. I am so thrilled and am now working on what to make from the jelly roll with all those beautiful colors. I'll keep you posted.
Linking up with Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts.

What Was in Box Number 3?

So I know I should have posted this over the weekend since box #3 arrived Friday, but I have been busy. Anyway, I am here now to show you what was in the box of fun.

 These cute Lucy tunics were in the box. I know I already blogged them.

 Miss N has already worn one and it is as cute as I imagined it would be.

This blouse for my daughter was also in the box. I already blogged that too. But I also had a couple of other things in the box. I couldn't just send goodies to the girls. I had to come up with something for the boys.

I

 So I made another shirt for V. I got this fabric on sale and I extended the body of the shirt as well as the sleeves so it would fit better. It's a good pattern from Oliver + S, but the shirt was too short for him.

I ordered the buttons from Amazon

This is B's shirt. Made from Two Charley Harper prints in my stash

I didn't have enough of either one to do the whole shirt.

This is the back of V's shirt. My computer is giving me fits today trying to write this post.

This is the last dress for N...for now. It is the Geranium dress with long sleeve, made from a knit fabric.

 And here are the buttons up the back. I also used an extended waist on this dress. It really changes the look of the dress.

Not in the box, but just finished, are the Christmas ornaments for the Grandchildren. I found this tutorial on line last year and bookmarked it. These are Scandinavian stars. Just google it. Not hard to make. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and I will be back here soon.

A Bouquet of Geraniums

I have to admit, I have fallen in love with sewing for children again. I used to do it when my girls were little. I loved it in part because it took so little fabric to make them things. Also, almost instant gratification for most things. A great combination for a mom who needs to sew. Now that I have a granddaughter, dresses are my thing...again! (I did sew for the boys but they are getting really big now.)

Rae's Geranium pattern is the best. Several options and so easy to make. I have made several, since the time N was a wee thing, but now that she is older and walking, she loves pretty dresses. Yay!! I have today, three more to show you.

 First, let me tell you this dress is white. Pictures were taken under the green umbrella in the heat of the day. This is a knit dress. I found that sewing with knit is not hard, but it does slow me down to keep things going correctly, which is fine. Careful is good. The little bit of stretch this knit has should help keep her in this dress for a while.

 And when you stitch in the ditch at the high waist it practically disappears altogether, which is great! The knit has a great drape to it as well.

 After I made the first knit dress, I wanted to do another and I found this one, actually Made by Rae, so it was perfect! N is going to love these doggies!

 The third one is a cute Dear Stella bird print I found on sale at Hawthorne Threads. When I got it, I suddenly decided to go through my stash and try to find something to pair with it for the top. I found this Dear Stella Confetti Dots in the exact color as the pink birds. How perfect is that? Many times a manufacturer will use the same colors making matching easier.

 Buttons are all done on all three. My button hole struggles are getting better. I have done so many lately that I am starting to understand the machine and the button hole foot.

Last minute I decided to add a pocket, just one. It fortuitously sits right below this sweet little bird. How cute is that?
If you like sewing for little girls, I would highly recommend this pattern. Now there is an expansion pack available that has sleeves and collars and I think I would like to get that so I can make some for fall too. Have a great Tuesday and I will talk to you soon.

Button, Button

Well, the time for procrastination has ended and I had to tackle those buttons. My hubby drove me to JoAnn's to get the buttons I needed to finish the boys shirts and the dresses for Miss N. No more excuses.

 I tackle the dress buttons first. There were only 3 to do. The button holes turned out so very nice and even. My Bernina has a button hole feature that will take the measurements of the first button hole and repeat it for the others. I love this feature, but...well wait until I get to the rest of the story.

 Sewing the buttons on? Easy as pie. I learned to sew buttons on when I was a child. I think it was the first "sewing" I ever learned to do.

 And there they are, all in a row and neat and tidy. I was so pleased that it was going well, that I felt no trepidation for the rest of the holes to come.

 These are the buttons I bought, and some snaps. You would think that with all the buttons in that jar there, I could find what I needed, but nope. Not enough for two shirts as I needed 5 for each.

 Here are the buttons and the holes on the first shirt. They look good! However, I did not test the first button on the first hole, and the holes are a little snug. I fiddled with them and got them to work, but I was not happy with this outcome.

That brings me to this shirt. I made the top hole 1/8 inch longer and it seemed to solve the problem. But something happened with the machine setting to make the rest of the button holes the same. I am not sure what it was. I had to rip out one button stitched hole and re-stitch and the third one down is crooked, but I could not make myself rip another one out. It is so hard!! So I just pushed through, cursing and muttering the whole way. I am so glad it's done!

The snaps I bought were for a pinafore for Miss N. I knew I had some and I thought I had looked everywhere. So I bought another package of them and installed them on the straps. When I taped the little bag closed with the rest and went to toss it in a bowl on my sewing table, guess what was already in there? Yup. The other bag of snaps. Oh, well.

I hope you have a great day and I will see you soon, for more sewing adventures!