The Quilt

here's my quilt top that has taken me 2 years to complete! i bought the fabric when i was pregnant with molly kate. the pattern is from sweet dreams heirloom quilts for babies by gordon and young.
the instructions suggest hand piecing, and being me, that's what i did. i found that i got better control of curves and points by hand.

my friend linda
http://mamafitz.blogspot.com/
was kind enough to send me some scrumptious wool batt. it is so soft; i can feel the lanolin in it. do i need to add that it's a joy to quilt through? :-)

i took this quilt on vacation so i could hand quilt it--all those hours in the car! got a lot of it done, but still haven't finished.

i really love this quilt. when it is all quilted and bound, i think i'll (almost) have to have a little ceremony to release it so that mk can actually use it.

pretty in pink

here's a little dress i made for molly kate (20 months) out of a 23" long, 50" wide remnant i got from jaf. it was even 75% off, so it cost $1.70. pretty good, huh? i paid more for the lining and (invisible) zipper than i did for the fabric.

i don't know how well you can see it in the pix, but it's a satiny polyester with sparkles melded on it. irl, it doesn't look quite as shiny/glossy as it does here. What you notice first is the sparkles catching the light and emitting rainbow colors. a girl can't do without that, can she? and the best part is you can sew right over the sparkles with no fear about your machine.

i used child's play to design the dress. i chose empire waist and a flair of 2". i did the "cross over" of the bodice on paper, cause i'm still a little intimidated by the pattern editor. i selected petal sleeves as i'd never used them before. you can see the close up of the bodice and sleeves above.

i'm having too much fun making little dresses for my sweet baby. on this one, i liked doing the invis. zip. i'm getting better at these and agree w/those who say they'd never use anything else. i also like the way the inside of this dress looks: it's fully lined, in pink "posh", also from jaf. i cut the bodice lining on the bias and also lined the petal sleeves. i used bias tape to cover the armhole seam, which i think looks better than serging. heck, i should have taken a picture of the inside, shouldn't i? next time. :-)

i'm not as pleased w/this style as i thought i'd be, but i learned a lot making it. all in all, this dress reminds me of a rather loose cheong sam, which was not exactly what i was going for. that's ok, though, cause my model would look stunning in a paper bag!

peaches' jammies

here's another project i recently completed.


these are made from lovely soft cotton interlock. the neckline is bound in your basic white foe.

i got to use my pfaff 2046's fancy stitches a little, as you can see in the detail pix. boy, do those fancy stitches eat thread and take patience. worth it, though, i think. turns rather ordinary jammies into something special.

i designed them in child's play, using the no sideseam draft for the pants, and the classic blouse (i think) for the top. the top has fitted sleeves, but is very basic. a fast project, but dd9 is very happy with them. (peaches is her nickname.)

molly kate's new dress

this dress was made from some scraps from a sling i made for a friend.

i used pink batiste for the lining. the pink batiste was formerly a nightgown of mine, that didn't quite work for me. i had made it for her birth (almost 2 years ago now, sniff), but didn't like how it fit me.

i designed the dress using wild ginger's child play pattern making software. www.wildginger.com
i used the baby & me option for the first time (tipping hat to rowena). i used their standard size 2t, because it's so hard to measure wiggley toddlers. i added the peter pan collar as an afterthought. all in all, it was a lot of fun to make this dress. i especcially enjoyed doing the tucks. and. . . isn't she just the sweetest li'l thing?

it was very hard to get these shots, as the subject is *most* uncooperative. i actually took these in our church's baby room.

why i treasure homeschooling

after we'd finished our lessons for the day, the kids go outside to play in the beautiful spring sunshine. on this particular day, dd9 decided to take her silkies and make a canapy in our dogwood tree. doesn't she look charming up there? yes, i made the dress!

road trips are fun!

in early january my family and i took a road trip. we went to lancaster, pa to visit my nmsl friend, michele. see pic at left of michele and me in a chic cafe in lititz, pa. in the background is a fountain of ever-flowing chocolate. we went there after fabric shopping, naturally. we had such a great time. can't wait to visit her again!

then on to harrisonburg, va to see jennie chancey of sense and sensiblitity patterns www.sensibility.com from harrisonburg, we drove to asheville, nc. what a lovely town it was. all kinds of artsy shops--my favorite.

next, we drove through the mountains to nashville.

top above, my friend desiree & I go shopping in downtown asheville, nc. desiree and her family have recently moved from long island to asheville. i miss her lots. in the pic, we are purusing a bead shop.

directly above, my friend rowena and i meet at her shop in nashville. we had a short meeting, but i think we're kindred spirits. it was such a thrill to finally see her in person after all these years.

january was pocket diaper month

the above is a closeup of mk's new pocket dipes. below is all i've made last month.

i've spent most of january working on pocket diapers for molly kate. i just love making these: they're fast and i had everything i needed in my stash. who says my stash is outta control? :-) i can't say enough about how much i love catherine's chloe's toes pattern.