Serendipity Studio Tara Tank Dress...

A few weeks ago, I came across a post from Kay Whitt announcing the first dress in her new Spring sewing patterns collection, the Tara Tank Dress. It really appealed to me, and Kay generously sent me a copy of the pattern to sew one up for myself!

All of her patterns are hard copies, which I prefer when it comes to sewing clothing. She does a great job with detail in her explanations, and the pattern was easy to follow. This dress in particular is a really quick sew because there are no buttons or zippers, just a drawstring tie in the waistband that cinches up. There are a bunch of different length and hem options included in the pattern, a pleated bodice, high waist, and you can choose to go with a full skirt or narrow (I chose narrow).

The fabric I used is a cotton blend from my local fabric store. It appealed to me because of the border print, and it's super light, but not thin enough that it needed lining. I'm looking forward to our rain being replaced with some sunshine so I can sew up a few more of these for the Summer months.

If you'd like to purchase this pattern, you can find it here.

Blogger's Quilt Festival...

This quilt has been finished for a little bit, and needs to be delivered to a sweet new niece.

The fabrics are a mix of cottons from some local fabric shops, and the backing is a super soft cuddle fabric.

I wanted the colors to look fresh and girly, and I love how the backing print is unexpected and fun.

Linking up in the Small Quilts category at the Blogger's Quilt Festival.

SMS Giveaway Day...

UPDATE: Congratulations Marianne! Your fabrics are on their way!

Welcome to my Sew Mama Sew giveaway! I have a couple little bundles of linen/cotton blend prints from Wholeport.com to give away. Each piece is a fat eighth and the winner will receive two bundles, so 12 pieces of fabric in total. These prints all coordinate together and would look great for mini projects, pin cushions, pouches, or in a patchwork project.

To enter, just leave a comment below, and make sure I can either contact you through your profile or leave an email address. Open internationally. Good luck!

An extra special quilt...

As I've mentioned before, I'm a GEMS counsellor to a group of girls in my church. We meet a couple times a month and work on different badges while incorporating praise and worship into our lessons. A few of my girls wanted to do a quilting badge this year, and I was more than happy to oblige.

Before we began, we discussed who we would make a quilt for and chose an extra special woman in our church that has always given much of herself to others, but because of illness she is no longer mobile and able to join us in the congregation.

The girls put a lot of time and energy into designing and sewing their blocks, and it was a lot of fun sharing my knowledge of quilting and explaining all the different steps involved in making a quilt. Throughout the weeks we worked on it, we kept this woman in our conversation and prayers.

This past week, we were able to make a visit to this woman and present her with our gift. She was delighted, there were some tears, and the emotion in the room was high. I couldn't help but think we should have done this sooner, as the response from her was so joyful.

Quilt Stats: generous lap-size, misc red and black charms from a swap, tonal white cotton for backing and black border from my local quilt shop, and red print border from Wholeport.com.

Divided Totes...

Today I'm linked up to the Shaffer Sisters blog. They're hosting a series of handmade items for women, and my divided totes are being featured today. You can find my original tutorial for these totes here.

These bags are great for the gym, knitting projects, or taking to work. I sewed up another one this week in a taller size, and it's going to fit knitting needles and larger projects nicely.

Thank-you for stopping by today!