Ottobre ties . . .

I finished up the ties for the ringbearers for the wedding next month. It also happens to be my first try at an Ottobre pattern (I just got my first issue this month). Although I did make them twice, the first time with interfacing and they were way too stiff so I redid them without and they turned out much better. Hopefully the little guys keep them on for some pics on the big day.

Two more Gracie dresses . . .

So the other two Portabellopixie Gracie dresses are done! The third one is for my niece so the three girls can match at a family wedding next month. The fabric is from Heather Bailey's Pop Garden - three different colorways of the Peonies print. I'm happy to have this project done (on time!) but now I really need to get the flowergirl dress finished for Alyssa - that one is a bit more of a challenge. I also offered to make some matching ties for the ringbearers so I'm hoping to get some time in the sewing room in the next week and stay focused on getting those done before I get side-tracked into a different project.

Portabellopixie Gracie Dress

I've completed my first dress from the Portabellopixie Gracie pattern - view B Tiered Dress. The pattern booklet is a bit more pricey than most, but since it comes with 4 different things to make (3 of which are quite different), you're basically paying for 3-4 patterns at once which makes it worth it (and I intend on making the other patterns down the road as well). Also, by buying it on Etsy with the fabric for the three dresses I plan to make, I got a nice discount.

First off, I was pleasantly suprised at how quickly and easily this dress came together. I would guess that I spent about 6 hours on it in total (although I'm not new to sewing). I spent a couple hours the first evening going over the instructions and cutting it all out. The next evening I hemmed the bottom, and did all the gathering and pinning of the layers; and the third evening I sewed it all up.

I did make one change to the pattern - I added an extra tier. Before I attached the bodice to the tiers, I realized that I wasn't happy with the finished length. I wanted the dress to fall below the knee, not above it (after all, it's a pretty twirly dress and you wouldn't want panties showing). And that was also one of the faults I found with the pattern, no finished measurements of the dress (at least that I could find). Had I known this before this point, I would have changed the width of the top tier to make more of a gathered look between the top one and the one I added (or changed the length of all the tiers before I started cutting).

Another thing I wanted to point out is the bias binding on the top edge of the collar. When I first read this in the instructions, I was slightly confused and had to read it over a couple times to understand the reasoning or concept of this. But once I actually did it, I found it easy and not very time consuming, and it gave a very nice finished look.

Overall, I found the pattern easy to follow. There were some minor missed instructions and pattern pieces that were stamped with wrong amounts to cut, but it was easy to figure out if you've sewn a couple dresses before. I will definitely be making this pattern again and look forward to trying the other ones out as well.

Little purses . . .

We're planning an invasion of little girls for an almost six-year old, and one of the party requests was little purses instead of goody bags. After a couple trials, I made this simple design - no snaps or buttons, as simple as it gets. The birthday girl is pretty pleased and my stash is a little smaller :)

Daydreams Wall Hanging - done!

I pieced together the top of this wall hanging awhile back and finally got the motivation this week to quilt it and bind it. My husband and brother-in-law even hung it up this evening in our front entry. I also put up some word vinyl on the other wall which I had bought from WordCandy. I love having something on these big bare walls now and am really happy with how both turned out.

microwave rice bag . . .

I've been wanting one of these for awhile and it suddenly occured to me last night that I could just make one. I used these instructions and about 10 minutes later had a rice filled bag that is great for my sore shoulders - just 90 seconds in the microwave and it's perfect.

Another sleepsack . . .

This time I made one for Alyssa since making a new one seems to be just as quick as repairing the worn-out ones that have been handed down from her sisters (and I picked up the fabric from the bolt ends at our local fabric store for next to nothing). All my girls have loved their sleepsacks and wear them until they're out of the crib. Alyssa was so excited when I showed her this one that she right away put out her arms and said "Phease! Phease!" because she wanted to wear it right away. And I love how it keeps her warm at night because her blanket usually gets balled up into a pillow. The second pic is of how she actually wears it at night (backwards) so she can't get at the zipper and wiggle out of it.

Apples for the teacher . . .

At 10pm last night I realized that I had forgotten to pick up something for my daughter's teacher for her birthday. And since I also know the teacher personally (she was even my secret sister one year), I decided that I couldn't let it go. So I quickly sewed up another little basket - with an apple fabric of course. And the card was in my stash (thanks to a stamp a stack). I really do love this pattern - less than an hour from start to finish (for a non-scrappy version).

Getting back to the real world and the craft room . . .

Well life is getting back to normal around here and I'm still trying to figure out the routine a bit. We've been having great weather so that's really helping and the girls are loving being back to school. I've managed to get into the craft room a couple times and hoping to get some unfinished projects done soon.

I got an offer I couldn't refuse the other day: a request for a sleepsack in exchange for a meal and some baking. Here's a pic of Alyssa modelling the sleepsack. I made it from a quilted cotton, used bias tape on the edges, and put a zipper in upside down (to make it more difficult for a little one to get it open).

And the winner is . . .

Thanks to the great response to the giveaway! I went to random.org and here is the lucky winner . . .

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:128
Timestamp: 2009-01-16 04:02:45 UTC

so after some counting . . . the winner is . . . Melzie who said...
this is gorgeous, hope you pick my name ;) xoxo melzie

and since there were so many entries, I decided to pick a second name:

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:99
Timestamp: 2009-01-16 04:09:29 UTC

so after some more counting . . . the winner is . . . Idaho Quilter who said...
Of course I would love to win this. thank You for offering.
I'll make you a tissue holder and keychain wristlet like the ones pictured (one of the sets is for Melzie and the other is for me). I'll give you some color/fabric choices so it'll suit your taste.

Thanks again to everyone who entered or hosted a giveaway!

Whirl Into Winter Quilt Blog Giveaway

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. WINNERS ANNOUNCED HERE.

Since I've won quite a few giveaways online in the past year, I'm participating in the Whirl Into Winter Blog Giveaway. You can go over there to check out a bunch of blogs that are participating and you'll find that most of the items are homemade or items for crafters.

So this is what I'm giving away. It's a purse made from a chocolate corduroy and some pop garden fabric. It has an inside pocket, a magnetic snap closure, it's pleated on the bottom half, and has some metal accents on the straps. If I have time, I'll also add a couple co-ordinating items to go in it. And you'll have to excuse the poor quality pics, but brown cord doesn't photograph well. I can ship to US or Canada. All you have to do is leave me a comment saying you want to win this. The giveaway is open from January 1 - January 15. Good luck and Happy New Year!

some Christmas gifts . . .

Here's a couple things I sewed up for Christmas gifts this year. An Emmeline apron (the other side is a pink Christmas fabric) and a bunch of coordinating kitchen items (a table topper, half apron, pot holder, and embellished tea towel).

Sassy Apron Swap . . .

I sent off my apron for the Sassy Apron Swap today. It's a reversible Emmeline apron. It was such a fun pattern that I made a second one too but my husband voted that this was the nicer of the two. I hope my partner likes it! We also had to send a cookie cutter, recipe, and card; and I also added some sprinkles, candy canes, and a matching pouch to put them in. Now as soon as mine arrives, I'll be ready to start some Christmas baking . . .

some Christmas ornaments . . .

The girls and one of my nieces made some Christmas ornaments today. The dough is made from cornstarch, baking soda and water - you have to cook it, shape it, and bake it. The girls had a great time decorating with paint, glue, sequins, and glitter. They were very proud of their creations (even Chantel although she didn't want to pose for a pic).

Christmas crafting . . .

Elayna put together a Christmas Countdown craft tonight - I helped with the cutting and stamping and she did the glueing and threading onto ribbon. Part-way through the threading she exclaimed "this is so much fun!" which was especially cute because her sister and cousin had quit long before this because it was too boring for them. I guess she's my little crafter so far.

camera bag - DONE!

Well I'm happy to see this project complete. It was a request by my sister, the photographer. She wanted a messenger bag to fit her camera and a couple lenses. So it had to be padded and sturdy. I used timtex(?) I believe it's called and it was a bugger to turn right side out to say the least. The flap is detachable with velcro so that it can have wardrobe changes.

A quilt for me . . .

I finished up this lap quilt for myself this past week. Over the past couple years, I've made quite a few baby quilts, a sampler wall hanging for myself, and some more quilts that have gone to my kids, charity, or fundraisers. So this is quite exciting for me to finally enjoy one myself. I already spent lots of time cozied up with it while I handstitched the binding, and hope this will be the first of many. I let Alyssa play with it for some pictures since she loves it too and she's much cuter than me. She tried to walk off with the blanket a few times while I was working on the binding exclaiming "my bwanket!" but I think she's figured it out now that it's Mommy's and not hers.

a Fall dress . . .

I bought this pattern a little while ago and decided to try it out this weekend. Since it's Fall, I paired it up with a pair of thrifted "skinny" jeans and added a matching cuff.

A charm skirt . . .

A couple of weeks ago I won a charm pack of 1974 Moda fabric from one of my favorite blogs and online quilt stores, Quilt Taffy. They have the best customer service, good prices, and quick shipping.

So I decided to turn the squares into a skirt for Elayna. I used this tutorial which was super easy and written by a very talented sewer. I picked up a blouse to go with it and it reminds me a bit of this outfit in her Etsy shop (only hers has an amazing embroidery job).

Shopping online is fun . . .

Ribbon blankets . . .

I needed to make a couple baby gifts and came accross this tutorial. These ribbon blankets are flannel on one side and a soft minkie on the other. The fabrics and ribbon were all in my stash. It took about an hour to make them and my 5 year old was a great little helper with sorting and handing me the ribbon. I'm thinking I should make one of these for Alyssa with the leftover fabric from her quilt. She always tries to drag her crib quilt around the house and ends up tripping on it so this might save a few tears.

Reversible table topper . . .

Last month we had a wonderful weekend away and the cabin that we stayed at was generously offered to us by another family from my sister's church. So on top of being wonderful, it was free! So I wanted to thank the family for this, and after seeing the size of the kitchen table, I knew that this table topper panel would look great on it. So I bought the Christmas panel for one side and pieced the other side with all my leftover pieces of fabric from my lap quilt I was making. I really love the final product and hope to deliver it this weekend.

finished baby quilt . . .

I finished up this baby quilt this weekend. It's the yellow brick road pattern and most of the fabrics are from the Moda Hearts Aflutter line. I fell in love with the fabrics at our local quilt store and made the quilt without knowing who it was for (something I never do) but now it looks like it's going to a new baby of a cousin of mine.

Prize Fabric!!!

I finally got my prize fabric today from the Michael Miller baby bootie contest!! And it's beautiful!! Now I have to figure out what to spend the $20 gift certificate from Reprodepot on . . .

sweet little apron . . .

I sewed up a little apron yesterday from my fabric stash using this pattern from Leila & Ben. I think it turned out really cute and Chantel loves it. This morning we went to the school to make apple pies for a fundraiser and Chantel wore it as she worked (she was a great little helper!) and got lots of compliments on it. I'll definitely make this again - next time in a shorter length for Alyssa.

Fabric baskets . . .

I've been seeing crafters making these fabric baskets all over blog-land and thought I'd give it a try too. I used the tutorial here and it was really easy to follow. I'm going to use one to put my odds and ends beside my sewing machine in order and probably give the other away. And it was a great way to use up some scraps!

A weekend away . . .

We just came back from a wonderful weekend away. We stayed in a beautiful cabin that was up a mountain in the middle of nowhere. I quilted (and got two quilt tops pieced and a third quilt quilted). My sister scrapbooked. Our husband's went ATV'ing and golfing. There were no kids.

Could it have been any more relaxing? I think not.

Oh, and the kids also had a great time ~ they need a break from us once in awhile too.

Sewing a little . . .

I've sewn some small things lately. A couple cheque book covers with this tutorial and a couple pieced notebook covers using this tutorial. Both were really easy to follow and great for Christmas gift ideas. I'm hoping to make some potholders next but need to make a fabric store trip for the heat-resistant batting.