completed quilt, golden slumbers

When I'm not off galavanting around the beauties of nature, I am still sewing.

I finished the quilt for dh last weekend, actually, but haven't shown it yet because I was quite distressed about it.

Oh, the binding is PERFECT. Really. It's the most perfect binding I've ever done. The corners? They couldn't be better. The hand stitching to the back? Okay, I'm sure *somebody* could find a flaw or two, but I think it's amazing.

But I washed it and dried it. On hot. And it seems that a blue (or two or three, I can't be sure) was not colorfast. And the color bled. There were three oranges that picked up some blue tint, with one of those orange prints taking the brunt of the hit.

I was quite upset about it for a while. I just spent *HOURS* of time on this quilt, pouring in blood, sweat and tears (really, I did! I poked myself with a pin while handstitching the binding! so that's the blood... the sweat came because it was hot last week here and we have no air conditioning and working with a quilt on your lap is NOT a cool thing... and tears... yeah, they came afterwards)... after all that, the color bleeds and it just doesn't look as vibrant as before.

Now that I've had some time to think about it, maybe it's not as bad as I originally thought. But it's still upsetting. Not that dh will even notice ;)

And then, I made The Most Lovely Pillowcase Ever.

Loosely based on this tutorial: http://jonag.typepad.com/stop_staring_and_start_se/2008/07/banish-percale-forever.html

It would be completely based on that, but I'm terrible at actually following directions and I just made up my own measurements ;)

Isn't that dreamy? I'm certain I've slept better since I've had this.

The pinkish fabric is one from Heather Bailey's Fresh Cut line... and the green is from Heather Bailey's Bijoux... and the pink/red stripe? It's some Candy Stripe print, I but I can't remember more than that!

What I do when I'm not sewing...

I love where I live. All sites posted are within two hours of where I live (including Yellowstone)!

opposites attract

My husband claims I make nothing for him.

Of course he's completely wrong on that. I've made him a pillowcase and a pair of pajama pants (which the dog chewed up).

Wait, that doesn't count for much compared to the oodles of dresses, pants, shorts, shirts, etc., that I have sewn for the girls? I guess not.

As it turns out, his birthday (shh.. his 30th) is next Friday. Last week I had a brilliant idea: make him a quilt.

You know, because quilts are "quick" projects... right? It's something I can throw together in two weeks.

Well, I've just about managed to do it.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

One of the best things of this project was it's cost-effectiveness. I purchased the material for this quilt *gasp* at least two or three years ago (yes, see, I'm a lovely wife... I *thought* about making him something... I just never got around to it). I dug out the bag (original bag from the fabric shop, still holding the very same material it came home with) and it still had six half-yards of orange fabrics and six half-yards of blue fabrics.

Why orange and blue? Because they're the colors of his favorite football team -- the Denver Broncos.

But I didn't want to purchase Broncos fabric... I wanted this to be 'classy' (no offense to those who sew with team fabrics).

(sorry, I know most just want pictures, but I'm a story-teller)

While I do love seeing the results of quilting, sometimes it can be challenging for me. Actually trying to follow a real pattern really doesn't suit my personality. I just can't do it. But randomness? Ah, that's right up my alley.

So, I cut out a bunch of 6" squares from the fabrics. Then I sewed them into half-square triangles. And my randomness went to work (all the while I was praying it really WOULD all work out!).

So, I pieced and pieced and pieced (or at least it felt like it... along with not being able to follow a pattern, I easily get bored... I don't have the attention span of a good quilter).

And the result of the piecing? Oh, I love it. It's so much more amazing than I could have hoped for.

I'm always amazed when I finish any project, but especially quiltling ones.

It All. Worked. Out.

All those random fabrics came together and formed *this*! Now really, how amazing is that?

I pinned it all up last night and quilted it also (nothing terribly fancy, but it will work). I thought about at least starting the binding, but it was already 2 a.m. and I couldn't do it.

So I'm hoping to be able to show the finished quilt later today or at least tomorrow.

And, for the record, I finished piecing the top in three days... and during those three days I really didn't a lot of sewing time.. but I got it done and I'm quite pleased. Now, onto the binding!

Aloha Olivia

My oldest has a day camp on Tuesday and it has a Hawaiian theme.

What is a sewing mama to do? Well, make a dress with a Hawaiian influence of course.

This is a modified Olivia (Farbenmix pattern) as it has no hood, no front pocket.. and actually the biggest tracing I have is a size 110/116cm and my oldest wears *at least* a 128cm usually... so I just used the tracing I had, didn't line up the pattern on the folding (adding an extra inch or so to the middle) and about five inches to the bottom.

I love the cotton/lycra blend for the main body. It's a lovely print by Mad Sky. The sleeves are a gorgeous Euro fabric that cost me too much, but I couldn't resist.

Sheesh... sewing and no posting

I really have been sewing. But in keeping up with the LOVELY blogs that are out there (too many!), I guess I've neglected my own.

I finished Lucy's dress with plenty of time to spare, but forgot to post it...

All three in action

And I tried out a new pattern (new to me) for the littlest the other night. I purchased the Laguna pattern about a month or so ago but hadn't tried it out and figured I better do it since I purchased the pattern and all. I traced out the pattern in her size because it seemed easiest since it was the smallest.

And then she needed a shirt to go with the skirt, but I realized two nights ago (when I made it) that I haven't traced out a shirt pattern in her size. Ever. In my laziness (and the want to get the project completed right then and there), I just used the Olivia pattern but left off the skirt part, leaving a cute top (even if I did make it a bit short).

Somehow, I managed to not shoot any pictures of the skirt or shirt alone, but have just one picture of the littlest modeling (yeah, she's wearing it today, but napping right now)

Working with a knit for distraction...

I've been working with wovens a lot with the red, white and blue skirt and dress that I've made thus far, so I got sidetracked with my knits and decided to make a shirt to go with the oldest's Redondo skirt I made last week.

I love the Antonia pattern by Farbenmix. The possibilities for the pattern are endless and it's just so darn fun. I've only made a few shirts from this thus far and I can tell I need to make some more already.

It's a good thing I only have to make a red, white and blue dress for the youngest... I'm getting a burnt out on this themey stuff. I'm glad I decided to use three different patterns for my three girls.. that keeps it somewhat varied in my sewing!

I have the pieces cut out for the dress for dd3... *maybe* tonight later or possibly tomorrow after swimming lessons.

Now with modeling shots!

Though I believe the dress is gorgeous by itself, it's hard to get a size reference or really see how it would fit and look on a child...

So now I have modeling shots that really do this dress justice and show it off in all its glory (well, they're at least decent shots... dd2 was getting a bit impatient with the photography and wanted to go ride her bike!)