Falling Leaves

Finished my leaf quilt top the other day!



The pattern is called Prismatic Plants and it's a free download from DoYouEQ.com. You can use the project file in Quilt Design Wizard, EQ6, or EQ7. If you have one of these softwares and aren't taking advantage of the free monthly projects, you're really missing out! Heidi designs the cutest stuff!



I opened the project file in EQ7 and made a couple of quick changes. I deleted some seam lines in the leaves because I planned to make each half of the leaf all the same fabric, and there was no reason to have that extra seam in the "body" of the leaf. Plus, I was foundation-piecing the leaves, so who cares about funky-shaped triangles!



And I choose to print the patterns at 7", rather than the original 8", because I wanted the quilt to fit in the wall space above our fireplace. I want to get some use out of this quilt before it's time for Christmas decorations, so the quilting will have to wait because it's going up on the wall today!



Choosing all the fabrics for these scrappy leaves was a fun challenge! Although I make such a mess when I'm working on a scrappy project like this (and I don't have the luxury of a dedicated sewing room anymore where I can just shut the door and walk away!). I liked using the fabric swatches on the download page as my guide--



Being a photographer's assistant can be a tough job!

Halloween 2014

This year's Halloween costumes were light on sewing and heavy on the glue gun and felt. But I got two happy kids and that's all that matters. I give you Batgirl and Ash.



When we first started costume discussion K. wanted to be Queen Elsa (like 99% of the other little girls out there). The problem with that was that I had already made her an Elsa costume back in March for her birthday. And that costume was getting a little snug. It wasn't going to allow for the layers that are usually necessary for an Ohio Halloween (and they were definitely necessary this year!). As much as I liked how her original Elsa costume turned out, I really didn't want to make it again.

So we perused Pinterest for some other costume ideas and she saw a Batgirl costume she loved. So I made a black tutu, slapped a Batman logo on a store-bought black t-shirt, and added a few other accessories. Easy-peasy!



A.'s costume turned out to be pretty easy too.... once we settled on what exactly he was going to be. He wanted a Pokemon costume, and kept choosing obscure characters you can't buy costumes for in the store (like Oshawott). I just didn't want to put all the time and effort into creating an Oshawott costume from scratch, just so it could be worn one night. Eventually he agreed to be the human from Pokemon- Ash Ketchum. Now there's something I can pull together in a reasonable amount of time!



There was a bit of sewing involved with this one. I franken-shirted the "jacket" together from two shirts and added some details with felt. I think it turned out pretty cute! And he got recognized much more this time around than he did last year when he was The Turtleman (from the show "Call of the Wildman").



Halloween night was cold and rainy here. K. only made it to a few houses before she was ready to head back and hand out candy from the warmth of Grandma and Grandpa's house. A. stuck it for quite a while and was well-rewarded for his effort. People were feeling quite generous since there weren't many trick-or-treaters making the rounds!

Late to the Party

So I finally caved and got myself an Instagram account.



I'm still getting the hang of this thing and it's a little lonely over there now, with just a handful of followers. So if you're on IG please follow me so I don't feel like such a loser. ;)

Desert Rose Dress 2

I made another Desert Rose Dress for K. I told ya I love this pattern!



Last time I made the tunic length, solely because I didn't have enough of my skirt fabric to make the longer version. This time I bought the fabric specifically for this pattern, so I had enough for the dress.



I added pockets this time, which she loved!



Flower buttons again, because they're cute!



I took these photos about a week ago, and the weather could not be more different today. Cold, blustery, and cloudy. I always think of fall as my favorite season, but oh am I sad to see summer leave this year!

McCall's M6923

I made a dress. For myself.



I know. Weird.

I'm not even a "dress person." But I sooo would like to be. I guess I grew up a little bit tomboy and now when I wear a dress I feel like I'm over-dressed. Like dresses should be saved for special occasions. I'm trying to reset my thinking. Watch out co-workers-- I might be wearing a dress soon! And no, I'm not going to a funeral after work.



The fabric is $3/yard clearance rack stuff, I didn't want to spend the big bucks on nice fabric in case this little dress experiment was a total failure. So, although i don't mind this fabric, it's definitely not my fav.

I expected to be using a size or two larger than my store-bought clothes. The size I went with was 3 sizes larger than my norm, but all my measurements were pretty spot on with that size, so I went with it. (Do you like how I'm not actually telling you what size I used? *wink*) Well, the first bodice I made was comically large. It was pretty ridiculous. I tried taking it in more than an inch on each side seam, but was still way too big. And it did weird things to the fit.



So I cut out another bodice two sizes smaller and it was a much better fit (thank goodness I bought extra clearance fabric!). It's still a bit gappy up by the neckline, but I think that's because I don't know how to make the proper pattern alterations for The Girls. I've read that patterns are made for b-cup sized woman, which I am definitely not. Perhaps I'll read up more on alterations before I try the next dress.



Trying to take photos of yourself is awful. Asking your husband to help you take photos may lead to divorce.

All in all, I'd call this first dress a success. Now, the real test is whether or not I'll actually wear it!

Desert Rose Dress & Tunic

I fell in love with the Desert Rose Dress pattern by CailaMade as soon as I saw it. I first spotted it months ago on Pinterest, before it was released. So the fact that I actually remembered to go buy it a few weeks ago when it was made available shows you how much I liked it.



These Park Slope prints are among my all-time favorite fabrics. I started K's birthday dress tradition with a dress made from these two fabrics. I had to make the tunic length of the Desert Rose pattern because, sadly, I didn't have enough fabric to make the longer length. Not to worry— I'm well on my way to making a full length dress version in some other fabrics!



I'm a sucker for cute buttons (who isn't?). I love when I have the perfect buttons for a project just waiting in my stash.



Seriously, I couldn't love this pattern anymore. You should make one too!

Terrain Star Mini Quilt

Little bit by little bit, I'm whittling away at my beloved Terrain layer cake.



Now that my youngest is in kindergarten I've got a few quiet hours to myself a couple days a week, so it felt like I whipped this up in no time!



I had fun piecing together a back with the extra HSTs from the front. Sometimes it's hard to decide if I like the front or the back better!



With the last few quilts I've made I've been in a hurry to finish and opted to machine stitch the binding onto the front of the quilt. With this one, I went the old fashioned route and hand stitched it to the back. I like the results so much better! I've got to remember that it's worth taking your time with the finishing.



I made this quilt as a gift for our realtor who helped us sell our old house and find a new one this past spring. We've been in the new house almost 3 months now (how can that be?!), so I've been a bit slow in thanking her. But I hope she likes it nonetheless.