Modern Alphabet Quilt

I have to show off this modern quilt Meredith completed recently, it is Tula Pink's Modern Alphabet

Meredith's quilt is brighter and I love the waves quilting the longarm quilter used

Here is a close-up of the quilting:

and a close-up of a few letters:

D through M

The fabric is Anna Maria Horner's Field Study and it is gorgeous.  Meredith's favorite one?  The leopard print followed by the feathers.

The main tip on this quilt we have is to use lots of plastic sandwich bags.  I cut it out for Meredith and put one letter per bag with the letter in marker on the outside of the bag.  I have to admit I did cut a couple letters out wrong and had to recut for her.  That is a lot of cutting!

Meredith did a beautiful job and I have been trying to encourage her to start a blog but she isn't too interested yet.  I do want to document her quilts and put them out there for people to see.  I think she does such a nice job and she is bitten by the quilting bug!

I do need to get her to bind them, that is my job right now and she is keeping me busy.

Summer Time Calls for Knit Tops- Three New Ones for Me!

A staple of my summer wardrobe is knit tops but I try to change it up a bit with the knit tops.  If I am using a more common fabric, then I like to use a unusual knit top pattern but if the fabric is fabulous on its own then I try to use a more basic pattern to showcase the fabric.  It was hard to decide which knits to pick from Mood's Fabrics extensive online selection but don't worry, I was able to make three choices and add several more to my portfolio for future purchases.  Some criteria for my knit tops, they had to looks good with jeans, skirts, shorts and above all white jeans.

Let's start out with my fabric choice, the first is a Mood Fabric's Robin's Egg Blue/White Stripe Jersey Knit 

Next is Mood Fabric's Navy Silk Knit

and my third choice an Emerald rayon, which is sold out but you can find a wide selection of colors at Mood Fabric's Rayon Jersey section.

My first top is from the stripe knit and I wanted a stand-out type of pattern for this stripe knit.  It is a new McCall's pattern 6752, with several options in length, sleeve, neckline variations and a zipper insertion in the ruched band (my favorite).

Source McCall's patterns

The knit was beautiful to sew and the zipper insertion went together effortlessly.  The front of the band is the only ruching or gathering to the zipper.  I did use a longer zipper and just cut it to off after sewing on the band. Thanks to my Instagram friends, I went with the aqua zipper(majority choice)  instead of the red.  Thanks, friends, a much better look for this top.  Here is a close-up of the zipper and the gathering.

I did add an inch to the bodice to keep the top from being to short.  One thing I know for sure, another knit will be ordered to make the dress from this view, I love it!

You will see me in sunglasses, I just can't keep from squinting if there is any sunshine around

One thing you do need to watch on this pattern is the neckline is wide, more of a boat-neck shape.  Next time, I will sew those seams up just a bit more.

This top will be one of my favorites of the summer!

Let's move onto the Navy Silk jersey, a fabulous fabric which needs a simple pattern.  I ordered this navy silk jersey after seeing a navy 3/4 sleeve top with white jeans and accessories on Pinterest.  I thought what a classic, chic and timeless look with little effort and decision making.  My pattern for this fabric is an all-time favorite,  Simplicity 4076, I cannot even count the number of times I have made this pattern.

Source Simplicity patterns

I love the gathered neckline, the fit and all the views.  This silk jersey is perfect for the top and I love the feel of this fabric.  Navy is such a classic color and I have so many things to wear with this color.  The silk in combination with the knit makes this such a luscious fabric.

Here is the same picture with a closer-view

 Now check out the gathers at the neckline, I used my coverstitch machine to fasten the neckbinding down.  It does flatten the gathers but I am okay with that, I like the look of the coverstitch.

Last but not least is the emerald rayon (Pantone's color of the year) with that perfect drape and hand.  I wanted a pattern that would not cling but show the drape of this fabric.  I had a style in mind and found it closest in Hot Patterns Fast & Furious Fiesta Knit top but with many alterations.  In fact, several reviews at PR stated it doesn't look like the pattern envelope and the reviews are right.

Source Hot Patterns.

The top has so much extra room, large batwing style sleeves and too much fabric in the front - all this my opinion but many reviews state the same thing.  The one thing going for it was the initial style was what I wanted from the picture on the pattern and the Hot Patterns site.

I made the top as the pattern stated, tried it on and thought, "wow, this needs lots of work!"  I redrew the underarm sleeve to eliminate many inches from the sleeves and side seams.  Another change, was unsewing the band and removed the extra fabric from the front.  As you can see in the above picture, there is still a bit too much material.  The pattern has a curve in the front with the deepest part of the curve in the center front.  I feel this makes the top look maternity style and in the future I will make the front more of a straight line.

What do I think of this top?  Well, I love, love the fabric it has a wonderful feel and color is perfect.  The pattern needs work and I still might take off the band and cut off some more of the curve.  I do know I feel great wearing this top and I like my end results from the pattern.  Isn't that why we sew, to make things perfect for us?  I see more rayon jerseys heading to Missouri and a few more revisions on this pattern.

I have always enjoyed sewing knit tops, they are quick but have such satisfying results.

You can check out my post on these tops at the Mood Sewing Network and look at all the other beautiful garments from the other bloggers, too.

A Little Onsie with Cars

I have been working on my next Mood Sewing Network garment and had some of the stripe knit leftover.  It is a nice aqua and white stripe knit and I thought it would look cute on my little grandson.  I added some red binding and a car embroidery to make it look more "boy"!  Plus the aqua looks great with his blue eyes.

I used Kwik Sew 3811, which I made here but this time with one change.  Grandson is very long in the torso, so I added 3/4" to the length.

Here are a few close-up shots of the little onsie

I used one of my new labels, after all a little boy can't have "girls in the garden" labels!

I really enjoy my KAM press, it makes putting in snaps so very easy!

These little clothes just don't take long to make and they are just so cute!

Winner of Pattern

On the post about my Flea Market Fancy quilts, I had a  pattern to giveaway.

Today is the day for the drawing, here is my random.org

And #6 is:

Abby please email me your mailing address and the pattern will be on the way.

Graduation Day

I hope it was a very Happy Mother's Day to all.  My day was involved with all things graduation.

A few pictures at the house before graduation

Kaitlyn

Meredith

 Then a very proud mom moment.....

Meredith was Salutatorian of her class and Kaitlyn was Valedictorian of her class (tied with 3 other girls - perfect 4.0 GPA)

Meredith on the left, Kaitlyn on the right

They join their older two sisters graduating with honors:

Paige -class of 2005 and valedictorian (pre-blogging)

Erin - class of 2008 and valedictorian

These four girls did this on their own with hard-work, dedication and perseverance. As parents we supported, encouraged and emphasized school is very important.

So it was a very Happy Mother's Day and a very proud one too. 

A Bit of Blue in the Kitchen

To be specific, Valspar paint and the color is "Swim".

I had been wanting to add some aqua to my kitchen cabinets and after seeing this blogpost on Favorite Paint Colors, I knew I wanted the aqua around  my refrigerator.

First, let me take a step back in time, March 2011 and when I tackled painting my golden oak cabinets to a nice crisp Antique White.  I mentioned in this post how the plan was to update the appliances to stainless. Yea, that finally happened to the 15 year-old refrigerator.

I took one day and two coats of paint for the new look of aqua.  I can't tell you how much I like the aqua, it really brightens up the room

Oops, didn't get a cabinet door closed.

The power of paint is simply amazing and when I get tired of the blue, I can paint them back antique white or another color of my choice.

Linking up to

Flashback Friday - First Day of Kindergarten

I find this Flashback very appropriate, on Sunday, Meredith and Kaitlyn (my twins and the babies of the family) are graduating from high school.  Yes, I am a bit teary-eyed as I type this.

Today's post features their first day of school outfits for kindergarten.  They helped me design them, selecting the style, embroideries and embroidery placement.

Kaitlyn is wearing the dress and Meredith is in the swing top and biker-style shorts.  Fabric is all from Needle Nook Fabric, I remember making these outfits like it was yesterday!

You can tell they had the "school theme" going on.  Kaitlyn wanted the flower in the middle of the dress with the school related items around it.  Meredith wanted the school house in the middle and buses running along the bottom.  

The pattern is Kwik Sew 2625 (now discontinued)  and I made this so many times for these two.  Kaitlyns' dress is the top lengthened a few inches.

I have quite a few of their garments I made over the years but unfortunately I don't have these little outfits.

Flea Market Fancy

That is the name of a quilt fabric collection by Denyse Schmidt (her first design collection).  Free Spirit finally reprinted after many requests of quilters, it was a favorite and I was one of the quilters who was so excited it was coming back.  The release date was April 2012 and I found an etsy shop selling 1/2 yard in each fabric from the collection

Here is the complete collection for you to check out.

Well, the fabric aged for less than a year and during one of our three stuck-at-home snowstorms this winter, I went to work on this yardage.  My initial plan was to make 

Source - Valori Wells

After really checking out the pattern, I decided that was too much individual cutting and I wanted something I could cut out with the rotary cutter.  I decided on a Snowball pattern and a golden-yellow for the solid against all the prints and a lap size for these fabrics.

As you can tell, I cut one block in half and offset these blocks.  It sure made it easier to put the rows together.  Plus I really like how it looks in the quilt.

Here is a few close-ups of the quilt 

Here is one of the block itself:

The back, so you can see the quilting design:

This quilt did not use all the blocks I had cut out, so after searching online for a simple quilt pattern,  I used some inspiration from  Film in the Fridge's quilt from the same fabric.

I sewed all the squares together and then appliqued some smaller squares on the gray fabric.

Here is the back

So now I have two beautiful quilts from fabric, I have liked for quite some time.   Snowstorms are always good for me to get some sewing done.

How about a giveaway?

If you would like the original pattern, Rosalie (pictured above), leave a comment.  In your comment, tell me what is your favorite quilting fabric group. I will draw one winner next Wednesday, May 15th.

Meredith's Eyelet dress turned Top

There is a saying that holds true on this sewing adventure, "The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry".  Which is a line from the poem titled  To a Mouse by Robert Burns and the poem is the source of the title of Steinbeck's novel - Of Mice and Men.   What does this literary history lesson  have to do with my Mood Sewing Network post?  Well, Meredith and I had  big plans for a beautiful graduation dress for Meredith from Mood Fabric's white/cream polka dots embroidery and eyelet voille (which is very similar to the blouse I made on my last post). 

Meredith had picked out the perfect Simplicity pattern and I had the bodice fitted.  That is what I thought, at least.  In reality, not so much, the fit was horrible and there wasn't any way to salvage it and graduation is next Sunday.  Time was not on my side!

The good part, I did have some yardage left and I was able to use the skirt fabric from the dress to make a top for Meredith.  We decided on Hot Patterns' Metropolitan Good Times Dress, Tunic and Top with the dress view used for this top, just with the shorter length.

 A muslin was made  for this top and the only change was to deepen the front neck just a bit and add 2" to the length. I made a muslin from some batiste and could tell Meredith was less than impressed with the results of that muslin.  I knew it would be great, she just had to trust me.


I was careful to cut the hem on the border of the yardage, isn't this the prettiest eyelet border?  

These six row of eyelets are on one side of the selvage, the other side is one row of eyelets.  I carefully cut the one row of eyelets and used it for a smaller version of the cap sleeves.  

This fabric is a dream to sew and I like the fact we selected a more basic pattern to showcase the design of the embroidery and eyelet.

I used some muslin from stash to line the yoke and it was the perfect shade for the fabric.  Fabric limitations meant a seam down the center back but that didn't take away from the design.  All the seams were sewn with a french seam, with the exception of the yoke facing and it was hand stitched down on the wrong side.

I finished the top Saturday night and showed it to Meredith.  She quickly responded, "wow, that is cute."  Yes, we have a winner in my soon-to-be graduate's eyes.

In reflection on the plans that went awry, I see a top, which in reality my graduate will wear much more than the dress. The gorgeous fabric was saved and a stylish and chic top was made for Meredith.  And to top it all off, Meredith is so happy with me for her new garment.

Plus, Mom was right she just had to trust me and I would make her a fabulous top.