Kind of slow...

Actually, more like kind of busy! I've been busy with apartments on the market, our anniversary, and transcribing interviews for my dad (working on his PhD). I haven't touched my machine since the second week of May (gasp!). There are now no apartments on the market, the transcribing is done, and we have no plans to go anywhere until July. I have big plans this week, mostly involving the pile of gifts and projects that have not stopped piling up.

Jay McCarroll fabric

I got fabric in the mail this weekend! Bee Square Fabrics did a giveaway a few weeks ago and I won material and extras to make this bag. The fabric is fun and will be perfect for the summer! Now if I could just get the camera to take a decent picture...

Setting sail

My dad celebrated his birthday recently. He loves ships! I found this fabric at Mill End. The frame was a custom-frame from Joann's. Someone decided they didn't want it, so it was being sold for around a 10th of the original cost (just the frame, no glass, back, mat). I glued batting scraps to a piece of foam board, wrapped the fabric over it and glued the fabric onto the back of the board. Then I glued a second piece of foamboard to the back (trapping the fabric and batting edges between the two foamboards), let it dry overnight, and slipped it into the frame. Great quick and easy project (took about an hour plus drying time for the glue)! Next time, I want to try something other than foamboard. You can only use thin pins at an angle, or they will fall out of the foamboard.

Doll strollers

Dida's doll stroller seat was made of cheap nylon and had frayed at least an inch at all crucial attachment points. Dida's "new" stroller:
Cari and her family moved to Brasil on Wednesday. She is expecting a little girl in August. Before leaving, they bought their 4-year-old daughter, Bella, a new doll stroller. They decided to bring the old one (still in good shape) along for Bella to give to the new baby. The seat was starting to fray so I fixed it up for her. Cari's baby's "new" stroller with a canopy:

Dida's Dress

Dress (Before)

Hem (Before)

Dress (After)

Tia fix-it

Noelle's quilt is finished and delivered.

My sister brought her daughter's birthday dress to me a couple weeks ago. The gauzy top layer had gotten stepped on and the fabric was beginning to run. I found a wide ribbon and folded it over the hem and sewed it in place. Dida (my niece) was glad to have her dress fixed again.

I also made a stroller seat for Dida's doll stroller. The cheap nylon seat tore and my sis asked me if I could reinforce it. It was too torn up to sew. I found some heavier material (light-weight home-dec fabric) and took the old seat apart to use as a pattern. It turned out pretty decently.

So the next time I was over, Dida brought me a doll that's about 5 inches tall and asked if I could make it some clothes. Sorry, honey, that I can't do...

I am now working on 3 toddler-bed size flannel blankets for Cari's kids as a going-away present and a stroller seat for their worn-out doll stroller (for the new baby to play with when she's old enough). We will miss that family. Sure you guys don't want to stay?

2 down, 1 to go

I finished my nieces' quilts today (Christmas presents). The larger one was done and I just needed to do the binding on the smaller one. They were over for lunch and I rushed to finish the second quilt, then decided to wait until they were washed to hand them over. My sis and her family left and I threw the quilts in the wash, planning to drop them off at her place on Tuesday. I pulled them out of the dryer, beautifully crinkly all over (no prewashing), folded them and found out that the family was coming back for supper. So they got them today after all. Hope they enjoy them. Our camera isn't the best, so my sis is going to take some nice pics of them with her good camera.

Now I'm headed back to the living room to finish baby Noelle's quilt. I'm headed over there Tuesday, so I'd like to get it washed tomorrow (since it was a shower gift--from August).

Gifts and more

My last post was on Thanksgiving??? Wow, I've been falling behind here. In my defense, I have a poor internet connection, not lasting long enough to do any real writing or posting of pictures. All the girls in the family received handmade gifts this year. I gave my mother-in-law a crocheted shawl. My baby sister got an apron that says, "With enough coffee, I can do anything." My mom and middle sister got lounge pants (from Amy Butler's In Stitches). I made a bag like this for my middle sister's sister-in-law, who has been staying with them and is really more like another little sister around here. And my nieces are awaiting their matching quilts (I wasn't able to get them quilted in time for Christmas).

Two Christmas gifts to support this sewing habit: Amy Butler's Little Stitches and a gift card for Joann Fabrics. Yeah!

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! Hope everyone has a great day and weekend. I wish I could spend it sewing, but work is calling my name. We're headed to my mom's and then I work at Operation Christmas Child Friday and Saturday. If you haven't done a box and live in the area, we are accepting and processing boxes until December 6 (possibly as late as December 10). Check out the EZGive option to track your box as it travels around the world. This year's boxes are going to different regions. In the past, we've sent boxes processed here to Central Asia and Eastern Europe, as well as Iraq. This year, boxes are going to Trinidad, several African countries, Nepal and a couple other countries.

Quilt #3

I finally finished this quilt. This is the first quilt I put together. I decided to use it to practice stippling. Not the greatest, but hey, I'm still learning. One thing I wasn't thrilled about, but is growing on me is that palm tree print that I used for the background on the star blocks. The info for the quilting class (taught by Liz from Scottie Dog Quilts) mentioned background material. I thought it meant the back of the quilt and by the time I realized my mistake, I was sitting in class. I decided I would rather get some blocks done than sit around watching everyone else sew, so I used the palm trees for my background. It seemed really busy and disorganized, especially since I like things to match (I'm a little OCD), but I bit my tongue and now I like how bright and funky the quilt is. Plus, I found some even cooler fabric for the back and border. It's for my son, who was so excited that he took it on a sleep-over at his Nana's as soon as it came out of the dryer.