poppy pouch

Another gift for the generous Poppy.

I spotted this ribbon at the Portsmouth Fabric Company. Check them out online or in person. It's one of the best fabric stores I've been in. When I told them this was to be a gift, they offered me the use of their sewing machines since I was on vacation. I passed due to time constraints, and it's a good thing I didn't know I'd have access to a machine ahead of time.

Once I had to have the ribbon I needed to search for some coordinating fabric. These are from the Kaffe Fassett collection.

The pattern was based on one of my Vera Bradley cosmetic bags. To make it a little easier I quilted the exterior fabric on fusible fleece. The zipper pull is made of beads from my stash.

cushion for a cottage

A thank you gift for a generous hostess, who loaned us her lovely cottage for our vacation-

I'd intended to sew this up before we left and was going to leave it there for her to find when she arrived. The storms that knocked out our power before we left changed my plan.

The hankie was in my stash of vintage linens. Can you believe something so perfect was right here? I added a solid pink fabric and white piping from the stash as well.

After several attempts at putting the hankie on with monofilament thread and the machine, I gave up. The fabric was too delicate and it kept bunching up. I also wasn't happy with either a zig zag over the scallops or a straight line inside of them. The best solution was a simple whipstitch by hand with the monofilament. It's almost impossible to see how the hankie is attached and I was able to follow the scallops exactly.

Sadly, our hostess' time at the cottage is done for the summer. I think it might look cute on a screened-in suburban porch though.

the new 'do

The girls and I were out at a local coffee shop a few weeks ago. A friend who hadn't seen Ellie in a while commented on her long hair. She asked if Ellie had been growing it to donate to Locks of Love. (The short answer is no. Ellie's been growing her hair proudly after several years of self-inflicted haircuts that nearly drove me out of my mind. Who knew a pair of Hello Kitty craft scissors could do so much damage?) That lead to Ellie asking what Locks of Love was on the drive home. After hearing the explanation she was quiet for a moment. Before we'd pulled in our driveway she announced, "I'm going to do it. You won't change my mind. Make the appointment mom."

So I did. For the next day.

She definitely made the 10 inch requirement.

Done.

Sad as I was to see it go, this is perfect for the summer. She told me last week the bangs are the next thing to go.

love of learning

June. End of another school year. Hard to believe.

In the whirlwind that has been the last two weeks, I realized my youngest will no longer be a preschooler. She's had the most wonderful two years at a local Montessori school and I wanted to give them a little something to remember her by.

The design is based on the school's logo - a trinomial square. The quilting is minimal - just 1/4 inch on either side of the seams to start with. I added the heart beacause of how much Trixie loved school. Above the heart, the school's initials are quilted in lowercase script. Though you can't see it in the photo, the numbers 1, 2, 3 are quilted to the right of the heart in the rulers. Some of the fabric is from the American Jane collection, though if you have it, you may notice that in the fabric you have, the little girl is a redhead. A little work with a fabric marker and now she looks much more like Trixie. That particular piece was a charm square. I loved that it had a girl and a little rug in it. (Those of you with Montessori schools in your lives will understand the meaning of the little rug.) The name of the quilt is from the school's motto "Where the Love of Learning Begins".

I was able to get a quick picture during the carpool pick up time today - my last one at that school. Trixie's a kindergartener now.

glenn's quilt

Remember that quilt I needed to have done before Christmas? Here it is and I'm happy to report, I made the deadline. Didn't even have to sew binding on Christmas Eve. Not that I've done that before... ; )

I'm sure many of you recognize the Lush line of fabrics. I added another polka dot to have one more print and, as you can see, many solids. The solids were generously given to me by a woman in my quilting group who will be downsizing soon and wanted to reduce her stash.

This all started because Glenn asked me for a fleece blanket for Christmas(he'd seen them rolled up at Target and Walmart). Seriously kid, you don't ask your mom, the quilter, for a cheapo fleece blanket for a gift. At least don't assume she'd actually buy one. Instead, I finally pulled out those gorgeous fabrics (also spurred on by Jacquie's Common Threads quilt for her son made with the same line). Jan came over for a last minute consultation before I began cutting and gave me reassurance that I could get it done - I started the cutting on the Sunday before Christmas. To give Glenn the softness he wanted, I backed the quilt with faux minkee. (I say faux minkee because it's not the actual brand. I bought it at Joann's. Their version isn't as plush or stretchy which worked to my advantage.)

Spray basting held it in place very well during the quilting process. In fact, the only place where I had a few tiny puckers was on the front of the quilt. All that's left to do is name it and put a label on the back. In the meantime, it's being put to good use on his bed.

He's happy, I'm happy.

mei mei's quilt

It's not the big quilt for Glenn (the good news is that I finished that and just need to run it through the wash). This one's for Trixie's doll bed. I'd like to believe it's for her baby, Mei Mei, but the reality is a stuffed dog will probably be tucked in under this.

It's a miniature version of the quilt I made for Ellie's bedroom when we first moved into the house. Now that Ellie has moved to her own big girl room downstairs, the room and the quilt in it are Trixie's. The trim was done with a ruffler attachment for my machine. The twin size quilt and draperies in the room are also embellished with it. When I was working on those I just made yards and yards to be sure I wouldn't run out mid project. The scraps are finally being put to good use.

The free motion quilting was done using the book, Free Motion Quilting Made Easy, as a quide. I've done a lot of this type of quilting before, but I highly recommend this book. It gave me a lot of ideas and also spells out a lot of tips that I found helpful when I was first learning this technique ten years ago. (One tip that really works is to practice drawing your design on paper before you begin quilting.)

I tried an heirloom technique on the little pillowcase using a wing needle and a decorative stitch on the machine. The wing needle has blades on either side that actually cut the fabric, creating those little holes, and the stitch stabilizes the design. (I also used tear away stabilizer when sewing it.) Had the fabric not been drapery weight, the holes would have been more obvious and a little prettier.

I still have two more gifts I made Glenn to post, but those just aren't going to happen until after the holiday.

Tomorrow, we bake.

crafty gifts

More things for under the tree. Today's are for Ellie.

I've been on a roll with felt this year. She's getting a colored pencil roll with a matching set for her American Girl dolls. When she's a little older and takes better care of her things, I'll make her a quilted holder like one of these. In the meantime, this went together super fast and it's pink - one of her favorite colors.

The tiny pencils are from the dollar section at Joann's a year or two ago. There were 18 in the set, but a roll that large wouldn't work in a miniature size.

She was also mesmerized by the cross stitch apron that I worked on this season. This will be wrapped up as a kit. The transfer is from an Aunt Martha's pattern set. I picked a thicker perle cotton out of the stash because it'll stand out more on the fabric and hopefully, cover the printed lines better if they don't wash out well. The design was ironed onto a pale pink quilting cotton that'll be sewn into a pillowcase when she's finished stitching.

The beauty of her getting older? I can give her a present that she makes herself rather than killing myself to make it before the holiday.

I'm saving that sort of insanity for the quilt Glenn is getting. Started sewing on Sunday. Tonight I'm hand sewing the final step in binding it. I never learn. At least I'm not sewing the binding on Christmas Eve like I was doing two years ago.

barbie's new wardrobe

The girls are entering the Barbie phase. Finally, I get to make clothes for them!

These are from a vintage pattern one of my quilting friends gave me. It dates to my childhood.

This combo is for Trixie.

And this one is for Ellie.

Trixie specifically asked for pajamas for her Barbie.

These were made with a vintage dotted swiss and a reissued Vintage Vogue pattern:

That teeny yoke has a lining. Gah. I hope the Barbies like these pj's because they aren't getting another pair.

(There are snaps hidden under the plackets on both the pj's and the dresses. I'm not crazy enough to attempt buttonholes that small.)

trixie's party - goodie bags

Each girl headed home with one of these:

The Beatrix Potter fabric is new and was purchased with this in mind. It's a very basic, lined tote pattern (sew up all the sides, then box the corners). I lined it because the quilting fabric isn't terribly sturdy on its own for a tote. A basic(cheap) muslin was used for that. The cotton webbing is from the garage sale. I have oodles of it in my stash. The tag is from the Peter Rabbit Party Book and was supposed to be a placecard. (I label all the gift bags so any prizes won during the party can be collected in them. No lost treats or tears that way.)

Inside each bag was a Peter Rabbit coloring or activity book. I bought 12 of these on clearance when I was still teaching. I could never bring myself to use them. They're so old the pages have yellowed a bit. Hopefully, the girls didn't notice or care. (Trish, my hoarding/collecting paid off on this one.) School supply sales gave me an inexpensive way to include a set of colored pencils, a sharpener and a box of crayons with the books. We used little bags of Jelly Bellys (from Costco) for game prizes and those were collected in their bags as the party was going on.

It was a great afternoon for both Trixie and me. I've got this one out of my system, now it's time to start planning Ellie's bash (her birthday is in two weeks). She's made it clear that she doesn't want a home party. I'll let it pass. Last year I got to do a fun Halloween party for her.

*I know today is usually "Thrifty Thursday". When I figured up the cost of this party, it turned out to be one of the cheapest parties we've ever had because we used so much of what I had on hand, so I think this post qualifies. Of course, if I were to include the cost of the Beatrix Potter collection I've amassed over the years, well, not so thrifty then.

beatrix's* gift

"They lived with their Mother in a sand-bank, underneath the root of a very big fir-tree."



Jan gave me a great pattern for a child's play circus tent several months ago. She'd picked it up when her daughter was young and like a lot of the patterns I've bought for my girls - it never got made. I doubt I'd have made it in the manner suggested on the cover of the pattern (it looked very much like a circus tent complete with clowns on the fabric), but inside there were some variations suggested. A rocket. A clubhouse. Why not the base of a fir tree?

The actual artwork in The Tale of Benjamin Bunny reads "Josephine Bunny licensed to sell TEA & TOBACCO". This is my pc version - we all know lavender is rabbit tobacco anyway, don't we?

For tassels I used some twine or jute that I had in the stash. I have absolutely no idea why I had it, but it works. I think they're suggestive of pinecones.

A quick shot of the back. It took me weeks to make a decision about how to handle the applique elements. I knew the technique I'd use - just cut out the shapes and zig zag the raw edges to the base fabric, but I had a hard time deciding what to applique. I had visions of a bird's nest on the roof and a robin flying nearby. Flowers were going to surround the base of the tent. Then I came to my senses and realized that I could never do justice to Beatrix Potter's artwork in applique - at least not on this project. Simpler was better. I used the grass appliques from this project as my guide for the grass here. Scraps from the roof were used. Kona cotton in a deep brown was used to create the illusion of crevices in the root of the tree. I have a Peter Rabbit illustration on cotton fabric sold for applique work that I intended to put on the tent near the front flap, but have left it off for now. I couldn't get the placement right in my mind and liked the idea of Trixie pretending to be one of the rabbits more. The only thing I tried to copy as closely as I could was the sign on the base of the tree for Mrs. Rabbit's livelihood.

The pattern wasn't hard at all, but it does use a lot of fabric - about 3 yards of the green and 5 yards of the beige. A hula hoop provides the round structure. It's enclosed in a casing on the interior. What I liked most was how well the pattern was designed (by Judy N. Johnson in 1983). All the raw edges are enclosed at some point during construction so if you didn't have a serger, the finished project looks neat both inside and out.

The pattern also calls for more involved hardware than I chose to use to hold it up. I found that some office rings I had on hand slipped through the tabs at the top nicely. We had another hook on hand (again, I have no idea why) that worked to gather them all and provided a way to hang it off the playset in the yard.

It's surprisingly roomy inside. I had my doubts when I looked at the size of the hula hoop, but then again, I'm not 4. Both girls fit inside quite comfortably. The height from hem to top of the hook is about 6 feet.

It's my favorite thing I've ever made - for now.

*Yes, Beatrix is Trixie's full name, but I don't think she knew that until recently. No, I don't have a problem foisting my Beatrix Potter obsession on my children.

poppy's house

What to make for someone so generous with her home?

How about a home for her cell phone or camera:

The project is from Zakka Sewing and may be the only crafty project to ever catch Poppy's eye.

I did all the work by machine rather than the hand embroidery called for in the book. (The only exception was the girl's face. I gave up on a smile because I couldn't keep her from looking deranged. Though, now that I think about it, Poppy may have enjoyed that.) Also, be warned, this case is tiny. It's called a camera case, but I don't think any of the cameras in my house would fit in it. My cell phone will for sure.

Poppy, you even rate high enough for some Liberty lining and strap fabric!

I like how it turned out so much that I need to make one for myself now.

blogher 09 swag

Some people hand out totes with their logo or magnets for the fridge. I'm bringing in frappacino cosies for my roomies.

Blackbird commissioned one to fit her summer drink cup after I made one for her cold weather coffees. (These fit a Starbucks Grande plastic cup, per her request.)

I love how the selvage edge of the linen looks. Not sure on the button for her though - might be a bit flashy. I'm bringing some other options with just in case.

Too obvious? I hope not.

While I was at it, Susie Sunshine got her own as well. She's the first to benefit from my new collection of vintage scraps. They're so cheerful - like her. The buttons were hard to part with, but the pinks were a perfect match.

And the back of hers.

If you spot us on Michigan Ave. this weekend with our frappacinos, say "hello".

subversive stitches

It's Thursday and I'm being thrifty in real life, just not here. Carol and I had some great finds yesterday (hoping for more today). We got so caught up in activity that I never got this posted.

Carol's in town to celebrate Jen's new book, Pretty in Plaid. We'll be heading to the Barnes & Noble on Clybourn for the Chicago signing this evening. I've done a little homage to Jen's favorite word in celebration of the new book. It's a bonus that the border compliments the book jacket. (Pattern from Subversive Cross Stitch)


When I finished, I really wanted to stitch one of my favorite words, but putting it up in my studio wasn't really appropriate with the kids and students down there on occassion. This will have to do. Plus, I can just fill in the blank with whatever's appropriate at the moment.