Jungle Star Quilt

It only took a little over five years, but I finished it! :)

You see, I pieced this quilt top for my 5yo daughter before she was born. We like to leave the baby's gender a surprise, so I was going for something bright and fun and gender-neutral.

After the top was finished, I was afraid it was too girly and made another one. That one isn't very neutral either. I was thinking "rubber ducks" when I made it, but all the blue made it a little more masculine and, of course, we had a girl.  I should have just stuck with this one.

I made a lot of sawtooth star blocks back then, too.

Lots and lots of star blocks.

The finished quilt is pretty big, so the back was pieced to make the leftover jungle fabric work (it isn't like I could buy more now!) I usually don't like to piece backs, but that is growing on me, too.

The I am pretty new to machine quilting, but I really love the texture on this one! I didn't know what to do with those large jungle print blocks, so I decided to quilt the entire thing using long, random, "organic" wavy lines.

I watched a video tutorial HERE that was very helpful.  When it was all washed it created such a lovely, crinkly texture. I tried to capture it with a picture, but this doesn't do it justice.

 So, I guess this quilt is a mixture of my old style and new style. I suppose that is what you get when you wait so long to finish something. I am really happy with the way it turned out, even if I did struggle with my sewing machine and all of the tension issues. I am just hoping that it comes back working better than ever because I would love to try something like this again.

I don't know what I am doing with this quilt now. I might sell it or give it away. I guess it depends. I still can't decide if it is gender-neutral or not.  Anyway, I am just glad to have it finished. :)

Sneak Peek ~ A Little Sewing Time in the AC

My sewing machine is in the air conditioning. 

I have really been in the mood to sew a lot lately!

First up, I expanded upon this years' Easter collection:

I made a tie for my very unhappy son who says that polka dots are "girly" but I think it is very classy.  I also made a purse for Grace with scraps from her Little Diva Dress.  She is really into purses right now.  I used the Buttercup Bag pattern, but it came out a little short and funny-shaped this time. Oh, well. Good enough. A 2yo doesn't care.

This is more gluing than sewing, but I am working on some headbands for a very bald little girl I know. ;)

I have also been making more maxi skirts. Tutorials on the way 'cause I have some clever new tricks up my sleeve. I just need more pictures of the final products where I don't need to crop my belly out to post it here. I might have to leave the AC for that one. :P

The biggest project I am working on right now is this jungle themed star quilt.  I pieced it over five years ago! I am machine quilting with multi-colored thread it in these loose, "organic" wavy lines but my new sewing machine is having tension issues. :(

This quilt is also my July goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes.

Finally, some non-sewing.  I made a Pinterest-inspired July 4th cake. I had good intentions of making red, white, and blue layers.

I forgot that my bright yellow, farm fresh egg yolks would affect the cake color...

Oh, well. I am giving myself points for effort. I am enormously pregnant, it feels like it is over 100 degrees out there with this humidity, and I have five kids to take care of here. The fact that I went to the trouble to bake anything down in my kitchen with no AC has got to be worth something!

I hope everyone is having a great holiday weekend! Happy Independence Day!! :D

Maxi Skirts Galore!

A few weeks ago I was on a maxi skirt sewing frenzy...

Please excuse my modeling skills in the following pictures. :)

As you can see, one of my daughters, however, thinks she is QUITE the little model. Sometimes she overdoes it, though.

For the girls' pink and blue skirts I used THIS tutorial, but the waist needs to be an inch or so smaller than the actual measurement (these are little girls without womanly hips after all).  I also made one in the pink for myself, but, unfortunately, I DO have womanly, child-bearing hips and it looks pretty awful on me right now as I was trying to make do with some fabric I had on hand. Maybe maxi skirts will still be in style next summer.

I also need to hem the girls' skirts, but the girls won't part with them long enough. I mean to swipe them straight out of the clean laundry basket, but they are faster than my folding, sometimes ripping them right off of the wash line.

My gray skirt was made using THIS tutorial like the skirt I made HERE, but I extended it to maxi length. So comfy and I can wear the waistband over the large belly or folded down. I think the girls' skirts look better, though.

Since my girls now also request matching clothes for their dolls every time I make something for them, I made maxi skirts for their dolls, too.  It was easy peasy and I have a tutorial coming up for that one as soon as I take pictures of the dolls wearing them (they are better models anyway!) 

These are all really easy skirts! I made two skirts for the girls, two for me, and two for the dolls in one morning. Mass production at its finest. Go ahead and give it a try! 

Strawberry Shortcake Dress

Just a quick little show-off here...

I made another Strawberry Shortcake dress (original HERE) for my niece's 3rd birthday. It turned out super cute and she immediately wanted to put it on, so she must have liked it. :)

Same as before, it is a semi-circle skirt (left over from my screw-up two years ago) sewn to an embellished Garanimals T-shirt from Walmart.  This time I improved and did two things differently:

1. Garanimals shirts are extra long, so I chopped a few inches off the bottom to avoid that 80s drop-waist look.

2. I did freezer paper stenciling instead of applique for the top. I love it! It turned out so crisp and professional-looking! :)

Now my 5yo wants another one. We'll see. Maybe I can use that as an incentive around here. :)

Ariel Quilt

This quilt was put together pretty quickly for a very special baby girl.  I didn't have much notice (it's complicated) but I felt that she deserved something special.  I did all of the quilting and even the binding entirely on my new sewing machine, partly to try it out and partly to get it done faster.

I bought the Ariel panel and backing fabric, oh, about 7 years ago and I was saving it, in a way, for this specific purpose. I think God probably smiled at that, since He knew all along that His plans are not always our plans.

That being said, I just felt that I needed to embroider Jeremiah 29:11 onto this quilt. It is absolutely fitting to the situation. I used purple thread and the letter embroidery feature on my machine, which was tricky with so many layers.  I did a lot of seam ripping, but it was still faster than doing it by hand.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, 

“plans to prosper you and not to harm you, 

plans to give you hope and a future.

Jeremiah 29:11

The next quilt I am going to finish will be a top that I pieced before my 5yo was born! I am really clearing out the old stuff, right? If you are a quilter, what is the oldest fabric that you have been saving for something special?