My final donation quilt for our school and church carnival is this Canyon Path quilt done up in some gorgeous Cotton + Steel. The pattern is by Alexia Abegg and is available on the Cotton + Steel website. I bought the kit for this quilt on Craftsy a few months back. It has enough extra fabric included to piece a backing, or if you are ambitious, you could make a few extra blocks!

I chose to keep the quilt at nine blocks as written. The cutting and piecing is very straightforward if you are comfortable with half square triangles. The only change I made was to cut the squares for the half square triangles 1/8" bigger than called for and then trim my blocks down to size. I feel I get a more accurate block this way. Otherwise, I followed the pattern exactly. I chained pieced everything I possible could, laying out the pieces on my sewing table and then working on them when I had a spare 15 or 20 minutes.

Most of the block components have been pieced for over a month, but I didn't have the top assembled until this weekend. For the backing, I used another fabric from Alexia's Mesa line (also purchased at Craftsy). The quilt finishes at 54" square and because it is smallish, I went ahead and spray basted it. I quilted it with a set of two straight lines through vertical and horizontal centers of each block first. When those were done, I quilted lines diagonally through the center of each block, from corner to corner. The quilting is minimal which makes for an incredibly soft quilt and I think the final pattern suits the design well.

Again, a machine binding! I'm getting good at these with all the practice I've had in the last week. I've been sewing them to the back side of the quilt and then flipping them to the front to stitch in place with a zig zag. My biggest trick? Glue baste the corners and hold them in place with some wonder clips. I'm sure I'm late to that party, but, man, what a difference!

I finally got around to basting my Four Winds quilt top on Friday afternoon. Our school and church carnival is coming up this weekend and I had always intended to donate this one to the quilt booth for that event. Nothing like a deadline to get me moving!

Originally, I thought that I wanted to free motion quilt this one, but in my heart, I knew that straight lines in the direction of the geese was what this quilt wanted. It took a long time - about 6 hours total - but it was very easy, straightforward sewing. I started by stitching in the ditch through the middle seams on the top. After that, I chose one quarter section to quilt and stitched in the ditch of the seam between the columns of geese in that quarter. From there, I lined up the edge of my presser foot with the previous sewn line and started quilting. The lines are approximately 1/2" apart. I love the end result, but I don't wonder if the effect would have been just as good if I had sewn less lines. It sure would have been faster!

The unknown blue solid that I had first chosen for the front ended up being great on the back with some more of the lime green. I cut some larger pieces of the six geese prints and used them to separate the two solids. The binding is another print from the Up Parasol line. The small scale looks great in this application. And, yes, this is another machine-bound quilt. I get better with practice and talk about fast! I still love hand sewing a binding, but when time is short, this is a good alternative.

I've got one more quilt for the carnival booth to share and then it's back to Kate's quilts and some more secret sewing. Back here soon.

(Details on the quilt pattern and fabric can be found in this post.)

I've had my eyes on this dress by Tif, aka Dottie Angel, ever since she announced that it would be available as a pattern. It's just so dang cute! And truly, everything that lady puts her hands to is adorable, but this is the one thing I just had to make. I am so glad I did because the dress is adorable and flattering and super easy to wear! Well done, Tif!

Once the release date was announced, I started popping by my JoAnn's every few days to see if they had added the new patterns to those huge metal drawers. On the fourth try, it was there - Simplicity 1080! I decided to use a lightweight navy and white remnant that I picked up at Imogene and Willie while in Nashville a couple of weekends ago. At first I thought it was cotton, but now I am convinced it is linen or a cotton-linen blend. Regardless, at $25 for 5 yards, I figured I could jump in and skip the muslin. (Foreshadowing!)

For the pockets, it had to be Liberty. I am a card carrying member (ok, there is no card, but there should be!) of the Westwood Acres Liberty of London club and receive 10 (!) fat eighths of Liberty of London Tana Lawn in my mailbox each and every month. A quick consult of the pocket pattern pieces and my suspicions were confirmed: I could get two pockets out of one fat eighth. (NOTE: These are larger than quilting cotton fat eighths as Liberty is 55" wide. If you use quilting cotton, you will need more yardage.) To determine my size, I used the finished measurements listed on the pattern envelope, in particular the bust measurement. With my body measurements, I am just between M and L. With all the ease in the pattern, I knew a M would fit. I cut 2 1/2 yards + 4 inches (for shrinkage) off of my remnant and washed it. After everything was cut, there was 4" left. If you are buying fabric, I'd recommend an extra quarter yard for good measure.

The cutting was straightforward. I used my rotary cutter and ruler for the pocket tops and ties instead of the pattern pieces. For me, this is just a more accurate method. Do what works for you! Take time to transfer all the marking accurately. So, so important! I had to go back and mark a few things I missed on the first go.

The sewing starts with stay-stitching the neck edges 1/2" from the raw edge. Ok...standard operating procedure except that 1/2" sounded like a lot to me. Still I did it. Fast forward many steps to when the neckline is finished with bias that you stitch 3/8" from the edge and then press an additional 1/8" towards the wrong side. While I am a pretty decent seamstress, this just proved to be a problem for me. I have never stay-stitched outside a seam allowance before even on the ones finished with bias tape! I had to take out small amounts (1/2" or so) of visible stitching from the right side of the dress when all was said and done. Next time, I will stay-stitch at 1/4" from the raw edge so the stay stitching is covered by the bias.

The pocket construction went without a hitch. It is super important to press the bias in the shape of the pocket as instructed. I went even further and pressed it with the pockets' raw edges in the bias before basting. It made the actually application of the pockets seamless.

The tucks were easy to sew once I wrapped my head around exactly what I was supposed to do and exactly how the ties worked into them! The illustrations are not that comprehensive so it took some instagram searching to see what the actual finished dressed looks like. Once I had that figured out, they came together easily. BUT! BUT! This is the part where I wish I would have made a MUSLIN. I am long in the torso and almost always have to lengthen dresses. There are no notes in the pattern instructions or lengthening/shortening lines on the pattern pieces so I just went with the pintucks as marked. MISTAKE!!! While I think that the final dress fits fine, I KNOW it would fit a whole lot better if those tucks were about 1" lower on my torso. In retrospect, it would have been good to baste the side seams at this point to check the tuck placement. Live and learn.

The shoulder seams are sewn at 3/8", then trimmed to 1/8" and covered with bias tape. Actually, all the interior raw edges, neck line, armholes, hem, etc. are all covered with bias or have French seams. I am sure that this makes a beautiful garment. Seems like a lot of extra steps to me for something only I will see. Just my preference, though. Next time, I'm going to sew the shoulders at 3/8" and then serge or overlock the seams and call it a day.

The way the sleeves are sewn is just weird. There, I said it. I wish the pattern pieces were cut so you could line up the bias and the raw edge OR that the pattern pieces were marked with a sewing line and a folding line. Alas, they are not. It just seems overly difficult for something that should be straightforward. Oh well. It could be me - I did make my own bias instead of buying it. Regardless, I fully admit to winging it a bit and I think it worked ok. I do wish the sleeves didn't wing out so much at the tips of the shoulders, but then I looked at the pattern envelope and some of the samples do that a little, too.

The side seams are French seams so straightforward, or at least they should be... There is no consistent seam allowance in the pattern. I sewed the 1/4" as indicated, pressed the seam open (not indicated), flipped the garment, pressed the seam flat, and sewed to enclose the seam. I sewed a scant 3/8" to make sure I got everything enclosed and this was a total GUESS on my part as the pattern instructions do not tell you an exact measurement. When I do it again, I would trim the 1/4" seam to 1/8" and then sew the second seam at 1/4" for a very pretty French seam.

The hem.... By this point, I'd just about had it with bias tape. It's a lovely finish, but I just folded and pressed 1/2" and then folded again by 3/4" and sewed the hem down. Done and so so happy with the finished product!

Final thoughts: I think it is a great dress, one that I will wear again and again. I just wish that it was more straightforward in the sewing department. There is just too much bias tape for my taste. I came away knowing that I can make some subtle changes in the construction without taking anything away from the style of the dress. And this is my experience - I am not an expert by any means. I'm sharing my thoughts in the event that they may be helpful to someone else. I'll answer questions in the comments, so if you have any, fire away!

In an effort to get something finished this week, I sat down at the machine and sewed the binding to this quilt. The pattern is Fox Tails by Tula Pink and I bought it as a kit last year on Craftsy. I am fairly certain that I never would have chosen to make this if the kit hadn't been on sale, but I am glad I bought it because it was a fun one to sew up. I left the quilting to a local long-armer - I told him to just do his thing. The soft swirls that he quilted compliment the harder lines of the diamonds in just the right way. I think it was a good call to have this one done as it would have been difficult to manage such a large scale design on my domestic machine. Not impossible, mind you, just hard!

I chose to bind it by machine. Speedy! And because I am donating it to our church and school picnic in a couple of weeks, I didn't feel a hand binding was absolutely necessary. I love hand binding, but I have two other quilts with bindings attached to their fronts, just waiting for me to sit a spell and stitch. There was no way that this was going to get finished if I didn't do it by machine.

As for Kate's quilts, one is partially bound and the other needs to basted and TIED! I hope to be able to share the first one with you next week. Have a great weekend and Happy 4th of July!

The girls left for camp almost three weeks ago and come home on Saturday. Naturally, I've spent most of the week focused on completing my long list of things that I thought I would accomplish while they were gone. I suppose I will always be a last-minute person at times.

At top on my list was making new quilts for the two twin beds in Kate's room. I started cutting and sewing on Tuesday. The first top was finished Wednesday and the second one yesterday. I have batting and there is fabric for backing, but that still needs to be pieced. The design is simple - 8" finished four-patch blocks separated with setting squares. I originally thought that I would quilt them with loops, but the more I work with the gingham and the four-patches, the more I think they beg to be tied. Am I crazy to think I might actually be able to get that done today? I completely realize that I might be kidding myself that tying is faster than quilting. Maybe not, though? And I am torn on the color of yarn to use...white is safe and will blend, but her walls are aqua so maybe that for a little extra pop of color? I guess I will have to make a fast decision and go with it if I have any chance of getting at least one completed and bound before she gets home.

I'll let you know how it all turns out next week. Have a great weekend!

Remember my first mini quilt? The one that I made to be given away and then decided to keep? I made its replacement and sent it off to my swap partner last week.

Feathers! I used Anna Maria's pattern to make these, but instead of strip piecing and then cutting the feathers out of the strip sets, I paper pieced these beauties. Easy, peasy. I started with a good pile of fabrics and four copies of the feather template. I added the fabrics one by one to the templates, making sure to maintain the angle of the feather. Once I had done two feather halves, it dawned on me that I would need to sew on the reverse side for the other two. Glad I caught that before I had sewn, although an extra feather wouldn't have been so bad!

After adding the black chambray background pieces and sewing the feathers together, I felt that there was too much negative space in the middle. I ended up cutting out about 1 1/2" total - 3/4" from each side. Jane, acting as an extra set of eyes, agreed that less was more. I quilted it with straight lines about 1/4" apart. I love how it turned out and, thankfully, so did my partner.

On to the next mini quilt! These things are a little addictive.

I found my first two four-leafed clovers on Sunday morning while walking the dog. I am always on the lookout for them, but had never been lucky in the past. Minutes before, I had decided to stop looking. And then I looked down and there they were. I feel like this is symbolic, but of what, I am not sure.

I didn't mean to be away from this space for so long, but I haven't felt like I've had much to share. I've been head down, getting things done. First it was the end of the school year, swiftly followed by the girls leaving for camp. Since they have been gone, I've spent my time between some secret sewing and a nice visit from good friends. I've read a few books and cut out two more skirts. There are myriad quilts in various stages littering the sewing room, but I am not going to touch them or the skirts or anything else for that matter until the secret sewing is complete. I'm hopeful today will be the day.

It's been hot here. I moved the sewing machine downstairs to the family room and placed it so my chair would sit over the air conditioning vent. Brilliant, if you ask me. It's a little bit of a pain to have to walk up two flights of stairs to find whatever little tool or thing I am used to having at my fingertips, but, really, I could not stand to be up in that heat any longer. Bonus: extra steps. Fatty told me that I might as well set up camp in the family room for the entire summer and I think I probably will. There is a TV, streaming music, access to food and drink, plus I get to be around people instead of by myself. As much as I appreciate my sewing space, it is nice to be part of the action instead of all alone.

Lately, when I take Hazel outside before we go to bed, I have been greeted by the most amazing sight. The fireflies are numerous and active. The yard is black and quiet, punctuated by hundreds of sparkling lights. They skirt the ground and hover in the highest trees, flickering on and off, flitting here and there. I stand and stare for a few moments, soaking it all in, appreciating the wonder of what I see. The dog trots up the stairs, and we go in, locking the door behind us. I silently say a prayer of thanks for all that is good at the end of my day.

This skirt was supposed to be sewn Mother's Day weekend. I had the fabric washed and the pattern picked out, but it just didn't happen. I honestly forgot how busy May can be. I thought if I could get to May 9th, I'd be gold. More like May 29th, in reality. So it goes. Over the weekend, one week later than I was planning on getting it finished, I was really bummed that I hadn't sewn this skirt. I attacked KCWC style - cut out Saturday afternoon, sewn a bit on Sunday and finished between 3 separate sewing sessions of 20 to 40 minutes as time allowed yesterday.

I love the other Everyday Skirt that I have in my closet. It is one of the items in my wardrobe that gets worn again and again so choosing this pattern again was a no-brainer. Also, Liesl's patterns are extremely well-written and go together so smoothly. They are a total joy to sew.

The fabric is one of Anna Maria's new Loominous yarn dyes (Headlines in Grape) and, boy howdy, is it ever lovely! It is lightweight and beautifully soft with lovely drape - basically, perfect for clothing. After washing, it reminded me of a madras. I was a little stumped as to how to best use the stripe with the side panels on the skirt. It drives me absolutely crazy when patterns don't match on the seams! In the end, I decided to cut the side panels and the pockets (which you see a tiny bit of at the side panel seams) on the cross grain to make them a design feature. It was a good call! I love the end result and can't wait to wear my new summer skirt!