Wednesday 31 July 2013

W.i.P. - Busy Hands

My nephew is now 6 weeks and a half - I couldn't be more in love! - and his due date which served as extenuating circumstances, remember he was an early bird, has come and gone as well. High time to spend more time on finishing his quilt. So this week I'm determined to finish some outlining hand quilting before attaching the backing - I don't want these stitches to show on the back - and then, maybe, I can finish and gift this treasured project next week or the one after.


Without further ado, here are my weekly stats.

Finishes - 0
 
Ongoing Projects - 5
Anniversary quilt
Fish & HSTs
square baby quilt
Red Riding - quilting is making progress
cushion cover for the husband

Stalled Projects - 3
Grecian Waters/Emerald HST quilt - finished the top! - stalled until deadline projects have been dealt with
EPP hexies
EPP parallelograms/stars - once more stalled

Planning Stage - 2
Summer dress 2 - Darling Ranges
Skirt

Happy sewing and sharing over at Lee's!

WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

Monday 29 July 2013

The Cuteness Paradox

Do you ever feel like your projects look too cute wherever you put them to actually finish them especially when, potentially, you have to part with them? Well, that thought certainly hit me when I looked at my bookshelf yesterday... They go together so well I'm can't even stop putting my finished dress there.


I am, however, steadily working on completing my pretties - despite the heat. Geesh, one must be seriously masochistic to be ironing when it's nearly 40°C outside, right? My sister definitely thinks so but she's no sewist and it's worth it. I've now finished three sections (two 9x10 and one 9x12) of the anniversary quilt. I have another row of wide strips that I will assemble, then cut in half and add to each side before assembling the section. Even then, the quilt won't cover the sides of the bed if placed like this, though.



As evidenced by the picture above. It should cover everything if placed sideways like this.


Then again, I haven't prewashed my fabric this time around so I'll have to expect some shrinkage which would mean that even put sidesways the quilt isn't a 100 per cent fit for our bed. I will have to come up with an idea to add some more width/length. Maybe a wide strip of solid on both sides (top and bottom in this picture)? I could probably even skip the narrow column on each side mentioned above and save those strips for pillows. Hmm.

Anyway, serious question - which placement do you prefer?

Happy sewing and check out these great linky parties!

Better Off Thread

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Fresh Poppy Design

Wednesday 24 July 2013

W.i.P. - Slow Summer Sewing

On top of work summer is slowing my sewing down a little as I'm soaking up sunshine whenever I can. Now, this isn't a complaint. I'm definitely a summer girl that doesn't even want to mention the w-word before she has to and I am making progress on pretty things even if it isn't as quick as it would be at other times.


Evidence of said progress below (above is last week's work ut aside) - Echo rows I sewed yesterday evening after work. Often I don't feel like sewing then and prefer to wind down over some telly or a book. Not so yesterday! With a little luck I might even want to iron these and assemble them this evening. Or I might not and prefer to catch up with your makings over at WIP Wednesday and my blog roll. Or all of the above? We'll see.


With a second Jamie dress under my belt it's time for new adventures in fashion sewing. The darling ranges dress is up first and I'm looking forward to breathe life into the tiny brown on cream floral from this post.


And here are the obligatory stats.

Finishes - 1
Summer dress 1

Ongoing Projects - 5
Anniversary quilt - see above
Fish & HSTs
square baby quilt
Red Riding - quilting is making progress
cushion cover for the husband

Stalled Projects - 3
Grecian Waters/Emerald HST quilt - finished the top! - stalled until deadline project have been dealt with
EPP hexies
EPP parallelograms/stars - once more stalled

Planning Stage - 2
Summer dress 2 - Darling Ranges
Skirt

Happy sewing!

WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

Monday 22 July 2013

Summer, Sunshine, Sundress

So I've got a plethora of reasons why these pics aren't half glamorous or many and I've not taken new ones of last year's hen night dress but who cares. They're good enough to give you a glimpse and I'm too eager to share my fabulous sundress as worn on me instead of a clothes hanger.


You can see that it fits better at the waist and the bust. There's only minor pulling in odd poses but way less excess fabric and the waistline seam lies down better as well. In the pic below it rises up a little and can give me a tiny bit of tummy depending on the angle.


It's a good bit shorter and the back is lower which makes it nice and airy.



So does the fashion fabric. It is lighter than the quilting cotton which is perfect in the current heatwave but more prone to being caught by the wind. The quilting cotton yields more body to the skirt and feels more substantial - without being heavy or stiff, though. Both the quilting cotton and the fashion fabric work well for the dress design and I enjoy wearing both of them equally. Well, yes, okay, I'll admit that I love wearing the new one a smidgen better but only because of the still improved fit and, let's face it, it's shiny and new!

I'm sure I will revisit the pattern but now I've got to take the plunge and try something else.

Happy sewing!

Better Off Thread
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Fresh Poppy Design

Saturday 20 July 2013

T.G.I.F.F. - In Love with My Sundress

Yesterday evening was spent in a soothing yet exciting manner - stitching down the hem of my lovely floral summer dress. So may I proudly present my Friday finish?


Additional changes I made to my personalised version (read about the fitting process here and here) of the Jamie dress: Bodice with a lengthened and smooth instead of gathered waist band...


... and narrower straps with plaits. I also made the skirt a little less full as well as shorter and lowered the back by 2 inches.


Not a change per se but something I'm always proud of - perfectly installed invisible zipper.


Cotton lawn lining and side seam prettily enclosed in bias binding.


Hemmed with bias binding.


More pics will follow as soon as I pounce on a victim for a shoot in the sun. I might throw in a post with side by side pics of my two versions to better show you the differences and write about quilting cotton vs. fashion fabric, too.

With that, I'm off into the weekend. You might have spotted the Echo strips that will keep me busy and entertained when I'm not out and about twirling in my fabulous sundress.

Happy sewing!

Go and enjoy everybody's projects and have a look at that fantastic Broken Herringbone quilt Molli Sparkles made who is hosting this week's TGIFF.


Wednesday 17 July 2013

W.i.P. - For the Echo Lovers

No change concerning the stats, just some shifting from ongoing to stalled to ease my mind, but some definite progress with two projects. First, I posted a pic of my nearly finished summer dress on Sunday. Can't wait to wear it soon.

Second, there's the anniversary quilt. I've finished the first of three sections as well as a third of the other two each.


Here's the bottom right corner piece. It didn't fit into the other pic.


This top is coming together nicely and quickly. Guess I should order batting soon and make up my mind about backing. Maybe an all turquoise backing? Maybe a print? At the end of the day, there's a deadline to meet (a year ago today I had my final wedding dress fitting!) and I think I might be making a trip to Ikea soon in an effort to score some nice but cheaper fabric.

Stats

Finishes - 0

Ongoing Projects - 6
Anniversary quilt - see above
Fish & HSTs
square baby quilt
Red Riding - quilting is making progress


cushion cover for the husband
Summer dress 1

Stalled Projects - 3
Grecian Waters/Emerald HST quilt - finished the top! - stalled until deadline project have been dealt with
EPP hexies
EPP parallelograms/stars - once more stalled

Planning Stage - 2
Summer dress 2 - Darling Ranges pattern has arrived
Skirt

Happy sewing!

WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

Sunday 14 July 2013

Weekend Wrap-Up

I had a wonderful long weekend filled with friends, food, fabulous conversations, and some sewing. Not only have I been working on my anniversary quilt, pics of the state of things following soon, I've also been spending time on this.


I still need to finish one side seam allowance with zigzagging and some hand stitches but then I can attach the bias binding and then...I can finally wear it if the weather is game! Do you hear me, weather? Play along, please.

Hopefully your weekends were just as fulfilling and relaxing as mine.

Take care and happy sewing!

Wednesday 10 July 2013

W.i.P. - The One That Could Have Been Spoiled by Work and the Kitchen

Well, work was more demanding than expected - not complaining, honestly! - and the husband's reworking of our kitchen has taken over this flat and all available space - even less complaining, I've been anticipating a proper kitchen for months! - so my wonderful collection of WIPs is still just that - wip-iest WIPs and nothing new to show since last Sunday.

One of my recent Fabric Tuesday link-ups has, however, been highlighted in this week's post - the nephew's quilt top. How terribly exciting! (Thanks for alerting me, Jeanette. I doubt I would've checked this week without you.) And it's really another layer of motivation to finish this beauty once my sewing machine and sewing dinner table have been freed of kitchen appliances and crockery.


Updated stats for the record - there has been progress and shuffling since my last WIP post, after all.

Stats

Finishes - 0

Ongoing Projects - 8
Anniversary quilt - cut, layouted, first, column parts sewn
Fish & HSTs
square baby quilt
Red Riding - quilting is making progress
Grecian Waters/Emerald HST quilt - finished the top! - still pinching pennies for batting
EPP hexies
cushion cover for the husband
Summer dress 1

Stalled Projects - 1
EPP parallelograms/stars - once more stalled

Planning Stage - 2
Summer dress 2 - Darling Ranges pattern has arrived
Skirt

Happy sewing!
WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced