Friday, September 23, 2011

One-Block Wonders

I don't know if any of you have ever made one of these beautiful quilts before, but I absolutely love them! It is similar to making a stack and whack quilt in which you stack the fabric on top of itself where it repeats, then cut. My friend Sharon made this particular quilt. I think it's simply beautiful! I loved her fabric choice , and I especially loved how she laid out each block to get this particular look. One fabric choice made all the different looks you see in this quilt.... one fabric. Hint... if you want to know what the fabric looked like before she stacked it up and cut it... check out the border. (Click on the picture itself for a closer peek.) Incredible isn't it?



Here's the book. More books have come out since this one was published, and the designs that one can come up with are endless. Take the initiative and get your creative genes flowing..... you might be pleasantly surprised!



Happy quilting!! Debbie

Monday, September 19, 2011

Can I Just Say.........

Wow... water leaks are slightly messy! Between the drywall dust, the plastic tarps everywhere, and all of the paraphernalia needed to re-pipe our entire house, it has been rather crazy around here. Sewing is what keeps me sane, so I needed to simply sit down and complete something! I decided on the dress/top that I had started working on before this whole mess began.

The dress was for my granddaughter Keira who is rather tall. She may be only 4 years old, but her height is in the upper 98 percentile of other kids her age. When I had her try on the dress yesterday it was rather comical. It definitely fit her more like a top than a dress.... one just had to laugh. The pattern? Beverly Belle by Izzy & Ivy. My mom had picked up the pattern while visiting friends recently in Iowa.

The pattern itself is $12.50 yet there is only ONE pattern piece on the inside.... ONE. I have never made a pattern quite like this before so was anxious to see how it was going to turn out. If Izzy & Ivy ever asked for suggestions, I would definitely make this one.. list everything one would need to complete this dress on the OUTSIDE of the pattern! Not until you open the packaging do you realize that you need 8 yards of double folded bias tape... or 1/2 yard of contrast fabric to make your own. You also need 3 yards of 3/8" of elastic. I think both of these should have been listed on the back of the pattern along with the fabric requirements. If I were a young mom who saw this darling pattern... and I was a new to sewing, I would have been so disappointed if I got home and realized that I didn't have all that I needed to complete my project. I always have everything I need as I live so far out in the country. I'm just sayin.........

Anyway... here is the actual dress/top. I think the design is pretty cute and I know my granddaughter will have fun wearing it... it twirls.. which is a main requirement with her. ;-)



I had to take another picture so that you could see all of the apples coming on. My trees are loaded! I can't wait for some fresh apple pies... neither can my kids!

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Water Leaks Continued!

Here are a few pictures of our mess. I can't even tell you... or show you the entire mayhem that is going on around here. Once we get all of the holes fixed in our home and I am able to put things back in place, I will return.

How it is looking on the inside..one of the many rooms affected:



One of the many holes in those many rooms!

Friday, September 9, 2011

Water Leak

I was planning on showing you a dress that I have been working on but due to a water leak in our slab, on top of loosing our electricity yesterday, my plans have slightly changed. We are now working on getting our entire house re-plumbed.... no small feat. I will return........

Prayers are encouraged here.... thanks! ;-)



Have a great week end!

Friday, September 2, 2011

The Dresses

This will be a quick post so that you can see the dress that I made for my granddaughter who lives in Kansas. You will recognize the dress from a previous post, however, seeing the dress on is always nicer, don't you think? Since none of these granddaughters live nearby, I could not make any adjustments to the back piece that I had elasticized by using elastic thread. I would have cut the back piece smaller on Ashlynn's dress... maybe even Reilly's.

Again, the pattern is designed by Izzy & Ivy and is called 'Kayla Bubble'. As you can see by the picture, I did not make the bottom portion of the dress into a bubble as instructed, but instead added a contrasting piece of fabric and then simply hemmed it. Also.. remember that the girls wanted their dresses longer as that apparently is the current style.


The dress on:





The back of the dress....



Here is one more picture of the dresses that I made for my granddaughters who live up in Sacramento.... a day out with their dad, my son.



Have a great weekend and come by for a visit again!