After a lovely Mother’s Day brunch with Monica, (kid free!), we headed to an Austin fabric store and spent some time browsing. I picked up a couple of beautiful clothing fabrics, one of which was this lovely salmon colored jersey. It is so soft, it feels like silk! One of my gifts for Mother’s Day was a little time to myself to sew. It’s been awhile because our schedules have been so full so it was appreciated even more! I spent the time whipping up this lovely maxi skirt. It is so comfy. I think I’m going to be wearing it a lot.

Basically I took my hip measurement and multiplied it by 1.5. That was my width. Then I measured from my waist to the floor. That was my length. I had a piece of 2″ wide elastic so I made a 5″ depth yoke piece the length of my waist measurement. I sewed one seam up the back, encased the elastic, gathered the width of the skirt to be the width of the yoke piece and sewed it all up! Quick and easy (although not without it’s fair share of mishaps). Quicker and easier next time!

And then a good friend of mine found out that she is having a sweet baby girl! I had to make a little something to celebrate with her and these mila baby shoes had been on my radar for a while. The tutorial skipped a couple steps (like flipping the upper part of the shoe and ironing right sides out) but I managed to figure it out and make it happen. I’m not certain I like the way the inside is finished with the raw seam exposed. But overall, they are super cute. I kinda want a pair for myself!

Pretty much, I haven’t made any of the items that are on my list to make. I keep getting sidetracked with other projects! But that’s ok with me!

This week’s stats:
Completed projects – 2
New projects – 2 (both completed)
Currently in progress – 0 (6 waiting on the sidelines – silver tutus, Macaron dress, purple skirt, tan skirt, swimsuit, stripped bag)

If you would like one of these items just shout out in the comments and I’ll e-mail you or shoot me an e-mail! I will update the gallery to reflect what has already been bought.

Finally finished the scallop quilt! Hooray! I’m pretty happy with the results. I had fun continuing the scallop motif across the rest of the quilt with the quilting. I think it turned out pretty good.

I used a solid purple flannel for the back and it is so cozy and soft!

Here you can see the quilting a little better – it’s not perfect, but I’m ok with that. The thread I used varied with the color on the front, so if you look very closely to the back, you can see what color is happening on the front.

Not super obvious, but fun nonetheless.

I hand sewed the binding on because I didn’t want a zigzag stitch showing and taking away from how graphic the design of this quilt turned out. I used Rendezvous by Khristian A. Howell for Anthology Fabrics for the binding. Love it.

This week’s stats:
Completed projects – 1
New projects – 0
Currently in progress – 0 (4 waiting on the sidelines – Macaron dress, purple dress, swimsuit, stripped bag), now I have to decide what to do next!

What’s on your WIP list this week? Head over to Freshly Pieced WIP Wednesday to link up and see what everyone else is working on!

Can you say, easily distracted by instant gratification projects? Well, I needed a gift for a friend’s baby shower! I had fully intended on making something for her since she is the sort that appreciates hand made. . . enter the free infant peasant dress pattern. Oh did I mention she’s having a girl? It’s so fun to get to sew little girl things. This little peasant dress was no exception, and it was so fast! It’s sized for an infant but I’m thinking it could easily turn into a tunic shirt and last for longer than the infant stage. The fabric is cheery and fun: Brook Yellow Sunshine Dots CP Designs for Studio E.

I added a little crochet detail, well, you’ll see why in just a second. I mean it’s cute, but there’s totally another reason.

Embraced the yellow and grey for the color theming, whipped up a bib and burp rag. Thought the ruffle would make the bib a bit more girly and fun.

And here’s everything in completion. Oh yes, those little simply summer sandals were a part of the whole ensemble. That’s why there was a necessity to add the little crocheted flower to the dress. So adorable.

In other news, the scallop quilt top is pinned and I have begun quilting. I’m excited about the outcome of this one. You will have to wait and see for the results!

This week’s stats:
Completed projects – 3
New projects – 3 (well they were last week’s new projects that got completed)
Currently in progress – 1 getting quilted (4 waiting on the sidelines – Macaron dress, purple dress, swimsuit, stripped bag)

What’s on your WIP list this week? Head over to Freshly Pieced WIP Wednesday to link up and see what everyone else is working on!

A mom’s group that I’m a part of is providing some items for Project Care Case – which gives foster children items to call their own. I decided to sign up for blanket since I already had some cute little boy fabric on hand. I whipped this up in the course of one nap time – that’s a huge success for me! The fabric is Shade Garden by Henry Glass and I just love it – it’s so sweet! I used my walking foot to quilt diagonal lines across the fabric.

I backed it with some cream colored fleece that I already had to make it nice and soft. That is probably the last time I do that – stretchy fleece + quilting cotton = not so much. I’ll stick to flannel the next time I want a soft backing! The binding is safari tots random dots in brown.

I also finished up the bibs and burp rags in monaco by monaluna line. Love these fabrics. They are backed with terry cloth.

I made some oversized burp rags to go with the bibs. Simple but so necessary.

This week’s stats:
Completed projects – 2
New projects – 0
Currently in progress – 1 waiting to be quilted (4 waiting on the sidelines – Macaron dress, purple dress, swimsuit, stripped bag)

What’s on your WIP list this week? Head over to Freshly Pieced WIP Wednesday to link up and see what everyone else is working on!

Finished up the quilt top for the scallop quilt! I love it so very much. And I especially love how easy it would be to decrease or increase the size of this quilt. Turns out I didn’t need to pin to get precise curves. Very proud of myself!

Now I’m contemplating what the back of the quilt will be. It’s for a baby so I might just get some soft flannel. . . Hoping to find some polka dots that are complementary to my color scheme. We will see. And then I will have to make a decision on how to quilt! Any suggestions? My current leaning is to quilt the scallop pattern across the whole quilt.

Points, again, aren’t perfect, but they still make me quite happy. Progress, folks, this is big progress for me.

And remember how I was telling you about the shorts I bought to shorten a bit? Well, they were a quick fix! Here are the before and after shots:

These shorts still had their original tags on them. And they may be my favorites (I am wearing them as I type right now)!

And I couldn’t resist snatching up a pair of shorts in my favorite color! Ohh look at those sad, pale legs – the summer will be brutal to you!

They look black but they are actually navy. . . So much less ‘mommy’ once they are a little shorter.

And finally, some khaki shorts. I can’t remember the last time I’ve owned a pair of khaki shorts. . . but I do now!

Whew. I have certainly made my peace with the necessity of shorts while staying home with a kiddo! Previous to this, I didn’t really own any shorts. And really, I have nothing against a good capri or bermuda short (I have 3 bermuda from my thrifting haul and several other pairs from last summer), but with the heat that is sure to come this year, fingertip length shorts will likely be what I’m reaching for during the day to day.

And finally, some new fabrics for my next project! These are some organics from the monaco by monaluna line – they will end up as some bibs and burp rags for a friend’s sis-in-law. I love getting to work with such pretty fabrics!

This week’s stats:
Completed projects – 4
New projects – 1
Currently in progress – 2 (1 waiting to be quilted with 4 waiting on the sidelines – bibs/burps, Macaron dress, purple dress, swimsuit)

What’s on your WIP list this week? Head over to Freshly Pieced WIP Wednesday to link up and see what everyone else is working on!

Sounds like a fancy dish! Orange peels and scallops, mmmm.

I had a helper while I was sewing all the curves this time. My kitty, Malachi, decided he liked the ironing board as his perch. So cute.

My orange peel block. Points aren’t perfect and I’m not totally in love with the colors, but overall I’m fairly proud of myself. I feel like this is one of the most precise things I’ve sewn and I am not a precision seamstress by any stretch of the imagination, so growth has happened! The purple fabric is Art Gallery Fabric – Maroon Teriyaki Medallions and the rest are a hodge podge from my scraps. I didn’t feel like taking this block all the way to a pillow as shown in the class, but someday it may end up as a pillow. . . or a tote bag, or something.

I thought I would show you some of the projects that I won’t be starting on soon but I have planned to start sometime this year. This fabric below is for a swimsuit. Scary but I’m going to give it a go.

I couldn’t resist after seeing this photo of a playsuit. I thought it would be an adorable swimsuit! I found a free burda one piece swim suit pattern that I will modify to try and achieve my swimsuit silhouette.

And then I finally picked out some fabric to make Colette Pattern’s macaron dress (pockets!!). I’ve had my eye on that dress for quite some time and feel like it is a good first clothing pattern to try out. And now I have all this experience sewing curves. . . I’m going pretty bold with the colors but I love teal and tangerine together, so hopefully the results will be good! I might chicken out and swap the tangerine for a tan, but we will just have to wait and see.

I also picked up this beautiful dusty purple jersey. I haven’t decided what it’s going to be yet, maybe a maxi skirt, maxi dress or just a regular dress. These free patterns have me pretty inspired. Anyone have a favorites?

And on to the project for my curves class I have been so excited about this whole time. I will be cutting into these today! The scallop quilt! You guys are going to love this one.

This week’s stats:
Completed projects - 1
New projects - 1
Currently in progress – 1 (with 3 waiting on the sidelines)

Congratulations Kelli!

We have our first sponsor giveaway!

(I know, this is totally a new development – do you have a little business you would like to promote on my blog? If so, check out the advertise page!)

Jenn over at Slightly Biased makes beautiful handmade bias tape and quilting tape – you know, the part of quilting when you just want to be finished but instead you are cutting out thin strips of fabric and ironing them in half? Jenn takes care of this for you and with the most perfect fabrics!

I got to peruse her shop and pick out an item to giveaway, and let me tell you, it was difficult to pick a favorite! So many polka dots. . . oh you know how I love polka dots.

In the end I picked Robert Kaufman’s Remix – Chevron in Black and White because I really love how graphic and bold this print is, and it would look STUNNING on a brightly colored quilt.

You want a chance to win this item?

Leave ONE comment with your favorite binding from her shop or suggest a fabric that you would like to see in her shop! That’s it!

The giveaway will end this Friday evening around 10pm and I will choose a winner by random number generator.

Good luck!

Finished my drunkard path blocks. Not too bad for my first ever precise curves. It ended up being a mug rug instead of a pot holder because I didn’t feel like going and buying the fabric to make it heat resistant.

The curves class taught me a great method for trimming up the blocks – I kinda love it. It make my no so precise curves look much sharper. I love polka dots, can you tell? And grey and yellow. It’s getting a bit repetitive, isn’t it? The zigzag binding method worked much better this time. Still have some learning to do, but progress is good!

I’m working on selecting some fabrics for a more difficult precise curves project – the orange peel block. I’m a little nervous, but I’m just going to jump in! The background will be the purple fabric, and each segment will have a grey slice and a colored slice. The border will be white. I need to pick up some fuchsia to finish off my color selections. Wish me luck!

I am also buying some solids for a precise curves scallop baby quilt that I am so ridiculously excited about! I think seeing photos of that quilt is what put me over the edge to take the curves class.

My stats are totally boring because I can’t handle having multiple projects going at the same time.

This week’s stats:
Completed projects - 1
New projects - 2
Currently in progress – 1