Working Along

 

It's that day of the week again! 

Last week I showed you all my mini quilt for my For the Love of Solids swap partner.  

I had the top and back all pieced and was debating what sort of quilting I was going to do.  

I went with some quilting that I really loved on the back, but not so much on the front.  Somehow, it was too busy and the quilting distracted from the simple lines of the design.  

I could always say the back is the front and the front the back, but I wasn't satisfied with that either.

So, as any perfectionist would do, I started all over.  

Now I have this little quilt and I love it much more than the other.  Granted, the back is pretty boring now, only white with black lines quilted onto it, but hey, it's the front that counts!

Binding is sewn on, ready to be hand sewn onto the front.

These simple lines look so much better to me.  

Also a W.I.P for me is making some boys button up shirts for the shop!  I have some fabric and some ideas which may or may not include stenciling and cars, and I am almost ready to go!  

Sure hope I have a cute little shirt to show you next week!

A Finished Affair

Aren't my titles punny? 

Moving on...

I have finished the complicated diaper bag.  It did not turn out as I hoped.  I picked a lot of stitches, poked my finger a hundred times while handstitching, and got fairly frustrated.  

This bag really did take me 3 days to finish.  Ridiculous!  Usually I can be done in a day!

I sure hope my sister likes it now because I have finished with it and have no desire to do anymore work on it. You know how it gets after working on something that frustrates you and takes longer than intended and then doesn't turn out how you envisioned.  You simply don't want to look at it anymore.

Here she is in all her baggy blue glory.

Pretty and innocent enough from the outside

But then you see it... the rotten recessed zipper.

I tried to find a good tutorial for inserting a recessed zipper and they all seemed fairly easy.  But none of them were exactly like I wanted.  Most didn't have the top bands or the width this bag has.  So I spent forever and a day finagling this zipper into this bag.  Overall, not a failure, just not how I envisioned.

Plenty of pockets on the inside, just as my sister asked.

In other, less frustrating ventures, I made butter.  

My dear husband brought home a can of cream from the dairy he works at.  I made some oh so yummy cinnamon buns with some of the cream and beat the rest into butter.  

Fairly simple.  Just beat the cream until you get past the whipped cream stage and the buttermilk and butter start separating.  Then strain the buttermilk and knead the butter in cold water to remove any excess buttermilk.  What you are left with is yummy wholesome whipped butter. 

And some buttermilk, which I used to make banana bread.

Sure smells delicious in here!

A Complicated Affair

I am becoming a jack of all trades I think. 

Well, not all, but I am certainly sewing up a variety of things these days. Dresses, pillows, all different kinds of bags.

Right now I am working on a diaper bag for my sister who is expecting in May.  Her youngest now will be 5 when this baby arrives, so she needs some new baby things.  My calling was her diaper bag.

She chose an Amy Butler print, English Garden in Blue Stone, for the exterior.  

Lucky us, it was on super sale from Drygoods Design.  Must've been a good pick because it's now sold out.  

It's a gorgeous fabric, the nicest home decor fabric I have worked with.  I was surprised at how soft it still felt for being a heavier fabric.  It's also gorgeous!  The blue really pops against the the dark background.

Enough raving about the fabric.

I have made a few diaper bags before, and they were all messenger style bags - rectangular and with a flap pocket.

My sister wanted something different.  Something that resembled the shape of the Hobo bag.  So I searched and found this bag: 

Pleated, lined handbag.

I have decided it needs some modifying to be a great diaper bag.  First I decided to add some width by sewing a 3 inch strip of fabric all the way around the main pieces. 

I also changed the way the pleats lay.

Then it needed better pockets than the pattern gave, so I added full width panels of fabric with elastic on the top to make 4 large pockets all together. Perfect for holding diapers, wipes, extra sleepers, creams and the like. Just to keep things separate. 

 Lastly, instead of a magnetic snap closure, I am adding a recessed zip.  I have never done one before, but I shall succeed.  I figure a zipper will be better than a single point closure in keeping all those baby things where they need to be.

So far it is looking good.  I wanted to blog a finished bag today, but it is taking me longer than I anticipated.  That and I DO NOT sew after 9:30 because then it all goes wrong. 

Next time a finished bag.

An Itty Bitty Dress

My cousin-in-law and her husband just had a baby girl.  They waited a very very long time to get pregnant, and finally, in March, we got news that they were expecting!  Her husband didn't believe it for real until he saw the ultrasound pictures.  Everyone was so excited for them.

Then at the end of August, she began to have some complications - her pregnancy was poisoning her.  To make a long story short, their baby was born prematurely by C section on September7.  A tiny and healthy  2lb baby girl.

Since it is their fist baby, and a long awaited baby, I thought we should send them something special.  A little package of baby goodies.

As their baby is so tiny, I knew store bought clothes would not fit, so I made the Itty Bitty Baby Dress.  I had had the pattern bookmarked for a while and now was the perfect time to use it.

Here is the end result.

And it really is itty bitty! 

Besides the doll clothes I once made, this is the smallest dress ever.  Actually, it's not even much bigger than the doll clothes I made.  Perfect for the little dollie who will one day wear this dress.