Posts in sewing
five faves time

Pip is encouraging us to share our faves again - #5 - I love this made from scratch boys tie and am wondering what the chances might be that I could actually get cj to wear one.

#4 - springtime + peanut m&ms =

#3 - turns out lulu has been going around and picking up scraps of fabric while I'm sewing and squirrels them away in a bag.  When I asked why, she said "FOR ART"

So huzzah for bags of fabric!

#2 - thimbles - I have started to hand quilt the mostly french general quilt and my fingers would be a wreck without these little lovelies.

#1 - Kinder Surprise eggs.  Can someone please tell me why these are NOT available in the US?  They are always filled with the cutest toys.  When the spouse heads off to some foreign land, lulu requests these.

Here's what I'm up to today - finishing up the ties on this one.

Deedrie cutting ties edit
Deedrie cutting ties edit
sisters

Whenever one of Lulu's friends has a birthday, she thinks we should give a doll so that their dolls can all be sisters.  Last week another one was created and sent off to a new home. Here she is with her dress and apron, and without.

it's a mystery to me

How is it that cutting fabric into little squares and then sewing back together is so satisfying? Here I am, cutting this stack

and sewing it into these.

then more cutting-

then more sewing-

then choosing placement-

then more sewing-

then more pressing-

maybe there is a quilt maker hidden away inside me

practice run

Pearl and I are having lots of fun. I made a stop at my local quilt shop.  I guess I was a bit drunk with power, because I managed to convince myself that now was the time to make a quilt.  I have been shoving this notion to the back of my brain for a couple of years now.  After bringing home all my supplies, it occurred to me that it would be a good idea to start with something a little smaller.  I found a pattern for a table runner on Moda's website and pieced this together with scraps that were hanging out with nowhere else to go.

My biggest struggle was with evenness.  The fabric pulled as I was machine quilting.  I took the plunge and purchased a walking foot.  (a trip, that despite telling myself it would only be for the foot, ended with me buying fabric for a lap quilt as well)

I found this great tutorial on binding that helped out a lot too.

my new best friend

This is Pearl. She just moved in and we are having lots of fun together.

I have been wanting to make a cover for my camera strap for a while now, but most of the tutorials that I have seen are tubes that slide over the strap.  I guess I'm a bit lazy, but I didn't want to have to deal with taking the strap off every time I wanted to change covers.  I came up with a velcro cover that can be swapped out on a whim.

I started with a 24" by 6 1/2".  I pressed the sides in 1/4" and then 1/2" and stitched them.  Then pressed the length in 1/4" then 1/2" and stitched them.  Then I attached fusible velcro along the length on the inside.

Then attached velcro to the length of the opposite side on the outside, making sure they would line up and connect when the cover wraps around the strap.

Then just wrap it around the strap and you are ready to go.