I Made a Dress!

Emboldened by the success of the pattern-free skirt I made from that lovely free Oliver+S tutorial, I decided to make the leap into clothing patterns, something i've been scared of for a year now. Success again! I graduated to the slightly harder, but still free, Oliver+S tute for the Popover Sundress.



Gigi is still extremely grumpy (note presence of paci outside the crib) so believe it or not, this is the BEST photo I could get of her in it, out of about 20 photos.


I really like it! My favorite Amy Butler Wallflower in pink, and a little flapper fringe from Joann's. I went in to get rick-rack, but all the rick-rack was gigantic for some reason, and I would have only gotten about three ricks across the front. So I went with fringe. Like it!

Enjoy!

A Gorgeous Pile of Designer Fabric

Got your attention? Good! Here's a pile of designer fabric I won from Jona during Stop Staring and Start Sewing's giveaway! She generously gave away this 3 1/2 yard pile of fat quarters from her store, Fabritopia. She's a super sweet crafter and clothes maker who just made her first quilt! Check it out and leave her some comment love to encourage her to get further into our shared addiction.

And now for the fabric porn:

First up we have four fat quarters from Heather Ross, Mendocino! Love it! I didn't have any of the orange/brown colorway. Hmmm....that's a colorway I need to do something with.


Next up are some prints from Anna Maria Horner's new Garden Party collection and one yellow one from Anna Griffin's Fiona collection. Ohhhhh I loved the two on the right so much I had to go and buy a yard of each. Thanks a lot, Jona! I can totally see a dress for G out of those, or even a tablecloth.


Next up, some Momo in the middle and two unidentified fabrics. Is the bottom one Anna Griffin too?


Lastly, more favorites! A half yard of Patty Young Mezzanine (blue) and some more Garden Party. Love how they go together!
Enjoy!

I Made a Skirt!

I'm VERY proud of myself for finally branching out into clothes!!! Yes, it was just a 2 year old's skirt, and yes it was from a free Oliver+S tutorial that did not involve a pattern, but I did it! I love it, and especially love how the yellow ribbon "glows" at the bottom. Double click photos to see better.

Before I started I got out the beginner's sewing machine that my mom gave me years ago and I actually opened the box and tried to get it sewing. Yeah. Didn't work. I have no idea how you people do that, it's very confusing, lots of threads everywhere and dials and such. So I just sewed it by hand. I'm going to try their other free pattern, the Popover Sundress next, and this one does have a pattern, so we'll see how it goes.

By the way, Gigi is sick this week, so above you see the rare paci-during-the day and the grumpy face that only happens when she's sick.

Yes, SHE is very grumpy.

Wolf wanted me to show you the "pillbug amusement park" that he and his friends made for their pet pillbugs. He was very proud also. I love how "boy" he is, always dirty and grass stained and sweaty-haired, running the neighborhood with his friends.

Forgot to show you, check out the sweet swag my sister sent me! These are vintage cutter quilt blocks made into pillows, and a gorgeous wallet using Nicey Jane fabrics. Thanks Heidi! Gigi's dolls are enjoying the pillows.


And lastly, I have some bread to show off! I'm trying out the new book Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. The whole concept is that you make up a batch of bread and keep the dough in the fridge. Then when you want a pizza crust or a cinnamon roll or a loaf of bread for dinner, you just lop off a chunk and rise it, then bake. Voila, fresh bread every day. It's pretty good, not life changing, but I bake almost every day anyway, so it would be more life changing for someone who rarely bakes.

What are you up to lately?

Fun Event for Central Texas Peeps - April 24th

Another Peek at My Day Job:

Hey guys, if you live in the Austin/San Antonio area, be sure to come to an event I'm organizing at Guadalupe River State Park on April 24th! It's a family science event with lots of presenters and swimming in the very clean, shallow river. Click on the map to see the activities, all free with park admission. Go ahead and forward the link to local family and friends!

Amazing Quilt History Website

Wow, check out this great website! It's the International Quilt Study Center and Museum.

Click here to go to the quilting timeline exhibit. Click on "explore the timeline" then grab the blue box at the bottom and drag it all the way to the left to start. Then slowly drag it to the right to travel through time. If you want to know more about something, double click the photo. I was really interested in the "silk premiums" from 1890, I'd never heard of them!

When you're done, click over to the Quilt Collection to browse some amazing stuff!

Enjoy.

A Little Bit of Everything Crafty

Hello everyone! Since I finished the ginormous squares and frames quilt I've been kind of between quilts. I've been sewing some on my red and aqua gnome homes, just to have something to do. Here are my two latest.

My daughter is newly in love with owls, so she begged for an owl softie. She wanted it to be bigger than the ninja bat I made her last year, so here it is! I used the same tutorial from Juicy Bits that I used to make the owl ornaments last Christmas. I just cut out each piece in Photoshop and blew it up to 250%, then printed it out on its own paper. This pattern is so cute no matter what you do with it! Thank you Juicy Bits!

I've also been slowly adding to my stash of designer fabric, now that i'm a designer fabric snob in the most unflattering and haughty way. Here are the stacks of pink, red, green, blue, purple and neutral/white/multi in my Bergsbo fabric cabinet from IKEA.

And here are the stacks of yellow, orange, brown, black and grey, plus a stack of flannel backings. The solids are not good ones, just stuff I picked up a million years ago. My stash is super lacking in good kona/bella/butler solids, as in, I have none. Oh, except for that dark blue on top, that's Bella.

See anything you like?

Watch This: Science, Food and Health

This video is really cool. As a science educator and a mother interested in food and health, it gave me goosebumps! Yes, it's 16 minutes long, but whether you agree or disagree, it's very thought provoking and worth the 16 minutes.

The danger of science denial: Michael Specter on TED.com
Vaccine-autism claims, "Frankenfood" bans, the herbal cure craze: All point to the public's growing fear (and, often, outright denial) of science and reason, says Michael Specter. He warns the trend spells disaster for human progress.

Grandmother's Flower Garden

Look what my mom made me! There's a big story behind this quilt. She started cutting and piecing all of the flowers in 1975 after my sister and I started Montessori. Over the intervening 35 years she slowly made more flowers out of our baby clothes and 1970's era fabrics and put them together into a top, then little by little she quilted it, finishing this year!


I love those bunnies/carrots!


And these flannel kitties!

And she even signed it. Awwww, thanks mom.

A Finish! King Size Squares and Frames

Finally! I finished the king size quilt for my bed. I love it! I tried to fix the lighting in photoshop, but it just made the colors all weird, so I hope you can see these. Click on them to make them bigger if you want to see them better.


Here it is on the bed, with the blue and green rows on my husband's side and the pink and red rows on my side (plus the snuggle row in the middle of blue/green plus red/pink in each block).


The snuggle row is vertical with mermaids/green in this photo.


And here's the back. It took forever to quilt this thing, but I plodded through, with a goal of a couple of blocks per day, and it only took a month (!). The whole quilt has taken months, in between working on lots of other stuff, and has fought me at times, but I finally get to keep a quilt! Yay!