Baby's Firsts.....

Sadie's first birthday quilt is completed!  I mailed it yesterday & it should reach it's destination by Friday, in time to be unwrapped at the birthday party on Saturday.  Below are closeups of the Sadie's baby quilt, with a full view at the end.

Purples & pinks are girlie colors....

My sister-in-law started calling the baby Sadie-bug when she was first born.  The nickname has stuck.  I thought the lady bug fabric would be cute to use for her bow......

Whimsical butterfly.......

This is the picture I envision of Sadie when my niece Sofie, her mom, will sit Sadie in front of her cake for the first time.  Sadie will either grab the cake with her hands or she'll try to grab the candle.   I can't wait for the photos.

Sewing baby things is a lot of fun.  In case you're wondering, this quilt is an original design.  I'm in the process of writing the instructions & turning it into a pattern but, for right now I need to take a break.  The design is easy to put together & sews relatively quickly.  This quilt measured 42" wide x 42" length.

I have another grand niece turning one in August so, I also need to get busy with her quilt by the end of the month.  

Stay tuned......and keep stitching.....a little bit at a time.

Have great day!

Baby's Firsts.....

Last weekend, I spoke to my niece & she mentioned that she & her Mom are planning a first birthday party for my grand niece, Sadie (the cutie in the photo below).   Shortly after she was born, her grandmother lovingly began to call her Sadie bug, notice the lady bug dress & red bow.  

During this phone conversation, I also found out that the theme of her first birthday will  be cute bugs.    Of course, I have to make her a quilt for her first birthday.  She already has a quilt from me but not one to commemorate her first birthday.  

I went to my stash of fabrics & the only bug fabric I found was a six inch square below.  This won't work because this fabric looks like a little boy's fabric.

I've searched fabric stores & haven't found bug fabrics, that I like, for a one year old baby girl.  So I had to come up with another solution.  I started to draw & finally decided on the idea below, trying to keep it simple.

Here's the basic layout....

Caricature of Sadie.  Keeping the shapes simple so that the quilt will be used & loved.

Sadie's caricature in fabric below.

A cute butterfly to keep with the bug theme.  I'm sure a butterfly isn't considered a bug but, it's cute so, it's going to be on this quilt.  This butterfly still needs to have some detail stitched on to it to bring it to life.

Now to machine stitch all the applique.  I have to unplug from my computer for a few days so that I can finish this quilt relatively quickly.  I need to get it into the mail by next week.   So why did I wait to the last minute?  Because I was busy on other things & then I realized we were already in the month of June.  Time flies when you're busy.

I'll post my progress in the next two to three days or so.  

Stayed tuned......

Roses and Bird Applique...

Roses in my garden are beginning to bloom.....

Seeing these inspired me to get back to my applique.....

Close up of rose applique......

Stitching a few shapes per day & this section of the applique begins to take shape rather quickly.  Still have a ways to go but, I'm feeling great about my progress.

I'll have to take a break because another side project is due soon.  Be sure to see my post labeled Baby's First...

Roses & Bird Applique......

A little bit more progress with this blue bird (the opposite side of my table runner).

Below is how the other side of my table runner is coming along.  It's almost finished.  It has quite a bit of embroidery work.  

The next photo is the applique & embroidery work done in an area where a candlestick holder will be placed.

I haven't worked out what I'll do in the middle of the table runner just yet.  I'll just have to play it by ear & continue working on the opposite side by appliquing the blue bird.  I'll post progress soon again.

In the meantime........

I've been trying to deal with ways to keep a garden rabbit out of my flower beds.  It loves zinnias & roses, & pansies.  Caught in the act......

Cute....yes.....but I wish it would stick to lettuce & carrots.  It just looked at me & stood still as if staying still would make him/her invisible.  So I got closer.  

It still ignored me....

I got a little closer......notice his/her ready to run away pose...

I jumped after it & clapped & told it to go find vegetables!!! 

 I sounded like my doctor.

Gone!  That is until early this morning.  I found another rabbit, much smaller.  It was like Groundhog day all over again.

Home improvement store......here I come.....I'll be looking for some type of chicken wire. 

Is it possible for chicken wire to look like a beautiful garden ornament?   We'll see what I can come up with.

Until next time.....keep stitching!

Web Designers

One day I was watering my potted plants & saw a small spider weaving a web.  It was going around & around in a circle.  Weaving it's thread much like a hand quilter following marked quilting designs on a quilt top.  I was fascinated by it's precision.  I had never been lucky enough to actually see one in progress.  This one is a nicely designed circular pattern.  How does it know how far out to go without marking anything?  It doesn't have a ruler to work from.  Yet it accomplishes a nice circle.  Maybe the perfect circle is supposed to lure it's food into it?

It occurred to me that this spider is an artist.....

I don't particularly have a fondness for spiders because as a child I associated them with Halloween & witches.  This photo below is a Halloween witch my husband made.  He also enjoys getting creative & is very artistic.  This witch doesn't have any cobwebs but, she's scary to look at.

Lately I've been paying attention to the purpose of some spiders in my garden.  They eat the bugs that eat some of my plants.  So because of this, I've accepted them & respect their territories.  I just make sure that spiders are not a black widow or in some areas brown recluse.

On a different day, I stumbled upon this next garden spider's web.  This web is not the traditional perfect circular web but has a modern look to it.  Like some of today's modern quilts. Notice the zig-zag like stitching along the center of it's web.  This one is scary looking.  I saw it travel to the lower left side to catch it's food then, in a blink of an eye quickly got back to the middle of it's web.  I took a few steps back.  I showed my husband & my husband said, "Oh yeah", in an almost what a cool spider kind of comment.  Men are from Mars & Women are from Venus.  What else can I say about his comment?

This next one is from a photo I took last year.  It's web is an almost a perfectly designed circle.   A traditional style circle with a focal point which is the spider in the center.  Similar to the way a lot of traditional quilts are made.

So why did I decide to post about spiders & their webs today.  It's all about the way we look at things & how they inspire us.  Translate what you see into in whatever you enjoy creating.   Well, enough about spiders & their web designs.

Then there's this Spanish Cucumber Beetle(s) that has invaded my garden earlier this year(actually there were many).  I think I saw it in my garden last year but didn't know any better.  I thought it was like a lady bug of a different color.    Beautiful colors....yes but, destructive to plants.  I've pulled the plants that seem to be crawling with these.  There seem to be one or two left in the garden.  I hope this year is the last generation of them.  This one is smart because when it flies it doesn't get caught in any spider web. Go figure?

Below is the damage this beetle does to a plant.  

So what does this have to do with quilting?  

When your results don't turn out like you expect them to, try a different strategy.  Do some research & find what is going to work best for your project.  Most importantly, don't give up.   Like the beautiful quilts that you see in magazines or quilt shows, creating those beautiful quilts simply takes time.  Just like it takes time to create a beautiful garden.  You just have to work out the bugs.

Until next time.........

Inspired by Garden Friends.....

I'm still behind on my applique.....sigh......such is the process of applique but worth it in the end.   Pictures of progress will be posted soon.  In the meantime, I'll show you my recent charity quilt made for my local quilt guild.  We were presented with the challenge of making a quilt that a teenager would love.  I wanted to use fabrics that I had in my stash so, my hunt for the right fabric started......in my closet.  I couldn't decide which fabrics a teenager could love so, I put it off for another day or so.   My inspiration came from trimming bushes one morning.  This lady bug was so cute & was the inspiration for the quilt in the next photo.

I didn't think of it right away but, I remembered that I had a lot of red, black & white fabric.  Beginning with 3 1/2" strips (unfinished) I sewed the strips together.  I also threw in small chunks of red fabric to give it some color.  I varied the fabrics with no set number of strips in mind.  It was an easy visual way of making this quilt.  The only thing I kept in mind was that the quilt had to finish at 45"W x 65"L.  

This quilt was fun to make because I didn't have to read directions.  I just cut a few strips, place up on the design wall then sewed the strips together.  Sometimes it's so liberating to just sew fabric together.  It's mindless & yet you're creating a quilt that, hopefully, someone will love.  I wish I had taken photos of the other quilts that were made.  Our guild has some very creative & talented ladies who make beautiful quilts.  

So thank you to my garden friend, the lady bug......

Side Projects - Dresses

My side projects are not always small quilting things or gardening but, making clothes.  In fact, I started sewing clothes way before I began quilting.  One day I went shopping for dresses & had the worst time because nothing fit correctly.  This is what has kept me sewing my own clothes over the years.

Below is a summer dress that I finished last week.  So exciting when the fitting part is over with.  Notice the collar is a hand dyed fabric & the rest of the dress is a challis.  Challis is a fabric that drapes beautifully & flows with your movements.   The buttons are covered with the same hand dyed fabric. This dress is from Style pattern #2440.   My husband likes it when I wear dresses so, I'll wear it this weekend when my husband is around.

So I then started another dress & then hit a road block.  Wait a minute,  I already have too many little black dresses.   This little black dress is a Vogue pattern #8648 & is made of a linen type fabric.  It looks lifeless to me & needs some type of decorative element that will bring it to life.  I'll have to play with some ideas of how to accomplish this.  I'll introduce a new fabric that will contrast yet, compliment the linen type fabric.  Fabric manipulation is the direction I'm going to take with the new fabric that I decide to use.  

Below is the stack of fabric sitting on my sewing room floor.  I need to refold it & get it up & off the floor.   I think this is what is blocking my creativity.  I can't seem to decide what to do with my little black dress.  It's time to clean up my space so I can get my creativity flowing.

It's a good thing to clean up your sewing area from time to time.  When you come back to your sewing projects, you're able to approach what your creating with great energy & can focus so much better.   

So whether you're sewing garments or quilting, taking breaks are a good thing.  

Keep stitching.....

Roses & Bird Applique

It's going slow with working on my applique.  I recently got back to it & have made a little progress on the opposite side.  I got tired of working on the embroidery side so I started the blue bird below.

I hope to have a little more done to show next week.    Keep stitching.......a little at a time.