A Pleasant Peasant Dress...

It's been a while since I've shown any finished clothing projects - mainly because I hardly ever do them.  But I've had a lingering (2 years) work in progress hanging around the back of my closet that I just finished so let me give you the backstory!

Side note:  awkward selfies ahead - proceed with caution and a sense of humor

A few months after I had my oldest daughter, I was at that awkward stage where my maternity clothes were way too big but my regular clothes were still pretty snug and an event where I needed something dressy (but not too nice) was coming up. Even though I was a new mom with an infant at home, I thought the easiest route would be to make something myself.  I'm still not sure what gave me such overconfidence that I could pull this off - but my insanity ended up paying off.

I needed something that would allow easy access for nursing but would still look like a regular dress and an elastic neckline peasant dress fit the bill.  I found some bright floral fabric at a local quilt store and bought enough for Easy McCall pattern M5039:

I realize that tastes change over 5 years, but looking at this pattern cover, I honestly have no idea what drew me in about it.  But once the dress was finished, I loved it.  It totally fit the bill and I've been occasionally wearing it ever since (even though it's a bit big around the middle).

Fast forward to Baby #2...same dilemma, so brilliant me I thought that I would make a new dress from the same pattern to mix things up a little bit.  I ended up finding this deep purple batik fabric on clearance and all the material for the dress came to $3.  Score!  This time I added a solid band of fabric at the waist.  I got as far as finishing the dress with the exception of adjusting the elastic at the neckline and completing the hem because when I went to try it on, it was a little bit snug.  It was too depressing, so I shoved it in the back of my closet, sad and unfinished.

It was totally forgotten until 2 years later as I was cleaning out my closet last week.  I tried it back on, and it was a little big around the middle now.  Now that's what I call a good problem to have!  I adjusted the elastic, finished the hem and added a couple rows of ruching with elastic thread on the back to cinch it in.

I don't love it as much as the original - something about the fabric and the solid just doesn't sit right with me now that I'm two years out from picking it - but it's still a $3 dollar dress and a finished project.  The peasants would be proud.

X's and O's for the Modern Mini Challenge

Sorry to all of you who just read all about this project two weeks ago, but my latest finish was just too perfect not to share in Ellison Lane's Modern Mini Challenge!

Read more about it in the original blog post, but the abbreviated version goes something like this:

This mini is my own design and finishes off at 18 x 24 1/2".  It is a pretty simple pattern but I love it mostly because it all stems from this little work of art from my oldest which I thought would work perfectly as a quilt:

So I adapted her sketch from that to my own version here:

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And after some fun fabric choices, the finished product came out so close to my sketch - I was so pleased!  My oldest was pretty impressed with the process for all of 5 minutes.  Then she moved onto something else - but it was a pretty fantastic 5 minutes.   

I love the combination of all the pinks against the cool turquoise and the appliqued X's and O's in Aneela Hoey's Posy was the perfect touch to make them stand out but still blend together with my wavy lines of pink.  

Thanks for visiting and reading -- and also a big thanks to Jennifer at Ellison Lane for hosting such a great link up and a chance to win some goodies!

Square Dance WIP...

Believe it or not, I actually have a WIP to share on WIP Wednesday!  It was just a week ago that I mentioned I had a real plan to put these fabric purchases to good use...

I decided to take advantage of some rainy weekend weather to start working on this pattern using the P's and Q's charm pack I bought ages ago.  I cut all my fabrics and got 4 of the 6 main blocks done during the girls' nap time!

Now all I need to do is get the long lines of sashing done using the smaller squares, and a baby quilt top will be completed!    It really is a cute fabric line that would be so great for either a girl or boy...

What have you been working on this week?

Linking up:

Boston Top and Blog Hop...

About a month ago at the Quilts for Boston sew-in at gather here, I ended up focusing on making quilt backs instead of assembling a top.  But I promise that I'm not shirking my guild obligations - I ended up taking a packet of blocks home with me to finish a top in my spare time (Ralphie voice:  He he...that's a good one, Dad).  I chose a package with a focus on lines and stripes and was pretty excited to get it home to inspect them all and play with layouts.  As soon as I got home, I took them all out and fiddled for a while.  And promptly got stuck. 

The bag just sat there for three weeks.  It stared at me pretty passive aggressively for a while...and I chose to ignore it because I was still stuck. It was all those lines and stripes - it was just so much busier than my typical palate and I couldn't get past my own opinions and sampler prejudices.  It's not you, lovely blocks.  It's me. 

But at the eleventh hour I had a brainstorm and wondered if I could trick a couple of the blocks into creating some messages and breathing space.  Just a couple of adjustments to make these...

into this...

Then turning a block on point...

And once I gave myself permission to only use about two-thirds of the blocks, here is the finished product!  What do you think?  

In addition to not really being a sampler fan, I'm also not a big yellow fabric person.  What was I thinking??  But I'm hoping that whoever gets this finished quilt will think "happy sunshine" and not "gross egg yolk".  Here's hoping!

Another piece of news to share is that I'm participating in this year's Let's Get Acquainted Blog Hop by Plum & June!  I'm really looking forward to getting to know a ton of new modern quilting bloggers over the next two months and hope that you'll join me!

Friday, June 7th

Nancy @ Owen's Olivia

Amy @ 13 Spools

Ashley @ Wasn't Quilt In A Day

Casey @ The Studiolo 

Nanette @ Yeah, I Made That

Ange @ Heart Of Charnwood

Kim @ Robot Mom Sews

Erica @ Kitchen Table Quilting

Friday, June 14

Julie @ Jolie Maxtin

Melissa @ Melia Mae Quilting

Adrianne @ On The Windy Side

Molli @ Molli Sparkles

Laura @ Little And Lots

Sarah @ Duck Egg Threads

Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation

Cari @ There's A Thread

Valerie @ Between Quilts

Friday, June 21

Leigh Anne @ Ella's Cottage

Stacey @ The Tilted Quilt

Sarah @ Quilt Candy

Jackie @ NW Patchwork

Liz @ Beadqueene's Bits And Baubles

Erica @ Happy Fabric

Stephanie @ Simple Sewendipity

Lauren @ Seraphym

Amy @ Cloud CouCou Crafts

Friday, June 28

Green @ So Sew Green

Gwendellyn @ The Rainbow Revolts

Jessica @ Stitched In Thyme

Amira @ Little Mushroom Cap

Kathy @ Kayak Quilting

Michelle @ Factotum Of Arts

Paula @ The Sassy Quilter

Kris @ Sew Sunshine

Camilla @ Faffling

Friday, July 5

Christa @ Christa Quilts!

Alyce @ Wonderland By Alyce

Anna @ The Crooked Banana

Rachel @ Sew Happily Ever After 

Stephanie @ Quarter Incher

Shayla @ Sassafras Lane Designs

Caroline @ Carolines Craftiness

Lisa @ Hilltop House Creative Works

Fridau, July 12

Leona @ Leona's Quilting Adventure

Karen @ Karen, {Novice} Quilter

Anne @ PlayCrafts

Rachel @ Let's Begin Sewing...

Jan @ Sew And Sow Farm

Anna @ Quilting Along The Grain

Cath @ Wombat Quilts

Sarah @ {No} Hats In The House

Friday, July 19

Karen @ Little Birdie Quilting Studio

Kathy @ Kwilty Pleasures

Katie @ Snuggle Up With A Dish From Karma 

Alison @ Making Happyness

Ella and Nesta @ Ella & Nesta's Little Room

Adrienne @ Chezzetcook Modern Quilts

Nicole @ Modern Handcraft

Aylin @ AyliN-Nilya

Kelsey and Amanda @ Everyday Fray

Friday, July 26

Vicki @ A Quilter's Mission

RobinSue @ RobinSue Quilts

Elisa Lea @ Lovelea Designs

Elizabeth @ In The Boondocks

Jenny @ A Note To Follow Sew

Lorna @ Sew Fresh Quilts

Sonia @ Fabric & Flowers

Emily @ Sew E.T.

Em @ Sewing by Moonlight

Check them out - they will make fabulous additions to your modern inspiration list during June & July!

Linking up:

Fabric Binge...

I've acquired quite a bit of fabric lately.  If I don't get my sewing butt motivated to use up these gorgeous finds soon, I'm going to have a serious problem.  I hope these additions to the stash will help get the creative juices flowing.  Now before you think that I'm fabric shopping all the live-long day, this post contains about a month's worth of fabric - and a very active month at that!  I picked up the bunch that you see above about a month ago at gather here before our Quilts for Boston sew-in.

And then we rounded up a few friends to trek up to Marden's yesterday.  Marden's in Sanford, Maine has a HUGE selection at super cheap prices.  Last time I went, I felt a little overwhelmed and grabbed a random selection of stuff without a clear idea of how to use it.  This time I kicked my super-nerd into gear and made a list of projects that needed fabric.

Fabric mission completed!  I grabbed a good selection of white, yellow and light blue for background and filler fabrics for Quilts for Boston tops (plus a few random brights for good measure).

I also wanted to grab an off-white background to go with these fabrics that you may remember from my charm pack query a while back.  I've decided that I want to use the P's and Q's charm pack to make this pattern - I think it will make a very cute gender neutral baby quilt!

But the crown jewel in all these new fabrics is my brand new Echino stash...

Samantha from the Seacoast Modern Quilt Guild organized a big Echino swap.  Each of us that participated purchased two yards of a different print and then we cut them up into equal pieces to share with the group.  Now I have 8 different Echino fat quarters with not a clue as to how to use them.  I love them...but need to wait for inspiration to hit.  Seen any great projects that you liked using Echino?

Linking up:

Sewing Slacker...

I don't know if you can tell from this photo, but Ron Swanson is giving me the stink eye because I'm a total slacker.  Apparently when Traceyjay decided to stop her "Just Three" link ups where you can list your three goals for the month, I decided to stop holding myself accountable for keeping up with stuff.  Granted, life has interrupted in a major way over the past couple weeks that involved some major heavy metal damage...

My husband was in the middle of a car sandwich on the highway that actually didn't look too, too bad...until you got it into the body shop and saw the damage from underneath.  Ugh.  But the good news is that no one in the 6 car pile-up was seriously hurt and things are just starting to get back to normal for us.  Plus we got to giggle these lines back and forth endlessly to cheer ourselves up...

"You wanna get hit? Because I know a guy!  Super gentle - minor scrapes and bruises, major dollars and cents."


Ah, the joys of Jean Ralphio.

I did manage to get in a little bit of sewing by completing my X's and O's mini, but my Gen X Block of the Month completely fell off my radar.  I might just put it off a couple more days and do the blocks for May and June after the new block is posted this Friday.  But I also did make a slew of clutches for teacher gifts and finally attend a BMQG sew-in, so it wasn't a completely inactive month over here!

Plus I still need to finish my custom quilt due in August (at the latest!!) and some quilt tops for Quilts for Boston now that the block deadline has passed.  I've got a really good plan going for the packets of blocks I have - really I do!  It just requires a little bit of fabric shopping for some background fill in.  Good thing a friend and I are trekking up to Marden's tomorrow!  I'll be sharing my finds (plus a little Echino goodness - squee!) on Wednesday.

X's and O's...

Here's my finished X's and O's mini!  It finished out at 18 x 24.5. Once I actually got my butt in gear and cut up the pile of fabric that had  been sitting dormant for months on end, it moved ridiculously fast from start to finish.  Of course, that is because any monkey could look at this and replicate the pattern, but I still love it.  Mostly because it all stems from this little work of art from my oldest:

So we flow from that to this:

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To this!

Really the only thing that changed from the sketch to the finished product is that I added a few extra blocks of pink onto each row to even out the length a bit and arranged the letters differently to allow them to be a bit larger in size.  I love how all the pinks stand out so beautifully from the turquoise and even more how the appliqued X's and O's in the Posy fabric are the perfect touch.

The X's and O's are appliqued onto the quilt using Wonder Under - a paper backed fusible web.  I tried out a bunch of fonts, upper case and lower case letter combinations.  The one I thought was thick enough on this small scale but also nice and script-y was Channel in lower case letters.  I ended up printing out my letter templates in a size 250.  It sounds big, but that one square with my text is only about 6" square.  I finished them off with a blanket stitch in white.

There is even more Posy on the back side along with a stacked coin strip of pink.

I've seen a lot of wall hanging/mini quilts that have little corners on the back for easy hanging, so that's what I tried for this one.  The corners and the binding are done in a black/grey floral fabric that worked so well for this color palate!

I went back and forth on quilting this - I was honestly and truly going to do a loopy free motion quilting over the whole surface, but then I thought of straight line cross-hatching and how it would continue the X's into the quilting and I was sold.  I thought that I might try out pebble quilting in the pink bars (to add in some more O's, natch) but I kind of liked how they ended up standing out when they were just outlined.

If I had to do the pattern again on a larger scale, I think that I'd give loopy quilting a try - plus a larger scale would really highlight your "bar" fabrics and give you a BIG chance to applique some Xs and Os in fun fonts...or whatever word, initials, name that you'd like!  What do you think?  Interested in doing a throw or baby-sized version along with me later this summer?

Linking up: