pop up sew & tell v1.1: i have actually been sewing

I've decided I'm going to sew & tell in a pop quiz sort of way!  If I blog on a Friday, I'll put up a linky so you can share some of your finishes too!

I actually have gotten a lot of projects completed in the last several months.  For some reason or another I just haven't been motivated to blog about them.  In all honesty, Instagram has replaced blogging for me quite a bit.  It's so easy and fast to snap a picture of a WIP, get a quick opinion on fabric choices, or just a quick sew and tell share!

I do like the format of blogging and the friendships I have here.  I'm going to make a more concerted effort to get blog posts up.  They might be short, but hopefully they'll be interesting!

I wanted to share a dress I made for sisterlouwho.  I finished it back in November, but it's been a little busy around here the last few months!

I bought this fabric (A 3 Sisters print by Moda) over 4 years ago mostly because it was on sale.  It's pretty - I love a classic Jacobean Paisley floral, but it's not really my normal color palette.  I had initially intended it for a bag - but then it just sat unused in my closet.  I had the inspiration to use it for a dress a couple of months ago!

I've used a similar pattern to make her some dresses when she was more toddler sized, and was happy to find a girl's sized pattern that was similar.  But of course I had to tweak it.  Partly because I didn't have the right amounts of fabric and partly because I like to complicate things all the time. :)

I lengthened the middle panel to make the bottom more of a ruffle and less of a skirt.  If that makes any sense at all.  I also lengthened the sleeves and used elastic thread for the shirring instead of a casing and elastic.  I like how it creates a little ruffle.

Of course it has to pass the twirl-a-bility test.  I think it did!

I'm really happy with it and so is she!  I will be making more of these soon.  So easy and fast!

Have you been sewing anything fun lately?  I would love to see!

Linky Rules.  Please follow along for a fun party!

1. Please be courteous when linking up.  This is a forum for sharing, motivating and making friends - not self promotion :0) (i.e. Tutorials or links to shops/sales/etc.)

2. One linky per person.

3. Link to your specific post.  (See here for permalink instructions - or email me.)

4. Link back here with a link or a button (HTML on my sidebar).

5. Be sure to visit and leave comments on other's posts!

Please put your (blog)name instead of your project name, it helps us get to know each other better!

I had another birthday.

Fabulous chocolate waffle cookies, awesome birthday candles, tulle puffs, amazing lemon cupcakes!

So I turned 40 a couple of weeks ago. There was a fun little party with all of my favorite foods and lots of my favorite people! It's weird to turn 40, mostly because when you're really young, that sounds REALLY old. But once you're here it's more like, where did the last 20 years go?? I don't feel like I thought 40 would feel! But it's good. I like my 40 better than I thought 40 would be. :)

Things I've learned/I'm not afraid to admit now that I'm 40:
I've realized I can't do everything I think I should be doing, and that's okay.
*on a related note - having a clean house is great, but not always possible (without paid help).
I'm addicted to making friends.
I like Sci-Fi and Westerns.
I'm more of a garment sewer than a quilter - mostly because I like a quick finish!
Having a 2 year old is a good disguise for being 40.
I love a good burger.
Most of my days are fueled by diet Dr. Pepper.
Doing something is better than doing nothing.

So, my birthday present was our trip! And a post-deployment break for the two of us.  It was convenient that it timed well with my 40th and my BIL and SIL's 5th anniversary (we went with them).  I have been supremely spoiled by mrlouwho and it was a great way to start out this new decade!  Here's to being on the young end of something again!

oh and PS - I got an amazing present from a truly thoughtful friend.  We don't live near an IKEA and she picked one of these up for me last time she went! Now I can be part of the cool club!

Happy New Year!

So I went on a little trip last week and this beautiful beach was one of our stops! I've decided that a warm weather location is the best place to be in January post-holiday! Helps postpone the holiday blues a bit and this year it definitely took the sting out of celebrating my 40th birthday! Looking forward to a new year, and maybe, just maybe, getting back onto this blogging train!

Do you want to hear about our post deployment/birthday trip? Or would it just be annoying?

 

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

(We actually get to use finished stockings this year!)

Awesome and easy stocking tutorial from Fabricworm!

travelling baby quilt

I don't know if you remember back when Babylouwho was born, but several of my awesome blogging friends collaborated on a little quilt for her.  You can read about it here.

One of those sweet friends had a baby this year and we reprised our roles except this time I got to help in the making and Natalia got the quilt!!

I received a partially pieced top with fabric to add the rest including borders.

These are the blocks I added.

And here's what the top looked like completed.  I thought it was pretty cute, but after Rita worked her magic, it's even cuter!

Once again, Candy hand dyed some fun fabrics and we used a (scaled down) pattern from Amy's book.  Amy E. and I pieced the top, Rita appliqued his name on and Vicki quilted and bound it!

It was so fun to see the evolution of the quilt as the others shared their progress.

Amy was able to hand deliver to Natalia last week so we finally get to share our parts in the process!

I don't have pictures of the finished quilt, but if you visit the links below, you can see it's progress and final destination!!

I love making handmade gifts for new moms.  And I love working on them with friends.  The collaboration is almost as fun as reaching the finished product!  Plus then I don't have the pressure of finishing something from start to finish! I need to work on that.

The links below will take you right to the post about this quilt:
Candy - Candied Fabrics
Amy E. - Amy's Creative Side
Rita - Mochi Studios
Vicki - Sew Inspired
Natalia - Piece N Quilt

the bee's knees quilting bee

One of the things I've been working on lately is some bee blocks.  I'm a part of The Bee's Knees Quilting Bee and we have a blog and everything.

I think I already posted about some of these, but I thought I would share better pictures of them along with some others that I hadn't shared yet.

Nedra sent us fabric and the pattern for Alison's Cluck Cluck Sew Spin Cycle block. I love the color combo and this pattern went together easily.

Amy E., Amy's Creative Side, sent us some gorgeous Echino and crossweaves for some log cabins.

I love the bright floral on this one.

And fussy cutting the cheetah was fun here.  I need more Echino in my life.

Amy S. sent some lovely prints and color choices!  I think you all know about my obsession with aqua/turquoise.  She asked for 12.5" or 6.5" log cabins.

I started with this 12.5" block. Love that aqua and red Flea Market Fancy.

Then I had enough scraps for this bitty 6.5 incher.  Add that to the list of things that are cute when tiny.

Here's a photo for scale.

I really love being in a bee and getting to use fabrics not in my stash and do blocks I might not otherwise do.  I've been getting a lot of my string blocks back too.  I need to get a photo of them together!

tap, tap, is this thing on? anyone there?

Hey friends!! Sorry I have been so MIA. Remember how I told you I had some exciting news? Well here it is: 

YES! He's home! We're all back together again!

I didn't really talk about it much here, even though I know a lot of you knew he was deployed.  I took a security class shortly after he left and then got paranoid about how much information I put online about him and his work.  I figured it was safer to err on the side of caution.  So it was a long 7 months and I am so glad he's back.  I'm starting to feel more normal again due mostly to the fact that I am getting some sleep now!

So I have been sewing.  Quite a bit actually. I'm going to try and get some more posts up here soon.

I've seriously slacked on sew & tell.  I'm not sure I have it in me to do it anymore.  I'm trying to reinvent it a little to make it fun for me again.  Maybe less often.  Maybe more constest driven? I don't know, I'm mulling it over.

How are you?  Anyone still there? Thanks for always being awesome and so supportive!  Blogging friends rock!!