Two Cute ~~one finish

Cute one.

Cute two.

A couple of weeks ago Dusti asked me to make a little apron for Miss Priss. She's supposed to be getting a new kitchen for Christmas. However, she founded the box. No knowing that, I made the little apron and let Dusti know that she could pick it up. 

When they came today, she put the apron on Milly and told me about the kitchen discovery. I am happy to see that it fits well.

To make the neck strap, I recycled two notions from an old bra. One is a plastic ring, the other this notion shaped like two ovals combined into one.

The strap can be loosened to put the apron on then tightened to make it fit without the neckline dropping down.

 If making it again, I'd shorten the back ties. Otherwise, I am quite happy with all this cuteness. 

Catching up ... and a finish!

Yes, I've got a finish that I haven't shown you. This darling little dress for Milly. I know, I'm spoiling her! It's such fun! 

If you're old enough, you may recognize this pattern from when your own children were babies. I've had the pattern for ages now. I think I used it for the first time when Jolie was little. She's 16 now, but it's possible that the pattern is actually older than that.

Does it look familiar? I love it. And it was very easy to sew up. There are only two pieces: the front is cut on the fold and the back is cut sort of crooked to keep it straight of grain. Both need to be lined, but I decided to cut the opposite side in a light plaid so the top is reversible.

Did you notice that when I switched the dress around to take pictures, I didn't unbutton both straps? There are buttons on both sides so I should have unbuttoned both straps and buttoned them with the strap over the front.

Instead of making the panties that came with the pattern, I used the shorts pattern that I've been using and added elastic in the legs by increasing the size of the hem to make casings. Surprisingly, they are a little tight when made like this, but she didn't complain about the shorts, so we're going with them.


Now she may not have complained about the shorts but wow! she was in a mood. She fussed and cried for a good ten minutes for no reason. None. She was just cranky. That is very rare, so I changed her into a comfy little outfit and rocked her for a few minutes. Ahh, the joys of being a retired grandmother!

The only other news I have is that I'm already getting ready for our August meeting. We have a special guest coming to give a presentation. I'll wait to surprise you but thought a little tease would be fun.

And I'll leave you with a few quilts from the Krotz Springs show on Saturday. These are all from the trunk shows. I had to crop out the backs of heads, but I hate to stand in front of people to take pictures. It feels rude to be in other people's line of view. 
Hope you enjoy!

Milly's Bubble Romper ~~ A Finish!

I decided this morning that I would work on one small project and try to get a finish. And goodness gracious, I did it! I've been wanting to make a little outfit for Milly, but I had a particular pattern in mind. An hour of searching in the studio did not unearth that pattern. 

However, I did find a bubble romper pattern which I like very much. It's a New Look pattern by Simplicity that is no longer in print. I bought it almost 20 years ago and used it to make Dusti a couple of outfits. It seems appropriate to use the same pattern for Dusti's little one. 

It also looked like a quick, easy project. It is. But it had been a while since I've used this particular pattern. The back closure gave me fits. I finally managed to create a placket. Not necessarily the one in the directions, but a closure none-the-less.

And Miss Prissy was in a cranky mood, until she finally fell asleep--after one dirty diaper, a bottle of apple juice, a rocker and a good ten minutes. Whew! Getting her down when she is over tired is a job for someone younger than I!

Anyway, while she napped, I sewed like a mad woman. My inspiration was this lime green butterfly print. I had to place the pattern pieces with extra care because I was using an oddly-shaped, scrap fabric. There was just enough.

I thought I'd get away without the directions, but eventually I was forced to pull out the Bernina instructions. I couldn't remember how to shift the button hole stitch to the next section. I also had to practice button holes on scraps because, well truthfully, it's been so long I didn't feel terribly confident. And though they will hold, they won't look great doing so. I guess I'll need to practice a bit more.

Choosing buttons also took a little time. There are so many choices. I auditioned two sets but eventually chose the lime green. 

I insisted that we try the outfit before her mom took her home. It's too big. But not by much, so I think I can cut it down and get the right size without too much struggle.

She is growing so fast that she'll probably out-grow it before the summer ends. I think I'll make one without the piping. That slowed me down more than I expected. I have a feeling that there are a few more shortcuts that I can make. That will mean I can make several of these that we can use for play clothes throughout the summer. 

And that's my finish for the day and the week. 

I'll Be Linking Up With These!

My Quilt Infatuation (NTT) 

Crazy Mom Quilts (Finish It Up Friday)

Busy Hands Quilts (Finished or Not Friday)
Confessions of a Fabric Addict (Can I get a Whoop! Whoop!)

When all else fails...

take a nap in a basket. Somehow I got saddled with a great-grandbaby who has the sweetest disposition. Until it's naptime. Do not think you can disrupt her beauty rest. 

There are lots of things in the studio, but not one baby bed, play pen, or pallet. So we had two choices: go take naps in the camper (which included my leaving the sewing room) or improvise. Basket and quilt to the rescue. And there you have it. Who would ask for more? 

Plus, one more little detail: sweet baby does not light in her eyes when she sleeps. Therefore, I tucked her basket under the worktable in a bit of shadow. It took about 30 seconds for those sweet little eyelids to close. How cute can a baby be? This cute!

So while she was getting some well-deserved rest (I'll explain why later), I got busy with some more scrap busting. Today was red. I've run out of beige and brown scraps. Go me! So I thought I'd make several of those big 15" blocks in red to increase the size of the quilt. I may not have enough red scraps for the four blocks I was counting on. We'll see. 

Picture A

In the meantime I thought I'd explain how get every inch of scrap out of my scraps. I know, right? Can't let a little waste go to waste. Or something like that. 

Really this just explains how I deal with triangles that don't match up. Somehow I get lots of those. Let's not try to figure why that might be. 

After sewing the two triangles together along the bias cut, I put my ruler on it to try to figure out how best to cut it. Now if I wanted a square cut on the grain, I'd simply lay my ruler as in picture A above. The 45 degree line is exactly on the bias, so I'd get a nice 5" square. 

Picture B

But do you know me? I am not a square kind of gal. So I tried other options. Turns out if I wiggled the ruler a bit, I'd get this set up, as in picture B. Now, the square won't be on grain, but who needs a grain line cut when she's playing with scraps? Certainly not I!

Picture C

So I cut my "square" off grain and inched out an extra, I don't know, 1/2 inch and an interesting little something. The piece really is square. Really. I just took the picture at a wonky angle. Maybe I wanted to confuse myself, which I did, of course. I compared the pictures to determine this is the final cut. Geez, I need a photographer.

 Moving on. I had these two triangles. Not much of chance that they would ever match, so I just sewed. This is the result of not looking at what you have. No matter. I can work with anything.

This is what I did. Using my trusty ruler, I decided to cut a rectangle? out of the biggest part.

See how well that worked out? Now that other piece. I had to get at least another bit from that. So...

 Ta-da! I actually got two pieces. First I cut the larger piece from the bottom. Then, another two cuts and I have a skinny piece from the top. I should tell you that this little triangle of very pretty fabric is the only piece I had. That's a lot of incentive to scrimp out an extra inch or two.

And the last thing on the agenda: why Milly needed her nap. We sat on the concrete floor and picked thread out of the chair wheels. She worked very hard at bumping into me while I picked at thread and hair using tweezers and one of my best seam rippers. (It's the only one skinny enough to fit in those tight spaces.)

After

Before 

Milly really wanted to help clean this up, but luckily I had the sweeper and dust pan close by. That was our afternoon. How did yours go?

#scrapattack!

How to run errands the easy way

I had a few errands to run today. It's was such a beautiful day, too. Perfectly sunny with a little breeze. Maybe a little warm for my preferences, but that's what the shade is for. 

A lion keeping watch over the train as it rolled through Bunkie.

How to make the best of a chore I normally dread? Turn it into a beautiful day. Really. Just appreciate the scenes, especially the ones I wouldn't normally notice.

A corn field harvested and plowed before winter

Along the way I looked around and found a few especially interesting scenes around our little parish and thought I'd share them. 

A cotton field after the machines made their passes

Can I do this all time? Of course not. But I can make an effort much more often than usual. Because if we look closer and think about the places and people we do see, we can find beauty and feel joy. And what can be better than that?

Water lilies on the bayou outside of Cottonport

Before saying goodbye, I need to say "Happy Birthday" to our sweet grandson, who is 17 today. And take a look at these two silly girls who helped us celebrate with him last night. 

 Millie is growing so very quickly, but then who would believe that this boy, who we call Puppy when he was her age because he did his teething on the furniture, is now a young man? The beauty holding the tyke? Jolie, who is now in high school. Are yours growing up too fast? How do we slow them down?

Home from the West

Four Corners Monument (Google Maps screen capture)

Our whirlwind tour of the Great Northwest ended on Saturday as we pulled into the driveway.  The real end came on Thursday afternoon, however. We were driving through the Navajo Nation Reservation and made a quick stop at Four Corners, which is the only place in the U.S. where four states meet: Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico. We took a quick picture, did a little shopping at the craft booths and were off again.

Richard and I standing on the marker

As we continued the drive, we decided that we'd had enough. Of course, we both had known it for a few days. There comes a point when we just get enough of the traveling. Richard does not know how to unwind. He is a mover. Always doing something. 

It's the reason that I don't have to drive. He can't sit in the passenger seat because he has nothing to do. I entertain myself but his interests are not as easily adapted to sitting. Woodworking, mechanical interests, and fence-building do not travel well. I tried to drive a couple of hours on Friday, but he was miserable and so was I. Lesson learned, again. 

Today was almost as busy as vacation: I had a doctor's appointment, a guild meeting, and new prescriptions to fill. 

All is well and I enjoyed the meeting very much. Brenda, one of our members, demonstrated how to decoupage fabric on almost anything. How about her adorable frog planter? Isn't this fun?

Only two of us had something to share but look at these pretty quilt tops. They are ready to go to the long-arm quilter. I really like the pattern on this pink one. It may have to go on the to-do list. Ha! I was the other person to share, but you'll have to wait for that because I haven't taken pictures. 


I did, however, take a picture of cute Miss Milly. Goodness she grew in one little short month. 

So how are things with you? Are you keeping up or have you fallen behind as badly as I have? We'll catch up again, right? 

Rolling Along

I made two discoveries today. First if you want an organized space, I have a fast way to make it happen. 

Knock the entire organizer down. Haha  As you pick things up from the floor, you may as well put them in order. It really doesn't take very long to decide, get started, put things away. It all happens rather quickly. Try not to say the words I used...that slows things down.

The other discovery is that babies will sleep and play while you quilt! Dusti called and ask for free babysitting for a couple of hours. A "couple" became five or maybe six. Who keeps track when multi-tasking? 

Don't be fooled by the cute pictures. Great-grandies can scream just as loudly as ordinary grandies. But for the most part we had lots of fun, and DeeDee (that's me) quilted for almost two hours while she napped, played and hiccuped. Apparently babies like long-arms as much as dryers.