Crafty

I have spent the past several days trying to catch up on some projects that have been neglected for too long. I've had my daughter's pink dress cut out for quite some time; but since she doesn't really need any new clothing right now, it was easy to put off until later. But any time I started to work on something else, I still had that dress hanging over my head. I decided to just hurry up and finish it and stop being lazy about it. One of my favorite things to do is creating my own pattern by mixing up pieces from all different dresses to get the combination I like. This dress didn't have too much imagination in it; I just added some pockets and lengthened it a bit.

I've been teased many times for making my daughter's clothes so long. Yes, they may be long at first, but she's been able to wear the clothes I make her anywhere from 1-3 years! And even still, I feel like she's always outgrowing something. I did decide to add some decorative stitching this time. My sewing machine has so many options for fancy stitches, but I don't find many opportunities to use them.

I thought I'd add a pretty leafy vine around the collar, sleeves, and pockets. The stitch turned out really nice, but unfortunately, I didn't choose the right color because it barely stands out and is hard to see unless you're up close to it. If you click on the picture you might be able to see it.

You may remember that the bobbin winder on my machine stopped working. I found this nifty little gadget online and it has been a great help.

It's marketed as a portable bobbin winder to take to classes and such; but it's perfect for my needs at home.
I also thought I'd take this opportunity of a crafty post to add a picture of the box I keep my presser feet in. (again, you can click on the picture to enlarge)

I like to keep things organized, and with so many different feet for all different kinds of sewing jobs, this really helps to quickly find the right one.
Besides getting the dress done, I finally got a chance to work on my cross stitch again. I put it away several months ago when we had visitors, and it just never came out again. I've been missing it though, and I'm glad that I've had the spare time lately to work on it. I thought I'd post my progress so far. Here's the picture of the final project:

And here's where I'm at: (click to get the full effect)

I was very excited to get out of the monotonous sky colors, and get to stitch some hair and part of the pitchfork. I have almost 3 pages of sky left, but it's making me work harder so I can be done with that part sooner! I have two more patterns from this company that I have waiting.

These next two are a little more difficult, and even bigger, but you can see that they will be gorgeous!!
My good friend Hope posted today about quilting. She mentioned some of my quilts, so I decided to post pictures of some of them. You may remember my blue & white quilt and the memory quilt that I've posted about before. Here's a few more that I've done.
This one was supposed to be for my bed.

I measured my bed to make sure it would fit just right, and picked out some colors that I liked. I quilted the whole thing by hand with circles of hearts and other scrolls and swirls. But you know what? --- By the time I got nearly done with it, I was just sick of looking at it! About that same time my good friend in CA told me that she was redecorating her bedroom. She told me the colors she had chosen and they were exactly the same colors that were in this quilt. I sent her swatches of the fabrics to make sure she liked them, and upon her approval sent her the finished quilt. It's much more appreciated in her room than it would be in mine!
This same friend has 6 children (8 years and under). I've made it sort of a tradition to make each of her children a quilt for their 1st birthday. Keep in mind that when I first thought to do this, she only had 2 children! I didn't take pictures of the first two I made, but trust me you're not missing much. I was just learning and they were very plain and simple. Her third daughter received this quilt:

It might be difficult to make out, but the inside is a blue background with butterflies all over. I cut out some of these butterflies, backed them and stuffed them, and put them as little 3-D appliqués sitting on some of the fence posts. This one was fun to make and looks nice on a bed; like the fence posts are standing up all around it.
Her fourth child was a boy. This was a little more challenging to me. By this time I had decided that I wanted to make her children quilts that could last them throughout their lives, not just their childhood. It was hard to think of colors and designs that could span the ages. But this quilt became my favorite one!: (click to see the quilting design up close)

I love to do my quilting by hand. It's very relaxing to me and I have better control over my designs that way.
Yes, I did say my friend has 6 children, but I'm afraid that numbers 5 & 6 will have to wait a while for their quilts. I am out of steam!
This post has been so long, but I must add that I do have two new projects in my mind to get started. My daughter has really taken a liking to the "Little House on the Prairie" series of books and I've decided to try making her a rag doll. I'll post about that one when I finally do it ;o) I've also ordered a book about tatting (making lace by a series of loops and knots). I love that kind of "mindless" handiwork that you can take with you anywhere. It sounds like a fun new hobby-- I'll let you know how it goes.