Happy Easter and a Quilty Update

Happy Easter everyone!  I hope you all have a very blessed day.  Here in Kentucky, we're having a very quiet day in the wake of Covid-19 and social distancing.  I listened to a service on the radio while I worked on some sewing.  The family has exchanged good tidings and photos of grandchildren  celebrating Easter in their own quiet way this year.  Usually we have a big, rowdy get-together with everyone after church with a big egg hunt and an even bigger dinner and games.Maybe next year.   I hope you have a lovely Easter in your own way, too.

In sewing news, I took last week off as sewcation.  It was supposed to be camping, but they shut down where we were planning to go, so we stayed home.  Hubs has been home for 6 weeks now (he's a high school teacher) so it pleased him to have company for a while.

Friendship Stars Quilt:

 This is finally finished.  I just quilted in the ditch, nothing fancy on this one.  I just wanted to get it done, it had been lingering around so long.  Sorry for the awful couch picture, but it's raining here so no pretty outdoor shot.  

Pat Sloan's "Stay at Home" Quilt along:                                                                                                            

Pat Sloan is hosting a Quilt Along for the month of April.  It's a simple snowball block with sashing and cornerstones.  She's using novelty prints for hers, and doing the sashing as she goes.   I'm using red and blue blocks, solid red cornerstones, and white sashing for mine.  Very patriotic.  I'm using a variety of  red prints so I'm assembling all the blocks first, then I'll so the sashing.  By sewing 2 blocks a day, I keep up easily and will still have time before the end of the month to do the sashings.  

"Pocket of Tonals" quilt kit:     

I got this kit a few months ago from Connecting Threads.  This is what the finished product is supposed to look like:

                                                         

I'm making good progress now, doing 2 blocks a day.  Here's what I've got going so far:                      

I've only got 4 more blocks to do then things will go slower with the tiny piecing of the sashings.

I'm quite pleased with the progress so far and just love the colors.  

                       

Now don't think I've forgotten to do any garment sewing.  I have a Vogue top and a duster to share with you.

Enjoy your Easter and I hope you get to sew today, too.

Arrgg!! Computers! and Simplicity 4074

You know the old saying about men...Can't live with them, can't live without them.  Well, I feel that way about my computer.  The contrary beast decided to crash last month.  After 5 weeks in computer hospital, they're slow but so very good, it has a new hard drive and is back to normal.  At last.  There's a limit to what these fumbly fingers can do on the phone, and writing posts is not one of them.  It's back now and running brilliantly. Hubs and I are very happyto have it back. On to sewing.

I visited Simplicity 4074 again.

I just love this skirt pattern.  It's for knits, is a 6-gore skirt with just the right amount of flair at the knee to be kicky and fun.  It's the third time I've made it and I love each version.  

This time I made it from a brushed poly/spandex from Fabric Mart in a gorgeous paisley print.  As you can see, it goes beautifully with my golden Simplity 8982 top.  Funny thing is, I bought this fabric thinking I would make this top from it.  After I got it, it told me it wanted to be a skirt instead.  

I did change the waistband on this one.  Instead of using a traditional elastic casing, I serged the elastic to the top of the waist, then turned it down and stitched it down at the side seans for a smoother more RTW finish.  I really like how it turned out.  The fabric was too light for my usual Knit'n Fuse tape hem treatment. So I used my machine's walking foot and the hem came out beautifully--no waves at all.  

I'm trying to sew more, but find I'm often too exhausted by work to sew.  I'm deemed an essential worker being a pharmacy tech.  We are a 24 hour pharmacy, so we're all working more hours during this time of pandemic and panic. There are so many sew-a-longs and quilt-a-longs going on now.  I'd love to participate in so many of them but I just don't have the time.  I am participating in Pat Sloan's quilt along for the month of April.  It's just a block a day and is an easy block at that so I feel I can keep up with that one.  I'm going with a red, white, and blue theme. 

What about you?  How are you spending your quarantine time?  Are you participating in a sew along, sewing on your own or has inertia struck at the this great disturbance to your routine?   

Saffron to Chase the Winter Blahs--Simplicity 8982

There's nothing quite like a dash of yellow to cheer a girl up.  We've had so many gloomy winter days I needed a splash of sunshine to brighten things up!  Enter Simplicity 8982.   I fell in love with this pattern the moment I saw it.  I just had to have those sleeves!

When I looked through my fabric stash catalog, the only knit I had that was the correct weight was this saffron yellow ponte from Fabric Mart--The same as the cover photo!  Normally, I don't copy covers, I prefer to show more imagination than that, but it was what I had, and it was perfect.  I had only 1½ yards to eke out the top and the skirt.  This necessitated some changes to the cutting layout.

I added a center back seam to both top and skirt as there was simply not enough fabric to put all those pieces on  the fold.  The skirt I cut as a straight size 22 based on hip measurement.  The top was a combination of sizes: 18 for the neck and shoulders, 20 for the bust and waist, and 22 for the hip.  I serged all the seams, and used Knit 'N Stable tape for the hems.  (I love this stuff!  No more wavy hems!)  I shortened the top hem 2 inches and shortened the shoulder seam 3/4 inch as well for my narrow shoulders.

The skirt is view D, the longer one, but I had to shorten it 4 inches for my shorter height.  I really like that the pattern has back darts on the skirt as well.  It lends a little better shaping to this tapered skirt and minimizes bulk at the waist.

Sorry for the shots on Zelda instead of me.  I'm still unable to wear any shoes other than my gray sneakers and they just aren't the right vibe for this outfit.  LOL  Hopefully soon I'll be wearing the skirt with my dress shoes.  I'm already enjoying the top.  One note, though.  Next time I make this top,  I will be tapering the pattern piece for the wristband to get a snugger fit at the wrist.   The pattern piece is a large rectangle and it needs to be more like an hourglass to get a fitted wrist.

I really like both of these pieces and will probably make them again in the future.  The color makes me so happy.  The top goes with jeans, khakis, and my blue slacks.  I have a sweater the exact same shade that will also work with the skirt.  So these pieces play very nicely with my current wardrobe.

Next up, something in paisley!

Off The Grid and Christmas Table Topper

It's been forever, I know, since I've last posted.  I've had some health issues for the past 3 months that have left me with little time or energy for anything else.  I won't get into details about it, but they are now resolving and I have since regained my energy and returned to work and pursuit of interests.   It's time to catch you up on some of my projects that I have wrapped up in the last couple of weeks.

I finally finished my Christmas Table Runner this week.  I started it before Christmas, but was unable to finish it in time to use it this year.  Oh well,  it's ready for next year.  :)

There was no pattern for this project.  I used a video tutorial from Missouri Star Quilt Co.

It uses a special wedge type ruler to make the trees.  You can get 2 trees from each 10" square.  I used a layer cake (a stack of 10" pre-cut squares) from Benartex's Cat-I-Tude Christmas line. I still have lots of squares left and may make some placemats for Christmas gifts this coming year.  This is such a beautiful line of fabrics.

This was such an easy project to do.  The wedge-shaped ruler made this such a quickly cut out project.  The only other shapes you need are the white rectangles and the tree stumps. This would be a great project for a beginner quilter.  

For the quilting, I used the serpentine stitch on my machine in rows about an inch apart.  I think it came out very nicely and again, was quite easy--just follow the spacing guide, a bar that inserts into the foot of the machine.  (A standard piece that comes with most machines.)

I'm very pleased with the runner.  It was a fun project and I think I'll enjoy using the rest of the squares later this year.   I promise I'll post again soon.  I have other finishes to share and have a couple of projects in the works. 

Top #2 from Sew-cation-- Simplicity 8982

I bought Simplicity 8982 for View C as soon as it came out.  I just love those sleeves! But I  ended up making the plain jane View B instead.

Backstory is that I've become very enamored of Nancy Nix Rice's teachings. (She has a book "Looking Good...Everyday", a great class on Bluprint that I loved and a blog at nancynixrice.com.)  She also has a presence on Pattern Review.  I'm learning that I have way too many prints and very few solids.  Ahhh, I love my prints so.  But I really need more solid basics in my wardrobe to make it work harder for me and be more versatile. 

So, to that end, I didn't sew up View C in the gorgeous but very lively paisley that I have chosen--yet. Instead, I choose View B, a basic Tshirt pattern with long sleeves.  I used some solid gray ITY that I had in the stash.  

I cut a size 18 neck and shoulders, a 20 bust and waist and flared to a size 22 at the hip.

The only alterations I made were to shorten the length of the shoulder by 3/4" and shorten the hem by 2 inches. It was very long on me. 

                           I like very long sleeves, but these I may shorten about 1/2 inch next time.

 Here is the top paired with a knit waterfall jacket, and my blue, gray and green plaid shirt (McCall's 7472.)  I'm wearing some charcoal gray ponte pants.  I also have some black dress pants that this looks really pretty with.  There is some silver lace in the stash that would make a lovely topper for this, too.  That's on the to-do list for this Fall/Winter.  I need some dressier clothes for special occasions.  Jeans are great for home but don't work everywhere.

So one basic added to the wardrobe and more to come.  I've also got some lovely mustard ponte just like the skirt in the picture.  Hmmmm.   But don't think I'm giving up my lovely prints.  There are just too many in the stash to play with!

New Hiking Top--McCall's 7574

It may have been a while since I posted last, but I have been busy with sewing.  Especially sewing this top for vacation in the Great Smokey Mountains.  We were lucky enough to get reservations at our favorite campground there, Smokemont, for the first week of October.  There wasn't much fall color yet but there was plenty of adventure to be had.  We spent one day in Gatlinburg shopping and eating and hiked a different trail daily the rest of the time.  We even got to backpack into the backcountry and sleep in one of the remote campsites!  But enough about the trip, now the top.

I took an extra week of vacation before out joint vacation as a sew-cation.  I made two tops and a small doll's quilt.  Today I'll share the McCall's top, 7574 a Melissa Watson pattern that I made for our hiking trip.

 I've made this top before and really liked the lines and how nicely that top fit.  I had some nylon/ spandex activewear by Judy P Apparel that I got from Fabric Mart.  I didn't realize just how bold and bright the color was until it arrived.  It's rather like a neon coral, but I like the thickness of it (could be used as leggings) and several of her fabrics have wicking properties.  Not sure if this one does but I really like the feel of it and it sewed up so nicely.

This is view B with 2 inches added to the length, this gal doesn't do crop tops, and I was really looking for a sportier fit.  I cut a size 18 at the neck and a size 20 for the bust and hips. The sleeve has a size 20 bicep tapering to a size 16 at the wrist. I used the regular collar instead of the mock turtleneck it shows.  I really like the longer length  the sleeves have.  Like all Palmer/Pletsch patterns, Melissa's come with all kinds of fit advice and directions for alterations.  The only alteration I made was to remove some of the curve from the top of the shoulder seam.  It was made for a much broader shoulder.  I could still shave more off to get a really good fit, now it has a little lump on each shoulder.

I topstitched the curve of the raglan sleeves with a darker strawberry shade to make the seams more  like those in RTW sportswear.   Collar and hems and center back seam were done with the same treatment.

I really like how the top came out and it performed well on the trails: warm enough for the cooler     temps there but breathable when the going got warm and dewy.  (Mom always said, "Ladies don't      sweat, they get dewy.")  The color is a bit too bold for me, but they'll have no trouble finding me in    the woods! 

  

I'll leave you with a closing shot of our trip.  

Sunset over the Smokies.

                                                                                                                                                  

The Scottie Quilt--Done!

I finished the Scottie quilt just in time for the baby shower for Dearest Daughter #3 just in time for the shower yesterday.  I think it came out really cute and she just loved it--all the colors and accent colors of the nursery.  And Scotties--what's not to love about Scotties.  (The kids had one growing up, too.)

The fabric is a jelly roll from Riley Blake's Sweet Baby Girl line and the pattern was purchased on Etsy.  It's "Scotties" by QuiltsbyElena.com; which is quite the coincidence given that the grandbaby will be named Elaina. This was a super fun quilt to do;  very easy--a beginner familiar with 1/2 square triangles could do it.  I'm a slow sewer with limited sewing opportunity and put this together in about 2½ months.  It measures 49 inches square--handy for crib, playpen, or rolling on the floor.  She's leaning toward hanging it on the wall, though.

Going to take a break now and do some garment sewing--probably for fall, though it still is hot here.  Ah, possibilities--one of the joys of sewing!  Are you fall sewing yet?

Have a great day!