Everyone one picked very different colors and I love them all.

In our previous tuffet class, one of the students had shared an article from Quilters Home that featured a square tuffet. I decided to make one to match the new loveseat in our TV room. I used some old upholstry fabrics that were leftover from this and that. The sewing and stapling of the cover were a bit more difficult than the round one, but I am satisfied with the result.

And it looks great with our new red loveseat.

I want to change the curtains and I think this room will be done. Although is a room ever really done? Not for me. There is always something that needs to be tweaked or pictures that need to be swapped. I like my house to change to keep it interesting. Anyhoooo, very fun project.

I mean, I’ve been sewing for a gazillion years and even though I don’t sew a lot of clothes these days, for some reason I felt pretty confident that I could figure this out. Well, it took several yards of muslin and a lot of tracing paper, but I now have a dress that looks just like that picture, only blue. I must say that I’m pretty pleased with myself!

How did I do it? Well, I bought the fabric at Josephine’s here in downtown Portland. It’s a beautiful cotton voile. The gals who own the store are so knowledgable about their fabrics and garment sewing. I showed them the picture and they recommended this New Look pattern as a starting point.

The New Look pattern got me the gathered bit in the center of the bodice. I still had to add gathered rectangles of fabric to get the section above the lace.  I wanted the dress to be high up on the neck in the back with a center zipper so I needed a different pattern to get that part.

I also had the challenge of the armhole. The dress in the original advertisement has sleeves. They are little cap sleeves but they are definitely set in as a separate sleeve. So I needed a pattern that would get me an armhole. The Prairie Girl pattern by Favorite Things got me the back and the armhole curve and it also has a similar sleeve to the dress in the advertisement.  I used tracing paper and just kind of melded the  patterns together. I would make a muslin, try it on, pin in any alterations, see how it fit, trace a new pattern with the changes, and so on, until I got it just right. It was quite the process.  When I got the pattern just right, I realized that I needed to line the dress because the voile is very sheer. OMG! I felt like I needed an engineering degree to sew the dress together.

It was a long process, but I enjoyed the challenge quite a bit. I’m going to wear the dress this weekend to a dinner party. Nobody there sews but it will make me smile to know I did it.

I’ve already bought another voile and am going to try and tackle this dress next. I’m a woman obsessed.

Many thanks to darling daughter for the great photographs and the awesome new header for this blog. She is so talented!

Last night we went to hear Sue Spargo’s lecture.   It was wonderful to see her quilts and hear her personal life journey. She is so inspirational. Sue’s style is very different from my own so although I have long admired her work, I’ve never tried to make one of her patterns. Last night’s lecture made me realize that I don’t need to make one of Sue’s quilts, I need to make my OWN quilt. Her quilts are very personal and all the applique elements on them have an emotional connection to her life. It set me to thinking………….

Today we did the garden tour and saw some lovely homes and gardens.

Of course we’ve been sewing too. Many things have been completed or are in progress. Here are our machines at the ready.

Here is a messenger bag that Lynda is almost finished with:

And here is a lap quilt top that Lynda finished yesterday. She has been super productive.

The rest of us have been sewing too, really we have. I’ll try to get some pictures up tomorrow.

This visit we worked on a new quilt for Rick and I’s bed. The quilt that is on our bed now is at least 15 years old, so I’ve been wanting to make a new one.  I started this quilt last year and had all the blocks done. There are 324 blocks in the quilt and the finished size is 102 x 102 so we had to sew it together in four quadrants.  We managed to get all the blocks sewn as well as get the borders on and the back pieced. I must say, it was a lot of sewing. It took us four days to get everything done, and I am very  happy with how it turned out.

Kristy wanted to learn how to make one of the clothesline baskets that I’ve posted about recently. She decided on a fruit basket for her kitchen counter and chose bright red to go with the red sofa and quilt.  It turned out great and I think she’s hooked.

Just imagine what kind of trouble we could get into if we lived close to each other! I love my bff, we always have the best time.

That’s one of Viv’s quilts in the background and it sure looks great with the basket.

My friend Anne just finished a remodel of her kitchen and the main color in there is red. So I made her a fruit basket. It’s pretty simple so I added the knotted handles and the buttons for a little something extra.

It’s fun, it uses up a lot of fabric so I’m just looking for excuses to make some more. Anyone?!

Several of us in the knit group have been wanting to learn the technique and so recently Lynda gave us all a lesson. I’ve fallen in love with this method and have been busily making things. I’m a woman obsessed.

My first project was this tote bag so I could have one for my own knitting.

My next project was this basket for my friend Linda in Boston. It’s the perfect size for fruit.

I also made a basket for Vivienne for her birthday. It’s a round basket with a small pedestal base to it. I forgot to take a picture before giving it to her so I can’t post it now. But I’ll get her to take one because I love how it turned out.  I’ve already cut the strips for my next two projects, first a basket, and then another tote. It’s fun, it’s practical, and it uses up lots of fabric. I’m loving it.

It’s called the “Liverpool” and it’s by Amy Butler.  I’ve made a couple of her other patterns and generally, they are well written, if a bit overly detailed for experienced sewers. Before starting mine, I read this entry on the Bolt blog and it proved very helpful. Melissa had some really good hints about sewing the collar on, as well as the idea to use a coordinating fabric for the placket. I’m so glad I copied that idea because I love how mine turned out.

Sewing a garment is very rewarding when it fits, and this pattern fits very well. I will definitely make this pattern again; I’ll just change either the sleeve length or the shirt length.

I just happened to have some one inch foam left over from recovering my dining room chairs earlier this year. I cut it into a circle the same size as the seat of the stool. Then I cut out a piece of fabric with a diameter 6 inches larger than the foam circle. I pressed under 1/4 inch all the way around and then turned the pressed edge in 1/2 inch. I sewed that down to form a casing,  leaving a gap big enough to get a safely pin through.  I tied some fishing line onto the safely pin and ran it through the casing.

Next I placed the foam in the center of this fabric circle, and then put the stool upside down on top of that.

Now all I had to do was pull up the fishing line really tight to bring the circle up and around to the underside of the seat. Tie it up tight and I was done.

Here’s the kitchen one:

And here’s the one in the studio:

The best thing about this project? I didn’t have to go out and buy anything. It was all somewhere in the house. I love it.

Peggy showed us this wonderful quilt she made. The pattern came from the same book that she used to make the cards in the previous post. I love her colors and fabric choices.

Tamara made this tote bag for me to take to Paris. She figured I would need a great looking bag for all that shopping I’m going to be doing. Love the fabrics she picked.

It looks great with my orange raincoat.

See you when I get back.

Peggy got the cards and matching envelopes from The Paper Zone. She cut out some strips of fabric, laid them down on top of the card, trimmed them to the correct length and sewed through them all on her machine. I think she was inspired by a pattern in a book but I’m not sure which one. Tell us in the comments Peggy!

This is the inside of the card:

I am definitely going to copy this idea because these would make such great gifts. And so fun and easy to whip up a set of four.

The other wonderfulness from the other day came from my good friend Vivienne. She got a spinning wheel several months ago and I’ve been giving her a really hard time about it. Things like: “how can you take on another craft”, “there is so much great yarn out there I can’t believe you want to spin your own”, you get the picture. And then she goes and spins me the most wonderful yarn for my birthday.

It’s sock weight and about 300 yards.  It is so beautiful, look at those great colors. I’ve been searching Ravelry, looking for just the right shawl pattern for it.