Kids Week

I know that I'm telling you this a bit late, but most of last week was consumed by making clothing for my kids. It was fun and I get into a groove very easily when sewing for my darling cuties.

The Punk got a new skirt. She picked out the colours herself. She wanted it to match her new-to-her Dubble Bubble shirt.

My Pixie needs sundresses so badly....this was made in very short order. I like it, but it's not supremely cute. I'm debating stitching some pick-ups into the dotted swiss overskirt.

Is it really Wednesday already? I'm going to bore you with cute pictures (because I missed Sunday's Grandparent Eye Candy Day), and here's a bonus Confession: I don't sew all of my kids' clothing. I love to sew for them, and they will always have their "best" dresses made by Mom, but to save time (and keep it for quilting) I will spend money in thrift shops and at garage sales with the ultimate goal of cheaply covering my girls.

This cute shot is a prime example of thrift and cute. My Pixie, on a rainy day, wearing a steal of a find: vintage shirtdress with a-line skirt.

Couldn't you just die from cute overload?

I especially love garage sales for second hand kids clothes. Why? Because of good timing. Sometimes a sack of donations will sit around a thrift shop so long the clothing goes out of style before it's sorted onto the sales floor. At garage sales, moms will do almost anything to get outgrown clutter out of the house. It sells fast and cheap and often is only a season or two behind the stores.

And just for fun.....some shots from the farmer's market [aftermath] this week. We go every week, but our favorite face painter isn't always there. She's such a great artist!

My Kitty....she meowed all day.

So what's next? I have traced the pattern for a tunic dress for the Punk. I also have the feeling that quilting satisfaction may have to come in small doses - I have the urge to make baby/toddler quilts and randomly give away. No new blocks to report for Rambo Bright. No progress on the Green Quilt (although there will be soon - I want it on my bed by fall).

We had watermelon for breakfast. What did you have?

Short Week

Yesterday I finally got to start making some kid's clothes. I cut this shirt out of an old sheet and found some soft lace in my trim stash. The Punk declares that it's a "pretty dress."

This is the best shot of the awesome sleeves.

I adore using shirring to shape flat square pieces of fabric in body hugging comfort. I finally took the leap into shirring when I got my copy of Little Girls, Big Style by Mary Abreu. The hardest part about taking the plunge into shirring was resetting the tension dials on my machine. It was quite the mental step for me. Since then it has gotten much easier - I whipped this up in a morning.

I was worried that she might look upholstered with such a large print; instead it gave the shirt exactly the right mood. The Punk has some very specific style for a six-year old. She picks handmade hipster pieces over store bought almost every time. The really ironic thing? Our family is naturally "boho." You know - the actual definition of boho: wearing what's available and comfortable instead of what's in style (among other defining characteristics that we've integrated into our family culture). We really hate the word "boho" as a modern style definition....it's gotten a very bad reputation with us. It is, however, the very best word to use to describe my Punk's style.

A great start to my personal kid's clothing challenge week, yes?

Now the bad news: this is the only piece of clothing you will see roll out from under my presser foot this week. About halfway through this blouse, my machine started whining at me - the whine that says, "I should have been serviced four months ago and I refuse to sew another item until I get a check-up." I limped it through finishing the blouse and then whisked it off to Ron at Johnson's for some spa time.

Furthermore....

My afternoon was filled with the sunshine of meeting Anna from Quiltmom's Journey. She is a delightfully wise lady who was as generous with dispensing hope as she was with sharing her scrap stash. I offered her a fabric trade about a month ago and she came through above and beyond what I expected. My mom and I squealed our way through the sack of scraps that Anna gifted me with. Check out these treasures!

I love the swirls and I squee'd especially loudly over the orange with pink suns.

 
Blueberries! My favorite fruit. These blues already have a specific purpose.

I've been collecting greens for a design that I wrote a couple of months back. I heart the swirls on the left and the ferns on the right. Photobomb by the Pixie.

Polka dots and pinks (and prints that read as pink) were claimed by a Punk-ish photobomb.

This unbelievable pile sent us into a swoon: all music, all awesome, all love. You may not know it, but our family is just one long line of musicians. Most people in my family play some kind of instrument: my brother is a very popular DJ in Kelowna, Husband is a musical genius, and my grandfather released over 20 culture-specific albums during his musical lifetime. We have high hopes for the Pixie to be the culmination of decades of genetic musical talent and genius.

These are brights that didn't even make it into my stash - they were passed under my nose and then claimed by my mother for a quilt she's planning to make for a very special grad. She even picked through my stash and claimed some fat quarters and scraps that I had no specific use for (that neon green and yellow!).

Most of these fabrics will be put to use in what I hope with be a delicious twist on the string piecing craze. I came up with this great idea an entire decade ago, but my first attempt with this pattern was aborted because I didn't have enough knowledge. You'll see soon enough....

And without my sewing machine this week, I'm going to be sorting, cutting, and stacking. Sounds like fun.....I miss my machine already.

Changing the Stacks

Over the last couple of weeks, I've whiled away many hours thinking about this New Year. To be specific, my brain focused on future goals, long term activities, what to start and which bandwagons to jump on.

I came up with some very good ideas: one mini quilt per week; an open challenge to other quilters to join me in reducing the size of our quilter's butts; a block a week; even debated finding childcare and joining the ranks of employees at my LQS. All of these ideas were rejected.

So what do I resolve? Since I always break my New Year's resolutions then logically I should resolve to gain as much weight as humanly possible. This is a tactic that has worked before. Do I have any quilting goals? I am committed to making one wedding quilt and the rest of my plans are open.

Today I did the one thing that refires my imagination and desire to create: I changed the stacks.

Every quilter that I know has piles of fabric in strategic locations around their creating arena. They may be testing the viability of colour combinations; they may be WIPs or doodles or daydreams; it may be that having favorite fabric to look at and touch is enough to satisfy the urge for beauty when you haven't the time to sew.

I usually keep my stacks on top of my 1877 Singer treadle. In the house changing and rearranging this past month my antique machine has been all but buried, therefore these stacks were spread out on my desk to peruse.

There is a lot of poly-cotton, some gingham, a couple of old sheets, a piece of seersucker, tie-dye, stretch knit, and even velour. These are not fabrics for quilts.

Because I am a seamstress, first and foremost, and my babies need clothing.

This piece:

Will be made into trousers for this Pixie:

And most of the rest will be sewn a few sizes bigger for the girl who does not get hand-me-downs.

It's not much progress to start off my personal kid's clothing week challenge, but a little is better than nothing.

So here it is: I resolve to do a little every day. Maybe this will change the way some other junk is stacked in my life, too.

Not Just Quilts

I didn't tell you yet, but I actually broke my open-toed free motion quilting foot on that 9-patch beauty. My closed-toe backup foot was put to use in order to finish the last two borders. I need to wait until I can get another open toe foot before I can finish, say, my Dark Side quilt. This means that quilting is a no-go for just a teeny while.

Today the Pixie and I wrapped up some loose ends on a project that's been cut out for a while.

The pattern is from Jennifer Paganelli's book "Girl's World." We gave him purple corduroy ears and overstuffed him. He is exactly the right size to tuck under a small arm and tote around the house.

After his initial play session, it was declared that he needed a collar and leash. You need to walk a dog so that he can poop, right?

Our real dog wasn't terribly impressed, but he didn't seem to be intimidated, either. Maybe he was wishing that the new dog would take some of the girls' attention from chasing/pulling/teasing him.

Now that Christmas is over I'm going to be switching gears for a week or so and focus on making children's clothing. My girls are rapidly stretching in the leg and arm area, and quickly wearing through the clothing that I made for them this fall.

I plan to make some twill and corduroy trousers for both. I'm going to make each a new shirred peasant blouse (or two). The Punk could use a hoodie and a new dress.

I'm going to trace patterns and cut fabric for a couple of days and then start sewing on January 2. How much can I get done before school starts again on January 9?