Sidetracked...again

Now, seriously, I have every intent of this being a quilting blog. But life does tend to get in the way. Sometimes I find that the best time to finish up some odds and ends is when I have a quilt burning in my head - I am so anxious to start it that I quickly finish the small jobs that I've been putting off, although often haphazardly. We are heading out camping this afternoon (gonna bring my sewing machine along - we'll see how that goes...), so the first item on the agenda was yard work. Green thumb I am not... see my paltry supply of rhubarb? This is the first pick of the season. Sad. The mint, however, is doing well. I'm thinking a few mojitos are on the menu for this weekend. Mmmmmm.


We are supposed to get hot weather this weekend (hot for northern Canada, at least), so a quick water of my flowers was in order. Again, these are not growing the way I would love. Apparently, poor dirt and infrequent watering does not a dream garden make. However, by the way my lilies and hosta are behaving, they may be rewarded more of their kind for company. Good flowers, sit, stay.



My poppies are gung-ho too, and may eventually take over the whole front garden.



Now, on to something a little more relevant. One of my boys (I'm not allowed to mention which one because of the sensitive nature of this topic), is growing too fast and needed some big boy underwear. I find boxer briefs of this size difficult to find in our town, and expensive if I do find them, so I grabbed this Jalie pattern and quickly whipped out six pairs of underwear for him. I got it down to two pairs in 45 minutes. Not too shabby. They turned out really well - due to the patterns. If you haven't used Jalie patterns before, you should check them out. Each step has an accompanying diagram which makes it very easy to understand some of the trickier components. I have found I get very professional looking results with not a lot of hair-pulling out (also not much holding a cup of coffee, glaring at the pattern), and I like that.

One more thing, just to show I am in earnest when I say this is a quilting blog (Rissa, if you're reading, beware of spoiler. Stop reading now if you want to remain completely in the dark about your quilt!!). Here is the fabric for that burning-in-my-head quilt.

I don't know how the colors are showing for you - they tended to look a little bluer to me on the picture than in real life. Purples, greens, and grey. Can't wait to start! Maybe this afternoon....

Now I must go pack the camper. Enjoy your day!

Orders from Headquarters

After finishing the Fractured quilt last week, I was informed by my almost 8 year old (not 7 - almost 8), that there were no more quilts being made until I had sewn the summer dresses that I had promised to have done for summer. Secretly, I had been hoping that these dresses would be forgotten, since I much prefer to quilt, and had offered up my seamstress abilities on a whim. Sadly, almost 8 year olds have good memories....

I have another quilt in my head already, and I can't wait to see it realized in fabric, so I scoured the web for a quick summer dress. I have tons of patterns at home, but I didn't even want to dig the tissue pieces out of the envelopes - never mind laying out a million pieces, cutting out the fabric, slowly stitching it all together....this called for something fast. Habitual.wordpress.com had what I was looking for. It's basically the pillowcase dress, but done up with pretty pictures and great instructions. Check it out!

Here is what I started with this morning


Just some pieces from my stash.

And here is what I ended up with this afternoon!




Yup, three dresses in three hours. Who doesn't like that!? Lest you think I have a tiny, tiny baby, those dresses are for (from left to right) my 3 year old, my almost 8 year old's favorite doll, and, of course, the almost 8 year old. There are no live models right now since it is summer and my children are all dirty little urchins, cavorting around the neighbourhood in their swimsuits. I'm that mom.

Now I'm off to go soak in the sun and delight in the sounds of joy of those dirty little urchins!

Again, soon!!