One of the many funny things Ellie does is saying “oh yeah” in the same obnoxious way as the villain in Despicable Me. Sometimes she has the ‘uh huh’ at the front. I need to get it on video before she stops doing it!
Needles and a Pen » Knitting, Sewing, and Nursing School
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I have loved the green floral print from Children at Play since I first saw a little thumbnail of it! While Ellie will get plenty of Children at Play dresses, I knew this print was for me. 🙂
I used my twirly skirt tutorial for this one (thought it was so windy today that it looks a little different than normal in the picture, it’s the same skirt–I swear!)
I wore it to a BBQ tonight and was very happy to get a chance to wear it before it likely hits the back of my closet until next spring! Fall is coming!! I bought a few fat quarters on the new Joel Dewberry heritage line on complete impulse. I think it’s because I didn’t covet them for long before their release (and am really not even sure that I love them now) that I hacked into them so quickly. I want to sew something with them quickly before I decide that I hate them. 😛 Sort of like how I made my It’s A Hoot quilt because I was worried that I was starting not to love it anymore.
I settled on a wonky cross pattern for them, thinking it would show off the large prints and also give me a chance to try a quilt pattern I’ve long admired. I wanted something really blendy and think this does the trick.
I’m working in groups of 4–I managed to get 4 8.5″ squares from each fat quarter, so I organized them into 4 groups so that I can strip piece them without getting confused. I’m a little worried that I’ll need a few more fat quarters to get to a decent lap size, but I think a more immediate concern is that I don’t think I have enough strips for the crosses. My plan for the strips is to add in some coordinating solids if need be (and if the quilt turns out a little on the small side I’ll grab a couple more fat quarters). My first group of the 4 is done, and I managed to do it in just a couple of hours last night, so I hope to get the other 3 done relatively quickly. We joined a gym two weeks ago and working out and enjoying the pool is consuming a bunch of my free time–all this getting healthy is really cutting into my sewing time! 😛 Looks fun! I spent the day in the pool and out back with my family today. No sewing here! This quilt has been in the works for a while, and in my head I’d deemed it our ‘end of summer/early fall’ quilt. It’s primarily made from a charm pack of American Jane Happy Campers, and I will allow myself the disclaimer that this isn’t my first choice for binding. But it’s leftover from a skirt I made earlier this summer, and I like the thriftiness of quilting with clothing fabric scraps!
Have I mentioned that my kids are a little blanket crazy? Ellie in particular. She can’t see a quilt without asking to be wrapped up in it. She loves them. She’s forever going into the studio and pointing at one in the stack and demanding that I drag it out for her. So when Will and Ellie saw me taking a new quilt out of the dryer, they both got so excited I thought God special ordered these two blanket lovers just for me. “It’s really beautiful, Mom–does it make a pattern?” (he looks it over) “Nope–it doesn’t make a pattern. But I still really like it. Can I sit with it on the sofa?” (Meanwhile Ellie is just pointing at it and shouting and trying to grab it away from us.)
On the back I got to use up every last square (impressive since I made this without any plan whatsoever–just hacked up a bunch of coordinating 5″ solids and started sewing). I went with the color of dirt for the solid, since I picture this getting lots of outdoor time.
My original plan for the quilting had been to do something to mirror the plaid print–a plaid sort of quilting pattern. Except some of us have a tendency to drink wine at night while we quilt and I completely forgot about this plan and just started quilting it at regular intervals. So I decided to rock and roll with the new direction and thought I’d just cross each block diagonally, but after finishing all of the lines going in one direction I figured that was good enough (again with the wine’s influence, probably).
I finished it unintentionally on the very last day of August, which I think suits this Summer’s End quilt perfectly! Aww, I love that your kids show such love and appreciation for your creations! That is truly a gift. Completely unrelated, whenever I see your blog in my feed, I sing the New York Voices rendition of “Stolen Moments” in my head. So very nice! I love the combination of solids and patterned fabric. And that feeling with the kids is wonderful. I get that whenever I make some clothes for my little ones and they get excited and want to wear it. It’s a great quilt – I love simple patchwork. I had to comment b/c I love what you said about you kids loving your quilts – mine are the same way and I just started making for them – my 11 yo first and her birthday is tomorrow. She helped me pick fabrics and pattern but hasn’t seen it for about a week…. Also – NEVER underestimate the influence of wine!! HAH!! love the simple patchwork quilt. they always make me happy and i am so happy your kids loved it so much. I love a simple square quilt, and have vowed to make more of them. Classic and in my opinion, they are always so cozy looking. This one fits the bill! Great job. I love it! I just told Brett that I need to make a picnic/concert quilt for next summer…I think patchwork will be the way to go. Hope to see you next week! This is really a wonderful quilt, love the colors you chose here, Traci. And the story of your kids loving your blankets, too 🙂 Love the quilt! Was wondering where to get charm packs? The seasons must be changing because I am getting the urge to clean and reorganize. I tackled my craft books today, putting my knitting, (and now crocheting–I have a new crochet book to go along with my new hobby), sewing, and quilting books together on my dresser. Oh holy idea overload, batman!
Between this and what’s currently in my pinterest boards, I could never again get another pattern or book or see another idea and I’d still have wayyyyyy more projects than time! It’s enough to totally overwhelm! Up next for me, I’m planning on a new twirly skirt to replace the one that got killed by an exploding pen at the bank, a puppet show tunic from the Oliver + S pattern for Ellie (before she outgrows the pattern sizing), and a wonky cross quilt from the new Joel Dewberry. And playing a little more with crochet, which I taught myself during my exile with Ellie on the sofa while she was fighting off the plague. All those ideas sound fab. Did you try soaking your ink stain in milk? We used to remove ink from my school uniforms this way! dxx I must have gotten bitten by the same organizing bug! There’s not a closet in my house that’s safe from my weeding-out rampage. What crochet book did you end up getting? Did you use the book to learn, or did you find something online? I am excited to see your Joel Dewberry quilt! I am going to make a Modern Cross version with the pink/purple and blue colorways, although I am very in love with the orange and aqua!
I am loving this border print dress tutorial–after making one with the Children at Play border print, I was excited to try it with my Gnomeville border print! It’s a much more casual look, and will hide the dirt and grime of toddlers better, but my heart is with the while Children at Play dress! 🙂
(Edited: Excuse the drippy nose–my model has a nasty cold and I wiped her down before we stepped outside, but 3 seconds later apparently she was snotty again! Oh well, we’ll keep it real.) 😛 Insanely cute. If I had a girl this would actually make me attempt garment sewing. This one is super adorable too. I’ll have to give this a try. Add it to list I guess.:) This pattern looks like it has the bones of a great skirt too. |
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Adrianne (Little Bluebell) - Super cute!!!! I love that print too. It looks great as a skirt.
Vanilla - What a lovely skirt!!!! Love the way the fabric falls so supply!!!
I posted your tutorial in my Great Tutorials page!
Thanks for sharing.