My Halloweener Costume, eh hem, shirt

I didn't have a Halloweener costume.  I DID have some halloweener fabric.  So I went a little nuts making ruffles.  I like how it turned out! I wore it to our friend's Halloweener party.  I didn't have the best costume (I think Dolly Parton and Brett Farve complete with squash-as-package and crocs won the prize:) But, I looked festive and cute! I am even going to wear it to church tmrw with my black pencil skirt!

I just went with the picture in my head and viola!  Happy Halloweener!  

Little Boss

My sis-in-law is having a baby gurrrl in a few weeks.  I am making this quilt for the babe, which I will call Little Boss (the quilt, not the baby).  The baby is going to be named Reagan, but I am pulling for the spelling to be a little more modern: Reighganne or Rayghann.  I find the modern spelling quite hilarious.  Like Emmalee.  Kills me when I see that.  Anyhowzit, here is a sneak peak of Little Boss!  I still have another row of 6 to put on it.  I bought some eyelet fabric that I am going to use for the border.  I heart the fabric!  And the circles.  The only thing was that cutting 3 inch circles was not fun. at. all.  In fact, I got half way done cutting the circles and decided to incorporate the solids into the quilt instead.  

Presents and Updates

It's been quite some time!  Firstly, Hexy McQueen is at Patchworks waiting in line to be quilted!  I am so excited to see the finished quilt I can hardly wait.  It's due date is November 18, 4 days after I get home from AZ where I am running the Grand Canyon Half Marathon.

Secondly, I have been VERY busy.  I am making Chrissy presents, so I can't exactly post them all on my blog.  However, I will post them as Chrissy gets closer.  The crap I am working on is pretty awesome!

I made this little gem for a friend's birthday.

I was thinking how cool it would be to have a necklace that made it look like I was wearing a shirt with buttons. The pic is not the best, but you get the idea.  They are buttons that I covered with fabric.  Happy Birthday to my lucky friend!

Hexy McQueen Update

I am more than half way finished sewing together Hexy McQueen.  It is enormous.  I can only lay out half of it in my living room at one time.  That being said, here is a portion of my Lovely.

I am realizing a couple of things about hexagons.  List time!
1.  They are addictive.  I have two more hex projects in the works (okay, just in my brain, but I am really close to starting).
2.  They are incredibly difficult to sew together.  You can't sew in the seam allowance (which in the case of quilting is a scant 1/4").  This makes it so that your cutting and 1/4" seam allowance must be exact or you will get some pulling.
3.  They are so stinkin' pretty!
4.  Not really about hex's but just in general:  If you are gonna make an enormous quilt, 22" finished blocks are the way to go.  Seriously!  I only have 17 full hex's, 6 half hex's and 8 quarter hex's!  Not too shabby.

At this rate, I will have the quilt top completed during tomorrow's nap time.  Then to get it basted and off to the long arm!

shirt

Those who know me know that I am loving the reemergence of the 1980's.  I also blogged the other day about how I wish I could be Joan Collins and/or live my life as though I was a character from Dynasty.  I went to the Goodwill about a month ago or so and found a 1980's McCall's pattern.  It is an amazing pattern.  So I went to the fabric store and found some fabric and behold:

The fabric ended up looking awesome, especially with the pockets turned on the bias, but it was really hard to work with.  It was like 60% poly, 5% spandex and the rest cotton.  It frayed easily and did not keep a crisp line.  I did learn a few things!
1.  Collars are not that hard.  I think I have got it down.
2.  Following the directions makes things SO much easier!!
3.  Hemming:  Since the fabric would not retain a nice clean line, I decided to do a running stitch on the seam allowance, which in this case was 5/8".  Then I went back and ironed the seam allowance then folded the unfinished edge into the folded seam.  Then I finished the hem.  EASY!  I am sure I am not the first person to come up with such a trick, but I thought it was a brilliant idea!  And it worked beautifully.
4.  My chalk pencil is the ballz.
5.  I need to take better measurements because for me, my measurements are always changing.  I ended up having to take in the sides and sleeves another 1.5", but even so, it is still a little big.

Yay for vintage patterns!!!