why yes, it IS another skirt

My latest wardrobe addition is another Fat Quarter skirt made using the fabulous tutorial from Venus de Hilo found here.

A photo of my new skirt front...

And one of my new skirt back...

Stephanie (aka Venus) gives you step by step instructions in three installments so you can make your very own drawstring summery skirt from just six fat quarters! I made one last year using her tutorial, so I already had my custom fitted pattern prepared, and the whole thing took me about two hours. Well, maybe three since I decided to sew the drawstring inside-out and turn it with a bodkin. That took a bit longer than I expected - lesson learned - so next time I'll do it the way she told me :)

I've probably got enough fat quarters in my stash to make one of these skirts for every day of the summer season.

So, you might be seeing more of them here.

Just sayin'...

P.S. Fabrics are from the Stockholm line by Robin Zingone for Robert Kaufman.

my basic summer skirt

The skirt I mentioned in my previous post was finished in time to wear last Saturday. I had to get up early that day to put the hem in, but when it was time to get dressed and attend my girls' dance recital, I was ready!



The fabric is from Anna Maria Horner's Loulouthi cotton line - Clippings in Passion. I was drawn to the bright fuchsia flowers on the charcoal background initially, but there are so many lovely colors in all the flowers that I knew it would be a snap to find coordinating tees and summer sweaters.

It's a simple A-line skirt with a back center zipper and no waistband. And since there are no pieces that need to be cut on the bias, you don't need a bunch of yardage. Mine was made with 1.5 yards = inexpensive fabulous new wardrobe piece! This simple silhouette is a great way to showcase those wild, colorful prints that I love!



I've included some details in this post to let you know how I finish my skirts on the inside. Hopefully you'll find them easy to follow and be inspired to make your own collection of summer skirts!

I made a skirt with this pattern in 2008 adjusting the pieces to fit my smaller waist/larger hip ratio (you can see all my notes on the pattern front.) This A-line cut is a good choice if you've got that same body type since the waist is fitted, but the skirt floats over your hips for a slimming illusion :)



There are only four pieces to this pattern - skirt front and back, and facing front and back. Easy-peasy. You can see the inside of the simple back center zipper here, as well as the waist facing (which is backed with lightweight fusible interfacing for a little added stability and structure.)



Four simple darts (two in front and two in back) nip in the waist area without adding the bulk that a drawstring or elastic would create. This way the top of the skirt lays smoothly against you in front and back.



On the inside I serged all my seam allowances and pressed the back seam open. The two side seams were trimmed, serged, and pressed to the skirt back to cut down on bulk in the hip area. Who needs more bulk there, right? A very simple hem - serge the skirt bottom, press under 3/8" to 1/2", and sew close to the serged edge.



You should definitely wash and dry your fabric before cutting into it. This will insure that any shrinkage occurs before you spend all that time fitting and cutting and sewing, so in the end you'll have a skirt made for you - not someone slightly smaller than you - ask me how I know this ;-)

This is the next fabric I've got pre-washed and ready to make into my basic summer skirt... pretty wild!



Have you got a basic skirt pattern that you've made multiple times? I'm always interested in new pattern suggestions!

more Summer Sampling and a secret project

I'm still maintaining my "on-time" status with the Summer Sampler quilt along. This weekend and Monday I finished blocks 5, 6, and 7.

Number 5 is the Star block. I'm running low on my polka dot background, and I was unsuccessful in locating some more, so it's time to improvise! Turquoise dot background for this one. It's all paper-pieced, yielding great precision (which I LOVE) and great fabric waste (which I loathe, but I'm learning to live with it).

Block 6 is the Arkansas Traveler. In case you're wondering where these names come from, each set of block instructions comes with a little history of the block. Just click on the Summer Sampler button over in the sidebar for more information. I confess that I mostly skim over these historical bits; I'm primarily concerned with getting to the good part - the sewing!

The diamonds in this block were constructed with traditional piecing methods, and the background was added via paper-piecing. My block is a tad smaller that the 12.5" prescribed size (is 3/4" still considered a "tad"?) due to some problem printing templates directly from Google Docs. Of course a 1" check-your-template-for-accuracy-before-using line was provided, but did I use that? Um, no. Oh well, I'll just add a bit of sashing and all will be well :)

And the most current block is the Six Pointed String block. I did not piece my star triangle units as string blocks. I much preferred the look of solid triangles with my busy fabrics. I also used background piecing option #2 with 24 equilateral triangles used to compose a larger block that can then be trimmed to the 12.5" size. This one's the right size :)

And lastly, here's a peek at my design wall now. A super-secret birthday gift is in the works. Any guesses as to what this might become?

Summer Sampling

So I jumped into another online quilt-along. This time it's the Summer Sampler Series brought to us by Swim, Bike, Quilt, Fresh Lemons, and Freshly Pieced.

As of right now I've managed to maintain a 100% on-time average with these blocks. We are only 1/3 of the way through the 12 blocks, but this stick-to-it-ness is an impressive feat for me! I like how they've organized it into three blocks per week - one on each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  That kind of schedule doesn't drag it out too long - which always seems to be my downfall - 'cause really, if you give me 12 weeks to finish something, I'll surely wait till week 11 to start!! And maybe I won't even start after all since by then I'll have been distracted by some other shiny, new project. Remember Hammy in "Over the Hedge" or the dog (what's his name?) in "UP!"?  Yep - that's me.  But hopefully documenting it here will keep me accountable and motivated. Here are my first four completed blocks:

I'm using a pile of leftovers from a dresden pillow I made earlier this year for my Pillow Panache classes. The fabrics are a combination of Michael Miller, AMH Garden Party and Chocolate Lollipop, Erin McMorris, and a Kaufman spot in the background (that I'm trying to locate more of - if you've got any tips.)

First up last Monday, Star of Virginia:

Last Wednesday, Greek Cross:

Last Friday, Mosaic:

And just yesterday, Garden Path (my favorite so far!):

Not sure where this quilt will end up, but the fabrics sure are summer-y and fun to work with! Have any of you jumped into this quilt-along? It's not too late! Just click on the button above or in the sidebar to get started :)

back in the saddle, finally!

I'm not sure why it's taken me so long to get back into the daily routine of sewing since coming back from vacation. I mean, it's been over two weeks already! But finally these last couple of days, I've felt that familiar joy that comes from working in my sewing room.

I realized that my long-arm quilter is scheduled to have my New York Beauty quilt finished next week, and I wanted to have another project to bring to her when I pick it up. I dug deep into the unfinished projects bin to find this top - Radiant Suns...

In late 2008 or early 2009, I had finished all the swirl blocks and sewn them into the center 6 by 6 block grid. This week I decided on the dark navy inner border and bright yellow outer border to finish up the top.  Now it measures 67" square.

These blocks were made from fat quarters and a pattern and template set called "Radiant Suns" by Cara Gulati at doodlepress.com. This was a great quilt to practice curved piecing! Each block is made of 5 different sized arcs, but there are no seams to match when joining the blocks. So you just piece each block, and then cut them all to a uniform size before joining them into rows and columns. Easy!

Here are a couple of my favorite swirls in the quilt top...

It feels so good to be back in my sewing room, to have another project ready for the quilter, and something sewing related to show all of you! And can I just say how nice it is to have beautiful summer weather and flowers to help with taking quilt photos!!

Happy weekend everyone :)

new books!

I am a book NUT! New books, old books, library books - doesn't matter to me - they are all fabulous. My most-used conversation starter is, "So, what are you reading now?" I have stopped and talked with total strangers on airplanes, beaches, pool decks, trains, etc. about a book they have in their hands. Talking with complete strangers is WAAAYYYY out of my comfort zone, but when the topic is books, I seem to have no problem running my mouth.

These are the newest additions to my sewing library. I first learned about the skirts title from Venus de Hilo. She makes the cutest skirts mostly from patterns she has created on her own, and this is one of the titles she mentions in her blog, so I had to get my hands on it.

My first skirt project from the book will be made with this lovely purple floral fabric I found in the bargain bin at my local Jo Ann's...

I'm thinking it will become this fun summer wrap-skirt...

The bags book was primarily purchased for my daughter and her budding bag business. She already has fabric cut out (from her stash! can you believe that a thirteen-year-old has a stash?) to make this messenger type bag...

So, what are you reading these days? I'd love to hear your recommendations!

not the girl I thought I was...

• I used to think of myself as a hale and hearty kind of gal. You know, the kind who could work all day in the yard, or go for a run whenever I wanted and have no ill after-effects from either event.
• I used to think I had a pretty decent amount of stamina and strength.
• I used to be okay with mowing the lawn because it was time spent outside, I could get a lot of thinking done, it helped my husband, and as an added bonus it was a workout and a tanning session all rolled into one.

I used to think all of those things until about 4:08pm today...

This is a photo of our lawnmower. It's your basic mulching lawnmower with the added bonus of a power drive system that makes it easier to push. Another helpful add-on is the bag that catches all the grass clippings so the lawn is nice and neat after mowing (and our cream cairn terrier Dixie doesn't look like Elphaba every time the grass gets cut.)
See how it says right on the mower "EZ Mulch bag"?
And "PowerGearDrive"?

This is what the bag for the clippings looks like now. The right side blew out as I was mowing, spraying me with grass clippings. Not a big deal except that the left side is already being held closed with a safety pin. Again, not a big deal, except for the fact that 2 minutes after I started mowing, I heard a whining, squeaking noise, and now the power drive doesn't work anymore. Again not a big deal except for these facts:

• my heart is hammering in my chest from the effort of pushing this darn thing all over the yard,
• I am sweating profusely even though the temp is only about 60f and there is a pleasant cool breeze,
• I am stopping at the end of every row to catch my breath,
• I'll look like a complete wimp if I don't finish this before my husband gets home,
• and lastly, my mood has turned terribly dark and sour from frustration and the realization that I am not the girl that I thought I was.

Now that my little venting break is over, I've gotten this aggravation out of my system, and caught my breath, I'm headed back outside to finish this job that I started. Whew! Thanks for listening; I feel so much better now. It is what it is, and I'm still a pretty decent cookie, if I do say so myself. But I'm definitely having some wine with dinner tonight, oh yeah, that's for sure, and after all - "tomorrow is another day"!