A quick and easy tee!

Crafting has been a bit on the slow side lately. Hopefully, my mojo will kick back into gear again soon (because I have a quilt I need to finish this month!). But, I do have a project to share that I stitched up last week. I made a new t-shirt using Simplicity 4076. It was truly a quick and easy project (6 seams!) and I'm absolutely thrilled with the results.

I've been eating better and exercising regularly, and in the last 6 months, I've lost 35 pounds. Yay, me! :) But now much of my wardrobe practically falls off of me. On the one hand, that is awesome. On the other, I feel dumpy all of the time because my clothes don't fit. So I've decided to start re-inventing my wardrobe a little bit at a time. I figured a simple shirt would be a good start.

Because I can't really sew any kind of top right out of the envelope, I had to take a little bit of time to do some alterations. These took longer than the actual sewing did!

In the picture above, I've tried to outline the alterations I made. I started with the size 18 of View C based on my upper bust measurement and then did a full-bust adjustment of 1.5" (using the method described in the book, Fit for Real People by Pati Palmer and Maria Alto). Because the design didn't have a side dart, and I didn't want to add one, I decided to rotate the dart that was created in the FBA over to the neckline. Since the neckline is gathered, I knew I could take up the extra fabric there pretty easily without adding any additional darts. Then I went ahead and lengthened the top by 2" (as a number of reviews I read mentioned that the top is on the short side-- and I don't like short tops!).

Here's the finished top:

I just love the gathering at the neckline. It is a pretty design element. I used a very soft, lightweight rayon/spandex blend fabric. It feels amazing!

In this back view, you can see the bell-shaped sleeves. They're fun and flirty, but also a little annoying. Next time I'll probably look for a fitted sleeve that I can use with this pattern.

Yay for a new shirt (that fits!)!

A new project!

A couple of weeks ago, I celebrated my 38th birthday. Woo! And there were presents. Double woo! The one I am most excited about though is this one:

My husband ordered the wool and Valdani floss kits for me from The Raspberry Rabbits shop so that I can participate in their new (free!) block-of-the-month program, Harrington and Hannah! After taking a wonderful wool applique class last fall, I've had my eye out for projects that incorporate wool, and this is one that I'm really excited about. The first two blocks have been posted so far, and they are so cute!

I immediately got to work on my first block, and put the finishing touches on it today:

This is a little different from the techniques I learned for wool applique in my class. This project suggests fusible web and a running stitch. I found it challenging (especially on the layered areas) to actually stitch all the way through the background fabric (the wool is thick!). Hopefully I caught the background fabric sufficiently that the pieces will all be secure. Between the stitches and the fusible web, it's probably fine. In wool applique quilts, does one usually quilt over the wool too? I'll need to start paying attention to the quilting when I see wool quilts in shows/shops.

I'm looking forward to block two!

Hoppin' along with Hop to It

After all of the excitement of testing out border options for my Hop to It quilt, I realize that I never actually shared the final picks. Doh! So, here is the top with borders and all:

I ended up going shopping and chose an inner border that actually looks pretty similar to my previous options, but it is cooler-toned and more blue/green than brown. Then I decided to bring the lightness I was craving into the outer border. I'm so happy with how they work together and with how the quilt looks as a whole. Huzzah!

This week, I managed to sit down and plan out my backing and get it pieced together. And then...

Basting! That's me in the picture above, keepin' it real with my crazy hair and surrounded by toys. I have to say, there is nothing like basting a quilt on the floor for making one feel old and decrepit. My back was killing me after this. But, the basting is done. Woo!

I took the plunge and entered this into my quilt guild's April show. Here's hoping they decide to hang it; based on my entry picture (of just 12 blocks hanging on a wall), they might decide I'm a lost cause and say no. LOL! Regardless, I'm motivated to get it quilted. I have a plan. Now I just have to get up the gumption to do it.

I won't mess up my quilt; I won't mess up my quilt...

One Thing, One Week Challenge: Gettin' my quiltin' on!

For this week's One Thing, One Week Challenge at Amy's Creative Side, my focus was to quilt my Whimsy project.

Success!!! I went a little out of my box on this one by trying out straight-line quilting with my walking foot. I did end up doing a tiny bit of free-motion around the embroidery (just outlining the stitched circles), but everything else was with the walking foot. I'm glad I gave it a go as it is a fun look, but I learned that it is really not my favorite style to quilt. Free-motion is more challenging for me, but it is also more fun.

Next up: binding!

If you get a chance, take some time to browse through the other challenge participants' successes-- there is always lots of awesome creative energy and inspiration to be found!

Another challenge week + pillow

Amy at Amy's Creative Side announced the latest One Thing, One Week Challenge yesterday. I immediately jumped on the bandwagon!

For the last challenge, I pushed myself to get my Whimsy quilt basted.

This time, I want to get it quilted!

In other news, another birthday party = another Personalized Name Pillow:

Again, I used minkee for the back of the pillow. It has been received so well each time, I think that minkee is going to be my go-to choice for these pillows.

This is my fourth iteration of this design, and I'm finally starting to get the hang of hand stitching the open edge (if you look closely, you can see the line of hand-stitching in the picture above). I'm usually pretty good at this kind of thing, but trying to make my stitches look clean and happy with the combo of minkee and cotton has been challenging.

Seriously, this pattern rocks. So simple, and so happy!

Playtime: the bowling pins

The final block of my American Jane Playtime quilt is the bowling pins:

Though I usually prefer needleturn, for this block I actually took the time to do freezer paper/starch prep on every single piece. As it is a set of pins, I wanted them to be as close to identical as possible. Doing the prep also gave me a little more confidence with the spacing of everything as it allowed me to lay it all out before I started stitching. The pattern has the pins plain, but once I finished all of the applique, the block felt like it just wasn't finished. So I went back and embroidered a face onto each pin. It just felt like the right thing to do. And I think they turned out pretty cute. Certainly, they have more personality than plain pins would have!

Once I finished the block, I could not help myself from just putting the whole dang thing together:

Woo! After having worked on this project for three years now, I do have an inkling of a quilting plan in mind, but it needs a bit more work before I'll feel comfortable taking the plunge. Regardless, it is going to be a little while before it gets quilted as there are a couple of other tops that have higher priority. So I've got some time to figure it out.

Again, I say, Woo! :)

Woo-hoo, cake!

Yesterday, we had the family over for Big Bear's "official" birthday party. This year we let him chose what kind of party he wanted to have, and we were a little surprised that he decided he just wanted to invite his grandparents and his aunt and have an at-home gathering. His only hard and fast stipulation was that there had to be a birthday cake. And it had to be blue. And it had to have Toby the Tram Engine on it (who is one of Thomas the Tank Engine's friends).

On Friday afternoon, I baked the cake (a traditional white cake using a recipe from the cookbook, Baking Illustrated) and applied the white icing base. That evening, my husband and I got to work on the decorating. I mixed the icing colors, Keith drew Toby and piped him onto the top of the cake, and then I finished it off with some border work and lettering.

This was the inspiration picture (photo from here):

And this is the completed cake:

Keith did an amazing job! Big Bear was completely thrilled. And not only was Toby on top, but the inside was, as requested, blue:

It was quite pretty, really. I used food coloring paste ("sky blue") in the batter to get the color.

And then there was one last gift from Mama:

Ever since I made the name pillows a few weeks ago, Big Bear has been clamoring to get one of his own. In blue. How could I refuse? I smudged the name in the picture above so as to maintain Big Bear's secret identity, but I can tell you that the letters were all blue. And much to my joy, he LOVES it! Yay!