March Completed~

Explore was the March Sugar Block.

And it was made using 

the dreaded paper-piecing.

Yikes!!

I struggled a bit, 

but worked with Amy Gibson's detailed tutorial,

and I think I was doing better by the end.

It was a well named block for me.

I explored, learned 

and, with great relief, called it a finish!

How are your finishes going this month?

As always, there is a lot of inspiration to be found 

at Mellisa and Shanna's .....

Dress Up~

I bought this material

and a dress pattern a year ago,

then set it aside.

Does anyone have a problem with sewing clothes 

when you don't know if they will fit?

Wouldn't a friendly model be nice!

Before Miss Sweetness left,

I was determined to give a little girl's dress a go.

Since little ones grow so fast, I figured it didn't have to be perfect,

and I could always try again.

Since she loves one of her Auntie's headbands, I copied the headband

and made Miss Sweetness one of her own.

To get a dress size I took a top she has been wearing and 

drew a pattern.

Good thing I didn't go with the sizing on the purchased pattern!!

She could have worn it in a few year's..

I tried the dress on to find out where to hem it,

 but Miss Sweetness was pretty busy.

The Clover Wonder Clips were a big help.  I would hate to

"Pin" her!

Can you see what she is playing with?

She loves the buttons on the machine and would happily keep pushing them.

Silly, but the dress was much more challenging to make than a quilt,

and maybe a little harder to photograph ;-) 

I guess I had better practice sewing dresses while she will wear just about

anything.

In ten years, she might not be so happy to 

wear what I make.....

Mercy~

February's Sugar Club Block was 

Mercy.

I had a little help with it ;-)

The directions for the block are very clear

and I love how it turned out.

 I like to wait until all of my blocks are done

to trim them,

so the extra points are still there.

It doesn't look great for pictures, but that is how I operate.

I am imagining different settings for the blocks.

There are still many months and blocks to go.

What is planned??

No matter which setting is used,

I think they will look happy.....

Slipping Away From the Machine~

A moment to remember..

using an old saucer from the kids

to breeze down the hill with Miss Sweetness.....

What were your Weekend Doings this week?

Another Goal Marches On~

Explore,,

The March Sugar Block is Explore.

I want to finish this block and keep up as the months go by.

With Iditarod and family events, that might be all I get done

in the sewing department.

So making this block is my goal...

I will continue to use Sugar Flowers and Bella white.

Because no matter which way I look at them,

these fabrics makes me happy.....

Check out what everyone else is up to here:

Half of February's Color Adventure~

For my February Color Adventure block, I wanted to do something

"Valentine-ish".

It is the Valentine month after all ;-)!

So I scrapped the block I  had started and pulled out three Kona colors;

mulberry, cardinal red and candy pink.

Finding a pattern that was Valentine-ish was harder than I expected.

I wanted arrows or flowers or???

but no hearts.

Through an online search I found about.com.quilt

and the Flying All Around block.

But it had a chunky 6.5" piece of fabric for the center...

I pulled out my BrANd New (thanks, Jane) 

Farmer's Wife book

and found Wild Roses and square to fill that spot.

My idea of a valentine..

Arrows of Love circling a bouquet of flowers.

(note- those are fox prints above)

I was so tickled to finish, and skipped out to take pictures before the sun disappeared.

And discovered I had a problem..

 (hear the music change?)

Oops!

So back to the machine and ripper I went.

Problem solved.

The wind was beginning to blow,

and this block set to fly off to Oregon!

I can't wait to see what the mailbox delivers this month.....

A Couple of Bags Later~

Take a little fabric

and press it into an accordion,

Cut a strip of vinyl, 

sew bias tape on one side,

1" of fabric on the other long side.

Loosely space the vinyl across the lining fabric,

and stitch it down.

Sew the ends together,

stitching several times across the zipper ends,

and trim.

Create bias trim and sew it over the seam.

Sew the lining into the outside fabric,

and enjoy finishing

another sewing "basket" bag!

I can think of "sew" many things to put in these little bags,

but this couple has already been gifted.

Guess I had better get sewing.....