A Quilt for Asher

One of the fun things I've done lately is to make a sweet baby quilt for my grandson. Having no experience in making boys things, I am having a wonderful time looking at fabrics in a new way. The inspiration for this quilt was the tractor fabric. Definitely a boy fabric! The first fabric I chose to go with it was the mustardy yellow. I liked how it brought out the color in the tractors. Then I started looking at blacks, greys, and other greens.

One of my favorite fabrics in this quilt is the ruler/tape measure fabric. I had thought of this fabric in terms of being feminine because of my connotation of it being a sewing tool. That is, until the day a little boy in the quilt shop showed me another point of view! He thought of it as a tool like the ones in the hardware store, and he loved the numbers on it, showing off his ability to count. So, of course that one was included.

That got me going, so I found some rocks that were gray, a black and white check (racecars!), and some nice green trees. Then a beautiful bright orange with quilt blocks on it because after all this is from his quilt obsessed Grammy! One more nice green, and a quarter yard of fabric that looks like grass for the border and I had the top ready to go.

An adorable flannel with tigers on it in the perfect shade of gold makes an awesome back for this quilt. I put a poly battting in it, because I want this to be a drag around blanket, and machine quited it to make it nice and sturdy. I hope Asher enjoys his quilt as much as I enjoyed picturing him snuggling in it while sewing!

Do the Bustle!

Yes, I am a product of the 70's! Couldn't resist this title, because I wanted to share about my newest skill - bustling wedding gowns! In the past I have always avoided the issue of bustling wedding gowns by adding a wrist loop to the train, but this train was so long that this approach really wasn't going to work at all.

So, thanks to my good friend Google I found several great resources for instructions and ideas for bustling wedding gowns. I learned the difference between a french bustle and an american bustle. I learned all about pick-ups, loops, ties, hooks and rings. Definitely an evening well spent because now I am confident enough to take on any gown that needs a bustle!

This gown called out for a french bustle (which is a bustle that is attached insided the gown. After some experimenting with pins I decided the best intervals to attach the ties, and got busy with a needle and thread and some grosgrain ribbon. I then marked all the sets of ties to make it a little easier on the wedding day to get it all tied up nice and neat!
I ended up with a couple of different options for the ties, this one is with the outer ties tied to the center of the gown, which I think showed off the pretty embrodery and beading on the train the best.
This one is with the lower section tied to the sides.

I am excited that the next time I am asked if I can do a bustle I will not hesitate to say "Yes, I can!"

Besides wedding dresses, most of my sewing lately has been hemming and altering prom dresses. The prom is Saturday, so I think I'm about done with that, I am so ready for some quilting! I have finished a few things, but I'll save that for another day, got to have something to write about, you know!

Not Much Quilting Going On

Well, there hasn't been a whole lot of quilting going on here lately, but there has been a lot of dress hemming, and working at the quilt shop! (There also hasn't been a lot of progress on the Walking in this World book either, but I promise to get back on that and finish it up in May.



Here is picture of me at Threads That Bind, taken on my new cell. I'm not as skilled at the girls are at self portraits, but it's acceptable! I will be glad for next week when I don't have to work so many hours and I'll hopefully have time for some quilting. I bought fabric for a quilt for Asher, but I haven't had any time to work on it.