March Projects

 I am patting myself on the back for making some great progress on my projects the last 10 days...hmmmm...wonder if that means my housework has been a little ignored. Oh well!

I keep looking for that perfect top pattern that only takes me a couple of hours to make and fits great. I was pretty close on this top but I don’t see any benefit to the black insert other than color variation. I have trouble fitting my broad shoulders for pull over tops...if the shoulder area fits...the rest of the top is huge. This design has a raglan sleeve cut and that works better for me. I bumped up a size for my shoulders but trimmed each side by 2-3 inches.

I also finished my granddaughter’s dress...though I will wait to hem it when I see her later this week.

The smocking was the easy part...the dress construction was a challenge. The bishop collar design makes it pretty flexible for sizing so I am confident the dress will be on the big side for her.

I got all 25 blocks sewn together for the top, “Sky Full of Stars.” I even have a wide back piece of fabric in my stash that might work. I still need to add some borders and I have part of that planned...still thinking about how to actually finish this top.

 

One more block was added to the bonus project with the leftover HSTs. I need to figure out the border finish before touching any of the leftover white background fabric. That means I need to finish the big top before pecking away on this little quilt.

Two more little ornaments finished in my current Bucilla kit. These are tiny...together...both fit in the palm of my hand.

And several nights I stitched on my latest Mill Hill kit. Still lots of snow at my house so this feels like the appropriate season to work on this project. 

That "spring forward" business with the clock always messes with my mind and body. Extra cup of coffee in the afternoon was required several days. My international pilot husband thinks it is very funny how a one hour time change wrecks me for weeks...it is pathetic...but I just kept telling myself to focus on projects. Of course I had to rip out the first two rows of the smocking...had to rip out the embroidered faces on the Bucilla ornaments...lots of ripping out to get those 25 blocks sewn together. Lots of bonding with several seam rippers throughout my house this past week. 

Really...I have been busy

I do have a few little finishes.

I started a vintage Bucilla ornament kit several weeks ago...okay...maybe it was months ago now. There are lots of details on these tiny ornaments but I am at the halfway point and getting a little more motivated to finish the last six. 

I finished two of the little bears that sit in a series of quilted stockings. 

Four in two different colors are yet to be completed. 

I have a visit to see my grand daughter coming up so I feel the need to make her a smocked dress. Below is a photo of a dress I made at least 24 years ago. I am making this dress.

I am stumbling through the preparation process but the smocking part will probably be the easiest and that is the next step.

I made a visit to a local quilt shop that I  hadn't been to since the shutdowns in March of 2020. They were having a big sale and rayon batiks were $7 a yard. Several pieces came home with me so I am trying once again to make a few blouses. 

Below I am making view D with long sleeves.

And also this pattern in view D

With clothing projects I have the advantage of being able to sew for a few minutes a day and get a lot accomplished...at least that is what I keep telling myself.

In cleaning up my cutting table I opened the box with one of my quilt projects that I worked on at retreat and then quickly forgot about when I came home. I finished the final four blocks at retreat and started making blocks from the scrappy HSTs I have collected from the leftovers.

Somehow this quilt became a victim of my tendency to make designs bigger so I added five blocks to the original design. The blocks finish at 16-inches so I may add a border or two and get it useable on my king-size bed. So perfect for a winter quilt.

I have been spending days...no...weeks...prepping projects.

 All because I spend so much time on Youtube getting pulled into more things I want!

 And there is only one way to get them...make them.

So I've been making my own cross stitch kits.

This process is very time consuming. 

I couldn't resist starting a kit someone else put together.

It feels good to just start stitching another cross stitch project.

But the biggest project I am hoping to tackle soon is a bag for organizing my sewing notions for classes and retreats. The colors of the fabrics don't look so great in this photo but I have a lime green sewing machine roller case so think, "lime green" when judging these fabrics.

I've been watching videos by Tula Pink about all the bags she has made from By Annie and I want them all too! Such an enabler! Gathering all the supplies is really daunting...and...expensive. My goal is to have it made in time to use for the next retreat in May.