Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Skipping Squares Quilt

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Here's what I've been up to for the past couple of weeks.  I experimented with a number of new (to me) quilting designs.  Wow!  Being a novice quilter such as I am, this was quite the time-consuming project.  The piecing went together quickly.  The pattern, Skipping Squares, is one that I purchased from Cluck Cluck Sew.  It called for ten fat quarters, but I had a bundle of twelve fat quarters that I purchased for 50% off a couple of years ago from the Fat Quarter Shop.  The fabric line is called Full Moon by Felicity Miller for Free Spirit Fabrics.  I used all twelve fat quarters and made my quilt slightly larger than what the pattern indicated.

I didn't have a large enough piece of fabric from this line for the back, so I used what I had and improvised with a couple of other miscellaneous fabrics from my stash.  All those various quilting patterns show up nicely from the back side.


Speaking of quilting designs, here is a close up of some meandering hearts and some stippling bordered by a tree bark looking design.



I also used my embroidery machine to embroider a label onto one of the back panels.


The plan is to use this new quilt in our RV this summer and then it will come indoors to live for the winter.  The size is perfect for an RV queen size mattress.  I do plan to also make some kind of matching pillowcases or shams for the finishing touch.

Now on to some more garment sewing.  I placed an order with Mood Fabrics las week and I'm expecting my new fabric to arrive today.  Yay!  Have a terrific week.

Pam

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Another Sassy Librarian Blouse

I found myself wearing my original version of The Sassy Librarian Blouse so much, that I knew I needed to sew another one.  This time, instead of 100% cotton quilting fabric, I used 100% cotton voile.  The fabric has a lightweight hand, similar to batiste.  It is an Anna Maria Horner voile print.


When I made this blouse for the first time last fall, I increased the length of the front vertical darts by 2" because the blouse seemed to be a bit boxy.  This time, I did not increase the length of those darts because the fabric drapes so nicely that it doesn't have that boxy feel to it.  Here's a closer view of the wide collar.  You can also see the drape better in this photo.



One of my favorite details of this pattern is the shaping that the back vertical darts give.  The shaping shows up quite prominently from the side view.



All in all, this is a comfortable alternative to knit tops.  I always wear it very casually just as I wear t-shirts.  The voile fabric also washes up nicely (no need for gently cycle) and it doesn't require ironing if I remove it from the dryer as soon as it is dry.   If you like the feel of batiste or lawn, give the Anna Maria Horner voile a try.  You most likely will not be disappointed.

Happy Sewing,

Pam