They've been finished for a while

but I never remembered to take a picture until a couple of days ago.  The grandchildren were here for a few hours and I gave a camera to The Princess so she could have something quiet to do while her brother was napping.  Mostly she took some really good pictures, especially considering she's only four, but one of the things she wanted to do was model for me.  Remember these?

I posted them way back in March.  I finished most of the projects but haven't taken any pictures of some.  I turned the top three fabrics into these --- 

The dress on the left is for The Princess, on the right for The Princess in Training.

The Princess was wearing hers and decided she wanted to model it, sans apron.  For some reason, she doesn't like the apron.  I'm thinking I'll remove the buttons that hold it on since she never wears it.

Full, twirly skirts are so much fun!

July Schnibble - Our Choice

Decoy

This month, we got to choose whichever Schnibble we wanted to make.  I knew I wanted to make a star in red, white, and blue for July and had purchased this charm pack of Minnick and Simpson fabrics when I saw it a few months ago.  I don't remember the name of the line but if I find the tag I'll edit this post later.  

I decided on the pattern Decoy from the book Another Bite of Schnibbles.  If you look at all the patterns, you'll see there are several that feature stars.  What put Decoy at the top of the list was the amount of background fabric needed.  I had 1/2 yard and this was the only one that didn't need more than that.  The pattern has sashing and borders pieced from charms but I wanted a plain sashing and will leave the border off.  I'll piece the binding from the charms I have left over - there are quite a few.   I'm going to have this in the stack of small quilts my grandchildren play with when they're here and I wanted a stars quilt for next summer.

This star is cut and sewn in a different way than most.  I have to say that I get my points lined up better when I make traditional flying geese but I still like this one.

June Schnibble - Leap Year

Leap Year

Schnibbles Parade

All of us who participated last month on either Sinta's blog or Sherri's blog were given a new pattern, Leap Year, by Carrie of Miss Rosie's Quilt Company even before it was available!  How cool is that?  Be sure you check the Schnibbles Parades again on July 1st, just like every month, on Sinta's and Sherri's blogs.  You'll see all of the pictures participants post of this quilt and find out the project for next month.  To me, Schnibbles are really fun projects.  Most take two charm packs plus background but I've done a couple that took only one charm pack.  I made Leap Year using fabrics from my '30's box.  Each square is one fabric plus white.  I haven't decided if I'll use one fabric for the binding or make it scrappy.  I'll quilt it before I decide and see how I feel that day.

I hope everyone (at least those of us in the northern hemisphere) is enjoying summer.  I have most of my garden in and just have a couple of things left to plant.  

     

May Schnibble - Doc

Basically, Doc is what Carrie has named a quilt made from Card Trick blocks.  The last time I tried one of these, I had to name it Misdeal and I haven't tried another since.  That just made me more determined to get it right this time - and I succeeded!  I used charm packs of Fresh Flowers by Deb Strain.  (Fresh Flowers - May quilt.  Get it?)  

The first thing that came to mind when I spread out the squares of fabrics was the saying everything old is new again.  The prints and colors really remind me of the '60's, first because of this fabric -

Picture it about as dark as along the right side of the photo, pretend it's flocked wallpaper, and it's what my mother put in the downstairs powder room of their new home.  Honestly, I hated that wallpaper.  It reminded me of a brothel in a B-Western.  I did like the rest of the fabrics, though.

The next thing I realized is I should do this -

 

and not this -

There's a difference in the way they're cut.  Unfortunately, the orange print was one of my favorites and I couldn't use it.

All the blocks cut out and stacked individually

 

 

I use sheets of deli paper (from Costco) to keep each block separate from the others

These are finished blocks

And here is the completed top.  I know I won't finish the quilting this month so decided to show it just as the flimsy.

Look what I won!

A while ago, Kate Spain had a give-away and I was one of the lucky winners!  I thought I was getting a charm pack but there was a goof up with the mail delivery so she sent me a layer cake instead.  Can you believe it?  The fabric isn't even supposed to be in stores till next month so I think I'm doubly lucky.  This fabric line is called Joy.  To me, the designs say '50's even though designers call it Mid-Century.  (When you've lived through it, Mid-Century just sounds too old.) 

Sorry for the glare - it's the wrapper

Obviously, I'm going to use this for is a Christmas quilt.  Most of the fabrics are prints with a few geometrics.  (To see the line, click here, then click on "Joy" - third row, third column.)   I'm just not sure what to use for the quilt pattern.  Most of the prints are about the size of the trees so tiny little pieces won't show off the fabric.  I want to do piecing, not applique, for this one so I can have it completely finished by Thanksgiving along with several other quuilts I want to do for gifts.

So my question is - what pattern would you use to show off the fabrics?  The fabrics use white as a background and I have lots of white I can add.  Obviously, no piece can be larger than 10".  I'd like a pattern that reflects the same time period and that's where I'm stumped.

April Schnibble - Summer Day

This month, I actually followed the pattern!  I used Reunion by Sweetwater for the fabrics - I love the line and they really do look summery to me.  I purchased some 1/2 yard pieces to go with the charm packs before we were given the pattern for April so I used one of those for the sashing on the flying geese blocks.  Because of that, I only needed to use one charm pack and still have one left.  I'll probably use it for a doll quilt. 

Summer Day in Reunion fabrics

I hand quilted this by following the outside of the large triangles in the geese and stitched two parallel lines in the border, closer to the inside of the quilt than the outside, 1/4 inch apart.  It's been finished for a couple of weeks but I haven't had a chance to take a picture of it until today.  You know how life can be. 

This week, I made clothes

These are two dresses for The Princess.    The first is McCall's 6310.  I bought everything for this last year and needed to get it made while I still had enough fabric to make it fit her.  She's growing fast.  I don't remember ever making something exactly like the pattern but I loved the fabrics shown and went with those.

 

I took this picture with the right orientation with my camera but it just doesn't want to let me post it that way.  Bummer.  The bag is plain in the pattern so I added a flower with one leaf and the rickrack stem.  I think it looks cuter this way but that's my only change. 

I used the Wonder Tape to hold down the rickrack before I stitched it and I love the way it worked!  If you click on the picture, you can see it.  Wonder Tape dissolves in water so I gave it a quick spritz with my spray bottle before I pressed the skirt and it vanished.  I really love this product!

I swear assembling the back was like putting together a cross between a Chinese puzzle box and solving someone else's Rubik's Cube.  But I love the way it turned out.  The periwinkle straps are applied after the top is complete so you can see the front just above the lining. 

Next is Simplicity 2237, a Project Runway pattern.  I love the way the yardage is listed on these - mix and match.  If you want to combine different tops with the skirt or want to make the jacket from a different fabric, it's easy because the yardage is listed separately for each section.  I wish other companies would give yardage requirements like this.

This pattern uses bias tape (I prefer to make my own that matches) rather than facings and this is the prep work I do to be sure it lies flat.  After I cut the strips and put them through the bias tube, I put them wrong sides together (right sides together works just as well) and press the curve.  I have the top fold along the stitching line.  If I stitch it on without pressing the curve in first, I can't get it flat no matter how much I press it after it's sewn on.  Right side to wrong side puts the curves in the wrong place so the way you put the fabrics together is important.

Another sideways photo.  Sorry.  This is the completed dress with the jacket on it.  It's kind of hard to see the jacket since it's such a busy print.

Jacket sleeve from the side.  It's sort of a tulip petal shape.

Jacket from the front.

And that's what I sewed this week.  Tomorrow, the April Schnibble should be posted.  I have my fabrics and I'm ready to sew!!!