A Budding Sewist

               

 “The best thing for being sad," replied Merlin, beginning to puff and blow, "is to learn something. That's the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then — to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the only thing for you. Look what a lot of things there are to learn.”

                                                                                                                    ― T.H. White, The Once and Future King                   

 Ohhh My.  I am so very proud.  For Christmas,  I got Issa and Katelyn little Bernina 350s.  Wonderful little machines.  Not a child's machine, but a real grown up Bernina.  Both girls, in Florida and in Birmingham, are ecstatic.

So this post is just going to show a little video, of Issa mending her Mommy's pink jacket.  I love the concentration on her face, her  voice as she answers her mommy, and the hum of the machine.  I have watched this over and over, and am so happy that I am starting them on a hobby that will be fun and useful for a lifetime.

UFOs....

are no longer visible in the small town of Eclectic Alabama.  These four unfinished objects were completed on my vintage Bernina 830.

1.  Tan slacks..altered

                           2.  Mandy silhouette pillow...completed

           3.  Mae blanket...completed

         4.  Mae plaid silk skirt...fini

The Christmas Skirts are all finished and the Candy Cane quilt just needs to  be quilted and bound.

Yay! I was so thankful for a quiet Sunday, a fire, and a Bernina!  Oh yes, I am Thankful for football games that kept a certain someone busy so that I could sew uninterrupted! And I know Somewhere Out there, Ralph is smiling!

     Love is, above all, the gift of oneself. 
                    ~Jean Anouilh








Sarah had a t-shirt that she has long outgrown, but many times in the last few months it has seemed to reappear on my visits to Birmingham.  Her "present" t-shirt, as she called it, was soft and comfy, so as I was choosing a design for her Christmas t-shirt,  a "present" seemed the only choice.

The first shirt that I did was pink and green with a touch of gold.  It is Sarah's choice of colors and I hope she will enjoy wearing it.  The gold lamee was a scrap that someone had given me, and it made a really cute little bow.  I used a gold metallic thread to satin stitch around the bow, and it stitched just fine as long as I slowed the speed of the machine down.  I added her name to the side of the gift. 

  My second little gift t-shirt was made for little Miss Amelia, whose Mamie has been under the weather and just hasn't felt much like sewing this Christmas season.  While Mamie chose colors and fabrics, I ran the machine and we sewed up skirt to match.

 It is so much more fun to sew with your good friend sitting in a chair beside you !


So Mamie and Goggie drove to visit sweet family and deliver the Christmas attire yesterday.  I sure hope it fits!

Birmingham Baby

If you were to open up a baby's head
-and I am not for a moment suggesting
that you should- you would find
nothing but an 
enormous drool gland.  ~ Dave Barry





A new baby friend has entered this world, and sweet Miss
Elliot must have some burp cloths to catch the inevitable burp and drool.  Here is a quick gift that was sent her way today;  two burp
cloths and a diaper cover for when she is a bit older.

The script monogram is Master Circle, the manuscript is Blackboard, and the ballerina's tutu is one of Martha's Mini's.

A Stocking is Born

The stockings were hung 
by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas
soon would be there.
     ~Clement Clarke Moore







While I continue to work on my UFOs,  Santa's Elf in Texas has been busy at her machines making a stocking for the newest addition to her sweet family, Miss Molly.  I asked Kathy how she did  her stockings and she was kind enough to send pictures.

Kathy's first step is to quilt her fabric.  I know that most of us would choose a quilted Christmas print, but this little girl is getting a stocking that matches her sister's, with a beautifully quilted fabric.  On this project, though, since it is going to be lined separately, Kathy quilted just two layers, her print and Warm and White batting.  I am sure she used the guide on her machine to evenly quilt the diagonals onto her fabric.





  Next she cut out the cotton from a pattern that she had drawn, then sew them right sides together.  She did the same with her white cotton lining, then tucked it inside her stocking, wrong sides together.

While the next task would appear to be easy, for me it can take some DEEP THINKING.  She used her pretty read dot, figured WHICH SIDE and WHERE to stitch the name, and added Molly's name to the cuff.  I am sure she used 2 layers of medium wight cut away, since the back of the embroidery will not be seen.  Nice and neat and no puckers!

Once again some figuring out is required.  Her cuff was neatly pressed, stitched into a circle much like she does her pillowcases, and stitched around the top of the stocking and lining. Before stitching she inserted a pretty piece of ribbon, so that Molly can hang her stocking by the chimney with care. This method used to scare me, but careful measuring is all that is required.

This stocking will hang proudly next to her sister's, and I am sure that it is already on a UPS truck somewhere near Chicago.

He's Making a List...

I love these little people;
and it is not  a slight thing
when they, who are so
fresh from God, love us.
                  ~ Charles Dickens
                         


Kathy looooves her sweet grandgirlies that live in Chicago, and
she never misses an opportunity to sew a little something for
a holiday.  Their little Christmas outfits are completed and probably
already in the mail.   Mine are still a figment of my imagination.





She started with little t-shirts;  the designs are from Embroidery
Boutique.  Kathy is a quilter before she is a garment sewer; her
sense of color is wonderful, and she chose fabrics from her stash
that complement each other beautifully.

                                                                                                                                                                                     I don't know these little girls personally, but it has been fun
 to try to determine from the little grins in the  photographs
 who is a wee bit naughty.

Next she tackled the little skirts, using measurements
 from knee to waist and waist measurements,
 she serged the back seam , made the top casing
and added a band to  the bottom.

So simple and so precious.

UFOs

If a project is good enough for you to start, it is good enough for you to finish.
       ~Ralph Clark Bethard, 1959
         Spoken to his daughter Debra, who did not want to finish
         weaving a potholder on a loom that she had
         received for Christmas.


My sewing room has been invaded by way too many UFOs, and I decided it was time to finally do something about it.  UnFinished Objects are my version of UFOs, and here is my little sister, Bethanne Bethard Hill's version of a UFO,,,

 

Bethanne of course has always amazed me with her art, and if you would like to enjoy more of it, look her up at

www.bethannehill.com !

  Beautiful scenes of farm houses and countrysides and bottle trees and animals;  I have never quite figured out how the flying saucers came into the mix, but this is my sister Bethanne and I am not going to try to figure it out, I am just going to enjoy it.

Back to my UFOs, hopefully one or several will be blogged by the end of the day.

         1. The top of the Candy Cane quilt will be finished

        2.  Little Amelia's Christmas skirt will be together.

3.  Miss Mae's cozy blanket should be quilted.

            4.  Mandy's linen Silhouette pillow should be finished.

                 5.  I should have a good start on 4 little Christmas skirts.

OOOOPS

In the end, only three things

matter: how much you loved,

how gently you lived,

and how gracefully you let

go of things not meant for you.

~ Buddha

I was so excited about the progress on my Candy Cane Quilt.  Too excited, it seems.  I had been admiring this panel for hours, loving the crisp look of the red, white and black.  So I took this photo to send to Kathy, Masterquilter, and as I looked at the photo, I moaned.  No, I probably screamed!  Look at the corners! My top and bottom candy cane stripes were on backwards!

I think it is interesting that I could spot the mistake in a photograph, but not when gazing at it admiringly while it was in my hands.  I must have been too busy patting myself on the back to notice.

So, as Kathy put it..."Welcome to the world of quilting."  HHmmmm.  Some welcome.  I can only say this is my equivalent of putting a left sleeve in a right armhole, or sewing a beautiful french seam wrong sides together.  I was disheartened because all I could think of were those tiny black stripes.

It has turned out not to be as horrible as I first thought.  I was able to UNSEW the candy cane strips with the black stripes attached, and with a little bit of trouble, just swap them and turn them so that my candy canes are continuously facing the same directions.  

I must admit, though, as much as I hate to, that the first reattachment of the candy cane did not go well. Would I have attached it in exactly the wrong place a SECOND time?  Oh, yes I did!  So I unsewed one more time and turned out the lights, turned off the radio,  flipped the switch on my beautiful Bernina 780, and went downstairs to have a glass of wine in my cute Texas wineglass!

But I am looking forward to getting everything in the correct spot early tomorrow morning!

Candy Cane Quilt,

Normal day, let me be

aware of the treasure

you are, let me not pass

you by in quest of some rare and

perfect tomorrow.  

 ~Mary Jane Irion

Time's A Wastin'!

I have GOT to finish my Candy Cane Quilt!  I finished the center panel in class with Kathy, and started work on the half square triangles, but the majority of the work is unfinished.  So I picked up where I had left off a few days ago, and here is my progress....  I had sewn some of the triangles together, thank heaven, so that tedious task was almost finished.                                                                          

Next I embroidered the text for the four borders.  My background fabric is a tone on tone little bubble print.  The quilt calls for a lightweight muslin to be placed behind the embroidery, and I used 2 layers of tear away stabilizer behind that.

This black border that frames the center panel was actually one of the most difficult pieces to do so far.  They are cut  3/4 of an inch wide, and then are sewn to the panel. It frames the picture nicely and reminds me of when I used to color in elementary school and outlined everything in black!  It sets of the center panel nicely.

I am anxious to get back to my sewing room and work on it a little more!

Issa in Children's Corner Katherine

Autumn bowed to place
 a beautiful crown
 on the Queen
 of Morning,
 and her velvet robes
 swam merrily in the
 chilly breeze.
   ~ Terri Guilllemets

     My sweet silly Issa likes her new dress that I began making in Nashville at The Children's Corner Sewing School.  Children's Corner has recently been purchased by 2 younger women, and they are working hard to keep the quality of instruction, products and design that have made the company famous among sewing mothers and grandmothers.

The photo on the left shows the beginning of the front panel of the little dress.  It is not at all difficult; the loops for the buttonholes were a bit tedious to complete, but it went together smoothly.  The loops were accented by little wooden buttons.

This pattern is Children's Corner Katherine;  it was taught by Lezette Thomason. who shared lots of tips and stories with us along the way.  No french seams on this dress,  I zipped up the side seams and sleeves with a long serger seam and was done.  The hem is stitched down by machine and has a tailored look.  

\

I love the simple sleeve on this dress.  It is long, set in, and finished with a tiny bias band at the cuff.  It has a tiny bit of gathering at the top of the sleeve and cuff.  The dress bodice is accented with a matching tiny gingham, and a bias neckline.  It has 3 buttons on the back.  

I have a feeling that Katherine in this soft aqua corduroy is going to be a favorite.