Thanksgiving

I know it has been a long time since I last posted but life has been busy. We celebrated my husband's 40th reunion at the Naval Academy, getting to see our grandkids at the same time. Followed by moving Sallie into her NYC apartment. Quite an adventure! And lastly flying to Texas to see our newlyweds, Jeff and Pan, in their new home and Danny's family in Austin. It was a great visit until I got deathly ill. I returned home to go to bed for 4 days. So that brings us to now...3 days before Thanksgiving. So much sewing to be done...but first I had to reorganize my sewing room (that has been accomplished). And now to plan out the rest of my sewing projects for the holidays. Here is the sweatshirt I designed for my Mother. I had fun putting this together. It includes her children, grands and greats. Quite a legacy! I love you, MOM! You are the Best!!
Here are some other items made in the last few months.This is a vinyl bag that folds up which I made for my daughter. Easy to tote around in your purse.

These are three bibs I made for Danny to wear during the Fall holidays. Cute!

Lastly this is a Christmas fun dress I made for son Danny's friend's little girl. (Dress on right). Below I made a variation for my Clara.

I hope this week is a time to reflect on all we have to be thankful for. I am thankful for the love of my family and mostly the enduring love of my wonderful husband. Thanks for always being there for me. Happy Thanksgiving to All!! Daisy

Baby shower gifts

Wow where has the summer gone! School is almost upon us. I arrived home from Maine to find an invite to a baby shower two days later. I decided to make one of my Martha Pullen "Sewing for Baby" projects. Since this was for a little girl due in a few weeks I chose the rose trellis top and panties. I also made a knit gown in pink. First I will talk about the rose trellis dress.

The rose trellis day suit.

This dress has six rows of tucks on each side of the center and then lace with a rose trellis embroidered on top of it. The lace and trellis also are on the sleeves. The top is bordered with delicate lace on the hem of the skirt and the legs of the bloomers. Ivory buttons give a nice finishing touch to the back of the top. Notice the pink trim on the sleeve and neckline...this is pink batiste that I used to create a pink scalloped piping. This outfit turned out better than I expected it would. It was not one of my favorites when I was at the MP School. but it came together so nicely and has a distinct heirloom appeal. Truly a lovely outfit! I liked it so much I woke up early today to make the same dress but this time as a christening gown. It took me 24 hours to make the original outfit. (Yes, I did sleep.) 

 Pink Knit Gown

This next item is a pink knit gown. I used MP knit fabric which is the softest knit you can find. I embroidered the giraffe and added the sweet trim to the hem and sleeves. Perfect for a new infant...comfy and sweet!

I managed to finish both of these in time for the party. Little Fiona will look lovely in these! Congrats to Roger and Janel!

Now on to finishing some gifts I have started and are way overdue. I must say I love doing projects which are all inclusive. I don't have to search for trims and buttons and such. I am cleaning out my cabinets so I can find things easier. Trying to bag up my little odds and ends. Maybe someday I will be organized. 

Oh well....Happy sewing! Daisy

Sewing in Maine

Hi Everyone from Thomas Pond in Maine- This is our yearly excursion to regain our perspective on everyday events. It takes a week to relax and a week to enjoy. We are staying 3 weeks...a real treat. As I headed out the door I knew I wanted to make my granddaughter a new dress for the start of school. I knew we had a sewing machine here but being unsure of what other things I had I decided to buy a Sew Beautiful kit of the month. I am sew glad I did. I worked all week to finish the dress and it turned out lovely. Not having all the luxuries of home (I have a well supplied sewing room at home) I had to improvise quite a lot. I did not have a piping foot so substituted a zipper foot. with no double needles I had to sew two straight rows very carefully. But I am very proud of having a lovely finished dress. Be sure to notice the Fifi and Fido embroidery. I highly recommend the kits from Sew Beautiful. More later...have to get ready for the grandkids arriving tonight. Happy sewing...Daisy

Pictures

 This is Connie Palmer's Birthday Dress. Knowing my Ginger I figured this would be well received if Tinkerbell were present. Ginger loves Tinkerbell! I believe she will want to wear the slip with the overlay and skip the dress since she is in Texas where it gets quite hot. We shall see.

 Here you see Martha Pullen with me at Sewing for Baby Licensing.

 This is a onesie done with the overskirt. There is a ruffle on the underpanties.

 This is a sunhat. My first finished project at SFB licensing.

 I finished the safari jacket and blanket when I got home in April. It is reversible, made of the softest knit with a giraffe on one side and a lion on the other. One of my favorites.

 This was a darling boy's hat with matching bib and booties. Most of it is done in the hoop.

 This stocking designed by Peggy Dilbone uses piecing, decorative stitches, puffing with a curve, and smocking in the hoop. I made this for Maren Rose, my daughter's good friend's new daughter.

 Another favorite was this bunting. I love the colors!

This was a fun album to make. I will post the photo of my album when I get home. This is the one from the class.
Sorry I have been so slow to post pix but I have been traveling a lot. July should find me home and ready to sew.
Happy Sewing! Daisy

Sewing for Babies

What a wonderful week this has been! Sewing from 830am to 530pm every day. We ate lunch and rushed back to our machines so we could complete our projects. We received 50 projects and while we did not finish everything, I intend to go home and finish the rest. The instruction was great. While I knew how to do most of the things I still went to the demos. It never hurts to have reminders.
The food was delicious and the Holiday Inn did a wonderful job of taking care of us. My room was right around the corner from the sewing room...great positioning!
In the evening there were lectures, trip to Martha's warehouse, special dinner at Martha's home, and, of course, sewing.
Wonderful friends were made! It was fun hearing others dreams, ideas, successes and failures...all to learn from. Now I head to DC to visit my Mom, watch Eleanor as a mushroom in Snow White, play with William and Clara, and then head to Texas the next week. Sewing whenever I can! DaisySews

Pictures will be coming.

Pictures

Today I am adding the much promised pictures. These pictures include the Christmas quilt made with my Go! cutter. I used 2.5 in. strips and Christmas appliques to make this rendition of Eleanor Burns Christmas quilt. This is for my daughter Sallie who loves Christmas.
I also added the embroidered jacket and dress made for Clara. I can't wait to make my next jacket. It is fun to have them come to life. Now to see her in it. (I made one in blue for Ginger last Fall.)

Today I am getting ready to go to Columbia to visit my friend Sally. We will be doing a Farmhouse Fabrics class this weekend with Connie Palmer. A great way to spend time with friends! DaisySews

Smocking and Pleating

This week has been dedicated to smocking Clara's Dress and Top for her Easter Ensemble. It is a Gail Doane design. I have already finished the jacket. To pleat this fine fabric I used a special dowel from Farmhouse Fabrics. It has a magnet that holds the fabric taught when rolling it out. I used to have a friend help me so it is nice that I can do it on my own. I pleated 4pieces on Tuesday night and smocked them last night. Now they are ready to be sewn together. I must interject here that I forgot how much I love to smock. It is very peaceful to sit and watch your design appear before your eyes. My Sallie had around 30 Polly Flinder's dresses in the 1980's but at that time I didn't know how to smock. I am making up for lost time by smocking for my little ones now.
DaisySews

Valentine's - A Day Late

Today I am going to lunch with my dear neighbor Doris. As a treat I had wanted to make her a dish towel for Valentine's Day but time got away from me as usual. I was determined to finish my gift even if it was a day late. Now there are folks out there that think embroidery is easy. Yes you just set it up and change the threads. They don't realize that placement takes practice, stabilizers take knowledge, and, mostly, embroidery takes time. It took me all evening to embroider this darling towel. It has a squirrel appliqued on it holding a heart inscribed with "Nuts About You".. I need to go back and get some more supplies to make these ahead for next year...so cute!

I am working on my PHD (Projects Half Done). I also finished a shirt for William (6). He loves airplanes and spends much spare time at the "airplane park" near BWI where he climbs as high as he can to watch the airplanes take off and land. So I found a design online that resembles a commercial airline and embroidered it on a piece of corduroy that I then attached to a knit shirt. It looks super! William is a bit tempermental about what he will wear so I have my fingers crossed that he will approve of this.

Till tomorrow...DaisySews

Barbara Moore Class

It has been an exciting last couple of days. I attended a Barbara Moore lecture/trunk show/hands-on class. The first day was really interesting learning about all the feet available for our machines and seeing them put to use. I can't wait to try out free motion sewing on my machine. It has always seemed scary but now I am brave! Barbara had lovely samples of her work... Beautiful jackets using multiple threads, girls' dresses with lots of lace, and home decor using other techniques which I am anxious to try.
Yesterday was the hands-on session. We were all making the heirloom dress. Mine would be for Eleanor. We got a good jump on it. The first part of the day was spent doing pintucks in the round, an interesting way to do them so they are continuous. Afterwards we cut the bodice and back out. Then came the lace tape. This has been around for awhile but is having a resurgence. To end the day we made a madeira skirt band for the bottom of the skirt. When I get it all together I will post the picture.

** It is now Monday morning. Yesterday I did try some different techniques. I am finishing my daughter Sallie's Christmas quilt. I needed to tack down some appliques on it but was dreading doing the ones with intricate turns because the quilt is bulky. Well, I decided to do the free motion on this and it worked great. I am almost done the top and ready to send it to the quilter. A good finish to the weekend!

Happy Valentine's Day to All!!  Daisy

Quilt Guild

If you ever wanted to have a good time, find a Quilt Guild in your area. This is the friendliest group of men and women (yes there are a number of men). I attended my first meeting last July and realized I needed to start quilting so I could join in with this group. I took my Bug Quilt last night for Show and Tell. I was very proud of my first quilt.
We had a guest speaker, Flavin Glover. If she ever comes to your town be sure to take her classes and go to her seminars. She loves what she does and is a vivacious speaker. She had an amazing number of quilts with her and she told us about each one. She uses log cabin quilts and creates scenes and wonderful geometric designs. Check out her website, www.flavinglover.com.
I will write more tonight but today I have to head out to a trunk show/seminar with Barbara Moore. Tomorrow is a hands-on class. She is an heirloom sewer. We will be making a beautiful linen dress with optional embroidery. So often the sizes are for little girls so when I saw they had a size 10, I opted for a dress for Eleanor. It will be perfect for Easter. Off I go...

Ginger's Bug Quilt

January was spent taking an online quilt course with Jenny Doane. She is with the Missouri Star Quilt Company. It was fun to take a course at my leisure. I decided to make a crazy nine patch quilt. You take nine 5"x5" pieces of fabric and sew them together with three across and three down forming a block of nine charms. Then you press them and cut the now big block in half horizontally and then vertically. You will now have four cool blocks. I then laid them out on my living room floor so that no seams matched. Laying them on the floor made me work fast because I knew my family would revolt if they were there for long. Hence I finished the layout in a day and decided this quilt would be for Ginger, my 2.5 yr old granddaughter in Texas. After much thought I decided I needed to add something to give it a child's charm. I took random blocks and replaced them with embroidered designs of bugs...it quickly became the bug quilt. Now it was perfect!
After sewing the top together, it came time to send it to the longarm quilter. I have some friends up the street who do longarm quilting so I headed to their place to see what I needed to do. I pieced the back together taking 9 fat quarters and doing with them what I had done with the small charms. Now we have a reversible quilt.

                        Here are some pictures of The Bug Quilt. 3rd down is the back of the quilt.

I decided to do a design of dragonflies for the overall quilting. It turned out beautifully! Then I did the border band attaching it by hand. Today I need to finish the label and then it is ready to send off.
Hopefully it will keep my dear little Ginger warm through the years and she will think of me when she cuddles up in it. Oh the joy of quilting!

A New Year 2011!

(Pictures above include Eleanor dancing with Uncle Bob, Eleanor with Daisy and Pops wearing the flowergirl dress designed by Daisy, the summer top for daughter Sallie, Baby Danny's quilt followed by a close up of the block with his info, and beautiful Clara in her christening gown.) 

Sorry I took a break from my blog. I am back in full force. I did a lot of sewing this last fall getting ready for Christmas. I took a great Gail Doane class on fine embroidery. I was surprised how much I liked the hand sewing. it is very peaceful to sit and sew. I finished the original out fit for Ginger. Hopefully she will wear it for Easter. I am now working on one with Pink details for Clara. The jacket is almost finished. So Cute!! A picture of that will follow shortly.

I have started quilting in earnest. I took an online quilt course with Jenny Doane and had to try out some of her ideas. Hence I finished my first single bed-sized quilt for Ginger. It is a crazy nine patch. Very easy to make except I substituted embroidered blocks here and there with bugs...hence the name...the Bug Quilt. I still have to make a label before I take it to Quilt Guild this Thursday for show and tell. I have signed up for an Eleanor Burns class in Columbia, SC in the Fall...how exciting!

My big news is that at the end of March I will be headed to Alabama for the "Sewing for Baby" Licensing with Martha Pullen. I have always wanted to go to one of her schools. I hear they are a blast. I will tell you how it goes.

More pictures will be coming as I have been very busy sewing.
Just wanted to get back on track in the new year. Follow along as I continue with family stories and sewing tales. Till tomorrow...Daisy Sews