Quilt for the boys

Here I am quilting again. This is the third one this year and I never quilt! I guess that's what happens when you become a grandmother. We're leaving early tomorrow for Jackson Hole so instead of packing I'm finishing up the quilt which will be a wall hanging in the boys room. I still need to do the binding and trim all the threads but I can do that when I get there. Overall I'm very pleased with it. If you look closely you can tell I'm not a polished quilter and little things are not quite right. I won't be entering it in any shows that's for sure. The close up shows the stippling that I did all over. That sure uses a lot of thread.

The animals are cut from a fabric panel showing the illustrations from "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?". Owen, at 2 years old, has this book memorized. I think he will enjoy seeing the familiar animals.

Haute Couture Fashion Show

Today I participated in a fund raiser fashion show for a club I am in called Haute Couture. We have monthly meetings with speakers on a wide range of topics of interest to fashion sewers. We also have workshops to learn new techniques and field trips to places of interest to the group (recently the Yves St. Laurent show in San Francisco). Today was the fashion show. Members model garments they have made for themselves or if made for someone else, that person may model it. This includes grandchildren or daughters. One of our members is a male costumer who outfitted several members with costumes and modeled a bunny costume himself.

I modeled 4 outfits. Here are a few shots. I didn't get all the images I wanted as I had handed my camera to someone unfamiliar with it and she had some trouble. But I'm happy to get some that represent the scene. The shot with me in a black top at the front of a group shows six of us modeling our "Instant Gratification" top that so many ladies got excited about at our sewing retreat last June. By chance I had worn my original orange top on the first day of the week retreat and by the last day 18 or 20 had been sewn, all by tracing around my original garment.

Hot Patterns Riviera Tee Shirt

I made two views from this pattern and like them both very much. The bright green was to be a test for fit because I thought the fabric too bright for me. However it grew on me so I finished the sleeves which really add appeal to the top. I want to make this one again. Here's the review: http://sewing.patternreview.com/cgi-bin/readreview.pl?readreview=1&reviewnum=38228. The second top was the one I really wanted to make but because of all the pieces it was hard to tell how it would fit, thus the trial bright green one. This one takes quite a bit of time to construct because each seam is sewn three times.... wrong sides together, overlocked, and finally stitch down flat. I didn't think I liked boat necks on me before this but my thinking is changing on that. Here's the review for the second top: http://sewing.patternreview.com/cgi-bin/readreview.pl?readreview=1&reviewnum=38230

What's up with me?

It seems I have been forgetting about my blog. It isn't that I haven't been sewing. 3 tops and a skirt have been reviewed since I last wrote here. Don't know what's up with me. Do I not want to write, communicate, or who knows what? I certainly spend time here at the computer reading other peoples blogs. Maybe that is more fun than writing for me. I will try to do better.