Elephants on Parade

I have been doing a ton of sewing for the sister of our bishop's wife over the last month and a half. Most of it has been throw pillows and curtains, nothing too exciting to share. But she also asked me to make two doll quilts for her daughters' American Girl Dolls. Using fabrics leftover from some decorative pillows I did for their bedroom I came up with two of these:

Crayola Portfolio

The girls were invited to attend the birthday party for our friend's twin daughters who are turning 5. It was a last minute invite so I needed to come up with something quick and went with the tried and true crayola portfolio pattern.
 A quick run to JoAnn fabrics and then off to the sewing machine to complete these just in time for the party.

McCall's 6023

I made up this dress for Sarah yesterday using MCCall's 6023.  I made it a size larger then what she usually wears and now wish that I had not She will ave plenty of growing room butit is just a tad too much at the moment. She loves it however and just had to wear it to church today despite it's too large size.

White and Aqua Easter Attire

Crochet Sweater was made using a free pattern from Lion Brand Yard, I believe. They were very quick to make and the pattern was easy to follow.

A Little of This and That

I had a rather productive day putting together some little gifts for a friend of Ivy's for her birthday party and using up some scraps.
These hats and little purse are on there way with Ivy Girl to her best friend Ivy's birthday party. Isn't cute that two best friends share the same name?!

 I used up some scraps from the purse to make these little tiny treat bags. I Believe the pattern came from Happy Zombie.

Portraits Of A First Grade Class

The childrens' school is well on the way with preparations for their annual fundraising auction scheduled next month. I am, of course, helping in each of the kiddos classes with putting together the baskets. Caleb's class has decided to do a spa themed basket, Isaiah's class is doing a chocolate themed basket, Ivy's class is doing their traditional art themed basket, and Sarah's class chose to do a quilt.

We had each of the children in Sarah's class draw a self portrait on a 6 1/2" square of white fabric and then color it. Some of the children did a fabulous job of following the instructions of doing their best work and making their person the focal point in the space. It was fun to watch the creativity come out in the children and their efforts to do their best.

 And some put so much personality into their self portraits that I could not help but chuckle.

 And being a bit partial I just have to share Sarah's as well.

As I pieced together the quilt top I had fun looking at each of the drawings again. I based the colorful color pallette from the fabric choosen for the backing of the quilt. I did not get a photo of it before I took everything to the quilter but will be sure to do another post when the quilt comes back to be bound. But here is a look at the top:

My inspiration for the layout of this quilt came from this quilt from the Moda Bakeshop. And I think it was the perfect pick.

Simplicity 5483

Sarah has out grown most of her dresses so I decided it was time to make her a couple new ones with some corduroy that I have had tucked away for a couple years. The first one completed is this one:

View C. I'd forgotten that for some reason the skirt of this pattern comes out rather long. I may go back and shorten it a bit. She loved getting to wear it to church this morning and is lookng forward to seeing what I have ready for her next Sunday

Another Bobble-licious Bag

Mum is expecting some visitors soon and they will be bringing their 4-year old daughter withthem and so she wanted a little gift to give her when she came to visit. I quickly whipped up the wonderful Bobble-licious bag for her to give the little girl. The bag is lined with fabric that has little kittens playing with balls of yarn.

A Matching Pair

A woman at church called me last week (nothing like waiting to the last minute) and asked if I could making a matching girls' dress and 18" doll dress to include with the 18" doll they were giving her daughter for Christmas. She brought over a pattern for a girl's dress and fabric they wanted to use for it the next day and I came up with as close of a match as I could for te doll. Here is what I sent home with her today:

A Few More Hats

A birthday gift in one and Christmas gifts with the other two

Halloween Costumes

October is of course, the month for putting together costumes for the kiddos and that is just what I did.
Caleb: The Ghost of Monopoly Man
Isaiah: Ranger's Apprentice
Sarah: Witch
Ivy: Tinkerbell

Bobble-licious in Lavendar

A co-worker's daughter celebrates her 9th birtday today and I could not resist making her one of the Bobble-licious purses from the pattern provided by the wonderful Heidi.
I love making this purse as it is so quick and easy and the girls love it.

Summertime Fun

I came across this fabulous idea the other day and just had to give it a go for the kiddos. Since the weather promises to be summer like this weekend I thought it the perfect time to head to Home Depot and gather the supplies and also get a 10% Military discount while I was at it. Being military does have it's advantages at times.


It was so quick and easy to put together, especially since the folks at Home Depot cut the PVC pipes to length for me while I was there. Isaiah had a blast drilling the holes before he and Mac headed off to go tend to one of Mac's projects.

I used 3/4" PVC for this project and followed the idea of another blogger in leaving off the misters and just going with holes drilled every 2" across the top piece. I did 6 holes down the side pieces but think I should have just stuck with 4....oh well...it's still tons of fun.

Easter Dresses in the Making

I thought I'd share a little peak at the dresses I have been working on for the girls for Easter. I just have one little thing to complete and they will be finished. Ivy Girl is in heaven over the fact that they are purple and green, her two favorite colors.

School Auction Quilt

Miss Sarah's kindergarten class made quilt squares to go into a quilt for their schools' annual action to raise money for field trips and such. I volunteered to assemble the quilt and it was so fun to see what each child came up with from their hand print. Most turned them into some kind of animal but a few came up with other ideas. Being partial to Sarah's I of course got a close up shot of hers but have included shots of the overall quilt to share. Currently it is off at the quilter's but should be returned in a week or so so that I can get the binding on prior to the auction.

Christmas Skirts

Spent a little time today at the sewing machine today and whipped together this skirt for Miss Sarah for Christmas using this tutorial found on the Moda Bakeshop.

 It was super simple and quick to make and I had it together in less then 2 hours. I ran out of steam however when I discovered that I was out of elastic. So I will have to run to the store for that. I really like the 12 Days of Christmas Fabric line and selected it for this project. I got 1/3 yard of 11 prints and have plenty left for Ivy's skirt, the appliques on the shirts and some other fun project yet to be decided upon. 

JaKell's Baptism Dress

I've been working on two more baptism dresses. A friend from church wanted to not only have one for her daughter to wear after she was baptized but on for her to be baptized in as well. This is the one for after (Simplicity 3545)and is much fancier then the one she will wear while being baptized. This one was completed on the 18th  and I just have to hand stitch the lining in place on the bodice for the other.

Vogue 7681

I have never used vogue patterns before but a very special young lady is getting baptized in a couple of weeks and so I wanted to make a dress that is just as special as she is. When I saw this pattern I just had to give it a try. For Kate, I decided to go with view C with a white organdy overlay on the skirt. With working outside the home now, it took me a bit longer to put it together then it would have in the past. I also don't think I have ever done a dress that required so much hand work but it was rewarding all the same. I wish I could be there in Montana to see her reaction when she receives it in the post on Monday or Tuesday. Misty, don't forget to send me a photo of her in it...and maybe one of Kate's reaction when she sees it. Thanks~
As usual, my photos are not the best but here is a look:

I did shift the flowers along the waist line around  a little after I took this photo. The center one was shifted to the left and another added in to the right to make it look a bit more even.

Butterflies

Miss Sarah was invited to a birthday party for a friend this week and so a gift was in order. Not wanting to have to run to town for something I decided to look at my meager stash to see what I might have on hand to make. Recalling that I had some pink and purple butterfly fabric I went through my patterns and came up with this pattern from Simplicity. Making a couple changes to view B and adding a bit of inspiration (apron) from Angel of Ta Da, Creations I put together this little outfit for the birthday girl. Sarah was thrilled with it and enjoyed the chance to model it before taking it to the party (is that bad etiquette for gift giving?).