What a Trooper

My dear husband actually suggested that he learn to make a quilt for his mom for Christmas...well, I'm not sure if it will actually get done, but he did try it.

Here's what I said: That looks great!  Make sure the edges are lined up together, and use the red line on the presser foot."
Here's what I was thinking: "EEK!!  Get those edges lined up!  You're off the line!  That's a one eighth inch seam, not a quarter inch!  Oh, man...I'm not an experienced quilter; how am I going to make that work??"
I've really got to learn to relax...

and then there's my most time-consuming current project: a holiday dress for one of my girls.  It's silk, it's lavender, it's got box pleats...which I am edgestitching so they stay crisp.  Maybe that was a mistake, because there are lots and lots of edges.  So far, I have made one pleat's worth.  Here are a couple pictures.  Forgive me, I am obviously not a photographer.

This is how I'm doing it.  I'm pinning a pleat at a time (pinning to the ironing board), pressing it, then edgestitching it.  I figured I'd better do it very slowly because I don't want them to become too crooked; that would look pretty bad.  I can't say they're perfect, but they look nice so far.  This fabric frays terribly, though.  I hope they whole thing hasn't unraveled by the time I'm done.  Maybe I'll stay stitch the edges...nah, that's just going to make more work.

The second picture is the foot I'm using to edgestitch.  It's an overcast foot, but it works really well for stitching very close to the edge of this material.

I'm making a pattern from Ottobre magazine, #18, issue 02/2002 for those who have it.  It's a very classic dress and I'll try to continue to post pictures as I go.

Testing Patterns

Here's a jumper I just finished making.  It's a test pattern called Jillian from Dawn at Olabelhe.  It was super easy to make, and it's absolutely a ton of fun for a girl to wear.

This is a picture of the Annikka dress I tested.  I love this dress - it's so fit for a princess.

Water Fowl

Aren't these the most wonderful birds?  I love them.  and they love us when we bring duck chow.

This is what happens when someone runs at them with a dog and frightens them into the water.  I just love it when people do that.  Notice the duck bottom in the top of the frame; I wish it were in focus.

Dirty Pond Soup

Well, it does really look like a dirty pond, although, it is actually lentil soup.  We added goldfish crackers to our bowls and then went fishing.  Very tasty.  However, it was proclaimed that the fish needed washing since they were swimming in this dirty pond.

Children are such gentle critics.

Jumping in

Welcome to my blog, cut and pasted neatly into a lovely prefab template and adorned with that nifty "Fish" gadget.  It's so soothing.  Now if I can only pull myself away from it long enough to think of something interesting to say...