I promised my three year old granddaughter a summer dress, so bought some dress patterns online, and started playing. I didn't want to buy new fabric for the dresses straightaway so using some of my stash, I started on one of the designs. I had to make bias binding from the fabric, but that wasn't too difficult. I was very happy with how the dress turned out. And it fitted the granddaughter too! She's three and a half years old, but I had to make a size 5 for her measurements. Didn't plan this pattern well, as the top size in the pack is 5. I will try another dress pattern in the next couple of weeks. Before she grows too big.
Here's the elephant wallhanging so far - lots of different blocks placed on the design wall, just to see how much more I need to make. The idea is that the elephants will be moving through the wall hanging, so the flying geese and other blocks are intended to give that feeling of movement. The final size should be around 1m wide by 50cm high - just depends on what I add to it. My initial pull of fabrics from my stash of batiks was too samey, so I broadened the pool of colours. Although now I look at the photo, I'm not sure that I've solved the problem. I am planning to machine quilt it first, then hand quilt with perle threads and maybe add some beads? I will see what it seems to need.
A good friend visited a couple of weeks ago and I said to her she could have any of my quilts. I showed her a few, both finished and in progress, and she decided she liked the Quatro quilt. J realises it will take me at least another year before I finish it and seems happy to wait. It is nice to have a person in mind for the quilt while I'm working on it. The quilt has grown a little since this photo was taken but is still two full rounds from completion.
Goals for October and November - how did I go?
These were the goals for October and November. Haven't really achieved any of them, but I have made the granddaughter's dress - so that is a win. I have been away a bit, and worked quite a bit, and not done as much sewing as I would like - sadly.
- Quilt the Sawtooth Star quilt; add binding and label - still waiting
- Finish sewing the elephant wallhanging top - getting there
- Pin baste music quilt ready for quilting in November - didn't even start!
I'm not going to bother setting goals for December. Always a social month!
October/November 2021 fabric tally:
