Ren Faire Fun

I got my noble outfit done in time for the 2nd weekend of the Southern California Renaissance Pleasure Faire!  Here it is the night before:

 Sorry for the weird angle...hubby is quite a bit taller than me :-)

And, here is my Best Buddy and me, enjoying the warm California sun:

Well, the sun was SWELTERING, especially when you're covered in a court gown made of yards of cotton velvet.  But we got compliments from some court ladies who were really for real, and that made it all worth it! :-)

"BLOOM" Sew Along, Block 4...and Ren Gown Update

Hiya!  I'm "Bloom"ing right along, and got Block 4 of Lori Holt's Sew Along done!

Credit: "A Bee in My Bonnet". Click the pic to see Lori's tutorial.

This one looked pretty straight-forward with only a few pieces, so I was stoked to get started.  I picked my fabrics, which ended up being close to the pattern suggestions, traced my templates and then rough-cut my Steam a Seam 2:

I really love the dark blue fabric with the yellow cherries...I may need to buy yardage!  And those adorable chicks on the yellow!?!  OMG, this is my favorite color-combo yet!  This fabric line is just perfectly cute!  

So after sticking the SAS2 to the back of each fabric piece, I mocked them up, and pressed them into place:

  

Added blanket stitch applique, except for the stem, which got zig-zagged.  That stitch works so much better on the stems than the blanket stitch!

Squared it up, picked some border fabric, and framed this bad boy:

So cute, and relatively painless!  This block completes one row of the quilt, so I just had to have a preview:

LOVE it!  I'm planning on sashing each block with 1" of the white background fabric...I kinda want to highlight each block separately, and I think the patchwork-y double borders need to be broken up in order to do that.  Also, I may tweak the final layout and/or add more blocks, so I won't be sewing my blocks together until the end.  If you check out Lori's blog (and you really should!), she has posted bonus flower patterns/ideas for using her "Bloom Sew Simple Shapes" templates, and they are super-adorable:

Credit: "A Bee in My Bonnet".  Click the pic for Lori's tutorial.

I love those patchwork flowers!  Lori is a true creative genius, and her ideas are awesome, but she really does a fantastic job of explaining to us mere mortals how easy her methods are, and then she actually takes the time to teach them...you can just tell that she wants to help peeps make pretty things!  I may be slightly crushing on her!  But seriously, her hard work should be recognized, and I hope that anyone reading this knows it!  Afterall, she's the reason I'm trying applique for the first time and getting such great results!  So check out her blog and buy her stuff in her Etsy shop!  

Unfortunately, Block 5 is going to have to wait a bit, because I have to finish up my Ren Faire outfit...my friend and I are going tomorrow!  Since my last post, I was able to make a square-necked chemise (a first for me), and detachable sleeves to match my green underskirt/forepart fabric (overskirt not shown):

So my costume is pretty complete.  I just need to sew that trim to the top of the bodice, and maybe add the brown beads to the front, if I have time.  I still need to make a bag, some type of hat, and I need a feather fan.  At this point, I'm really over working on this thing....it's been 4 years in the making.  So I hope to have some really cool pics for you tomorrow!

Patchwork Heart

I was able to finish the patchwork heart baby quilt just in time for the baby shower earlier this week!  Mama loved it, and confessed that she had been hoping I would make her a quilt, but didn't want to ask for such a labor-intensive gift.  Awwww, y'all know how fantastic that made me feel...like all of those hours spent are truly appreciated, and that my hand-made gift will be cherished, which is all we crafty peeps can hope for.  YAY!

Here are some pics!  I quilted loops and hearts in the main body of the quilt, and took a stab at quilting feathers in the colored borders and in the corners.  I am always wanting to try something new!

Ta-Da!

Quilting!

"Dream Big Little One"

This was also the first time I tried using rulers while quilting.  I've been voraciously watching YouTube videos and drooling over the work of some wondrous quilters, especially longarmer Linda Hrcka of The Quilted Pineapple and domestic machine quilter Karen Miller of Karen's Quilts, Crows & Cardinals - Red Bird Quilt Co.  Check them out, and just try to withstand the siren song of ruler quilting.  I dare you!

So for this quilt, I made up a practice quilt sandwich.  I don't know why, but it's really hard for me to "waste" perfectly good fabric and batting just for practice.  Yes, I realize that it's necessary so that I don't destroy a "real" quilt, but it still bugs me.  I dunno, just a weird hang up I have.

Feathers are tougher than they look!  I like the "bump back" technique, and my second block above (the one on the left) already looks better than my first try (on the right).  Also, I free-handed the middle "feather" on the right, but used a ruler for the one on the left.  Guess what technique I used on the quilt...

 

I bought a Westalee ruler foot for my machine a bit ago, along with some rulers.  I used the Quilted Pineapple's "BFF" curved ruler for the center, and also used a straight edge ruler to help with stitching in the ditch.  I don't know why. but stitch in the ditch is soooo difficult for me!  Give me loops, stipples, or any other all-over design, but don't make me SITD!  When all was said and done, I think the corners came out okay for a first try:

Horrible Stitch in the Ditch, but pretty good feather design!

Hard to see, but this is my best one!  It's true what they say, to improve I just need to practice, practice, practice!  I do know that I had fun using the rulers and I was happy with the results.  Next time I have to remember to keep the motif farther from the quilt edge to allow adequate room for the binding.  Ooopsy!

So, the whole ruler experience has been an encouraging one.  That's why I'm looking forward to using them on this quilt:

This quilt stalled because I can't decide what to to do for the outer borders, and I'm actually not as thrilled with those sashing stars as I had thought I would be, so I'm kinda bummed.  I tried buying even more matching fabric to give me more border options, but I'm still not sure.  Over-analysis much?  I just need to figure it out and finish it up so I can start obsessing over what quilting designs I'm going to use!

Unfortunately I also need to finish this, and it has a deadline, so ruler work is on hold:

This is a velvet court gown I've been working on for 4 years which I am bound and determined to wear to Ren Faire this year!  My friend and I are planning on attending next weekend, and we've made a pact that we will be wearing our gowns, even though as I write this neither one of us is done with our outfits.  I still have to make the sleeves, make a chemise, make a matching bag of some kind, and come up with some type of period-appropriate headpiece, quite possibly a fancy little flat cap.  But I'd so much rather be quilting!!! ;-)