nothing to see at all

Tags

tiny tea leaves cardi, washi dress, x plus

Only, everything, all at once.

Putting some sleeves on some things: Tiny Tea Leaves cardi for Lucy, in madtosh DK twist, April mag society colorway doe eyes.

And, another Washi (for me!) lacking only sleeves, bias tape, and a hem. I’d like to wear it tomorrow so I’d better get a move on.

Trying to figure out which one of these x-plus blocks is my favorite. (Tutorial here, using these cutting directions to achieve a 12” finished block.) Six down, only 30 more to make!

Helping out just a little bit with Quilts for Boston. (I heard they got enough blocks to make, like, 100 quilts.) (100 quilts. That is crazytown. I make a lot of quilts, maybe 12-15 a year–I can’t even think what 100 quilts looks like!)

And Instagramming like my life depends on it. (I’m littleandlots over there, too! Would love to see/hear from you!)

Finally, I’m still hopping in the Let’s Get Acquainted New Blogger Blog Hop. I’m meeting so many lovely people (hello!) and having fun learning about some people I’d already met. Below is the list of this week’s featured bloggers; visit them and say hello!

Friday, June 21st

Leigh Anne @ Ella’s Cottage

Stacey @ The Tilted Quilt

Sarah @ Quilt Candy

Jackie @ NW Patchwork

Liz @ Beadqueene’s Bits And Baubles

Erica @ Happy Fabric

Stephanie @ Simple Sewendipity

Lauren @ Seraphym

Amy @ Cloud CouCou Crafts

ETA: linking up with the Plum & June Monday LGA link-up, hosted this week at Ange’s Heart of Charnwood. She has a seriously bucket-list kind of hexie quilt on the go…come check it out.

washi dress ii: strawberry edition

Tags

mom's washi, strawberry washi, washi dress

 

A huge distracter photo. (Of the growing TBR pile on my bedside table that will probably literally kill me in my sleep one day.) MOM: if you’re reading this, just don’t. Spoilers. Ha!

Now that she’s gone, I’d like to share a couple of photos of the Washi Dress I made for my mom’s birthday gift. Because it’s for my mom, I basically tried everything not to have to put on this dress and sweat in it.

I stood in the bathtub.

 

 

Bleh.

So I put it on, and was all, I’ll stand reeal still and take some bathroom selfies, and I won’t put my arms down so I don’t get deodorant on the dark fabric.

 

Not a lot better.

I gave in and dragged out the tripod, huffing and sweating. I figure she’s my mom, she won’t mind if I put on her dress for just a little while to show it off.

 

And then the photo was blurry. But! I think you get the picture.

I bought the fabric from Pink Castle Fabrics‘s Skinny Sale, their Memorial Day Weekend sale. It’s Kokka! A strawberry print from Trefle. Basically I don’t even want to admit what a great deal I got on 3 yards of this, because it feels kind of immoral. Like I stole it. 

I made a size L, for my mom. As you can see on me (I’m on the small side of M, or the large side of S?), this dress is just cut so well that even if it’s too big, it still looks totally cute. Maybe that will motivate some chickens to try it, eh? Even if you pick the wrong size…it’ll probably still be cute. 

Now, I’m just hoping that the strawberries aren’t too juvenile for my mom. I chose the print because, well, Kokka + deal = win, but also, my mom always chooses strawberry shortcake as her birthday cake, every year. In her teenage years she had a thing for Strawberry Shortcake, and I remember reading Lois Lenski’s Strawberry Girl many times with her growing up. Strawberries just make me think of my mom! I think the scale and the navy background help the print read grown-up and not little-girl.

Linking up over at the Pink Castle Fabrics Blog, in their Made With Pink Castle Fabrics monthly giveaway! Head over and check out the other cute makes. The pool grows every month!

still zigging

Tags

audiobooks, roy g. zig, string fever, washi dress

I’m back from Phoenix and East TN…

and I spent Thursday and Friday working like mad to finish the last 22 blocks I needed for my “Roy G Zig” quilt. The top has to be done by Friday to enter in Rachel’s String-A-Long contest/giveaway! I was worried but now I think I might make it. (Though really, I think my Sunday Morning quilt also qualifies.)

A revelatory sidenote: though these blocks are super-fun and -relaxing to make, there are a lot of them to crank through (I made 56 for a throw size). When I held my 100th post giveaway a few weeks ago, I asked people to recommend a book. Several folks recommended listening to audiobooks while quilting. Beth @ Plum and June recommended, in particular, Candice Millard’s Destiny of the Republic, which, frankly, did not sound like my kind of book at all, but I gave it a try and it. was. so. awesome. It’s about the assassination of James Garfield, but is so fascinating. I probably made 20 blocks before it ended!

Then, on my own, I found Gillian Flynn’s Sharp Objects, available as an audiobook from my library through Overdrive, which I’d meant to read after enjoying Gone Girl last summer. I’m 3/4 of the way through and told my husband last night that I wished I had more laundry to fold so that I could finish listening to it instead of watching TV. Yep.

I love quilting, but have been a little sad that it’s cut into my reading time. Audiobooks, though–you can cut, sew, iron, whatever. Awesome. Do you listen to audiobooks while you sew? Do you have any specific recommendations? (I’d be especially interested in hearing about books you think are good AUDIObooks–some are much better than others.)

/pointless interlude. Here are my Zig blocks laid out:

I’m supposed to give this away, BUT. We’ll see!

Also on the strong-a-long front: Marla @ Sew Hungry wrote an awesome String-A-Hex block tutorial that I’m hoping will help me eliminate this pile:

 

This is way more string scraps than I thought I’d be left with after finishing 56 Ziggy Strings blocks! They’re mostly uglies, so I am super-ready to part ways with them. String-A-Hex next?

Well, after I do some more Washis.

 

Top print is a Kokka strawberry print from Trefle, which I bought from Pink Castle’s Skinny Sale (holy moly, an insane deal I got on this stuff, and it already came!). It’s going to be a Washi for my mom if I have any self-control at all. Bottom print is from Sew Fresh Fabrics, and it’s a Lizzy House Constellations print. For another me-Washi. 🙂

Enjoy your long weekend! I hope you are doing better than picking paper off zig blocks while it is 45 degrees and raining cats and dogs. Not that I know anything about that.

a woman possessed (or, finished: washi dress I)

Tags

washi dress

While everything is really just dandy here at littleandlots, I’ve been a little angsty lately. Who knows. I have my secret and not-so-secret suspicions about the reasons.

After a particularly angsty day/evening/night, I woke up yesterday morning possessed by the desire to sew myself a dress.

 

And I mean PO-SESSED. I went from 3.5 yards of Flea Market Fancy that I’d been hoarding for a quilt backing (yeah, sorry, Roy G. Zig quilt) and no pattern to a dress by dinnertime.

 

You probably recognize this as the Washi Dress. I’ve wanted to sew this dress since the pattern came out last year, but hemmed and hawed mostly about the elastic thread and the back shirring. After making Lucy’s Geranium Dresses, I felt sure I could hang.

 

(Pardon the wrinkle across my backside, but you CAN see the not-at-all scary shirring.) I made a size M. I’m wearing the dress for realsies right now, like out to the Target-post office-library-whatever, and gapping around the neckline and the armholes makes me want to make a size S next time. This dress isn’t hugely big, but I have very narrow shoulders and a smallish bust, and my measurements were right in the crack between a S and a M. I made a muslin, but couldn’t tell how much the back would get taken in by the shirring. The skirt is so generous that I think my S-on-top-M-on-bottom self might do better in an S.

 

And oh, yes, there will be a next time! I’ve already ordered the fabric (Sew Fresh still has plenty of Constellations, if you feel like you missed it and are in despair) and can’t wait to get started.

A lipstick note: I read in the new bio of Sylvia Plath (Pain Parties Work, one of the best books I’ve read in a while) that Sylvia always wore red lipstick and very little other makeup. I bought a red lipstick last winter after seeing my sister Mary wear it so gracefully, but then got too chicken to really wear it. Well! If it’s good enough  a look for Sylvia, it’s good enough for me. I’ve got FACE Stockholm in Chili Flake.

With that, my new dress and I are off! I’ll be back in this space at the end of May, after some southern and southwestern travels. I will be watching your-all’s blogs, though–plenty of internet time, just no Janome time. Happy spring sewing!