Quilt Suprise

My sister got some good pictures of my mom and dad as they opened the quilt.

My Latest Sewing Projects

Sara Abernathy and I were asked by one of the sisters at church to help put together a quilt for her daughter's school fundraiser. The kids decorated squares and we (Sara and I) put them together in a quilt for the school to auction.

It got me thinking, we could totally do a quilt for my parents for an anniversary or something (which is something my mom and her siblings did for their parent's 50th Anniversary)... and then, my sister Kerry said, "I am always looking for unique gift ideas, can we do a quilt for mom and dad and Matt's mom and dad for Christmas?"

Two quilts in 2months???? No problem!

I really enjoyed working on these two projects. I had never done a quilt on my own (I have always worked with a group of people, or as I mentioned before, with Sara). It was a little stressful having a deadline, and my house work MAY have lacked a little over the last two months... not too mention trying to squeeze in POTTY TRAINING... BUT... I think the end results, and the joy expressed by the recipients was well worth the 2" layer of dust on my bedroom furniture! :)

Recent Sewing Projects

When I was a teenager, one of my first "real" jobs (outside of babysitting) was working at Hancock Fabrics. I learned quite quickly that I could be easily addicted to sewing projects (specifically clothes). I purchased a sewing machine while I worked there (the company would often run 50% off sales and combined with an employee discount, they practically had to pay me to buy a machine).

I am self taught (never took any lessons, although I owned, at one time, a book of sewing basics that helped me tremendously). Something that was always so amazing to me was the transformation from a piece of fabric to a piece of clothing... I know, some people would say "yawn", but it has been a big interest of mine.

In addition to a sewing machine purchase, I stocked up on fabric (it's what you do when you have grand ideas of making all kinds of clothing). And anytime a pattern was discontinued the employees (with permission of the store manager) were allowed to take the patterns FOR FREE- so of course would pass on free patterns (when not on sale for $0.99 those things are EXPENSIVE)... All that to say, the older I have become, the less I have sewn... I would take my machine out every once in a while for little home projects (like throw pillows for the couch, curtain for the kitchen window, etc)

So what has changed? Why am I sewing again? Well I have found a very easy project that seems to be in demand right now. NURSING COVERS! We have several in our church that are expecting (well, minus 1 who just delivered this week). Several friends that are expecting, and well, lets just face it... when you are down to being a one-car family, you have to do something to keep from going stir crazy (and as most of you know, any thing to take my mind off house cleaning is OK in my book).

The following are nursing covers I made for 3 young women in our church (one being my sissy).

This was the first one I made (besides the practice one)

This is the one for my sister

The fabric for each cover was chosen by me with
the specific expectant mom in mind

This shot just shows the detail of the rigid boning neckline

perfect for mom and baby to make eye contact

I also made a nursing/hospital gown for my sister. We had a nice day out together to go pick out the fabric of her choice. She went with a matte black with dark grey pattern to match a pair of burgundy slippers w/ charcoal colored satin ribbon. The gown has a burgundy ribbon with a sheer black ribbon on top (it ties in beautifully with her slippers). One of the things she liked about the gown style was that it snapped in the back (rather than the flimsy ties that the hospital gown offer) and it snapped on both shoulders allowing for ease of nursing. While I was very pleased with the end result, it is not a project I will make for just anyone (to me it's more than a "one-size fits all" project and fittings are crucial throughout the process).

This is the front of the gown

This is the back of the gown

This is a close-up of the snap feature

If anyone is expecting, or has friends/family that are expecting and would be interested in a nursing cover (sorry no more nursing gowns) let me know and I will discuss the details with you.