WIP Wednesday - getting organized

October is over and, in my sewing world at least, left me exhausted! I made 3 costumes, two trick or treat bags, and a quilt... whew.

So now it is time to get organized for the holidays! But first a confession: I don't know if you noticed this about me, but I tent to go overboard. Now, with that in mind, here is my holiday sewing schedule!!

November

1 - "Awesome" quilt.


I got this fabric more than a year ago. It's called Awesome, and it's a beautiful fall line. I had the squared finished a looooong time ago to, so I just need to get the top sewn together!

2 - Weekender bags - at least get them started...


I didn't typo there. It's suppose to be plural. I got this c.r.a.z.y idea to make my kids weekender bags for Christmas because they don't have great suitcases and we travel a lot. Then, of course, I want one, so I have the supplies for 3 bags here or being shipped here. The fabric in this picture is going to be for the princess. The other fabric is in route. Wish me luck. Or call the funny farm...


3 - Lego Bag.

When I first saw Lee's tutorial for this, it was like Heavenly choirs sang! My boy needs this for Christmas!

December

1 - Finish weekender bags

2 - The princess' Christmas dress. She wants gold and red. Griffindor colors. Yes, I'm serious!! lol!

3 - Mug Rugs for gifts.

4 - Planning/ designing E's King size. I have a friend who has commissioned a king sized quilt. I will be really getting into the meat of it after the holidays, but I will be planning, etc. as I can! I'm very excited!

And for both months - keep up with Skill Builder blocks. These are the October blocks that I just barely finished in time! :)

Crazy Quilt block

Diamond Dash

String block

Okay, that is all. I hope I can get it all done and not go crazy, but that is what the holidays are looking like for me!!

Linking up to WIP Wednesday!!

BQF - Purple Gems

I think I finished by the skin of my teeth here, but I did finally finish this great quilt just in time for the Bloggers Quilt Festival!! Yea!!

I have named this one Purple Gems. This is the first time that I have made a whole quilt with only two fabrics, and also the first that I have made with black as the background!

I really love how dramatic it is!



The story behind this quilt is special to me. For the last 2 years, I have been a leader in the Young Women's group at our church. I work with girls ages 12 - 18. The girls I work with are wonderful!! They work on a program full of goals and projects, and have all 6 years to complete it. The quilt today is for one of my girls who recently finished the entire program in just 2 years! I don't think I need to explain how awesome that is! It is a lot of work, and I am so proud of her!

Quilt Stats:
Name: Purples Gems
Pattern: Happy Quilting Quilt a long, by Melissa Corry
Size: 51 x 68
Fabrics: Solid black, Riley Blake "Trick and Treat" in purple
Quilting: FMQ, stipple

Princess Buttercup

Okay, now for mine. I must apologize in advance. Apparently, when I'm the one that needs to be in the pictures, it becomes very difficult to get good pictures. lol!

Anyway, I wanted to be Princess Buttercup for Halloween, but I already had a gown cut out (for another purpose that didn't end up happening) and that had been sitting in a bin for about 2 years. So, I just redesigned the sleeves and made it a Buttercup-ish dress. I really like how it came out!

Pink! I love the shimmery overlay. I added the gold trim to make it kind of royal looking.

The sleeves are my favorite! I designed them myself and love how they came out! They are really heavy, though! :)

My 7 year old took this picture. It's the best we got... hahaha.

Our crazy bunch! Happy Halloween everyone!! :)

Thor

This project was a really fun headache for me! Yes, I did the shirt twice. I made the cape three times. I tried to find a store bought Thor costume. (There weren't any!) But, I am very pleased with the final result, so here it is - Thor, god of thunder.

Yes, the helmet and hammer are store bought.

I made the little "glove" things just as little slip on sleeves. Seemed easiest.

The shirt is all fabric (the darker grey is taffeta, the shiny is vinyl!) and I attached it with super mega Heat n Bond. It's more art than sewing, and it's the first time I've done anything like it. I copied the design from a little Thor action figure! lol! I would have liked a full metal breastplate, but my blacksmith skills are lacking ;) (I did consider sculpting it out of Styrofoam, but my sculpting skills are lacking too...)

The cape is taffeta. If I had to do it over for a 4th time, I would have used satin. The taffeta is just a bit heavy.


The curve in the shoulder was a very important detail for me, and proved to be the hardest thing to figure out. I tried several things to hold the curve and had several failures. Finally, after scouring the notions section (and discovering a whole bunch of awesome things I had never known about before!) I found belting. Yes, the stuff you would use to make your own belt!! It was stiff and just the right width. I hot glued three layers together and glued it into my cape. Perfect. I had to attach the cape with staples, but we don't need to dwell on that! ;)

So, as I had several firsts on this costumes as well, I am linking to Melissa's TNT again! For Heat n Bond and Belting fun! :)

WIP Wednesday!!

The "I've lost my mind" edition!! lol!

Okay here's what's going on in my sewing room...

The Princess finally laid out another block!


Notice the high heel? hahaha!

I was all Halloween costume-d out this weekend, so instead, I put together a quick quilt top, using only two fabrics, and a modified version on Melissa's Happy Quilting quilt-a-long quilt.


It looks so cool! I'll be finishing it pretty soon, so stay tuned.

So - on to the "lost it" portion of the post.

Last Thursday, the kids went to a Halloween party. Remember the Thor costume?

Well... it didn't work. The cape came off and little man managed to cover the shirt in frosting. That is the excuse I am going to use as to why I re-did the entire thing. (The real reason is that we watched the movie over the weekend, and all I could think of was how lame my costume was.)

So... re-do! I am pleased with how it came out! Here's a sneak peek: (which, I'm not trying to be tricky here, I just haven't taken any good pictures yet!)


I will be getting pictures in all it's glory tomorrow, and will post pictures right after that! :)

Finally - as a last bit of crazy, I decided to use leftovers to make the kids Trick-or-Treat bags that matched their costumes.


Mom of the Year, right?

So now I just have my costume to do and a day and a half to do it! Wish me luck! :) This is how it looks right now...


lol.

Be sure to check out all of the awesome WIPs at Freshly Pieced!

E-Mealz Winner!!

We have a winner!!!!! And the prize goes to...

#11 is - A.J. Dub!!! Congratulations!! I have sent you and email! Yea!!

And don't forget, for those who didn't win, but want to give this a try, just visit E-Mealz and in the promo code, enter "savemoney" and receive $2 off!

Rapunzel...

I finally managed to get the Princess into her costume and get some pictures! I am so so SO excited about how this dress turned out! It is probably my very best dress to date! :) So, with no further adu, I give you my 2011 Halloween masterpiece (haha) Rapunzel...



I LOVE IT!



She loves it...



Here's a close up of the front. I am pleased with the grommets and everything! I was a little worried about those! :)



The back. This is probably the best zipper I have done!



The braid. I kind of think the big flower is way too big, but she loves it and won't let me change it!



The wig took almost a whole pound of yarn. I have never done anything like this at all, and it was mildly intimidating! But I am really pleased with how it came out!



As it was the first time I have made a wig/head piece, I have decided to link this up with Melissa's TNT link up - because it's important to celebrate when we Try New Things!!





I am so happy to have made this beautiful dress. I really do love making dresses, even if they are a t.o.n. of work! It worth it to see this beautiful smile!



Coming soon: Thor. hahaha! Now, on to the Halloween parties! :)