Briar Rose

Sew & Tell

Sophie made these Badminton Skort and Top from Oliver + S.  Too bad that they are not on her little girl to show off.  Really, the photo doesn't do it any justice here.  She was kinda exhausted after making these because this patten requires a lot of attention to detail.  In the process, she began to wonder if her efforts would be worth it in the end.  But, yes, of course, it was all worth making.  Her girl loved it!

Little details count...

Uh oh...what's Dash doing on Marilyn's quilt?  No, no Dash...this is way too pretty for your doggie bed.  You know how nasty your bed is.  This is supposed to be spread on her niece's bed.  She just kindly let you pose on it for the photo. I hope you understood.  Anyway, every star block is unique, and the colors are just gorgeous! 

And here is Shane in her yellow jacket which she made for her friend's birthday.  I couldn't believe how well it was made.  What a birthday present!

Yes, she is the girl with the magic hands.  The black kitty was born by her hands.  Hand embroidered!  And yes, her friend has a black cat. 

She used Kona yellow cotton and lined it with blue woven cotton.  Then she quilted it with batting in between.  Her friend lives in Portland, Oregon, so it's perfect to keep her warm and happy with the sunshine color. 

Her original screen printed label makes the jacket even more special.

And here is Shane again without the Jacket.  Her hand made shirt was just darn cute not to grab the camera although the fabric was not from Peapod.  The shirt has short sleeves, and no, the print on her arms are her lovely tattoos.  It looks like the shirt was meant to go with the tattoos, no?

From the Sewing Nook...

It's been a week, but how was your Fathers' Day, everyone?  Sadly, Fathers' Day is treated as if less important than Mothers' Day.  Maybe it is because it's hard to think of a gift for men in general. But, that's not the case for the twins. Well, thinking of the right gift, yes, it was hard. But, it is as important as Mother's Day. So our secret (maybe not so secret after the Mother's Day mission) plan had begun. There were a few project possibilities that came up, but we decided on the eyeglass case...because "Daddy always loses his glasses," the twins said.

Amelia cozily sewing a pincushion for her aunt who is a quilter.  A perfect gift for her...

Sarah is quilting the eyeglass case...her first quilting work!

Sarah is on a roll...finished the case and went on to the cat...

Oh no!!!  I pinned the right and the wrong side together instead of the right and right, but it was a good lesson.  Remember girls, learn from your mistakes and a seam ripper is a sewer's best friend. 

Here it is!  The pink button is their choice, but their father likes pink according to them, and it picks up with the pink glasses on the fabric.  Sarah did a superb job on the quilting!  I'm sure their dad loves it and hope he won't loose his glasses anymore.

They made a couple more things for other members of their family whom they will see at the family reunion.  I forgot to take photos again :-(

Chambray Quilt and Couch Dog

My chambray quilt looks like it's done, but not quite.  I'm still working on quilting it.  After trying a few different ways, I decided to hand quilt it.  So I'm sitting on the couch and quilting.  I try not to get the dog's hair on it, but my dog doesn't care.  As soon as I spread the quilt on my lap to work on, he tries to snuggle under the quilt.  But, I can't kick him off the couch.  He already loves the quilt and looks too cute.

Yep, this is my view...

Sew & Tell

As I have always said,  a modern quilt is easy and beginner friendly.  Here is Bonnie's windmill quilt.  She tweaked the traditional windmill pattern with Lotta Jansdotter's Glimma collection.  Simple and cute!  Love the colors.  Thanks, Bonnie!

And here are three familiar faces, Noelle, Evie, and Charlotte.  I was a bit worried about their skills for the granny tote, but they handled it pretty well.  Of course, there were a few accidents, but they were always eager to learn.  The results are right here.  Fantastic job, girls! 

The Twins

So it's graduation time, and the twins will soon be kindergarten graduates.  In fact, it's today!  Yay! Congratulations Sarah and Amelia!  But, they are not graduating from Peapod's sewing "school" just yet, so let's see how much progress they've made in this semester in reverse order (some projects are missing because I forgot to take photos).

The twins' grandma is in town for their graduation.  Amelia made a pouch for grandma, and Sarah made a heart ornament for their principal and this time she 98 percent made it on her own.

Tree printed summer skirts...

They are so natural in front of the camera...

The Mother's Day gift, the patchworked scarf...

Felted shoulder bags from the kit...

The cloud...

Heart ornaments for their teachers...

The bird and fish toys for their two cats...Dash is jealous...

Happy head bands...

Ribbon embellished drawstring pouches...

Monogrammed heart lavender sachet for mom and dad for Valentine's Day...

So this is where it all began...ah, their very first sewing project, the owl ornament.  I remember that they took 40 minutes to hand stitch the owl's eyelashes, so you see how far they've come.  While they prefer machine sewing to hand stitching, they now know how to do the running stitch, back stitch, and whip stitch by hand.  They can also sew a button.  Isn't that great?  I know there are plenty grown-ups out there who can't even sew a button.  While they still have a lot to learn, I am so proud of how far they've come and how much they enjoy sewing.  I love you girls!  

Summer

It was a beautiful day off yesterday, and school is out.  So we had breakfast out in the yard.  I found this perfectly imperfect bistro set sitting on the curb on the way home last winter, but I never placed it outside.  It was a perfect day to enjoy it. 

Santa Barbara Daisies are in full bloom...

Picked up at the farmer's market...

I don't follow/trust every single thing labeled as "organic, eco friendly, or green," but these strawberries can't be beat by those store bought ones with an "organic" label...

They are so good eaten by themselves, but they are better in my strawberry cobbler, a sign of summer!

Pasta with clams was nice simple lunch between the hard work around the house...

Another sign of summer, lovely basil!

My ceramic works are being utilized...

Watched my landlord drive away in his 1950's Mercury to the auto shop...

The year might be wrong, but it looks a bit like that Steve McQueen movie, no?  Yep, Bullitt is one of my favorite movies...