February's Project

This month Samantha is going to the Red Ball, a charity event that raises money for the Red Cross. She is wearing a red silky long dress with a dropped waist and a full skirt. The beading around the neckline was done with Swarovski Crystals and heart shaped beads with flowers painted on them.
My goal for each month is to try to make a pretty dress that is enhanced by beads. This month, I outlined the neckline and added a tear drop shape in the middle of the neckline. The hearts were added as a tribute to Valentine's Day.

February's quilt block

This morning I met some friends for a sit and sew and took my quilt block with me. It took lots of discipline on my part to sew rather than just look at everyone's work and talk but I did sew and completed my block for the month. I'm now thinking about which block to do for March. The one that I might do next is a basket with flowers and a ribbon with a bow on the handle of the basket. There are also pieced blocks in this quilt but for now, I'm enjoying the applique process. It is so relaxing.
This Sunday I'm going to start the doll dress for February's bead journal project. I didn't have any red silky fabric in my stash so I bought a yard the other day while I was at JoAnn's. My thoughts for this project are long dress, full skirt, beaded heart, lots of beading at the waist and on the bodice of the dress. I'll post a photo as soon as I finish the dress.

Ladybugs

A friend of my daughter's loves ladybugs and when she had her daughter, I promised to smock something for the baby with ladybugs on it. So far, I've finished the insert and now I'm thinking of how to use it. Probably I'll turn it into the focal point of a jumper like I did for my granddaughter, Adina. My only concern is the length from top to bottom of the smocking. Because it is done over nine rows, I think that I'll have to make the jumper larger than what the baby would wear this summer. I bought cotton fabric with ladybugs on it but I might try to buy red corduroy instead of using that fabric. My other choice would be to make the jumper in an eighteen months size. I'm going to make that decision quickly because my daughter and I are going to see the baby this coming weekend and I want to give her the completed outfit then.

Applique Blocks

This is the year that I'm challenging myself with quilting, beading, and sewing projects. These two blocks are part of a 1995 Piecemakers Calendar. Some of the blocks are large and some are small. These, I'm calling my January blocks. Later tonight, I hope to start cutting out the block for my February project, another applique block. Maybe next month for variety, I'll make a pieced block.

Adina in her hoodie

Since I haven't done any work on my February project, I thought that I'd show you a picture of Adina wearing her Elmo, Melmo to her, hoodie.