Samantha's new dress

Samantha has an invitation to attend a July 4th picnic and will be wearing her new dress and her new red shoes. The fabric is "kettle cloth" from my stash and so is the lace at the bottom of the skirt. The lace was a necessity as more length was needed. The beads were from my beading supplies except for the star beads that I bought this week.

June's Bead Journal Project

I chose to bead ladybugs for June's bead journal project and just finished the outfit for Samantha. The beads are #15 glass seed beads and the fabric came from JoAnn's this spring. I bought it to make a dress for a friend's daughter and was able to make this outfit from the leftovers. It was frustrating to work with such small beads but in the end I think that it was worth it. I'm really happy with the entire outfit. Samantha will wear it to a friend's party.

Quilting with Beads

In March I went to Asilomar in California and attended a workshop taught by Thom Atkins. The subject was quilting with beads. Thom patiently taught the group new stitches and gave lots of hints about using color, types of beads and even how to improve the photographs of our work. I purchased the kit provided and added lots of beads of my own to learn the new stitches.
In order to take part in the show at our local library of miniature quilts, I spent the last two days working to complete this project.

My Sewing Helpers

During the week that I made the glider cushions, my husband and I were also dog sitting for my son's two Bernese Mt. Dogs, Buddy and Ollie. The entire time that I was sewing, they stayed right beside me. I thought that you'd like to meet them. Buddy is a certified therapy dog and often goes to work at the hospital with my son. Ollie is a loveable pet who sometimes acts like a troublesome teenager.

A Different Type of Project

Last week I made new cushions for my daughter-inlaw's glider. She chose the fabric to go with Adina's bedroom. I pinned the new fabric to the old fabric at the seam lines and then cut the fabric about a half inch from the line of pins. The seat cushion was a challenge because of its shape. The difficult part was cutting out the old gripper snaps and hand sewing them to the new cushions so that the arm and back pieces could be held in place by the snaps that were attached to the wooden frame of the chair. I tried to buy new snaps and when I couldn't find the same kind, I came up with the idea to reuse what I had. I'm happy that this job is complete and all were pleased with it. I did this job in about four and a half work days with the help of my son's two Bernese Mt. Dogs that slept at my side throughout the project.

For the Love of Elmo

My two year old granddaughter loves Elmo. When I saw this Elmo fabric I had to buy it and make her a summer outfit. This pattern reminded me of the crossover dresses that I made for my daughter when she was that age. I followed the pattern for the top but took out lots and lots of fullness and length in the pants.

June's Quilt Block

This month I decided to continue with the diamond theme that I did last month. The block measures 14" square and is made up of many pieces. It was a real challenge for me but in the end I was pleased with the results. The relaxing part of the block was embroidering the stems and appliqueing the leaves. Next month, I think that I'll go back to doing an applique block, which one I'm not sure as yet.