Mabel's BIG quilt

Last July, six year old Mabel took me aside and with great earnestness explained her need for a "big" quilt.  Yes, I had made her a small quilt when she was two and now she was six and a big girl who needed a big quilt.

Her well thought remarks made me realize that she did indeed need a "big" quilt.  I finished it and gave it to her last fall, but finally took pictures the first of February while we were visiting her family.

I used a jelly roll of "Sundrops" by Corey Yoder and a Bella solid to strip piece a "Sweet 16" quilt.

I love this cheerful fabric.  I machine quilted straight lines forming sqaures.

I pieced the backing with additional "Sundrop" material.  I used the ends of the strip sets as a stop border between the two different fabrics.

Now my cheerful granddaughter has a BIG cheerful quilt!

Laura's Dress from Little House on the Prairie fabric

Last summer I sewed Little House on the Prairie clothes for my granddaughters.  Pictures here.

This month I came across a great pattern for the "Laura Dress" that was written for  their American Girl dolls which are 18 inch dolls.

I had enough left over fabric from the two youngest granddaughters outfits to make them each a a set of clothes from the pattern.

Each will get a sunbonnet, Laura dress, and pinafore.

I had to change them up with the girls' dress fabric being used for the pinafore and the girls' pinafore fabric for the dress as the pinafores used less fabric than the dresses when I cut the girls' out last summer.

I was able to cut the sunbonnets from a fat quarter of additional Little House on the Prairie fabrics by Andover.

Luckily I had a little box full of different colors of very small buttons.

Years ago I purchased my own American Girl doll.  I always stated that if I were a girl when these dolls came out, Kirsten would be the one for me.  So I bought me one about 15 years ago and she is my ever faithful model and dress form.

This is the Laura Dress pattern by Avery Lane.

It worked well.  My only issue was that the waist strip was a bit short for my doll's waist.  Next time (if there is a next time) I will measure the waist of the doll before proceeding.

Fabric panel dolls

Every once in awhile I come upon a fabric panel for a doll that reminds me of my grandchildren.  This year it was Opal and I just had to sew it up for her for Christmas.

The fabric line was "Just Another Walk in the Woods" by Moda and the panel was 36 by 44 inches, so one yard of fabric.  Just a bag of polyester filling and we were ready to go.

I loved the cheater quilt panel with backing and the Home Sweet Home pillow.

And their little stuffed animals.

Now I knew that this was a lot of pieces for a four year old to carry about so I found myself back at the Cotton Shop looking for coordinating fabric from the line to make Opal a carry around bag.  A half yard of fabric and some stiff woven interfacing and the problem was solved.

Closeups of these two cute faces.

Isn't it so adorable how the fabric piece for the skirt gathers up and make such a lovely dress?  I added some lace around the bottom.

So there you have it, Opal's look alike Christmas gift.  I understand that there have been some tea parties at Opal's house.

Julianna's baptism day and dress

My granddaughter, Julianna, turned eight and was baptized as a member of The Church of Latter-day Saints during our last visit to Arizona.

 It was a special day which she had been looking forward to for some time.

She had many of her friends and family come to support her including this "best" friend.

I love being present for the baptisms of my grandchildren.  It is a truly special time.

I have made baptism day dresses for four of my granddaughters so far.

Grandpa Glen was also happy for his Julianna.

Grand parenting is an amazing adventure.

Julianna with her sweet mother, Susan.

It was a special day for Julianna and her family.

Both sets of grandparents had traveled far to share her day.

And they were not the only ones.  It worked out well that Rachel's wedding and Julianna's baptism were on the same weekend.

Here are some closeups of her dress.  I added a jacket because it would be December.  On Friday at the wedding, it was 75 + degrees.  After a big wind Friday night, it was a chilly Saturday at 55 degrees.  I was glad that I had included the jacket.

Embroidery on the jacket.

Each baptism dress is white and has smocking details with a bit of color.

The smocking was made with the same colors as the embroidery on the jacket.

Crystal buttons on the back and a back buttoned belt.  She seemed to really like her dress and I was happy to make it for her.  It was a great day Julianna!

Sewing machine cover

Some months back I ran across a pattern for a very cute sewing machine cover.  I planned to make one for my sewing sister and one for myself.  My sister's birthday was before mine, so she received a cover which looks like a retro trailer.

Each side has a window.

With different curtains.  I loved the red door.

There is also a spare tire in back.

This was a total scrappy project.  I pulled the green fabric to match the fabulous green walls in her sewing room.

I also let the award winning Mighty Baker make her the birthday cake seen in the background.  It was delish!

This is the pattern I purchased.  It was a bit hard to follow the directions.  I chose to leave off the bunting.  Can't wait to make one for my Bernina.

My "Little House on the Prairie" girls

The three sweet girls in these pictures are sisters and all have their birthdays within two months of each other.  When the Little House on the Prairie line of fabric by Andover came out months ago, I knew that I wanted to sew with this fabric. I would make something for the girls.

It took a bit of time and some outfits were not finished by certain birthdays, but I am very happy with the finished project.  I also love that little brother photo bomber!

It was fun to decided which fabric to use for each girl.

Earlier this year I was sorting through my mom's sewing stash from inside a hassock of hers that had to be tossed as the metal on the bottom was eating into the carpet.  That hassock was easily over 60 years old.  Inside I found buttons which were just as old.  I decided to use those buttons for their dresses and aprons.

Some cards of buttons were marked 15 cents!

Their sunbonnets match their aprons and frame their cute faces.

I understand that this little one wears her new outfit the most.

They are my own Mary, Laura, and Carrie straight out of Little House.  There were also some books and DVDs of the series involved in this birthday gift.

Little brother perhaps needs his own pioneer outfit.

And a hunting rifle.

While shopping for the fabric I also found these cute cloth dolls.

They came with bonnets and pantaloons.

I thought cloth dolls were appropriate for the time we were honoring.

I also made a Little House on the Prairie outfit for their cousin and my grandchild from another son's family.

I made them dresses for their dolls from the leftover scraps from their dresses.  I love my "little house on the prairie" girls!