Sewing for grand-daughters...

In my post before Christmas I mentioned that I had been doing some sewing.  I have three grand-daughters, one in Quebec who received the little bag for her birthday in October, and two here.

I started off with some great fabric that Suzie had bought years ago for a baby shower.  She only needed a fat quarter sized piece and had enough left over for a little tunic.  This wasn't a Christmas gift as I had promised to make something of the fabric when she had a daughter.

This was a easy pattern to use, so I made another one from Matheson tartan fabric.  The hem is only tacked.

I love this pattern, it is from the '70s and is only size 2. This one is for Emily also and I'm searching for more small sizes to make this dress for the other two girls.  

The snuggle quilt is for baby Lauren.  I chose ballerina fabric on the fluffy side and blue and silver fairy wands on the back.

And this little smock is for Lauren.  Of course I couldn't stay away from the chicken scratch!  The neck binding is eyelet lace.

It sure was fun sewing these little items.  


Hope you all had a good Christmas.

And have a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year.

CQJP2012 Getting there....

I haven't been posting much sewing lately, mostly birthday cakes, and there's still one of those when  I get the photos.   But I have been sewing, but not stuff I can show.  I've been busy taking Stitchmap's Redwork Course, and doing a bit of sewing for my grand-daughters and those I will post after Christmas.

I've finished 15 fan blocks, trimmed them to 9 1/2" square and I'm ready to move on to the next step - putting them together.

After a lot of help from my friends and trips to the fabric store to test out colour combinations, I can finally say that cream will be the background colour for my fan quilt.  

Because the squares are on point, there are lots of triangles needed around the edge, and these will be filled with simple fan designs in neutral colours.  I'll use the same silk for the sashing, and I've ironed on the knitted interfacing to give the strips body and mainly to stop the silk from fraying. 

I'm off to Florida on Boxing Day for a couple of weeks and I plan to work on the nine fill-in triangles.  

I wish everyone a very peaceful holiday, and the best New Year!

Visit to Quebec

It's an annual event that I take the train from Toronto to Montreal to spend a weekend with my son and his family for the children's birthdays.  Brynn is such a girl, well into princesses and babies, and smart enough at four to point out to NanaD (me) that the princess on the cake just couldn't fit through the castle gate!  "Even her head got stuck!"

For this 8" heart cake I mixed lilac, pink and green fondant together and it turned out really pretty.

Caleb is into cars, of any sort, especially wrecked and rusted.  At a vineyard this summer we spotted a really rusted out wagon.  The front end, in sugar, became the cake decoration.

This is a smaller version of the backpacks I made earlier in the year.  And the pattern is the flip and sew quilt block design, only using satin, velvet and lace strips, with beads and bows.  Right away Brynn put the bag to the front, hooked her arms through the cord loops and popped a baby doll into the bag.  

A collage for Caleb of the vineyard wreck.

What's missing here is a photo of Brynn and Caleb at their birthday party.  It's coming soon and I'll post it then.