Cardinal Quilt, It Is Finished....

The Cardinal Quilt was finished in plenty of time for Christmas.  Here's a pic:

The long-arm quilter did an awesome job making this quilt look good.  All those areas that did't quite want to lay flat do now.  The quilting design is an overall swirl done in gray.  The backing is a cuddle suede and was very easy to work with.

I'm fairly sure that many of these beautiful quilt kits were sold.  I'm fairly sure that there were most likely many frustrated people also.  Here are my lessons learned from this type of quilt kit:

1.  Find the instructions before purchasing and make sure that the directions are fairly good.  Don't follow blindly.
2.  Measure the center panel and make sure it is square (you know I didn't do this).
3.  I don't enjoy the point-on-point squares.  (maybe this is a practice issue)
4.  Measure, measure, measure!

The long-arm quilter said that the majority of the issues that I had making this quilt was that the center panel wasn't the measurement indicated.  It was a little bit smaller in the middle which made it bow just a little bit.  Of course, I wanted the point-on-point squares to be perfect and most likely stretch them in my attempts.  That made a bit of cupping.  The wonders of quilting and washing making all that disappear.

Things I would do differently:

1.  Bias Binding instead of the straight cut.  Hopefully, it will be okay but in the long run I think that the bias binding will last longer.


Happy Sewing!

Last Bit of Holiday Sewing....

The last couple of weeks have been grueling.  I've been knitting at every opportunity and trying to keep up with the Mystery Quilt.   The knitting is all finished and I will share at a later date.  The Mystery Quilt will be shared later also.  However, I had to do another small holiday project at the sewing machine and it turned out very cute!  Here it is:

Yes, I wanted/needed another apron and decided to make it a holiday one.  This is from a panel which made it really quick and easy.   I didn't follow the directions that came with it and knew that I wanted to line it.  This is the fabric I used for the lining:

This gave the apron a little bit of weight.  I usually make aprons out of a canvas.  We'll see how this one wears.  Well, I suppose it should last for a lone time given that it is seasonal.

Now, it's off to finish up a few last little bits of house cleaning.

Happy Stitching!

McCall's Early Spring Collection

Early spring has sprung at McCall's!  Admittedly, the weather has been spring like in my area.  The spring flowers/bulbs are poking their little heads up through the mulch.

This collection is full of very feminine dresses.  It's a must check out if that is the type of clothing you enjoy.  Here are my picks:

This is M7331.  This is a Nancy Zieman pattern. This pattern looks like every piece is very usable.  A nice cardigan/jacket with a t-shirt.  A pull-on knit pencil skirt that is tapered.  The leggings have a forward side seam with cuffs.  The forward side seam would be a slimming detail. I'm not so sure about the cuffs but I'm sure that can be eliminated.

This is M7324. It is a loose fitting, flowy top and tunic.  I think that the tunic belted with the Nancy Zieman leggings would produce a nice outfit.  What do you think?

This is M7323. Love the asymmetrical details of this top.  The top that the model is wearing is really cute in the stripes.   This top would give you a reason to watch for interesting stripe fabric.

What do you think of the early spring collection?

Happy Stitching!

Do You Like Pumpkin Pie?....

I love Pumpkin Pie!  Generally, I only make it once or twice a year.  My recipe comes straight out of an early 80s Betty Crocker cookbook.  The pie crust that I make is from the same book.  What do you do if you would like the Pumpkin Pie more often that once or two a year?  Find a recipe without a crust.  Oh yeah!  I found a Pumpkin Pie Pudding:

It is almost perfect!  If you're a pumpkin pie person, you need to hop right over and try this recipe.

I do intend to play with the recipe just a little bit to see if I can get the flavor to be just like my pumpkin pie.  I did make a small change in that I used the same spice combination that is used in the Betty Crocker version of the pumpkin pie.  I'll put the changes on this post if it works out.

Enjoy!

Happy Stitching!  (or is it Cooking!)