Hot off the longarm

 I quilted this BQ3 quilt for my mother with an allover flower and loops pattern from some fabric at the shop.

 I think it came out pretty cute. 

It is so happy on an otherwise gloomy day here in Houston. 

 Here is the backing fabric.

Now back to sewing that cute little dress..... 

16 Reasons I love my Featherweight

I am making this dress as a shop sample using the Daisy Cottage fabric line brought to us by Riley Blake. The dress pattern is by Izzy and Ivy Designs.

I like this pattern because it has only two "patterny" pieces and all of the rest of the dress is strip pieced and rotary cut.  To me this equals less waste, less time (only two pattern pieces to pin down and scissor around), so less of a back ache as I usually lay out fabric and garment pattern on the floor.

I get all cut out and ready to go. The first directions are for preparing the ruffles which they require you to do a rolled hem on.

A what?

A Rolled Hem like this:

Reading on, the pattern says you can do this with your serger or check a tutorial online to do it with your domestic machine.

Okay I admit it, I have a serger but he and I aren't really good friends. The thought of getting him out and set up and finding thread for the loopers etc... left me pretty hang dog and ready to stop sewing for the night. I checked the online tutorial for rolled hem. It said I needed a foot I didn't have for my Bernina. Probably the foot costs $30+ anyway.

Then looking at the picture I realize I do have one of those rolled hem feet! For my featherweight. Sweet!

I pulled it out with the manual and after a couple of practice runs I have a decent rolled hem going. Whoopee!

Yes, the above shows all 16 ruffles for this dress with rolled hems on each side!!! Hopefully now that I have jumped that hurdle I will have a dress to show you later! Any one know a seven year old to model it for me?????

And that is why I LOVE my featherweight.

Trip Part two!

After the dancing winded down we headed over to Universal Studios for some family time:

 Hands down my favorite areas were the Dr. Seuss stuff and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. In these areas there was so much detail to absorb and enjoy that it was a feast for my nerdy little eyes! I have read all the Seuss books many times-- especially Green Eggs and Ham as it was my son's favorite for a long time. Here are some Seussland pics:

 Horton hatches the egg is my favorite story and Horton was well represented!

 They had a Merry-Go-Round which was more my speed than many of the other rides in the park and my kiddos even agreed to ride it with me!

Many of you know I have read, listened to and watched the Harry Potter series many times as well.

So walking up and seeing this, well, it made my heart skip a beat I have to say! 

 

The Owl Post 

 It looked like Hermione's Dress was floating in the window and the kitty cat was made of a tape measure!

 Winged boars as you approach Hogwarts!

  Honeydukes:

Zonko's joke shop 

I saw these two Muggles in Zonko's shop!  

 loved this "mural"

 The butterbeer was sooo good. 

Though everyone needed a shave after drinking it.

I must figure out how to make it at home!

It was really neat to walk through Hogsmeade and I even made it through the ride through the castle though I did have to shut my eyes a few times due to dizziness! It was a great experience and it was brilliantly done. We really enjoyed it, if only it was real. Alas...

 

So home again now and back to quilting and getting ready for the holidays. More fun to come just in a more non magical setting!

The Trip Part One!

My daughter had an Irish dance competition in Orlando, Florida over the weekend and so it was easy to convince my husband and son to come with us for this one with the close proximity of all things Disney to our hotel! 

just to give you an idea of the size of this event- this is two of the four ballrooms where it is held

The dance team danced Saturday evening and won their category! Here is the whole team together with their teachers Maureen McTeggart Hall and Jennifer Hale.

There was a lot of nail biting and nervousness before they went on (and that was just the by the parents!) By the time they actually got on stage to perform I thought I was going to die from anxiety and nerves! But they just walked on stage as they had rehearsed and performed beautifully reducing all of us to happy tears! I was so very proud of them all. Thankful to and, proud of the older kids, who took on leadership roles and set the tone by example. Proud of the younger ones, like mine, who had large shoes to fill and hard work to do to learn their parts.

Mrs. Hall, their teacher, is over 80 years old and has been teaching Irish dance for 60 years! She was being honored the night of this competition making it all that more meaningful to represent her school at this event!

And of course I was very proud of my daughter for her athleticism, hard work, sportsmanship and team spirit. She truly loves this sport.  It has given her many opportunities but most important are the friendships she has made.