New Project In My Pipeline: Seven Sisters or Seven Stars Quilt for Hand Piecing

Inspiration: Seven Sisters Quilt Top by Martha Dellasega Gray (2014)

 

Isn't that Seven Sisters quilt top glorious?!  It was completed in 2014 by Martha Dellasega Gray and you can read all about it on her Q is for Quilter blog here.  I can't help myself, I have to make one, too (or at least START one!).  But before we start talking about the new project, I should do a quick recap of all my preexisting sewing projects for the sake of accountability:

• My StyleArc Nova Midi Dress: Fabric purchased, nothing cut out yet, found my Swedish Tracing Paper but still need to clear off my cutting table before tracing off the pattern pieces and making a start.  Still weighing pros and cons of sizing/pattern alteration options and bodice construction methods, and need a good stretch of uninterrupted time to work on that (I've had mostly fits and snatches of time here and there for sewing lately).
• My Deco Quilt: Remaining blocks for the entire quilt have been all cut out and ready to sew since before the move, but I haven't touched this one in over two months.  I am finding that I really miss having a big design wall where I can arrange/display a work in progress.  Seeing the quilt take shape on my design wall while working on the blocks was a major motivator in my previous studio, whereas completed blocks packed away in the closet are literally out of sight and out of mind.  There is one large wall in the central hallway of our new home that would work for a design wall, just to the left of our shared office and directly across from my little sewing room...  I have suggested a design wall in this location to my husband several times but the idea has not been well received thus far.  😞.  

My Deco Quilt In Progress, On My Old Design Wall, Boo Hoo...

Bernina Mending Magic Strikes Again + Mildred's Tarnished Star Quilt

I know mending is boring, but it's way more boring to my neighbors and to random people I approach in the grocery store than it is to the people who read my blog.  (Tip: You can scroll past my mending adventures and skip ahead to the pretty quilt at the end if you want to -- I will never even know!)

I had a ridiculously fun time reacquainting myself with some of the features of my Bernina B 790+ sewing machine yesterday while saving two of my favorite pairs of shorts, and I had to tell SOMEBODY about it.  I picked YOU!  Do you see signs of mending in the photo below?  No, you don't, because it turned out perfect!

Left Tushie Pocket of My Favorite Shorts, After Repair

These are my favorite shorts because they have an elastic drawstring in the waist so I can cinch it in just enough to avoid Back Waistband Gaposis that plagues me so much in ready to wear clothing, but also because they are made of a very lightweight and breathable fabric that doesn't get all hot and sticky in the muggy Florida summer like most of my other shorts.  They came from REI several years ago and I bought three pairs of the same style, the khaki ones pictured here as well as a light gray pair and a dusty blue green color.  I've been wearing them a lot more since I moved to Florida in February, and the buttons on the left back pocket ripped right through   the fabric on the blue pair and the khaki pair.  How do you reattach a button when there's a hole through the shorts fabric in the place the button needs to be sewn?

Mending Program 22 Stitched in Aurifil 50/2 Cotton Mako Thread

I needed to darn the hole and reinforce the area around the hole before reattaching the button, so I grabbed some Steam A Seam 2 double-stick fusible web from my appliqué supplies, fused it to the back of this pink scrap of tightly woven cotton batik fabric and cut out a circle about the size of a quarter, and fused it to the wrong side of the pocket, carefully coaxing the loose threads surrounding the tear back into place to fill the hole on the right side.  

Planning (and Overthinking) a Style Arc Nova Midi Dress

Hello, my Lovelies, and Happy Summer (to everyone in the Northern hemisphere)!  Happy Independence Day Weekend to everyone in the United States!  Today's post is going to contain zero quilting, because my creative brain is chasing a different rabbit today.  I don't have enough "Florida Clothing" in my closet and I hate the way everything looks/feels/fits that I've tried on in stores.  My sister bought me a couple dress patterns that I've had on my wish list for awhile and I've decided to sew up the Nova Midi Dress from the Australian indie pattern company Style Arc  (this post contains affiliate links).

One of the coolest things about garment sewing in the Internet age is that it's so easy to find pictures, reviews, tips and tweaks suggestions from people of all shapes, sizes, and ages who have already sewn up the pattern you're considering.  The photo montage above shows two images of the dress sewn up from the Style Arc web site (the long orange dress with 3 tiers and the short black dress with 2 tiers), but the other images came from sewing blogs and a 3rd party online shop based in the U.K. (Minerva) that sells this dress pattern as a kit in a variety of fabrics.  So, special thanks to Carolyn of Sewing Fanatic, No Idle Hands, Geri In Stitches, Indoor Shannon, and the many other makers who take the time to post their sewing finishes online along with feedback and suggestions so that others can learn from their experiences.