Jacob's blessing outfit

Jacob turned one on April 8, and his family had a birthday party/blessing celebration for him.

As I have done for all the rest of my grandchildren, I made Jacob a blessing outfit.

I placed an order with Chadwick Heirlooms for some blue Imperial broadcloth, some silk satin ribbon, mother of pearl ribbon, and crocheted lace.

 The pattern is Simplicity 6221.

All sizes were included, but they were labeled newborn, small, medium and large.

There weren't any measurements included, just weight and height.

I asked my daughter to take measurements, and I decided to make the Large size.

I included a cute little label :)

I love the collar, and the pin tucks with ribbons and lace on the bodice.

I only use mother of pearl buttons on my heirloom clothing creations.

I really like the pleat detail at the waist, it's in the front also.

 The pin tuck cuff look was so easy to make!

I began hand sewing the little crochet lace along the cuff, but I ended up taking it out.

Here's little Jacob on his special day.

The outfit fit him perfectly!

I also chose Imperial broadcloth instead of Swiss Cotton because it's not sheer.

Sheer is fine for a baby, but I thought a toddler would look better in an opaque fabric.

Jacob sure is a cute little guy, and he let me pose him as much as I wanted :) 

Farm Girl Sampler quilt part 2

I mentioned in my last post, that I'm making the Farm Girl Vintage Sampler quilt.  These are blocks #11-20.

These blocks are all 6", and pretty finicky to work with.

Some of them, anyway :)

This is the Cool Threads block

Peas and Carrots block

Barn Cat block

Baby Chick block (I forgot to embroider her eye...)

Honey Bee block

Scrappy Strawberry block

Farmhouse block

I really love this block, I want to make the Farmhouse Lane quilt.

It's really cute!

Kitchen Window block

Apron Strings block

Chicken Foot block

I tried to use a different background for every block to make the quilt look extra scrappy.

I'm sashing the quilt with a white on white polka dot fabric.

I really pride myself on using the fabric I have in my stash, but at this rate, I'll never be able to use it all up!

The true sign of a quilter :)

Farm Girl Sampler blocks

I just can't get enough of "Farm Girl Vintage"!

I'm going to make the Farm Girl Vintage Sampler quilt, and today I'll show you 10 of my 48 blocks.

They're all 6" and I think they're difficult to make, because the some of the pieces are so little!

This is the Butter Churn block.

Out to Pasture block

Scrappy Maple Leaf block

Spring Star block

Penny Pig block

Kettle's On! block

Patchwork Pumpkin block

Country Crossroads block

Pie Cherries block

Churn Dash block (with a heart)

I made most of these blocks when Lori's book first came out, and they've been sitting in a pile ever since!

Thanks for visiting :)

Bees Knees a Quilting Bee

Hi Everyone :)

I belong to the Bees Knees a Quilting Bee, and it's my month to have my block sewn by my fellow bee friends!

You can go to the blog and see which block I've chosen.

Here's the link.

I also wrote about my top 3 sewing/quilting projects of 2016, and a few interesting and fun things that happened in the year 2016.

Hope you enjoy it!

Farm Girl Vintage, Strawberry quilt

I made the Scrappy Strawberry block, and my Bees Knees quilting bee helped me make most of the rest of the blocks.

I made an orangey and a pinkish strawberry, and added some blue tops as well as the green ones. 

I wanted the strawberries to pop, so I used a green border instead of a red or pink one.

I signed up for a Jackie Gehring quilt class with your walking foot, on Craftsy.

I learned this machine quilting technique there :)

All the machine quilting was time consuming, but worth it :)

I used a soft pink minky for the back.

I love the look of all of these squares!

I'm so happy that I finished this quilt!

Tablet and keyboard holder

My son asked me to make him a case that would hold his mini iPad and keyboard.

I had the best time choosing the fabric, but a difficult time with the dimensions.

I added a boxed bottom, and couldn't really envision the extra fabric to add for it.

I used the same tutorial that I have used to make many other tablet holders.

I found it on  Pinterest,  here.

He wanted a zipper pocket to put his earphones and charger.

He loves the "write your own story..." tab!

 I chose a blue fabric for the inside, and picked the blue zipper to match.

It sits on the table because of the box bottom.

These are my calculations!

In the end, the case came out a little smaller than I anticipated, but everything fits just right.

Back Porch Fabrics in Pacific Grove, California

Have you ever been to Monterrey or Carmel or Pebble Beach, California?

Nestled right by the beach, is the cutest city,  Pacific Grove.

They have a really nice quilt shop called Back Porch Fabrics.

I'll give you a little tour....

There was a trunk show in the workroom, and all the quilts were made by these two ladies, who have been friends for over 30 years.

Here are some of the quilts they made together.

This one looks like a Freddie Moran, I bet they took a class from her!

One of the signs of a good quilt shop, is their sale table.

This table was full of bolts of fabric that were on sale, that was a really good sign!

This quilt shop has an awesome selection of books and magazines!

I thought their notions wall was good, but no Lori Holt rulers.

Another view of the trunk show.

I only made a few purchases.

The quilt shop had a great selection and a lot of fabrics I really liked.

I only bought these fabrics because I thought they were different.

I bought the green dot because you can never have enough for backgrounds.  I bought the rest of the bolt, about 2 l/2 yards.

If you ever find yourself by Pebble Beach golf course, or Carmel, visit this wonderful quilt shop in Pacific Grove!

The beach was less than a block from the quilt shop :)