The Log Cabin Man Quilt part II

 

 

So here is a finished block, it’s a pretty easy block to put together.  To the right is a simple picture of the block. 

So with this one little block we can make many different larger blocks.

 

 

  So in my search for layouts I found this one above in a large star pattern.

I also started playing with some of my squares, this one I did a chevron pattern.

Diagonal stripe.

And Boxes, I like this one and a simple layout.

for my quilt I’m doing a large box of sorts. In the center you start with a small box and make concentric boxes outwards. I’ve put a couple of pictures(above) so you can sort of see what i mean.  For the next post I’ll show how I’ve been working the quilt top together.

The Man Quilt Update

Well I'm a bad llama, I've been working on my next post for the Man Quilt when i discovered some measurement issues and some missing blocks.  SO ... I went looking for the fabric I had set aside from when i was originally making the blocks, only to find that I have no idea where they where put during the the last round of  'Spring cleaning'.  So off I went to the local thrift shop to restock.  I was in luck, home I came with a dozen or so new shirts and set to work making the required blocks.  So now I have 12 blocks give or take sitting on my sewing machine.  I got a little distracted reading .. I had decided to find out what all the fuse was about the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy, made it through the first book in 2 days.  Not my typical book of choice when it comes to reading but I enjoyed it and went and got the second one from the library the same day... and again had it done in 2 more days, and my poor quilt pieces sit lonely on my desk waiting for more attention.  Okay so now on my fifth day of distraction and I'm trying to get my hands on the last book of the set ... and would you believe it all the copies are out!!  With the book on reserve I set back to work on my blocks once again only to be interrupted yet again. This time it's my back .. can you believe it ...I've thrown my back out and haven't been able to sit at the sewing machine for two days so far and I have no book to keep me busy AARRGG!! I did download the preview to my e-reader ( one chapter is what i got) So now I lay in bed on an itty bitty laptop typing this brief message for my few readers.  Hopeful that maybe tomorrow I can manage sitting at my desk for a bit.

The Log Cabin Man Quilt part 1

This has been an ongoing project due to its size.  When finished it should be about queen size,  aprox 90 X 108 inches for.  Each block is about 7.5 in. finished and there is a lot of blocks.  The whole quilt is made out of old dress shirts.  As with all my up-cycle project I cut them apart so they’re easer to work with.



So I started with some sketches, this is the one I’m using for  laying out the finished pieces so it is not to fancy, just coloured pens and some highlighters.  The pattern drawings have gone miss at the moment.  So log cabin I thought would be a good block the use.. a nice manly square right? Any who…  I set to work collecting what I’d hoped would be enough shirts to make the entire quilt top. I used about 15 shirts or so and a 1/2 meter piece of red cotton for the centers (could not find and red shirts for the life of me at the time.)



 


Next I cut out a crap load of 2in. squares out of the red for the centers (there is about 100 finished squares) and I did a few pieces at a time for the strips of each colour and threw them into a bucket I keep beside my desk, the strips are 1 1/4 inches wide, and I left them in long strips instead of trimming them to size.  When the bucket was full I would sew some squares.

  
 
I left the 1 1/4 in. strips long so I could run them through the machine one after the other in a long chain, and when on ran out I would grab another out of the bucket at random and continue on.  Making sure to grab the right colour 2 blue then 2 white ect…





So I did this many many more times. After each row you have to cut apart the chains, I used my handy dandy quilting ruler to make sure I was square as I went.  and pressing the seams before attaching the next row. I did 3 rows of each blue and white







Here are a few of the finished blocks all trimmed up and ready to go.  In part 2 I’ll show you some of my layout ideas.

Until next time!

I'm a bad lama

so ive been a very neglectful bloger these past few months but i just finished a new upcycle project to sare as soon as i up load the pics hopfuly this evening.

I Finally got to wear it!

I thought I would do a quick post for my regency bib front dress. The Family and I went to Fort York, in Toronto, back in June for the War of 1812 celebrations.  I took my recently finished dress with me so I could get some pics of me wearing it in a setting of the same time period. Although the pics aren't so great I had a good time at the fort with the kids.

 

Me looking not so impress outside the officers mess.  While I was actually wearing my dress I found a few things that need shall we say adjusted... I need to make a tuck in the bodice so the shoulder will stop sliding down.

some of the volunteers that were roaming around

the Encampment, they had 200 tents set up that weekend

The York Regency Dancers, they are based at Fort York. 

They were a  lovely group off people we had dance lesions while we were there.

And a picture from one of my budding photographers!

Regency Bib Front Dress part VI

  

It’s  done! after many days of staring at it Finally picked it up and finished it.

I finally machine stitched the sleeves in, stitched the bodice to the skirt, and hand stitched in the lining around the arm holes and

along the skirt.

 

 

I finished hand sewing the side openings, and the button holes for the front , added all my buttons

I finished stitching down the Bib and added the ties as well.

And the finished dress :)

And from the back …

Honey-Do list update

Well not every thing got done that was on the list over the weekend, it wound up being really nice and to hot to do to much around the house.  But the garden is about half planted, the lawn is mowed, and the pool is fully operational and was actually used (the water is only 15 degrees C bburrr).  The family had there priority on the pool so it was the only thing that got done in its entirety.  So I keep plugging away at the garden and it should be done by the end of the week, which is good for me, I usually don’t have it done in May. Today I got my white pumpkin seeds and as a bonus I found some  seeds for the jade pumpkins(they’re a blue/green colour), and the tomatoes and peppers to pant too. Now I have to work though all the tomatoes, zucchini, and raspberries in my freezer, so I can make room for all of this years garden vegg.  I’m working on a batch of spaghetti sauce right now I've never made   it so we’ll see how it goes.

My garden as it sits right now

Pool Before (yuck!)

Pool After (with it’s shiny new cover)

The Honey-do List

Today I decided to post something a little different. I’m taking a little break from sewing this week to work on the household honey-do list.  I have  bunch of little projects to do around my house that have been sitting around for a long time (years in some cases).  There is a cupboard to go up in the bathroom, and I would like to paint my towel rack that the previous finish is coming off of.  And this is garden weekend here, I have my potatoes to go in the garden, and we are going to plant the pumpkin patch and get some of the other vegg in. 
And there is the pool (I use the term loosely 10 ft round & 2ft deep) to be cleaned (yuck), set up and ready to go …  with the temps getting up there its time to  get R done.
So I’ve spent most of my week in preparation for getting some stuff done around the house, like getting gas for the lawn mower, getting the garden supplies, and all the hardware and paint for some of the bigger projects.
I will post some before and after pictures of some of the projects  as I go.
I’ve done some little things like knitting up some washcloths, lot of baking before it gets to warm this week, but nothing to exciting.

Regency Bib Front Dress part V

 

 

 

Well I’m not as far along as I would like to be but alas I have good news for this post …  I have fixed my issues on the sleeve, yah!!  I redrafted the sleeve over the weekend so today I cut out a mock up of the new sleeve and took it for a test drive, I could move my arm in all the directions its supposed  to move in, it didn’t pop any seams this time and is rather quite comfy.

Pictured below is the new sleeve shape in the mock up fabric, and a picture of the final before the pin tucks were done.

 

 

 

So here we have it I’ve got the final sleeves basted in, And the bodice basted to the skirt.  The Bib is only pinned on for the moment I have a feeling that there will be some adjustments to be made here.

Thing that still need to be done on the dress…

I need to finish stitching the side openings, baste the bib to the skirt, find some thing to use for the dress ties,  place the loops for the ties on the back of the dress, and buttons for the bib.  And then once its all basted together I make sure it fits and run it through the machine.

Regency Bib Front dress part IV

So the first sleeve look good on it’s own and the bodice was good on it's own and when the two where put together  it looked ok  (once I basted the sleeve in the right way) but when I tried it on on it was a no go.... there wasn’t enough ease around the arm.  And it needed more fabric through the under arm and around to the back.

So me pinning in the sleeve... the first time ...

Since it didn't fit right I decided to try adding a gusset to the under arm (that's where it popped its stitches)

Here I got the new sleeve with the gusset basted in, felt a lot better but still not right the should keeps sliding down my arm and it could use a little more ease around my arm.

So back to the drawing board I went and drafted out a new sleeve, third times a charm ... right ...   I have yet to cut this one out, I'll do it with a scrap piece of fabric this time (lesson learned .... the hard way...).

Regency Bib Front Dress part III: Complications

Dress dairy entry for day three.  Ive run into some complications with my sleeves.  I basted my first sleeve into the opening and tried it on ....  popped 6 pins out, telling me I need a little more give in the under arm. So I'm going to work out a gusset of sorts to fit and try again.  I drafted out the rough shape I need, but being frustrated with my sleeve issues, changed gears a little bit and decided to work on my regency shift.  I will work on the sleeves on the week end (update IV to be posted on Monday).  I did manage to close up the seem in the skirt back, but don't want to do any more work on the rest on a hole until I figure out those sleeves.. Arggg :S.


There is a future post for my Regency under pinnings coming where I'll give you all the details.  But for now this is all you get  :)

Regency Under Pinnings

 

So With not one but 2 regency dresses I think its time to consider some appropriate under pinnings, Yes we're talking a corset and a chemise.  I've already made myself a bodice petticoat when I made my 1805 dress.  But its time to get down to it and get the rest in the works.

 

Now the questions is short stays or the full length ones ??

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love the peach stays pictured above but I'm thinking that the short stays will do.  I'm going to draft them up based on my dress patterns and some light boning (aka cable ties) for the lift and separate part of the show.  :)

Side bar - Cable ties are cheaper then the boning from the fabric store and more supportive for the shall we say well endowed.  I'm not an extremely busty person but the light weight stuff from the fabric store just didn't stand up to any long term ware. So it will hopefully look something like the one pictured lower right ( I apologize I don’t recall who's blog this picture is from)

 

 

 

 

 

 

The chemise will look pretty much like these one very blah but that's ok, function over form..... right??

For my shift I'm going to try and keep the sleeves pretty short so they'll fit under my 1805 dress, and narrow to fit under my Bib front dress.  I'm not sure how long I want to make it yet, but I'll probably keep it knee length.

I’ll have to play around with some design ideas for both the chemise and the stays and see what works for me.