Easter Finery and New Friends

Did you have a lovely Easter? Weatherwise, here it was clear and sunny, and although a bit cool, very pretty. Right after the sunrise service which began at 6:45 a.m., I posed wearing my new Easter outfit,

I've used this Route 66 skirt pattern from Marie-Madeline Studios about six times. Can you guess it's a favorite? Skirt fabric is Rendezvous, by Anthology. The aqua, sweater top was a bargain purchase for $7 but the white knit shrug made up for it at $40. The necklace and earrings were 40 percent off, and for the shoes, I used a birthday discount. Once in a while, it just feels nice to get an entirely new outfit. Anyway, I'm sure I'll wear many times.

After church we drove to Kansas City to visit our daughter and family for a couple days. It was a shorter-than-usual visit, but we packed a lot into it. 

Some of the fun was meeting up with Carla, and having our grandchildren meet for a play date! Tay was especially excited to meet almost four year-old Lula. You see, Lula is a celebrity! If you haven't yet watch this Youtube video, you simply must!

"Brush Yo Teeth"

Co-Stars: Lula and her Daddy

It's wildly popular at our grandsons' house. They've watch it only about a ga-jillion times!

The boys and Lula played together in the basement. Some of the fun was Tay and Lula listening to plumbing pipes while a shower was running upstairs.

Tay and Lula

It's always nice to horseback ride with a new friend.

Aesa and Lula

Carla led Tay and Lula in some exercise. I'm glad she's never insisted I do that!

Although our KC visit was brief, the six hours spent in the car never changes. During car-riding time, I completed letter "Q" of the Snowmen A to Zzzz pattern. Only five blocks remain to be stitched! Yay for progress, however slow it is!

Oh! And for those of you who commented on my previous post about pre-washing Essex linen, thank you! You'll be very interested to know that I did pre-wash it, and it shrunk considerably! From three yards to two yards 32 inches. More than an inch per yard! I'm glad I decided to wash it  before using it in a quilt. Linda

Skirt Reduction

Last August I used my favorite Route 66 skirt pattern to upcycle six pair of my husband's jeans into this 12 gore skirt. Other than the skirt being heavy - that denim weighs a lot! - I have really liked it.

Fast forward to January, and I'm happy to say I've lost 16 pounds. I did so intentionally, pretty much by removing carbohydrates from my diet. No-nos include bread, muffins, pasta, rice, cookies, bars, and popcorn. This regimen worked well enough that two weeks ago, when I had my annual check-up, I learned I'd shaved 31 points off my overall cholesterol total. I'd previously been told to "watch it," and this report was "excellent." What an unexpected health bonus!

On the down side, a weight loss means my clothes don't fit as well. and "alterations" is an eleven-letter word I detest! But refitting this skirt was easier than I expected. A 12 gore skirt can be made into an 11 gore skirt!

Unstitch the seam with the invisible zipper, and the next seam over. Remove the gore. Then resew the seam and one side of the zipper. A few inches of the facing had to be unstitched, cut away, and resewn too, but the whole thing took much less time than I expected.

I'm sure a fashionista would say an 11 gore skirt is a bit odd, but I think this one's gonna work for me.

As for several other Route 66 skirts that have gores with different fabric prints... well, those will need a little more attention because each gore will need trimming. I dare not climb up from this weight. This is the year for my 40th high school reunion!

Sewin'

This week finds me, unexpectedly, with time for sewing, so there's been no grass growing under my feet! I've been in my basement sewing space during every free moment, and have a couple things to share. 

First, I made another Marie-Madeline Studio Route 66 skirt. I think this is the sixth one I've made. It's so satisfying to visit a quilt shop and have a reason to select some pretty cottons for a skirt. And yes, I've really gotten into wearing a skirt! That's also entailed shopping for tights and shoes - boots are next. Personally, I'm finding it very challenging to select the "right" combination of tights color and shoe style. After all, I'm far from being a teenager who can carry off an anything-goes look! 

Self-image, in the full-length bathroom mirror.

After considerable sketching and stewing, I cut out more bright fabric pieces and arranged the sawtooth star blocks into this 42" X 42" quilt top. It will be for our newest grandson who's due to arrive in less than three weeks.

Toothy Jungle Stars

I'm pleased with the bright colors and arrangement. Did you notice the tone-on-tone white print with the dots in it? It's a fabric I found at Sue's Fabric World, a vendor from New York who was at the recent AQS show here in Des Moines. Since I found the jungle print at the AQS show too, I'm pleased that my purchases have been put to quick use.

Today I'll be layering, basting and, hopefully, starting to quilt this one. There's still no time for watching that grass grow under my feet!

Skirting Through the Week

It's timely that I've recently been sewing skirts because Marie Madeline Studio, who designed my favorite skirt pattern ever - Route 66 - is having a week-long 45 percent off fabric sale beginning next Monday.

Here are two of my new Route 66 skirts. This one is black stretch denim with colorful embroidered dots. I should be able to wear it with lots of different colored tops.

I came up with this combination of autumn-looking fabrics from my local quilt shop. Gosh, do you know how difficult it is to take photos of yourself wearing a skirt!? I tried.For this Street Fair skirt pattern, I used a brushed fiber print fabric, something I think will be winter-appropriate.
Next... find leggings and knee-high boots, so I can keep wearing skirts through Iowa's long, cold, snowing winter. Did anyone else hear that the Farmers' Almanac is predicting another winter as bad as last years'?! Dreadful!

But let me leave you with a chuckle. My blogger-friend, Carla at Lollyquiltz, who I'm excited to meet in person later this month, shared a breakfast conversation she had with her granddaughter:

Four year-old Haven, watching her grandmother pour Cheerios into her breakfast bowl, spyed grandmother's box of Fiber One cereal.

Haven: "What's that?"

Grandmother: "Oh, that's my cereal and you probably wouldn't like it."

Haven: "Oh, is that what you feed mice?"

Get it? Haven heard "my cereal" as "mice cereal." Oh, wouldn't Art Linkletter have liked that one? (If you're too young - or too old! - to remember the TV show "Kids Say the Darndest Things" go here for a few laughs.)