Off to the Quilt Retreat

I am leaving today and will soon be quilting away with 10 other women. I hurriedly packed because I am leaving a day earlier than I expected. It means more time with my mom! I am not taking my computer, so I won't post until next Saturday. Hopefully I will have great pictures to share when I return. I pray that everyone has a very blessed Easter, celebrating the resurrection of our Lord and Savior! See you when I get back!

Margaret Smith -Gardiner Maine

I posted a while back that I had made a trip with my husband to Hebron KY which is very close to Cincinnati Ohio. I managed to find Casablanca Vintage and they were in the middle of remodeling. It was hard to see everything they had, but I spotted this cute handbag and carried it around with me the whole time. I asked, "How much?"and the sales clerk said $20. I was thinking that seemed a little high to me, but I really like this cute floral handbag. It was in perfect condition and the little twist clasp worked, so I bought it. Recently I noticed it has a tag in it that says Margaret Smith, Gardiner Maine. I googled it and she is evidently a pretty collectible gal. She started making colorful beach totes in the 1940's. Some have labeled her as the "vintage Kate Spade," but I just like the cute little handbag. There are quite a few on ebay and etsy that are selling for $40 or $50. I guess I got myself a pretty good deal!

Lisette 2209-not too bad

My hubby and the 3 kids all went to town today and I stayed home to finish laundry and a few other household things. I managed to get this pattern cut out of the 2 materials and have sewn quite a bit of it this evening. So far this pattern is well written and easy to follow. I have had a few operator errors today though. Twice I have sewn wrong to right sides and had to rip it out and do it over. I must be tired. Everything is going together smoothly, but after trying it on, I think I will need to adjust the length of the bodice. I believe it is going to be too long because it seems to stand up off my shoulders. I don't have the armholes finished with bias tape yet or the zipper in, so that might change the fit some. These are both cheap materials ($1.75 a yard), so if I get a good wearable muslin out of them-great! If I can get the fit right I want to do it out of some better fabric. So far so good! This will probably be the last project I complete before I go on the quilt retreat. I can't wait until next weekend!

These just make you want to scrub the tub!

Tea Rose Home had a great little tutorial on how to make a boring set of rubber gloves into cute lady like cleaning attire. I have seen similar things for sale and they aren't particularly cheap. Mygloves were $1 and my half yard of material was $1.50 and that will make a bunch of these. You do have to use vinyl or oilcloth material because they will get wet. Also, don't forget to angle the cut to accommodate your arm and elbow. If you make a straight cut, they will end of being more like rubber evening gloves-who needs those? You want to be able to move in them. You can also find cute flannel backed vinyl table cloths that are fairly cheap. I found a really cute teal blue with white polka dots for $3.99 and it is 60X84. My machine didn't really like the rubber gloves. The opening is small and even using the free arm was impossible. I think I might sew these by hand or on my serger in the future. Anyway, they look cute and would make a great housewarming or wedding gift.

Nitty Gritty

We went to Louisville yesterday to visit the Volvo dealership so they could do a software download on my car. I purposely went early so we could check out a vintage store I found online. It is called "Nitty Gritty" and it was extremely cool and very neat. They have 2 full floors of vintage clothing in great shape for both men and women. We ended up finding a 70's outfit for my son. We are having a decades party (60's, 70's & 80's) for our final school celebration. I found a couple of other cute things on their "rough rack" and I hope to visit them again. If you are ever in Louisville you need to check it out.

GSP news

I posted back in Nov/Dec about the long application process for GSP (Governor's Scholar Program) and how it would be a really great opportunity for my son to go. Well we received a letter yesterday letting us know that he was ACCEPTED! So sometime between June 19-26 he will leave to stay on one of five KY college campuses for 5 weeks. I already miss him! If your state has a governor's scholar program, it is definitely worth looking into.

The Ups and Downs of Tucks

The Sewing Book by Alison Smith is a great resource to have in your sewing library in my opinion. It is full of lovely color pictures and many neat projects in the back. One that caught my eye was a cute skirt for children. It is a simple elastic waist skirt, but with the cutest row of tucks at the bottom that go up and down. She then embellished the up tucks with embroidery flowers and stems. I have never made tucks on anything and I found it isn't as easy as it looks. I wanted them all even and I don't think I stitched them down in the right place, but the effect is basically the same. I will want to practice this more because I love the look. I also used my blind hem foot. I have never done a blind hem on any machine. I usually do a machine hem that shows or I do it by hand. This is also a technique that will require some practice to get totally perfect. It is just fun learning and trying all these new things!