Jamie Dress Sew Along Complete

I just wanted to share a couple of pictures from our trip to Big Sky country last week.
College Boy taking some pictures;

Hubby and I walked up this road so that College Boy could take some pictures of us for a photography assignment. It was such a gorgeous day.

I really did not even think of flowers when I asked hubby to go to the grocery store for me before coming home from work the other day. He will only buy flowers at this one particular grocery store (and never at WM). A warm room and some sunshine and they were all opening up.


So here is what I'm all excited about;

I finished the dress!!! Now remember this is for College Girl to HOPEfully wear on Easter Sunday. I asked her numerous times for various measurements, I read and read and Reread the comments by others in the sew along and then finally I just bit the bullet and prayed a LOT while I sewed. I packaged it up and sent it off via Priority Mail this afternoon. College Girl might get it tomorrow but surely by Monday and then we will know if it fits.

I would do a few things differently sewing with this pattern again but overall the instructions were good and there are lots of great pictures. Putting in the zipper with a glue stick was a great idea. A side zipper at that. I had never done one of those before. I wasn't thrilled with how wide the stitching was on the zipper opening or how it is done around the bottom of the zipper. I would do that differently next time. For the hem the instructions just say to stitch around the bottom of the skirt. Well I think it is such a nice dress and deserved a nicer job on the hem. I just hate that hand stitching and knew it would never look as good as something my mother or mother-in-law would have done. Hmmmmm, I KNEW there was this technique for doing a blind hem stitch on the machine but I could NEVER figure out the whole fabric folding thing. Well I got out my Bernina manual that has failed me miserably in any other situation and tried it on some scrap fabric. It was easy and I LOVED the results! On to the real hem!
On some sections you can't even see the stitches because the thread is such a great match. I was soooo happy with that! Looks nice and it was quick. I will definitely use that technique again and again.

Here is the finished dress, in what sunlight I could get from our front window.
The dark fabric you see at the neckline is the lining of the back as that rides higher than the front neckline.
Fabric is Poppy in Aqua by Laura Gunn for Michael Miller.

Won't you pray along with me that it will fit College Girl? I'd really appreciate that.

Praise - College Boy earned a super grade on a recent test and has handed in his application to go on in the film program.

Prayers - for College Girl and some decisions/situations that she has before her. For wisdom and knowledge and discretion.

September TO DO List

September. It seems so strange to type that word. I think it feels like it should still be June. Didn't my son just celebrate his birthday? Didn't college girl just get home? How can it really be September already? It was much cooler today. Fall must be on the way. Fall is my FAVORITE season and I love cooler weather so I'm ready for it but I'm just surprised that summer is almost over.

So here's my list for the;

It is quite the ambitious list too. It is what I HOPE to get accomplished. Some of it I really need to get finished, other things have been on the back burner for way too long. I figure listing them here gives me a push to work on them rather than ignore them altogether.

First up - get the binding on these quilts. The Old Red Barn Quilt Along quilt, pictured on the right, is going to college with college girl in a couple of weeks so that is high priority.September goal - complete binding. The Stacked Coins quilt, on the left, is already an overdue wedding present. My goal for this month is to AT LEAST get the binding sewn to the front of the quilt - it doesn't have to be hand sewn down on the back before the end of this month (although that would be GREAT!).

This dress is for college girl and I thought it was going to be a fun summer dress for her. Uhhhhhhh,well she might get to wear it before the last day of summer.Goal for this month - get this dress finished before we take College Girl back to school. Hopefully there will be some warm days once school starts back up and she can wear it at least once before she pulls out the sweaters and jeans. This is the fabric and pattern that I showed in August. Alexander Henry fabric and Simplicity pattern.

Another LONG overdue project. This fabric is for the apron pictured in the center and is for a good friend.She must be a good friend because she still likes me and I was going to make this for her last August! My goal for September - get the fabric pre-shrunk,make the pattern (trace the correct size onto pattern material), cut the apron out.
This one isn't as long overdue as the one above but still overdue. This is for another friend - she knows nothing about this. I saw this fabric on someones blog but could never find it online then one day at JoAnn's there it was!! It is an Alexander Henry print. My friend LOVES lemon desserts. She did pick out the pattern when she was here one time. I have never seen her wear an apron so I'm not so sure about what she will really do with it. September goal - shrink fabrics,make pattern,cut apron out.
Well on this next project I am actually ahead of the game but by the time it is done I will be behind. Yeah, roll yer eyes. I'll understand. This fabric, along with a layer cake is going to be made into the Scruffily Quilt from Rachel Griffiths on The Moda Bakeshop. It is for my hubby's niece that is getting married October 11th. I am going to have to find something to use for backing and also get some batting. I'm hoping that JoAnn's has Warm & White on sale the weekend we take College Girl back to school because I will be near a SUPER JoAnn's that weekend! September Goal for this - get the quilt top sewn, make the binding.

Whew! That is quite the list. I know.I KNOW! Now if I could just limit my time on the computer during the day I could probably make a good dent in this list.

Praise - our friend that was suddenly sick is doing much better! It was determined it was food poisoning.It hit her pretty quick and hard and she was very dehydrated by the time the campus health services got to her. We are so thankful that it was short lived, not the flu and that she is on the road to recovery tonight. Praise the Lord!

Prayers - College girl has been 'shadowing' an elementary teacher for this week before school starts and then next week she gets to be in the classroom when classes begin. I'm praying that she will be a help to the teacher, feel comfortable with the kids and be a great witness to those she is in contact with.

August TO DO LIST

I really liked being pushed to get some things done in July by the Charming Girls Quilt Club. I didn't finish everything I set out to though.

Part of that was not my fault - if there is no Warm & White to be found what's a girl to do?

So once again on my list (and I am already working on it!), this pattern

to be made up in this Rebel Roses fabric by Henry Glass;


Warm & White has been obtained so back on the list is this quilt - top is done so now I need to make the quilt sandwich, stipple and bind. This is made with my leftovers from the Old Red Barn Quilt-Along Quilt.

Which brings me to the Old Red Barn Quilt-Along Quilt; needs the edges trimmed and binding made and attached. I was waiting for the above quilt to be at the point where I could measure and then make the binding for both quilts at the same time.


Adding to the list is a dress,for college girl, made out of this fabric, Pink Pareo by Alexander Henry. I am using Simplicity 2616, view A, but shorter than that.


I can't wait to see what everyone else is going to be working on this month!

Praise - I have been HOME ALONE! basically since the 31st. All is going well so far.

Prayers - That everything on the home front would continue to go well but more importantly that the rest of my family and our friends would be safe on their river rafting trip.

I'm in a JAM

It's that time of year again. Raspberry season! I love fresh raspberries. My kids love fresh raspberries and the entire family loves raspberry jam. Weirdly enough we are almost always just leaving town or just getting back into town during prime raspberry picking. I get my berries picked for me and boxed up by this great lady by the name of Millie. She calls me when my berries are ready and asks if I need more. She keeps a BERRY LIST by her phone. She knows my name by now, since I have been getting them from her for about 5 or 6 years. The price is incredible! Oh sure, there are U-Pick places but seriously folks - it is not worth it to me to pay just a little bit less, fight with the bees, stand in the sun and not get nearly as many nice berries. Millie is my go to gal for the berries. So today I made 10 pints of raspberry jam. But guess what! These were from last year's berries. Millie taught me early on that since it is insanely HOT during berry season that the best thing to do is freeze them and make them in the fall or winter. Millie is a smart cookie. Me, not so much. I DID make some jam last summer with the fresh berries because we were out of jam and then, because we had vacation plans, I froze many gallon bags full of berries. I intended to make jam all fall, then all winter and then in the spring. I never got around to it. So, in my moderately HOT kitchen this morning (not as bad as the other day), I made jam. Isn't it purdy???


I like making and canning jam and I always think of one of my SILs. She wrote in a canning cookbook that she gave me one year for my birthday (many moons ago), "Be quick, be careful, enjoy canning". I repeat that to myself many times during the process, usually when I am pouring the hot jam into the jars.
I am not sure what I will do with the fresh berries this month. Make some jam right away and be done with it (I will just crank up the A/C and bring a fan into the kitchen) or freeze them as I am on my way out of town again next week. One of my nephews is getting married.

Here is a little dress/top I whipped up for my dd. It is that pre-shirred fabric, just had to sew a seam up the side. We decided a strap would be safer than no strap. ;) New summer dress less than $5 .


Answered prayers today, my friend and the mission team were able to get out of Mexico. I don't know all the details yet but the photocopies and the police report must have done the trick. Pink survived her root canal and is eating on the right side of her mouth for the time being.