SEWmuchKNITting

I absolutely love wearing these simple, knit dresses....especially in the summer! I've been on the look-out for a great pattern to use this brown, black, orange and white border print fabric that I picked up last summer at Vogue Fabrics in Evanston, Illinois, and I think I found it in McCall's 5423! Tho difficult to see, there is a sewn-on small dolman-like sleeve, and a narrow empire waist elastic casing. The pattern shows a wide sash, but I didn't feel it was necessary for my dress. And look at that border....it reminds me of slices of kiwi! Although this deep V opening is figure-flattering, I will need to wear a cami with this dress! I like the cute little V-neck opening at the back, and LOVE that there isn't a zipper! This dress is definitely going into the suitcase for my trip to NYC!

Does this look yummy to you???? Funny, but it sure does to me :-) I traded scraps from my studio with another quilter, and we have been challenged to make something by June 1st. This fun bit of madness was set up by Victoria at BumbleBeans , and it will be really fun to see what the swappers in this small group comes up with. My thanks to Linda for sending me her goodies, and I can't wait to get started!

Since our Michigan weather was cold and rainy for most of the weekend, making it difficult to get out and work in my flower beds, I spent some time in my sewing studio making a new dress for myself for Mother's Day. The cheerful colors of the stylized flowers on this pretty stretch cotton sateen made me smile, and the pattern went together like a dream! I have no clue where I purchased this fabric that I found in my stash, maybe from Gorgeous Fabrics? I sure wish I would have sewn this dress up last Dec before our trip to Hawaii, it would have been perfect. Oh well :-) I'm not sure it was even 40 degrees out yet, but Ken managed to snap a quick pic on our way to church: I love the way this dress turned out, and it is the first piece completed on my list of garments to sew for my trip to New York City in a few weeks!

The members of the Metro Detroit Quilt Guild have a wonderful and ongoing community service project which they call the Storybook Quilt Collection . Children's books that have quilts somewhere in the storyline are chosen, and then individual quilt guild members make up small quilts that relate to the books. The collection is then made available on loan to libraries, teachers, and other civic groups to display and share with adults and kids alike. The collection is made up of several mini-collections, and the guild is always on the look-out for new books and quilts to make. I picked up the Just a Quilt? book at the guild's Nov. meeting, and put together this simple but bright quilt to add to the collection: Size: 27" X 37" String-pieced on muslin squares(6" finished) with strips from my scrap pile, polyester batting, and machine quilted on my Bernina 1260.