A long time coming...

The last couple of weeks have been a lot of little bits of things... we are currently in the middle of the Term 3 holidays and while I have done some sewing, we have also caught up with friends, shopping, had sleepovers and spent a *very* small amount of time at work.

I bought fabric... a couple of knits "Idle Wild birds knit in gray" by Riley Blake and "Modern Reflection Dots Knit in Grey" by Maywood Studio, planning to make a colour blocked dress... BUT the fabric is definitely t-shirt weight, and the birdie print is on a white background (somehow thought it was on a grey background)... so I've changed my plan and think I'll make a long sleeved t-shirt with it.  Currently trawling through pattern ideas, and I think I've found one I like.

In the patchwork cotton side of things I HAD to add some more Scribble Notes in White to my stash.  Then some Stella Vine Stripe in white and green, Sun print feathers in gray, Hatch crosswatch in onyx, Knock on wood sketch in dark grey, Hatch crosswatch in aluminium, Sunday Supper Grandma's gingham in pesto and Crosses in Stone.

And I added some Charm packs to my collection because, well, you never know when you might need them.

I am making a small collection of this Moda Sweetwater Sunday Supper fabric... just love those greens and blues together.

I also managed to attend my LQS's monthly Saturday stitching day, and came home with these French General (I'm pretty sure) fabrics.

A metre piece of this Sketch fabric and a button.

On the sewing side of things, I have *almost* finished my denim dress - just need to add that button to the pocket trim and finish a small amount of sewing on the straps.

I don't know that a hanger shot really does the dress any justice. It finishes above my knee - but not by too much, and will look great with tights and boots.

And you'll just have to imagine this beautiful button sewn on.

This denim was described as Rigid Denim on the bolt, and it has a slight stretch and was quite firm.  For cutting and sewing purposes, this was quite easy to deal with, as it stayed where it was put, and pressed quite well.  It wasn't the easiest to turn (like these pocket tabs) and I decided to not top stitch these as I couldn't get the points turned nicely, figuring that poor top stitching would just highlight that.  I also struggled to topstitching in some areas where the sewing machine just wouldn't feed.  In hindsight, I wondered if I should have adjusted the presser foot pressure.  I discovered that I am completely crap at topstitching curves... and am undecided whether to remove the top stitching holding the pocket on and just applique it in place.  After a good washing, the hand of the fabric has softened quite a bit, and although I haven't tried it on since, I am hoping that it will mean it has a more draped fit as opposed to looking like a shield.

After finishing the quilting on the Stack, Shuffle Slide quilt, I basted and started quilting the Dots and Dashes cot quilt.  Although I had a few different ideas about quilting options - I ended up doing the same interlocking boxes design... I could quilt this design in my sleep, and in fact, I am sure I have dreamed about quilting it.

Stitching with this WonderFil 100wt grey thread - 103 means that the stitches are visible, but unobtrusive.

I finished up another orange block for my RSC quilt.  This was quite the challenge as it was one of the last larger blocks in the quilt.  The strips are 20.5" cut and I discovered much to my horror that I had no orange fabric of that length.  So... I did a bit of fabric surgery and added some black joiner strips.

These oranges are very ORANGE!

Linking up with the RSC and Molli Sparkles.