Handmade Baby Quilt from Amy Butler Daisy Chain fabrics

One of my blogging friends is responsible for stitching this quilt.
Cristin, from Sew This Is My Life created her 35 X 35 inch quilt using 4 inch squares using several prints from Amy Butler Daisy Chain fabrics and white Kono cotton sashing.

This understated throw or baby size quilt could easily find a home my house!

Tag - You're It Blog Award

Get to know me better. 10 trivia facts.
Yesterday Michele at By Your Side sent an email telling me I had been tagged & given a blog award.
The award states that you give 10 facts about yourself and “tag” 10 fellow bloggers.

Very well ..... here is some trivia about yours truly.

• My senior year of high school I rode my motorcycle (Suzuki 90) to school and to Majorette practice.

• I admit to have taken Disco dance classes. (shaking my head in disbelief)

• I am no longer addicted to Diet Coke.

• I worked three years as a Bail Bondsman Bondswoman) , and know how to sort through lies and liars. I learned jails are kept very cold year round! Sometimes I felt like everyone's mother, given rides to people I should have never given a ride, brought the "down & out" to my house & learned to hope for the best!

• I've Bungee jumped and love roller coasters, but become nauseated when on a swing.

• I had never been fishing until I met my Husband from Mississippi. Soon discovered that I'm never going to catch a fish unless it swallows the hook and more often than not, I have a snagged line.

• I know the words to the song You Never Even Called Me by My Name (The Perfect Country and Western Song) by David Allen Cole (another influence from my hubby)

• I'd love to take a vacation trip to Ireland and visit London.

• A game of Pictionary with the family around the dining room table is considered loads of fun! I do pretty well with my drawing.

• I have a personal relationship with God, am a work in progress and love to sew! :-)

Now it is my turn to tag 10 of my fellow blog friends!

1. Jennifer - Sewing the Stress Away

2. Cora - a crafty moment

3. Martha - A Sense of Humor is Essential

4. Lis - A Truckers Wife

5. Nadine - Apron Valley Road

6. Jennifer - Cooda's Corner

7. Julie - Craft Knife

8. Liberty - Liberty Original

9. Mishy - Mishy's Fire

10. Lucinda - the sewing chatter box

Portabellopixie Claire- Sewing Pattern Review - Round Apron Dress

This tutorial is concentrated on the round apron and attaching it to the dress.

My pattern review for this dress can be seen by clicking here: portabellopixie-claire-pattern
This is a continuation for the same pattern but sewn in the size 2T with different fabrics.



The dress will be constructed to the point of completion minus the apron ties. The main apron panel was attached to the skirt of the dress before sewing it to the bodice. To further clarify, the only thing missing are the ties (sash) of the apron.

Find the center of the front of the dress/apron panel and mark it. Find the center of the apron sash and mark it. Often I mark centers by a lightly pressing a crease.

Lay the Apron sash on the seam line of the skirt & bodice making sure the centers are aligned.
The bottom of the sash is on the seam line and the top covers a portion of the bodice.

Do not extend past the seam, because you will be covering the full part of the gathered skirt. See picture above for placement.




The key to finishing the Portabellopixie Claire dress is attaching the sash in a nice smooth manner and the key to having it smooth, is the pinning!


Lots and Lots of pins!


Here is where I use my favorite foot. If you don't have one like this, use the edge of your standard pressure foot as your guide. I suggest using well matched thread.

Sew the band on slowly as per the pattern instructions. Keep everything smooth and remove pins as you go.

This is my little friend Anna. She can wear a size #3 or 4 T department store clothes. This dress has been cut from a size 2T .

Due to the elastic neckline and sleeves it easily fits Anna! As you can see, this pattern would look fine a little longer and even a little shorter as the child grows. In other words, if your little girl wears a size 2T , make the 2T Round Apron dress and she'll be wearing it a little shorter as she grows taller.

Isn't she adorable? Her mother's blog is Amy Knits. There is always something happening there such as knitting, sewing, bats in the house........

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Portabellopixie Pattern Review for Apron Dress

Coming very soon:

a Tutorial on the Round Apron Dress from the Portabellopixie Claire pattern.

My pattern review for this dress can be seen by clicking here: portabellopixie-claire-pattern

Airedale Quilt and Airedale Terrier

Meet Belle, my 5 year old Airedale Terrier. She's a food obsessed, funny, party animal! Belle LOVES kids because she loves the way they think. One must have a sense of humor to live with an Airedale!

Look through some pictures of Belle and then check out the beautiful QUILT which is being raffled off to raise money for the Airedale Rescue. It is amazing workmanship and truly a one of a kind quilt. On top of that, the proceeds go to a great cause!

The following 3 photos tell a little story.

See Toddler looking at the too small kennel for the big dog.

See toddler having fun playing in the too small crate for the big dog.

See big dog thinking "uh.....what the heck........"???

Buy a chance to win the gorgeous 'Fairy Tails' quilt and help Airedales in need. Check often for special drawings or just enjoy looking at http://www.airedalequilt.org/http: This quilt is absolutely gorgeous! Very talented women worked together designing and piecing their own squares featuring the Airedales which they have loved. This quilt truly is a work of art! See the quilt larger and clearer by clicking on the website link.

Portabellopixie Claire- Sewing Pattern Review - Round Apron Dress

Fun to Sew! Fun to Twirl !

Designer Sandi Henderson surely must rank among the Best children's pattern designers! Claire was my first experience using Portabellopixie patterns , but will not be my last!

Here is what it says on the back cover of the pattern:

This pattern includes 5 options in sizes 6 months - girls 8. Claire is an excellent pattern for beginners to intermediate sewers. Beginners will find the Peasant Top and Dress easy projects to understand and start out with. When you progress or are and adventurous beginner, try the Apron and Petal knot dresses. There are two aprons to play with, so have fun!



Fun indeed! Fun to sew and fun to twirl!!!! On a scale of 1 to 10 this dress has twirl power rating of an 8.00 ! Only dresses which are cut on the bias and twirl straight out make the perfect twirl score of 10! If you scroll to the bottom of this post, you'll be able to compare the dress which Zoey is modeling to the picture on the pattern cover. The only change I made was adding length to the sleeves. I like the original, but was experimenting with a longer sleeve for the fun of it.

The Portabellopixie Round Apron dress which Zoey is wearing was cut from the size 5 T. Due to the elasticized neckline and sleeve it is fairly forgiving of size and could probably work for a child slightly smaller than Zoey.

I was a apprehensive about sewing the attached apron band at the bodice seam. I was afraid it would end up looking puckered. Truthfully..... frustration was anticipated! I took the designer's instructional advice to heart and used plenty of pins. I had no trouble and zero puckers!

The tulip applique was my own free hand design, but I would have welcomed a few applique shapes to be included with this pattern. Instead, the directions give ideas and some photos of finished dresses for inspiration.

Keep the applique light and flexible. If the applique is large and near the top 1/3 of the apron, it will not hang in loose gathers as an apron should. This tip is not mentioned in the pattern instructions........probably because it is assumed that most people would have common sense on this matter. I'll admit to a " practice" apron panel......and move onto another subject. (grin)


The pattern pieces are printed on extra heavy grade tissue paper, therefore it is easy to trace out the size you need without tearing the tissue! (thumbs up) I love the heavy weight tissue!

Because of 4 variations included, I color coded each variation making it easier to sort though. I marked the Petal Knot dress variation pattern pieces with a red dot, the Peasant dress pattern pieces are marked with a green dot and so forth.

Zoey helped with the color coding and enjoyed learning about pattern pieces. :-)

I enjoyed the instruction booklet and Sandi Henderson's way of illustrating the directions. She includes a drawing with arrows to illustrate which seams are being sewn, making the steps extremely clear at a glance.


There is a mistake on the yardage of the Knot Dress . It calls for 1/2 yard for the skirt and it should be 1 yard. I've only made the sizes 5 and 6 and have not compared the yardage for the other sizes.

Would I make the Round Apron dress again?
YES, but AFTER I make the OTHER variations included in this Portabellopixie Pattern!

Would I recommend the Claire pattern to a beginner?

I would say a person with basic sewing skills could handle any of the variations. The Petal knot dress requires making 2 button holes, top stitching and gathering skills.

The Round Apron version requires gathering, applying bias binding (on the apron) and running elastic through a self casing at the neck and sleeves.
If you understand those skills........you'll have no trouble.

The Peasant dress and Peasant Top require gathering to attach a bottom ruffle and shirring with elastic thread.
To sew with elastic thread:
Hand wind the bobbin with the elastic thread and thread the needle with regular sewing thread. Sew as you normally would and let the elastic thread do the work!
For my shirring tutorial, click here.

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Handmade Twirl Skirt from Simplicity sewing pattern

I'd love for you to meet my friend Liberty of Liberty Originals. She lives near me and we became friends because of the mutual enjoyment of sewing. She has wonderful talent and has recently opened an Etsy shop to sell some of her creations.


Liberty made this 'back to school' outfit for her daughter to wear on her first day of 2nd grade.
Skirt fashioned from Simplicity pattern #4206 with modifications. Fabrics are by designer Amy Butler
You can jump on over to her blog to see more.