Summer has been fantastic...

There are so many things that go on during the summer...that sewing definitely was not in the cards...BUT, I've done a couple of things in the last week or so gearing up for quality time with my machine...

Like finishing my sister's long awaited lounge pants from Amy Butler's In Stitches book. I made them with Arkansas Razorback fabric (she went to school there) that I bought last year. I have yet to send them to her, and when I do, it will probably be a huge surprise, because she quit expecting them by now.



Also, I busily traced Amy Butler's Cabo Halter pattern out on tracing paper so I wouldn't have to cut the actual pattern. Part of the pattern overlaps itself, plus it is nice to preserve it for the different sizes. I picked up some really cute fabrics at Hancocks of Paducah (I could have spent HOURS in that store!) when we drove through Kentucky this summer, with the Cabo Halter in mind. I've got an invisible zipper foot ordered, and aside from having to sew an invisible zipper into the halter, it looks pretty straight forward and not too intimidating/difficult. Hopefully I will get a couple sewn up before summer is gone, and halter tops will be the last thing I want to wear! Thank goodness that summer lasts for basically nine months down here!



Then, a project I'm also very excited about is this:

For three and a half yards of fabric plus two charm packs, you can make a very simple baby quilt. There are a couple of Moda fabric collections that came out this year that I fell in love with...and I discovered Moda charm packs, which has a square of EACH fabric in the collection. Then I went to Moda Bake Shop, and discovered the perfect recipe to showcase an entire fabric collection in one piece. The stacked coins baby quilt. The collection in the picture above is Aviary by Three Sisters for Moda. Ooooh, I love this collection! I love the bird egg prints, the soft colors, the fabric itself is so nice...I could go on and on. Charm packs are a great way for fabric lovers to get an entire collection for a small cost. But the idea of just hiding these gorgeous fabric samples away in a drawer, box, or shelf just seemed like such a shame. Now AmandaJean at Crazy Mom Quilts uses charm packs and then other fabrics. But, it is obviously open to interpretation, and I decided to use all Aviary fabrics. Right now I've just finished pressing my stacked coins, and need to move on to the sashing.

I have two more collections that I'm going to turn into this same quilt. Howard Marcus Collection for a Cause Legacy, and Fig Tree Quilts Patisserie. I have to be careful, because since it could easily become an obsession. And if I have uninterrupted sewing time, like when my little one goes back to school here pretty soon...I could probably churn these out like nobody's business! And you know, the Halloween and Christmas collections are coming out...