Fig Tree Polka Dots & Summer Dress

As a Fig Tree Fanatic, I couldn't help but swoon over the Polka Dots & Summer dress pattern found here.

I used my Spring Street fabric by Carolyn Gavin which is so fun to look at.  I also love the fresh colors.

I am not a garment sewer by any stretch of the imagination.  I'm too much of a "just wing it" type sewer.  I'm going to switch now from saying sewer (which reads like a poo processing plant) to sewist (which sounds very posh).  So, as I was saying, my goal when putting together anything other than a quilt is to just do my best to follow the pattern and forgive the mistakes.  I wouldn't say I cut corners but I don't do my best to get it just right.  Instead I do my best to get it just done.

This turned out way less than perfect but way more than cute.

This last photo is to show you the vast discrepancy between the front length and the back length.  Completely my own fault for not reading the directions all the way through before beginning.  That's not usually like me!  I actually love reading directions.

She's wearing a tiny pair of white bike shorts underneath it so I don't need to worry about accidental flashing.

Just a note to those of you with monitors large enough to notice her red splotched feet:  her brothers lovingly shared some of their Sharpie marker love with her last night.  On a completely related note, SoftScrub actually took Sharpie off my wooden breakfast table!  Maybe I caught it soon enough but I was very pleasantly surprised (ie, desperately thanking the tiny baby Jesus).

Hope your summer is as fun as mine so far :-)  If you're within driving distance of the Atlanta area, please check out the Atlanta Modern Quilt Guild Summer Retreat!  You do not need to be a member to attend and it is just a one day event.  Let me know if you have any questions.

Chris

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T-Shirt Quilt

I've been working for a while on a t-shirt quilt job for a neighbor friend.  I finally finished it and was able to deliver it to her on Sunday.  It turned out great and is the softest thing ever.  The flannel on the back was a lucky find at Tiny Stitches in Marietta.  It is softer than you can imagine.

T-shirt and sports jerseys are not easy to work with.  They stretch like you wouldn't believe.  I used interfacing but still had to struggle to keep them in line.  Obviously these pics are taken after a nice trip through the washer and dryer.

One of my favorite blocks is his old Woody costume.  The polyester makes it sort of slippery like the nice silk edge of a baby blanket.  His Hulk t-shirt has preschool paint stains on it which just melted my heart every time I looked at them.  The Flash shirt in the upper right-hand corner was made by his grandmother I think and the spider t-shirt was made from his handprints.  Could you not just die at how sweet all of these memories are?!  His class t-shirts from elementary school, his football t-shirt from when his dad coached. 

If you are interested in having a t-shirt quilt made, please let me know.  I am partnering with Rachel Locke (my Tupelo, MS quilting homie) to be able to get your t-shirt quilts completed more quickly.  Rachel is a piecing machine and I am a quilting machine.  Together, we can put together a t-shirt or memory quilt for you that will be snuggled and loved for many years to come.  Let me know if you'd like more information!

Happy Thursday!

Chris

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Four.

Now you are Four.

Holy crap.  I know that's not the most eloquent way to say it, but all of you moms know what I'm talking about.

This delicious newborn turned four years old last weekend.  She freaking rocks my world.  I can count on one hand how many times she's been in trouble in her lifetime.  Is it because she's that good?  Probably not.  Is it because she is a spoiled princess and can do no wrong in my eyes?  Probably.

Audrey is four.  She won't wear shorts or pants because she is THAT girly.  We have to call leggings "tights" to get her to put them on.  We've even used that trick with pants.  Just yesterday I had to tell her that the shorts were her "special soccer clothes" to get her to not wear a skirt to her first soccer lesson.  She twirls, she dances, she sings, she talks our ears off.  She loves Barbie and Polly Pocket.  She jumps on the trampoline with the boys and holds her own in a physical fight with them.

She loves the pool and floats around independently with a swim ring (fairy-themed, of course).

She thinks nuts are called "coconuts" and often asks for coconuts for a snack.  I can't bring myself to correct her.  Honey, I'll give you coconuts all day long because you're so darned cute.

She wants her hair long like Rapunzel's and she thinks the blow dryer actually helps make her hair longer.

She asks to see this "Daisy" picture on my phone several times a week (down from several times a day).  It was taken last September during her first visit to Disney World.  She thinks she met God that day:

She still has trouble pronouncing her "r's" so she sometimes says things wong like asking for wife cereal or fwosted-fwakes.  Her favorite meal is chicken nuggets or spaghetti with red sauce (which she calls "me sauce" for some reason). 

She has picked up bad habits from her brothers like saying "what the?!", "whatEVER", and "fart".  She has picked up bad habits from me like saying "freakin" and "oh GAWD". 

When I tell someone how stinkin' cute she is she always says indignantly "I NOT STINKIN'".

Anyway, you get the idea.  I love her so much I want to put heavy chains on her that are locked to me 24/7.  I have contemplated surgically inserting a Lowjack or GPS chip in her body somewhere. 

In August she begins Georgia Pre-K which runs the same full school day hours as regular school.  It's like a tiny pre-step towards empty-nesting for me.  That sounds silly but this is my last baby.  I will no longer have a baby, a toddler, a pre-schooler.  I will have a full time pre-k, a 2nd grader and a 3rd grader.  Wait, wasn't I just in those early day baby-trenches?

So I celebrate the four-year-old milestone.  She is healthy, smart, funny and loving.  And I mourn the day too.  Because she is one year closer to the snotty teen-age years.  Oh GAWD. 

With all of my love and hopes and dreams, I wish for you joy and happiness and health.

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