Delta Fair 2026 - The Best Year

This year I almost let the deadline for the Delta Fair pass by.

I had chosen what to submit but didn't keep up with the due date.

I submitted a dress, an apron, three small quilts and a table runner.

Joey and family went to the fair on Labor Day.

He called and asked if I wanted to know what I had won.

Of course!

I went on Senior Day and had a little hunt for my projects. 

My Stay at Home Round Robin - no ribbon.

My Memphis row by row - no ribbon.

(It is my favorite mini.)

My green dress - 1st place.

My Tulip table runner - 1st place.

The modern fan mini quilt made from my dad's ties cut into wedges by mom - 1st place.

Wow! What a surprise. I never thought this would win a 1st place but Best of Show? No way.

Just goes to show that others may see what we do not.

Miss Ava had two projects at the fair this year.

Her card has a pop-up surprise that doesn't show in the photo.

Her lovely handwriting won 2nd place for her age category. 

Good results for a first timer.

Now I am hard at work on my Midnight Garden wall quilt.

I hope to have ready for the quilter soon.

Happy Sewing.

 

Pentagon Bowl English paper piecing

Molly and Mama, an online quilting site, 

had a free pattern for pentagon bowls.

The pattern and tutorial were shared over two weeks.

I chose scraps from six fabrics that were leftover 

from dresses I made Ava.

The first step was cutting out the cardstock pattern

and gluing the fabric on the papers.

 The pieces were whipstitched into two bowls.

Above shows the sides stitched to the bottoms.

The two bowls were nested and stitched around the top edge.

Here is the finished pentagon bowl.

This bowl is great for storing small items.

One idea I liked is to insert a small magnet between the bowls.

The magnet will make the bowl a 'needle minder'.

I'm giving this to Ava for her birthday

with a collection of ear rings.

Now I have to finish the Seven Sisters mini quilt

and really get to work on finishing my Midnight Garden.

Happy Sewing!

 

Remaking a favorite fabric into a new dress

April 2025 I made this dress for Ava.

She chose the pattern because it was called 'Ava'.

It had an empire waist and button closure.

I lined the bodice with white batiste 

and made covered buttons from the teal fabric.

This summer when Ava wanted 

to wear the dress it didn't fit well. 

She had grown a few inches taller.

The style wasn't flattering.

I looked for leftover fabric from the main fabric 

but found very little of it.

I went to The Sewing House 

hoping there was still some in their shop.

The only thing I found was a cream print 

from the same fabric line but no teal.

Buying a yard I planned to make the top cream with a teal skirt.

Then I looked online and found a shop that had the teal.

I bought a yard and waited for it to be delivered.

The new dress is made from Violet Field Thread's Elowen pattern.

It is a very flattering pattern 

with several options for sleeves and length.

I used the cream fabric for the bodice, 

cap sleeve lining, and waist accent.

The back has a lovely V neckline and a zipper.

Ava prefers zippers to buttons.

This dress had to wait while I made another project - 

cloak for Ava's trip and one for little brother, too.

Then my favorite sewing machine stopped working. 

The back-up machine was not right for this pattern.

My new machine was great for sewing this dress.

As I made a dress for me and this dress 

I learned how to use many of the features of this Baby Lock Brilliant.

I even hemmed the dress with the blind hem stitch and attachment.

Very happy with this finish.

Now back to my Midnight Garden.

No more detours.

Get.It.Done.

Happy Sewing!

Hand sewing & new sewing machine & a little family history

Last week end I attended the MQA Summer Gathering in Pearl, MS.

I drove down Friday morning and joined the group about noon.

I signed up for the hand sewing class 

because I didn't want to lug a sewing machine and all the extras.

This class was all about hand piecing and quilting.

I had never hand pieced a quilt. I always machine piece my tops.

Our teacher was Cynthia R. who will be the president of MQA next year.

She lives on the coast and is a member of a Gulfport guild.

We worked on a pattern called Seven Sisters.

It is made with diamond shaped pieces and some triangles.

Cynthia used stamps to mark the fabric. She made kits with needles, pins,

thread, beeswax, stamped fabric, and a handy block display board.

Our class was four hours on Friday and four hours on Saturday.

In class I finished the center block and 6 blue stars.

I cut out all the stamped diamonds when I got home.

I'm steadily working on the stars while I watch TV in the evenings.

When I got home I made a template from card stock

and used washable marker to trace the pattern on fabric Cynthia gave me.

Yesterday I took my project bag (also furnished by Cynthia) to Joey's.

Kenton was intrigued with the shapes and possible ways to arrange the pieces.

Above is one of his designs.

In other news, my second Pfaff 1473 started having problems.

I have a small machine that I take to sew-ins but it is not my favorite machine.

I decided that it was time to buy a new sewing machine and started looking online.

I found Baby Lock Brilliant had all the features I wanted.

Local stores didn't have one so I checked The Cotton Blossom in Ridgeland.

They had exactly what I wanted and it was ON SALE!

I bought it online and talked Cotton Blossom owner Lisa about picking it up 

when I was in the area for MQA.

Here it is at home in my sewing room.

I'm learning how to sew with a new machine and I love it so far.

One of the other class participants, Fran, was from Polkville. I told her my dad was from there and we talked about family connections. Her husband, Randy Gray, is related to me from both my grandmother Cora Lee and my grandfather Roscoe. We are second cousins on both sides. 

Fran texted me this family information when we got home.

It was a fun week end.

Next up-

A summer dress for me and a dress make-over for Ava.

Happy Sewing!

 

More costume construction

Miss Ava and her mom are going to NYC for a girls' weekend.

One of the activities is attending the Harry Potter play.

So, a Hogwarts cloak was needed.

After checking the costume collection at our house, I decided to make a hooded cloak.

I found a free pattern to download and bought fabric.

One suggestion was to accent the sleeves with pink lightning bolt fabric leftover

from a dress I made for Ava last year. I found a 2 inch bias strip.

I cut it into 1 inch strips and added it to the cloak.

Above is the finish.

It has a frog closure - hand stitched.

 

Side view.

Showing the front facing.

The neck seam was exposed so I whipped down a velvet ribbon to cover it.

This girl was so pleased with the cloak.

She said it was the best!

Ready for the show.

Update- Brother's version is finished.

I made a neck facing for Kenton's cloak.

The hood had a small adjustment in the pointed end.

After I sew on the frog closure this will be ready for Master Kenton.

The second one was quicker to make because 

I made the side and sleeve seams last.

It was easier to sew the hood and facings with the garment flat.

Happy Sewing!

July mixed bag

This mug rug is for a sweet young lady who was my first and only confirmand.

She will be a freshman at Mississippi State where I received my BS & M. Ed.

I hope she has a great experience.

I am concentrating on my Midnight Garden quilt.

I use a design bed instead of a design wall.

I have played around with all the blocks I have finished so far

Now I have an idea of how many blocks I need.

It takes a while to make each paper pieced block.

I made a couple of things for myself.

I bought a panel containing four bandanas.

It wasn't enough fabric to cut into a blouse,

so I made my own pattern.

I like the finished on point flutter top.

I also bought this floral knit.

It was thinner than I expected but worked well for this quick to sew dress.

I keep trying to make something for Kenton but can't find the right pattern.

These shorts fit Ava perfectly.

Another bucket hat.

I like the free pattern I found at Sweet Red Poppy. 

I'm working on the AQS wool challenge block.

A good hand sewing project.

I think that is all for now.

Happy Sewing!