Madrigal Costume

The plan for this week was to take a break from quilting and make a madrigal costume for a friend's son. Monday I cut out all the pieces. Tuesday I made the hat and broke two sewing machine needles in the process. I hand stitched the crown to the brim and will caution Noah to treat it gently.

By Wednesday I had the top of the doublet sewn together.

Thursday  saw the skirt of the doublet attached.

Today I finished the sleeves and made all the button holes for the sleeves and front of the doublet.

I think a black leather belt would look good and add some definition at the waist.

View of the back.

Imagine a fancy white shirt and tapered black Renaissance pants.

Next the hat needs a band to cover the seam joining the crown to the brim and my part of this costume will be done.

Linking up with Peacock party!

Wendy's sashiko looks great. Wonder if I should try doing one?

Taking a break from quilting

I finished making over two hundred half square triangles for my Good Fortune quilt.

But they all need to be trimmed and I need a break.

I cut out the rectangles and squares for the green chevrons but just couldn't face all that rote sewing.

I want a quicker finish as a break from this quilt. 

I bought these two fabrics to make hats for the cousins who will be gathering in July.

Their other grandparents have had a pirate ship playhouse built in their yard.

I thought some nautical sailor hats would be just the thing for them to wear as they play.

But before I make the sailor hats I have to make a hat and doublet for a friend's son. He chose the black and gold brocade for the jacket and black velvet for the hat. It took about an hour to cut out the pattern pieces from the tissue paper. I hope to get this costume made this week. That will leave me over a week to make 5 sailor hats.

What's on your list for next week?

Are mystery quilts for you?

Do you participate in mystery quilt-alongs?

A little background -

Last summer I took my first Bonnie Hunter class and loved it. She is a great teacher and a great person, very positive and helpful. I am scheduled to take another class from her in August.

I finished the Churn Dash quilt shown below.

I have never taken part in a mystery quilt-along. I like to know what I'm going to have at the end. I love reading mysteries but mystery quilting, no thanks.

BUT I had such fun with Bonnie's class last summer I decided to print all the directions for the Good Fortune mystery quilt. I waited to start because I didn't have time during the school year.

Below are my blues and neutrals, ready to be cut.

I just finished the X blocks and as you can see I did not strip piece the orange sections.

I ended up making 32 of these blocks. The directions said to make 240 small 4 patches. Each larger block uses 8 of these. When I saw that only 25 X blocks were to be made, I looked all over the directions to find out what to do with the other blocks. Also, I had cut out enough orange pieces for 32 blocks. So I decided to make a bigger quilt with 32 X blocks and 31 blue/green blocks.

I found I don't like working with so many seams. These X blocks were a bear to sew and I can't imagine how hard it would have been with strip pieced orange rectangles.

So, maybe mystery quilt-alongs aren't for me. I am going to try one more.

My Carolina Home has started Scrap Dance Minuet Mystery Quilt.

I have chosen some fabric and printed all directions.

The thing I like about this one is she has offered 7 different sizes. I'm going to make the throw size.

My question is, "Are mystery quilts for you?"

Day lilies and zinnias in our garden.

Have a great week!

Road trip and UFO finish

This morning I drove about 45 minutes to Yazoo City to see a quilt show.

Yazoo City was the home of writer Willie Morris and the setting of My Dog Skip.

The quilt show was in the town museum that I think was the old city hall.

There were three rooms of quilts hung in different ways. I liked this one of a town.

Unfortunately it was too big for the hanger, so it was hung over the rod.

The top is below. I flipped the photo so I could see the blocks better.

There were two quilts made with this Autumn pattern.

This one was appliqued neatly and embellished with beads and buttons.

This one was different with a 3-D magnolia flower in the upper right corner.

There were some barn quilts outside and inside.

Barn quilt cat!

It was a lovely day for a road trip.

The corn was as high as an elephant's eye.

Day lilies were blooming.

And my UFO finish - a charity lap quilt to be donated to Jackson Quilters. 

Hope you are having a great week end!

Mini Felt Project

Sewing was suspended in anticipation of our state June Gathering. 

I signed up for the wool felt applique, partly because I didn't want to lug a sewing machine

to the sessions and partly because I wanted a quick finish.

I finished the mini hanging above in class and started the one below.

I hope to finish the second one this afternoon.

There is also a pattern for a small Christmas ornament that I will cut out today.

Here is a close-up.

Our teacher brought all the materials, even the little stand.

Another fun part of June Gathering is shopping.

I bought fat quarters that appealed to me.

Now-what can I made with these 5 pieces? 

Maybe a small trip around the world.

Here are five more I think look good together.

These two might make a cute girly bag for Miss Ava.

 The boys might get something made from these two fabrics.

Orange was the connection for these three.

Something fun to do this summer.

A scavenger hunt! I think it will be lots of fun.

The pink dot is the color of a log cabin block I get to make.

I posted my first entry of the scavenger hunt on Instagram. Look for more #MQASummerHunt2019.