Here I am! Quilting Update

Wow - it's been ten days since I last blogged!  It sure doesn't feel that way!  Things have been busy but slow if that makes sense.  The morning sickness has been nothing short of brutal.  Today is the first day in about two weeks that I have felt somewhat normal - the past two days I've spent on the couch with nearly unbearable waves of nausea.  I think the dear Lord above is making sure that my last pregnancy goes out with a bang!  I have always really enjoyed being pregnant, but this time I'm positive that I don't want to go through this again!  LOL  I keep thinking about the prize at the end, cuddling with a new little member of the Smith family.  In any case I'm having a good day - and I'm going to take advantage of it and try to get as much accomplished as I can.

What I've been working on this past week - has not been much!  I altered a mermaid costume for a friend of my Mother in Law's, and another friend's daughter asked if I would make her a Minnie Mouse skirt for a school event on Halloween.  This was the final skirt that I'm really proud of considering I'm far more a quilter than a seamstress!

She asked for tulle underneath so I did my best to keep it from being bulky around the waistline but full in the skirt portion.  She is going to wear leggings underneath and I'm not sure what the rest of the costume will look like - she's a Majorette so something for her performance.  I asked for a picture so I will share if she sends on over.  I thought it turned out really cute!

I've made little to no progress on my pumpkin mini!  LOL  The measurements are totally off as I've been making it up as I go along.  Knowing I have to go back and do math is causing me to procrastinate.  Don't be shocked if this goes in a baggie to work on next year!  I'm already in Christmas mode!  ;)

I am also planning to finish up these cuties today for Monica - woohoo!  She sent me a box full of adorable quilts that I'm going to have a good time working on.  My two favorite holidays all in one!

She was also generous enough to send me the pattern for this quilt that I quilted for her some time back...

Isn't it SO SO SO cute?!  It's totally my taste too - I am excited to start putting fabrics together for it.  :)  Thank you for sharing Monica!

Disney Obsession!

I took off a few weeks from quilting this September to work on costumes...and I've been sticking to my schedule!  We'll be all set for Halloween this year...

My youngest is going to be Anna...when she first decided she wanted to be Anna there was NO Frozen merchandise really anywhere...over the past few months it has begun to trickle into the stores and you can now get costumes for $16-$30...but we have a big family.  So I make just about all of their costumes (unless it's something really crazy that I cannot figure how to make without totally butchering it...)

The bodice of the dress was gifted second hand fabric from a friend, and the  blue faux satin was $2 a yard from Wal-Mart.  I also bought the gold ribbon trim from Wal-Mart and the pink ribbon, as well as the pink faux satin.  All in all I think this costume cost me about $8.  That might be estimating high!  :)  I painted Frozen-ish inspired flowers down at the bottom of the skirt but they didn't turn out all that fabulous.  I used acrylic paints and then covered them with sparkly nail polish.  So they aren't AMAZING but they are kind of hidden in the skirt so they will show just enough to give it some sparkle when she walks.  I'm not really a dress maker so I'm thrilled with how this turned out!  Costume making is one of our favorite family traditions!  :)

The best part?  My daughter told me when she put it on that she wanted to wear it forever....oh my goodness that just melted my heart!  SO SWEET!

Daddy is going to be Ralph from Wreck it Ralph this year and I've already bought most of what we need for his costume - still hunting for overalls...REALLY hoping I don't have to make those...what a pain...but I did make the cookie medal from the movie that Vanellope makes him.  I used inexpensive black foam and then tried to paint it like the cookie in the movie.  I had some leftover pink ribbon from Anna's cape that worked perfect for this.  I just finished it this afternoon and I plan to cover it/seal it with Mod Podge and then flip it over and paint the back.  In the movie the back of the cookie says "To: Stinkbrain".  LOL  Details are my favorite part of making costumes!

I also am working on Drizella and Anastasia costumes for my oldest two daughters...basically because I'm a Disney nerd.  I finished my oldest daughter's Drizella dress but still am looking around for what I'll use for the bow...I'm thinking maybe pipe cleaners behind some blue ribbon?  We shall see.  I haven't started Anastasia yet but have all the fabric ready.

Also haven't touched the Elsa dress, it's in pieces still but I have big plans! I was really trying to think of how I would make those sleeves of hers and I found this awesome cosplay blog were a girl had taken white tights and attached them to the dress!  LIGHT BULB!  I can do that!  Such a great idea!  So I'm on the hunt for white tights today...

So that's where I am with costumes and will likely have a few more to share over the next week or so!  Still have to get going on Maleficent and Cinderella!  Eeep!  ;)

Hope all are having a wonderful start to the fall!