Wednesday 25 May 2011

Work in progress every other Wednesday #6

Here's the latest update (lots of starts, very few finishes - what does that say about me?!) linking up with Lee over at Freshly Pieced!
 
Completed projects:
One - the Bee Blocks for the first month of Brit Bee.  Those of you who read my post entitled "My difficult Love-affair with half-square triangles" will know that it was with some trepidation that I tackled these!  They are done and winging their way to Trudi, and actually I'm pretty happy with them. I won't pretend it was an epiphany and Half-Square Triangles are now easy-peasy, but careful prep did cut down unpicking time substantially (although not altogether!).  Bee rules, no pictures allowed until all blocks have been received, so he is a little close-up so you can see the gorgeous fabrics that Trudi sent us to use.
 

 
 Work in progress:
  • Sliced Coins quilt.Still no progress.
  • Supernova quilt-along. Oh no, this one has also stalled due to more pressing things on my list, but actually my brother's baby is due on 13th June so could be here anytime now, I'd better pull my socks up!
  • Baby quilts for the shop - You've seen the progress with the second baby quilt before...here it is.. still deciding whether to sash in white, grey or natural linen...need to get of the fence, Ceri!
  • Cushions for the shop - two more underway here. For the first, I opted for something simple with similar colours to another I made for the shop that sold quickly. Here's the top, it will be backed in dark grey soft furnishing fabric with a contrast binding on the envelope.
For the second, I thought I'd try something different as I've been meaning to try Ticker tape quilts since seeing all the bottled rainbow quilts online.  This cushion top used natural linen as a base with scraps from my bag.  I love the fact that this one was kind of free, since I didn't cut into any new fabric!  It took longer than the pieced ones but arranging the scraps of fabric was really fun, I'll see if this one sells because I could definitely turn out more of these. (note: loose threads have since been removed and it looks a lot better!)
  • Dress a girl around the world.  As a reminder, this is a project to make a simple pillowcase dress that can be sent to areas of poverty so that all little girls can own a lovely outfit.  Here are a couple of girls rocking their outfits in Haiti.
Louise from Sew Scrumptious is organising a mass sew-along to make as many dresses as possible to donate to this cause. So if you fancy taking up the challenge, go visit Louise's blog and volunteer.. oh and click here to see the tutorial for the dress if you're undecided as to whether you're up to it!






I've got the pattern sorted and picked two selections of fabric, and this is where I need some help..
I picked fabrics that I have enough of, and that aren't too precious because, not being a dressmaker, I am not sure I'm going to get it right first time!

Option A is a piece of vintage cotton with an autumn leaf print that my next-door neighbour donated to feed my fabric addiction.  To jazz it up a bit, I thought I'd top and tail the dress with two bands of this snazzy fabric that picks out the greens, browns and oranges in the leaf print.  But, as you can see, it's not exactly  traditional girly dress colours


Option B is a safer choice of a pink flowery print, probably with a fuchsia pink band around the bottom.  But there's bound to be lots of dresses like this one!


So which would you go for?  Alternative autumn or safe and summery?

Votes very much appreciated so I can stop dithering and get on with it :)

x

10 comments:

  1. The cushion will be absolutely gorgeous; the ticker tape is wonderful, and I reckon the dress should be the brown - there are so many little goodies to spot in the print - it would make any little girl smile x

    Can't believe we get the next Bee blocks next week!

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  2. I vote for the brown too. Not the usual choice but I think it will make a beautiful and unique little dress. Bet your ticker tape pillow sells super fast! It is lovely as is everything else.

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  3. Oh Ceri....trust your instincts as everything else you choose is just perfect !! Beautiful cushion and quilt and I love both the sets of fabrics you have choosen....Nic xx

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  4. I love your cushion covers and your quilts! I would say you have two beautiful dress combinations laid out, how about making them both?

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  5. The ticker tape cushion is gorgeous :-) Both fabric choices are good, I'd go Autumn to be difficult! ;-)

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  6. Stop with this "Dress a girl around the world." I really can't add anything else to my already massive list! If I see another shout out, I'm done for! Anytime I see cute little girls in dresses I'll glance away for the next few weeks.

    Everything is screamingly lovely! Love your jump into ticker tape goodness. As I've only tickered a little, I've noticed it seems super time consuming over what I had originally anticipated. Did you find it to be the same?

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  7. Hmm, well option A is my favourite, definately a bit unique... but why not do both?!

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  8. Oooh I like them both, all kids are different I asked the girls Hollie liked the pink and Sophie liked the brown so I think either would be good.
    The cushions look lush by the way.
    Emma x

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  9. I love all your projects! The dress is going to be darling! I like the brown because the fabric is more playful! I think girls in America pick pink a lot because it's associated with the Disney princesses.

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