Lynn Carson Harris

Flashback Friday

1964 me and my dad.

End of Summer Sewing

I told you before that I was thrilled to be making clothes for me that actually fit. Well, it's true. I'm really on a roll with the Washi pattern. This one is made from Tula Pink's Birds and the Bees fabric.

Yeah, I know, it's August, I live in Michigan, and these are sleeveless tops. I'm thinking about that too. That's why when I took miss P shopping for school supplies today, I picked up a couple of cardigans in coordinating colors.

I've started a dress version of the pattern in Anna Maria Horner's Field Study. That turquoise sweater will look great with the dress too!

In the evenings this summer I've been relaxing with handsewing and scraps. As soon as I cut out the Tula Pink top I used some of the scraps in the hexy project. I love that with scrap projects, anything goes. How about a little 1994 meets 2012?

That cat print is left over from a star quilt of cat print fabrics that I made for M when he was quite small. 

I'd love to hear what projects YOU are working on.

Family Time

We've been trying to squeeze in a bit more family time before everyone heads back to school. Yesterday we went for an early morning boat trip and picnic. We must have gotten M up a bit too early.

We saw a number of Sandhill Cranes.

It was a lovely morning.

We have one more week before the school routine starts up again.

I'll miss having everyone around but I'm kinda looking forward to a bit of uninterrupted time in the sewing room while miss P is at school. I have a lot of projects to work on.

 

Spontaneity in Medallion Quilts

Earlier this week I went to the AQS quilt show in Grand Rapids. My favorite part of the show by far was this special exhibit of Medallion Quilts from Gwen Marston's book Liberated Medallion Quilts. 

There were many quilts made by Gwen 

and also some made by other quilters who contributed to the book.

I was very impressed with the variety of quilts in the medallion style.  Gwen had some very traditional looking quilts in traditional fabrics

and also some bright colorful quilts made with novelty prints like the fun frog quilt she made for her grandson, shown below.

I love the skinny spike/shard detail in the corner of the quilt below that uses more contemporary fabrics.

Gwen hand quilts many of her quilts. I would love to do that. 

So many beautiful quilts made by Gwen and quilters from her Beaver Island Quilt Retreat.

I have read Liberated Medallion Quilts cover to cover, as I do with all of Gwen's books. Really. If you can't have Gwen over for tea, reading her books is the next best thing. I adore her writing style. 

This book is full of photographs of beautiful quilts, and I love that she includes some background information for each quilt. I enjoyed reading what the other contributors had to say about their quilts and the inspiration behind them.  You won't find any specific patterns to make the quilts included but there is a lot of information on how to approach quilts in this style. She gives more of a "recipe" on how to make liberated medallion quilts. She has the quilts grouped into chapters of different medallion styles. Seeing them grouped this way makes it easier to understand how the different quilts were made. 

Thanks Gwen, I think you hit another home run with this one.

Flashback Friday

June 1985 my sister's graduation from Virginia Tech. 

My aunt, uncle, mother, grandmothers, my sister, and me taken under the apple tree in our back yard.

Wordless Wednesday - the tea party edition

 

 

Washi Tunic

Last week I took a fitting class with Rae and Karen where I learned some basic tips for bodice fitting. Most importantly for me was how to move the dart.  After adjusting the Washi Dress pattern we made a "test" top. Here's mine.

I used some fabric that I had in my stash and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. After making adjustments to the pattern, the top/dress goes together pretty quickly. 

I also like the shirring in the back - no zipper!

I'm going to make a few more adjustments to the pattern and make another. 

 

New Quilt Designs

Miss P and I have been designing some quilts this summer. I can't share mine yet but she says I can share hers. 

She tells me that this one is to be done in reverse applique, you know, "when the back fabric peeks through".

This is her "bunny quilt"

This is an abstract design.

She whipped out a drawing before dinner the other night that I'm actually going to try to make. 

Fun times in the sewing room this summer.

Flashback Friday

1977 Not sure what I was doing. Maybe that was something for my doll house which I got about this time.

That shirt must be a hand me down from my sister. Red, white, and blue was all the rage in 1976 for the Bicentennial Celebration.

 

 

Dressmaking

I used the vintage Simplicity pattern seen here to make P a new dress for school. We still have a few weeks before school starts but it is better to have these things finished ahead! I've done last minute school sewing before and it's not as much fun.We opted to use elastic in the bodice casing instead of the suggested ribbon and also used contrasting fabric for the collar and peek-a-boo pleat.

Here's an action shot. She wanted to make sure you could see the green fabric in the pleat.
And here's one more shot just because I thought we needed one with chickens. (I know the first photo has one too, but this one shows them better.) Those two are "teenagers" of this years new brood. 


Last night I started making a Washi Dress for myself. Thank you Karen and Rae for teaching a very helpful class. It was fun to see a room full of people with very different body shapes start with the same pattern and each end up with a muslin bodice to fit their body. Seriously, it was like Advanced Potions class at Hogwarts.  I am so happy to have the secrets of pattern fitting unlocked!  

I am thrilled that I'll finally be able to make clothes for myself again! I used to make dresses YEARS ago when I fit into a standard pattern. Yeah, I'm talking about all the way back in high school. I can't wait to show you some finished Washi tops and dresses!