A wonderful new year is upon us!!

Happy 2011 everyone!! With the new year comes exciting things... I will be getting my BS in Allied Health Sciences with an emphasis in Speech Language Pathology and Audiology, finally getting an apartment with my fiance, and getting married! That's right, we're engaged! We're planning a late August tiki-inspired wedding. Kris proposed with a gorgeous mystic topaz and diamond ring that he designed himself. I couldn't imagine a more perfect ring, or fiance.

 

 

I am sooo excited to start planning the wedding, and to finally see a time so soon that I will be able to start a life with my fiance in the same zip code!

But on to the true purpose of this post... I finished my very first quilt! A while back, Kris had given me over 50 t-shirts that he adored, but no longer wore for a variety of reasons. I divided them into music/concert t-shirts and movie/random fun t-shirts. I came out with 35 of the movie/randoms, so I decided they would make a nice t-shirt quilt. I cut them into 12" squares, 7 down and 5 across, interfaced them, sewed them together, added a 3" border, and brought it to a local woman's house get quilted together. The fee was reasonable and she had it done in just a few days. She gave me some good tips and tricks and was encouraging, which was helpful as a first-timer. I went with a warm and natural cotton batting and black cotton sheeting for the backing. Kris gets super toasty and didn't want something overly warm, so I thought these would be good choices for his quilt. I machine stitched the binding to the front and whip-stitched it in the back. It was time-consuming, but enjoyable.

 

 

and here's Kris all snoodled up in his new Christmas quilt :)

I would definitely do another one of these in the future, maybe for myself :)

Does anyone had any ideas on fun projects that I can do with concert t-shirts that will display the front and back? I still have a bunch of Kris's shirts that I would like to do something nice with for him rather than have them sit on a shelf in the closet.

Before I bid you adieu, I want to show off the AWESOME tiki plates my lovely, talented fiance painted for me as an anniversary gift:

He also got me this super sweet calendar that will keep me busy sewing, all year long!

Greetings from a (near) future dressmaker

Hello all! I've been inspired to start a blog of my ventures in learning to sew. I know that most ladies pick up their sewing skills at a young age from family, but I will break that mold, as usual.
I have absolutely no experience with a sewing machine or tailoring clothing to fit my body, so this is as close to scratch as you can start from! My wonderful Aunt is letting me use a her beloved sewing machine that she has been quilting on for years and years, and I am starting a class this coming Saturday to get down the basics. It's all so exciting! I have been reading the Sew Retro blog for a while now, getting up the guts and inspiration to make a project and join. But I must say that Gertie's New Blog for Better Sewing is what really snapped me out of my hesitation. I sometimes go in craft stores to mosey around and oogle the fabrics, dreaming of what I could make with them, but thinking that sewing was for the young, who learned with their mothers, or the old, who had done it their entire lives. I am usually the only 20-something in the store, and feel very much like a "stick in the mud" for spending my Saturday afternoon there. But then I happened across Gertie's blog. She is young, beautiful, tattooed, loves vintage clothing and patterns, and has such an intriguing blog that it is usually the first thing I read in the morning. She is not a stick in the mud at all! I thought to myself, its never stopped me before to go for something that may not be the popular choice of my peers, so why should it stop me now? I love clothing, I love creating things, and I love putting my personal touch on everything I own, so how could I not love sewing? I know it may try my patience, and I know it may boggle my brain, but I really think this will be something I will be doing the rest of my life. I can just feel it!

So here's to a new venture down a path I've been glancing at from afar. And this blog will be my place to share the frustrations, triumphs, and (hopefully) awesome finished projects!

I think this will be my first project:

I fell in love with this dress the moment we found each other. I've been told it will be relatively simple and will look impressive for a first finished piece. So now I ask you this: What colors and fabrics? I want something retro, but something wearable. Any suggestions??