Bird Shirt

The pattern is New Look 6527 view B and the fabric is from the sale bin at Joann's. Since it was a remnant, there wasn't enough fabric to make even the short sleeves, so I opted to make something I could layer this winter. I cut a size 14 that graded to an 18 below the waist. Next time, I'll start with a 16 on top though, 14 was a bit tight across the shoulders and the armscye was too small. The shirt was quick to cut out, and since the birds were facing all directions I didn't have to worry about matching pattern. I like the neckline on this shirt and it went together smoothly.

Collar before

Collar with iron-on interfacing

Collar after

Next to get sewn on was the bottom half of the shirt.  The fabric is translucent though and the seam across the chest needed to be trimmed to minimize visibility.

Bottom of shirt added, need to trim seam across chest

The next pattern tweak came with the armscye.

Armscye are too small

Green line shows where I resized armholes

Larger armhole

Since there were no sleeves to attach, I finished the sleeve edges at this point and added the shirt hem. My Bernina 1230 handled this lightweight, slightly slippery fabric just fine.

Hem

The finished shirt. I love the birds and I think this will pair with just about any cardigan or sweater.  Since it is a bit see-through and there is no lining, it's probably better that it will get layered.

Front view

Side view: I like the high front-low back hemline 

Back view: still a bit tight across shoulders

Drunkard's Path Quilt is Finished

She is a showstopper

Last time we checked in on this quilt it was back from being quilted and was waiting for some binding and a good cleaning.

Lainie is inspecting the quilting

 All of the fabrics used in this quilt are at mom's house, so I took my quilt over there a couple weekends ago to piece together the binding. Assembly line style, I cut fabric and mom sewed the strips together. The process went very smoothly--maybe too smoothly as we ended up with 18+ yards of binding for a quilt that only needed 14. No problem, another quilt will come along for which the extras here will make the perfect binding.

18 yards of binding

I had planned to take the quilt back to my place to sew on the binding, but I realized I was going to have to get very creative about space if I did that.  Maybe set up a machine on the dining room table or perhaps the floor so that I would have room to maneuver the quilt next to it? Mom has a beautiful sewing room though and a very large table for her Bernina 1130. She offered to let me sew on binding using that machine and I gratefully accepted.

Look at all that table real estate off to the left

I wanted to keep some of the border that Andrea had sewn on when she did the quilting for a little extra support, so I sewed the binding on where it overlapped the quilt blocks by 1/8" and the white border by 1/8".  Even though the blocks and binding have random pattern placement, there is one place along the edge of the quilt where the same fabric is side-by-side. You probably won't see that unless you know to look for it.

These are not the matching fabrics you are looking for

There was a lot of quilt to maneuver during this process, but the Bernina was more than happy to accommodate and this part of the process proceeded without any hiccups.

Can my arms even reach the machine from here?

The quilt came home and after trimming the border the binding was hand-stitched down. This part of the process took a bit longer that planned. No matter how many times I tried to start working without making any sound I inevitably triggered the innate cat radar that senses warm and comfy napping spots. Both cats would come from the far corners of the house and immediately park themselves on the quilt in my lap. It's very difficult to work with a king size quilt and two cats in your lap.

These little red clips are perfect for holding binding

When Andrea was quilting, she noticed a spot where red dye had spread on the top.  She sent along some Synthrapol to wash the quilt in with the hope of getting the dye out. Here is a before and after of the block with the red dye.  Looks like it all came clean in the wash.

Where did this red dye come from?

Splotch free

The finished quilt on the bed. Sweet dreams.

It's big enough to hang down on both sides and cover the pillows

Update: Andrea showed the quilt in a show in Sun Prairie, WI last weekend. (March 24-26, 2019)