Summertime Refreshments

I'm on a mission to reduce my quite large stash of fabric. (Trust me, it's going to take awhile to get it to a manageable amount.) This is a pillowcase dress that I designed to use up a teensy-weensy bit of the fabric.

This is the bottom half of the dress. The color in the top picture is the correct coloring. Since I haven't been able to figure out my very expensive Bernina serger yet, I put French seams in this little dress and the armholes and hem are bound like you would a quilt. It's a very cute little dress.

I liked the colors of the little pillowcase dress so much that I decided to make a coordinating quilt to go with it. Here is a picture of the chain sewing portion of the project.

Pinwheels laid out on the design wall. Looks refreshing, huh?!

The pinwheels are all sewn together, but I am going to add at least one border to make it a nice sized lap quilt. I think I will earmark this and the little dress for one of my great nieces that I have only seen pictures of. I think that she will like it. I have no idea if the dress will fit, but it's the thought that counts, right?

And so the journey to reduce my stash has begun. (Not sure if you remember my stash, but it is several thousand yards of fabric purchased from a store that went out of business.) What will it be next week . . . more dresses or another quilt?? I'm hoping to get inspiration from this sewing creativity so I can take the plunge and get started on the Sketchbook. Right now, I'm just mulling all of the million ideas over in my head and eventually I will turn it into a concrete thesis and start banging out the pages! That's the plan anyway.