Finding Pins and Needles

It's taken me a long time to take this step.... my first quilt! Ok, confession ... This was NOT my first quilt. Below is photo evidence circa 1996, a school project. *wince*. Yes I made the matching dress too. Everyone needs apparel to match their quilt. MOVING ON. I. Learned. A. Lot. You'll get much more valuable tips from other blogs and sites, I won't pretend to be an expert after 1... ok, 2 quilts. I will tell you though, I learned I didn't understand triangles, bias cutting, and fabric stretch . If you're a newbie, my suggestion is to look this up before endeavoring on your first triangle quilt. Also, learn the triangle trick (at least I think it's a trick). I thought I was choosing a pattern that would be easy, but it turned out that the fabrics I chose led to... a lot of math.  Don't try to create your own pattern if you're a newbie , too much unnecessary stress! **I used to have a link to the original pattern by Riley...

So, my daughter is only 20 months, but that hasn't stopped me prepping for her American Girl Doll phase, that I will  now force her into. I pulled out my Samantha AG doll from my childhood and was inspired to make her a bit trendier. I've never really used patterns or sewed clothes in general, so this has been an experience. Periodically I'll post more outfits, over the last month I've created quite a few. This is the first in a string of posts sharing my new venture into sewing doll clothes. This was my first attempt at sewing doll clothes. So... my daughter had this ADORABLE (12 month) winter coat, embroidery, scalloped edging, fur.... the dog ate it. Jack, my  Pugalier  ate the zipper. I couldn't stand to throw it out and she'd be grown out of it by the time I replaced the zipper, so I turned it into American Doll clothes. No pattern, just snip snip. The skirt was made from the coat sleeves, the doll coat was made from the back panel from the coat....

How did I get interested in sewing at age 26 with no one around me that sews? Bottom line, I'm cheap. Ok, a better way to phrase it, I'm a bargain shopper. I was always saying "That's not worth the $, I could make that." We will soon find out the answer to my cocky and naive assumption. My mom was coming to visit for a few days and I asked her to bring her sewing machine along. All I had in the house was a pocket sized thread and needle repair kit from Walmart. My first endeavors were a diaper clutch and a nursing blanket (Hooter Hider). It went surprisingly well. I used a free (free-are you surprised?) tutorial . This was an easy to follow tutorial and pretty easy to make. I also added a pocket to the outside (see 3rd picture). Sure beats a $35 Hooter Hider. And the second project that turned out to evolve into a mini entrepreneurial adventure was the diaper clutch/case. I used yet another free tutorial , but I changed the pattern somewhat. Anywho...this is the ...