It was a wonderful weekend.  We spent it with cousins and we stitched it up (among other creative things).  While visiting downtown Poulsbo, we stopped in at Heirloom Quilts.  The girls each picked fabric for their skirts.  It was so much fun.  If Iz could have, she would have taken a cut from every single bolt.  She’s a girl after my own heart.

I had promised my cousin that I would teach her to sew, and making one of these is so perfect.  She learned how to measure herself, how to rip fabric (so we didn’t worry about cutting straight lines), how to iron, wind a bobbin, thread the machine and sew in straight lines.  It’s the perfect skirt, because it’s ok if you can’t sew a straight line, you won’t see it!  You can totally design them with the right fabrics and band placement.

photo by Iz

Iz loves the sewing machine.  If the table were lower, she could certainly step on the pedal herself.

Sarah did such a great job.  Her skirt was AWESOME!  The prints she picked were adorable and a total reflection of her personality.  It was great for me, I’ve been missing teaching sewing.  I keep thinking that I’ll just start teaching again.  soon.  really soon!

PS – Want to make your own Twirly?  Here’s a really, really wonderful tute from House on Hill Road.

Twirly Skirt!!! I made this is about 30 mins right before leaving for a birthday party. I used the bias tape from my first quilt, I have a few yards left over, and I’m trying to work through my stash and clean it out. I wanted a pic before the party, and was a little nervous about having Iz model for me, knowing she would be watching her friend open it in just an hour. But she played along beautifully!

The recipient of our little gift was quite pleased:

You can see more pics of our little fashion shoot here.

As I go through my stash there will be more of these.  I think I am addicted.

Can’t you just tell by the look on her face as she inhales a chocolate kiss, that these are the good times? Pure joy. I forget sometimes to stop and enjoy good things like chocolate kisses (while I’m throwing them into my mouth while doing laundry, picking up toys, dishes…). Oh, to sit outside on an antique quilt (that our friend’s friend had to part with because her jewish mother had decided that the traditional windmill pattern looked like swastikas), in the dreamy shade of a gigantic and ancient pine tree, surrounded by a few close friends, and enjoy a chocolate kiss. Its the way summer should be. This is the stuff memories are made of.

It all happened at a very, very fun birthday party. Just a few of her closest friends (4 of them, but one was sick, so it was just 4 kids total and their families – how fun! How nice to have conversation with other parents while the kids are off playing with each other and not melting because there is too much going on. IT WAS A DREAM! People should have parties like this more often.) I was very excited. I made the birthday girl a crown, and I made her Baby Summer a crown too. I think I was more excited than she was, and I could tell, because she said, “Zanne, this is very nice, but it is too tight for me and won’t fit my head.” Ok, but at least I got a picture of it on her lap.

I did make her this twirly skirt. A few weeks earlier I had asked her about her favorite colors and without thinking she’d replied, “Orange and Red”. Done. Cute little skirt that she wore a few days later, when she said to me, “Zanne (don’t you love how she always addresses me by my name, and the ennunciation is WILD!), thank you for my skirt. Your gifts are wonderful.” Thank you Birthday Girl. You, too, rock.

Doesn’t Baby Summer look fabulous in her birthday crown?

The activities were fun, and safe with just 4 kids, smashing ice chunks with real hammers to get the goodies out. No one was hurt during this smashing fest.

The egg hunt lasted just a few minutes, but opening each egg could last a lifetime. One can never have enough chocolate kisses or sparkly barettes.

Pop Pop was here for the weekend too. Everyday we wish our family lived close by. Iz loves all of her grandparents, talks about them all the time, talks to them on the phone, if only we could visit more often. Oh, I’ve posted enough about living closer to family, but I think about it all the time. We are fortunate to have close friends that live near by that act as our extended family. Because of them, Iz has “siblings” she can see frequently and aunts, uncles and even grandparents. We celebrate birthdays, have fun “family” dinners, drop in to play. It reminds me of growing up with my aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents.  Dear family, please come visit us!

I don’t know what it is , but I’ve been dreaming about aqua and red lately, and lucky me had a bit in my stash to make Iz this skirt. She loves it. I love it. I think the next skirt I make will use twice as much tulle. I pictured it differently, more full or intense.

But this red and aqua thing has been on my mind for a while – you can tell from my Flickr favorites (click on the photo to go to Flickr and learn more about each photo).

I’ve got a few gifty things coming up and for the longest time I was struggling with color ideas, but I think aqua and red are really fresh and could be fun for little ones I’m thinking of.

Iz loves her skirt.  I made TWO, yes TWO last night in less than TWO hours.  These are so much fun to make.  And Iz just loves it.  She picked out the fabric.  I mentioned to her yesterday that I was going to make her the skirt and showed her the fabric (that she picked out at the store) and she declared that the fabric was too big for a skirt and she didn’t like it.  She’s TWO!  Anyway, I can’t get the thing off her now.  What I love about this skirt?  Well, it has a drawstring waist, so it will grow with her, and it is just long enough that we don’t get a peak of what’s underneath when she’s sitting (most of the time).  I will be making many more of these!  And if you are local – I’m teaching others how to make this on Monday, June 18, 1-4Pm, at The Children’s Art Museum.   And click over if you want to see more pics from our “Twirly Skirt Fashion Shoot”