Aura Blog Party

Aloha, and welcome to my stop on the Aura Blog Party hosted by Mathew Boudreaux (AKA Mister Domestic), the textile designer behind the Aura fabric collection for Art Gallery Fabrics.

This bright and playful fabric collection is Mathew’s sophomore collection for Art Gallery Fabrics and was the perfect way to chase away the winter blues and escape to a magical paradise of warm colors, sea turtles, dolphins, and tropical flowers.

Instead of stitching a quilt for this blog tour I decided to mix things up a bit and sew garments for my granddaughter. Ever since I made her a stuffed turtle with my Signature fabric collection she’s been crazy about turtles. So, of course I just had to sew her something fun with Mathew’s Hawaiian Honu in Dawn sea turtles print. Clockwise from the turtle print is Aloha Spirit in Windward and Hula Dolpins in ocean. See the full collection HERE.

I don’t consider myself much of a garment sewer even though I used to sew dresses for my daughter when she was little—it’s just not something I feel as comfortable doing as I do for sewing quilts. But, you know what? Everything I made for this tour turned out wonderful and even fit her nicely so that gives me so much more confidence to do more garment sewing in the future!

This adorable dress is from Little Lizard King and is called the Napoli dress. I love this style of dress because right now (at a 3T) it’s a dress but as she gets taller she can wear it as a top. I selected the long sleeve option and again, these are just as cute rolled up when she’s small as they will be down when she’s taller.

I was even able to dig into my button box to find the perfect shade and size buttons for this fabric!

The most marvelous thing about sewing for toddlers is you hardly use any fabric at all. This too-cute-for-words vest is also a Little Lizard King pattern. The Madison Vest was super easy to make and I love that it’s reversible!

Since it’s still winter, I couldn’t resist adding some faux shearling for some snuggle and texture. A girl’s got to have options, right?!!?

Such a great way to use a half yard of (each) fabric. I went with the loop closer option and stitched matching vintage buttons on both sides for a fully reversible vest.

Like I said, toddler clothes hardly take any fabric at all so I still had material to play with. Why not make her another turtle!!!

Meet Myrtle the Turtle. This adorable softie is a pattern by Purl Soho. I thought Mathew’s medallion print would be the perfect print as a turtle shell and mirror imaged the design so the motifs reflect each other on each side of the turtle back. More vintage buttons saved the day as eyes and Myrtle now has a permanent home with my granddaughter getting lots of love and snuggles.

This is how to be a turtle.

And, for my final make for the Aura tour I chose the most fun and easiest project of pajama pants! Art Gallery Fabrics very own Dana Willard has a fantastic and free Kid Pants pattern perfectly sized for a toddler.

The Aloha Spirit print is so cute for PJs and brings a bit of a hippie-girl vibe that looks perfect for lounging and playing with your matching turtle. If you’re hesitant about garment sewing, this pajama pattern is an ideal beginner project and a very quick make.

I had a blast sewing for this blog tour and even better, an excuse to have my daughter and the grand babies up for a weekend photoshoot. After we had finished photographing we had gone out shopping and stopped for a bit of thrift store poking around. I found this wonderful carved wood turtle that the shell comes off and the inside is a shallow dish. Of course I bought it for my granddaughter and she said it will be her box for special things which I suspect are rocks. Three of anything makes a collection—she’s well on her way to being just like her Mimi!

Thanks for joining me on the tour. For loads more inspiration, be sure to follow along on the rest of the tour as crazy talented makers share their Aura Blog Party makes.

MISTER DOMESTIC’S AURA BLOG PARTY

Monday February 11: Amanda Woodruff of A Crafty Fox
Tuesday February 12: Kylie Gersekowski of Little Moo Designs
Wednesday February 13: Sharon Holland —You are Here
Thursday February 14: Kim Niedzwiecki of Go Go Kim
Saturday February 16: Sarah Maxwell of Fearless with Fa bric
Sunday February 17: Natalie Santini of Hungry Hippi e Sews
Monday February 18: Carolina Moore of Always Expect Moore
Tuesday February 19: Isabelle Selak of South Bay Bella Studio
Wednesday February 20: Elizabeth Chappell of Quilters’ Candy
February 21-24: Intermission
Monday February 25: Tara Curtis of Wefty Needle
Tuesday February 26: Monica Tetteh of That’s Sew Monica
Wednesday February 27: Nicholas Ball of Quilts from the Attic
Thursday February 28: Lucy Brennan of Charm About You
Friday March 1: Robbin Flockhart of Sew Farm Quilter
Saturday March 2: Evie Jespersen of EV Quilts
Sunday March 3: Kelly Liddle of Jeliquilts
Monday March 4: Maureen Cracknell of Maureen Cracknell Handmade
Tuesday March 5: HollyAnne Knight of String and Story
Wednesday March 6: Mimi Goodwin of Mimi G Style
Thursday March 7: Angela Wolf of Fashion Sewing with Angela Wolf
Friday March 8: Kitty Wilkin of Night Quilter
Saturday March 9: Sharon Burgess of Lilabelle Lane Creations
Sunday March 10: Emily Dennis of Quilty Love
Monday March 11: Sheri Cifaldi-Morrill of Whole Circle Studio
Tuesday March 12: Elina Temmes of Elina Temmes
Wednesday March 13: Jennifer Strauser of Dizzy Quilter
Thursday March 14: Saija Kiiskinen of Saija Kiiskinen
Friday March 15: Brittany Jones of Brittany J Jones
Saturday March 16: Jodi Godfrey of Tales of Cloth
Sunday March 17: Kim Niedzwiecki of Go Go Kim
Monday March 18: Sharon McConnell of Color Girl Quilts

Normally I like to have a singular idea or project to post about but this time it will be a little bit of everything all stitched into one blog post.

The current issue of Simply Moderne (issue no. 4) from Quilt Mania features the Bloomescent quilt I made with my Sketchbook fabrics, Pure Elements, and Squared Elements from Art Gallery Fabrics.

I had a little down time (a week) to do some garment sewing and play around with the new Art Gallery Fabrics Denim Studio fabrics. This new substrate for AGF is so beautiful and perfect for all sort of sewing applications. I intend to incorporate some in quilts but wanted to also see how it handled in clothing.

My first adventure was sewing a blouse for myself. I love the clean lines of the Japanese garments found in book like Sew Chic Kids and Stylish Dress Book.

There's a little learning curve on these books because you need to transfer the patterns to tissue and add the seam allowances. I am not one to do a lot of garment sewing so it probably took me longer than someone with more experience. I am very happy with the end product and made this Button Front Blouse for my first project from the Stylish Dress Book. I definitely want to do more sewing with these fabrics and books!

With the weather getting unseasonably warm I made some bonnets for my granddaughter using the floral print from my Gossamer fabrics and lining from peach colored denim. The free pattern for this adorable Baby Sunbonnet is from Purl Soho. It was easy to make and a great pattern.

Spring also bring Spring Quilt Market! This year the spring show will be in Salt Lake City, Utah and I am already gearing up for the show. My fourth collection will be out in May and over the next couple of weeks Art Gallery Fabrics will be revealing all the new spring/summer collections. Here's the sneak peak for Tapestry.

Be watching as I show more prints from my new collection and glimpses into the Quilt Market preparations and projects for the show. It's starting to feel more like springtime everyday!