We returned home Friday night from a road trip spring break. Final destination: Florida! It was so nice to soak up some warm and get a good fix of Vitamin D. Most years, when we return home after the first week of April, spring is in full bloom at home. This year, not as much. But! The daffodils are up and our magnolia has started to blossom - both good indicators that we are almost there. For that, I am grateful.

Three days in the car and a week away from my machine had me itching to sew. Yesterday morning, I pulled out the improv blocks I made a few weeks ago and started by editing what I had. I squared some up, added some solids to others and then made a few more. I was thinking that I needed 25 blocks, but I stopped sewing when I had 20. I plan on sashing them all with white and making a nice throw sized quilt - around 60" square. I'm not sure if this will be the final arrangement or not, but I do like where it is going.

Improv piecing is one of my very favorite things to do. I like having no rules and just seeing what happens. For someone like me, who likes order and structure, it's so freeing! And I can always use a gentle reminder to just let go and play! All that fabric is not doing me any good just sitting on the shelves, looking pretty. It's meant to be used and I plan on doing just that.

I spent the better part of a weekend in February sewing up this Lisette Portfolio dress. I had been searching for the pattern for awhile (it's out of print) and finally found one at a price I was willing to pay so I jumped in. Kind of. I actually made a muslin of the tunic length to make sure it would fit. It did so I started cutting the good stuff. (Side note: I traced the entire pattern using dressmakers carbon paper and a tracing wheel for the first time. Game changer! Post forthcoming...)

The fabric is a Robert Kaufman Union Chambray that has been in my stash for a few months. This fabric is gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. It has lovely drape and its dark indigo color makes it casual and dressy at the same time, if you know what I mean. I made a size 16 of this simpliciy pattern (I wear a 12 in the other Liesl & Co patterns and off the rack) and didn't adjust it a bit. When I was finished, I wish I would have added length (always the story) as the hemline is a little shorter than I'd like, but live and learn.

The construction of this one is a lot of fun! It's not hard, but not the easiest, either. Like all of Liesl's patterns, it has good tips and thorough instructions the whole way through, making it a true joy to sew. My only issue is that I did catch a bit of the side seam in the serger (when will I learn?) which left two tiny holes towards the bottom of the dress. I cried. Big tears. I really did. But then I gathered my wits, took Kerry's suggestion of reinforcing them with a woven interfacing on the back side and darning them on the front. Not perfect, but Fatty assures me that it looks like a flaw in the fabric instead of an Erin-created flaw. That'll do.

The closure on the back of the neck is two vintage buttons that I received from Julie many moons ago. I have been holding on to them, waiting for the right project, and this was it. I love how they add a little surprise detail, one you don't even see if I am wearing my hair down. It's like having a little secret. And they are green, which you all know I love. Happy, happy.

I haven't had a chance to wear it out in the real world yet - stupid, never-ending winter. And while I do think it would be super cute with tights, boots and a sweater, I am so over boots for this year. I'm holding out until I can be bare-legged, but maybe not so blindingly pale as above. Oy. I need spring.

And wouldn't you know that Liesl just released an updated version of this pattern? The Cappuccino Dress and Tunic has a slightly different neckline, but otherwise has the same slimming seam construction and the really cool pockets that make this dress. She also has lengthened the dress! Win for me! It's also a pdf download so you could start sewing it now. Or after you tape the pattern together. You know what I mean. Go! Sew!

Last night, I read through all of your comments about breaking out of a creative slump for the second time. I so appreciate you sharing what works for you. Thank you! And because I know you are wondering, the winner of the giveaway, Jenny, has been contacted and I'm in the midst of pulling some goodies from my stash for her.

I took one suggestion that was repeated again and again to heart and set about sewing something familiar and easy. I started with piecing a bunch of half square triangles. I got in a groove, but still felt a little creatively stilted when I finished. Then, on Saturday, I spent the day at Quilter's Day Out, with some other members of the Louisville Modern Quilt Guild. I had volunteered to demonstrate improvisational piecing. This was the kick in the pants I needed! Play! No thinking, just doing! I left at the end of the day with 13 blocks. Although I will need more to make a quilt top, this is a good start.

Did that do the trick? Yes and no. It felt great in the moment, when I was sitting at the machine, pulling fabrics and sewing them together. However, it did not ignite some great creative urge to go and make more things. Truth be told, I am still not feeling entirely like myself at the moment. I'm trying to be gentle, lower my expectations and go with whatever making urges I have. I have a feeling that once it begins to look a little more like spring outside, I will be inspired by warmer temperatures, blooming flowers and sunny days. Here's hoping.

Do you ever hit a creative wall? You know, the kind of moment when you really want to make, but you just can't seem to get motivated to start? I'm there, friends, in some ways. I have grand ideas, but I am second guessing myself at every turn. I know I can suffer from visual stimulation overload, where I can't get past all the looking and ooh-ing and ah-ing that happens on the internet. When that happens, I freeze. I am unable to keep moving forward with my plans, with my making.

I'm curious. How do you get your creative juices flowing? What does it take for you to be in a creative state of mind? How do you prioritize your making?  Help a girl out.

An incentive: talk to me about your creative blocks and what you do to get around them. On Sunday night, I will choose one commenter at random to receive a custom bundle of goods from my stash. I had a ton of fun doing this for Gina, who won my last giveaway. That's her stack above. The winner's will be different, made just for them, by me.

I was lucky enough to be one of Rae's testers for her newest pattern, Josephine. I love this pattern! I practically begged her (not exaggerating here) to let me test it because I wanted to sew it so much and I was not disappointed at all. In fact, I made two (!) Josephines - a blouse and a dress.

First up is the blouse. I made a size L, and because Rae is brilliant, there is one pattern piece for A/B cups and one for C/D. I am in the C/D camp and love that I did not have to make bust adjustments. Win! This fabric is a Denyse Schmidt voile that I had in my stash and it worked really well. There is an elastic casing in the back for a more fitted look. I made two adjustments: the first was to add a little length for my long torso; the second was finish the neck with the bias tape sewn to the inside of the blouse instead of over the edge. Little things, really. (I should have ironed this first - another little thing!)

And now for the dress. The Josephine pattern comes with a blouse length and tunic length, but I really wanted a dress so I made one.

For this one, I chose to use an Anna Maria Horner rayon challis. This fabric is dreamy! And a little slippery, truth be told. I took my time and it came together wonderfully, though. To make the tunic into a dress, I lengthened it in two places - at the narrowest part of the torso and at the hem. I chose to do it this way because I was sure that if I only lengthened it at the hem, the proportion would be off - that long torso of mine, you know. It was easy to do. I chose the narrowest part of the torso and sliced the pattern, added 2" and blended the side seam line. I also added 3" at the hem, again blending the side seam. And bingo! A dress!

As always, Rae's patterns are a joy to sew. They are well put together and straight-forward. She includes a wonderful seam finishing guide and extensive instructions. I loved making my Josephines and plan to make another, sleeveless one as soon as the weather warms up.

On Saturday, the girls and I took a road trip all in the name of buying fabric. Little did I know that I would be walking into a sale! I did a little damage...

The stash expansion led to a reorganization of sorts. I sat on the floor of the studio and loosely reorganized everything.

Before the weekend, most of my fabric was organized by fabric line, but I found that I was forgetting what I had or that I was unable to locate certain prints. I pulled everything off of the shelf and went through it all. I divided it by colors and then reorganized it further. I kept some fabric lines together, mixed some others together and discovered some interesting fabric pairings as I reorganized. I also walked away with a much better idea of what I have (a lot of fabric!) and where some missing and forgotten pieces are.

I don't know if this system will work for me in the long term or not. But I am curious about how others organize their fabric. Do you do it by color? By Designer? By yardage? Not at all? Please tell me how you do it. And, as an incentive to get you talking, on Friday afternoon I will pick one commenter on this post to receive a custom fabric bundle from my stash to yours. The winner and I will discuss what they might want and almost everything is on the table. It could include vintage feedsack squares, out of print Heather Ross, some original Flea Market Fancy, out of print Lizzy House or something else entirely. Sound good? Yes? Ok - spill it.

Ok. Here we go. This is not where I thought I would start, but it is in the 50's here today (!!!) and I'm wearing this shirt to celebrate my break up with winter. I totally expect to take winter back for a little bit of time at the very least, but hey, let's enjoy the spring temps while we can. Right?

I sewed this shirt up in the fall. The pattern is the fabulous Scout Woven Tee by Grainline Studio. It is available as a PDF download and is a very straightforward sew - a back, a front, a sleeve and a bias strip for the neckline. I'd say it's good for a beginner who is willing to have a little challenge. An advanced beginnner could make this without too much trouble at all.

It takes just under 2 yards of fabric, which, for me, is often what I buy when I am thinking about making a shirt. This fabric is a Nani Iro fabric that I bought from Purl Soho after I made the sleeveless Tova no-go. I was hoping to selvedge some of that shirt, combine it with my new yardage and make it again. You guessed it. That never happened. And I am so glad!

I love this shirt. The sizing is great - it is available in sizes 0 to 18. The numbered sizing versus xs-m-l-xl-xxl sizing allows you to get a better fit, in my opinion. The pattern is nested so if you needed to grade to different sizes, it would be easy to do. I made a size 12 (often the size I buy off the rack, for what it's worth) and the only change I made was to add some length (1") to the torso. The pattern has a lengthen/shorten line in the torso so it fits much better for my long body than if I had just added length at the bottom. I love, love, love this feature and I really wish that more designers would take a little extra time and add that to their patterns. Anyhow, I also did not have to do a full bust adjustment (C/D cup here) which is a double win!

(Bad hair day = chopped off head!)

I will make this again. And then probably again. In fact, I have one cut out of some leftover chambray just waiting for me to sew it up. And some black eyelet that would be a super cute summer top. Also, Jane and Kate might get a few for their closets, whether I sew them or they do. Having tween/teens in the house who wear adult sized clothes makes buying basic patterns even more economical.

That's it. One down, a bunch to go!

There has been a lot of sewing happening around here. Two dresses (!!!) in a week kind of sewing. Throw in a pieced quilt back which was then basted to a top that I contributed to, but didn't assemble. And now, the quilting of that project. It feels good to be productive and especially in the studio, which by nature of its location on the 3rd floor, is much, much warmer than the rest of the house. I think I could stay up there indefinitely. Winter, I want to break up with you.

I know I keep mentioning this back log of Erin-sewn clothes that need blogging and still have yet to do anything about it. The sun is supposed to make an appearance tomorrow so I think I will just throw each one on the dress form and take some beauty shots. If I have a good hair day and feel up to it (under the weather here, with one kid sick, too), I might even set up the tripod with the remote and get some on-the-body shots. And then I will blog them, one by one as I feel like it. That seems like a plan. The point being, that I need a plan. The second point being that an onset of clothing posts is going to happen soon. You've been forewarned.

I hate it when it gets quiet in this space. I miss it. I miss you, the conversation, the community. For whatever reason, the longer I let it sit, the harder it is to get going again. Also, it's strange, but it seems like I have less time to blog than I used to. That can't really be the case so I am trying to look into my work patterns and see what else has changed. I'm not sure what is so different. But really, I just need to jump in so that is what I am doing. Again.