Moooooo Pants

I made these yesterday as a gift for my niece, who turned 5. She had a pair of cow print pants when she was a toddler and she loved them (they were actually a pony print, but we've always called them her cow pants). She grew out of them and her mother (my SIL) gave them to me for my girls. She was so sad when she grew out of them because she loved them, so I thought I'd make her a pair in her current size. If she likes them I'll get a photo of her wearing them since I don't think they look very good just hanging on a hanger.

Here's the back. Looks the same except for the pocket.

Here's a close-up of the pocket. I had the bee applique...its cute on the pants, isn't it? I like it a lot!

I serged them; here's a peek at the inside.


I'll be making these again so I traced out the pattern in the other sizes (McCalls 2198). The only thing I will change is the elastic waist. The pattern allows a 1 1/4" casing for 3/4" elastic, but I think it should really use 1" elastic. So next time I'll extend the casing and use 1" elastic. I also rarely make typical casings for my elastic. I like to serge the elastic to the fabric like they do for a lot of RTW. No rolling or twisting elastic that way. Here's a tutorial for the way I do it if you are interested. This weekend I'll be sewing matching pants for my girls in the same print (its Michael Miller's pony print). My niece loves my girls and constantly asks if she can have one of them. Which one? I always ask. She can never decide. Too cute!

Block 5

Here's block 5 for Amanda Jean's quilt-along at Crazy Mom Quilts.

Mariposa Quilt

I recently bought a vintage quilt from a thrift store that has pieced butterflies on it. Here are a few more pics of it:


This is Luke's way of asking if I'm taking a picture of this "blanket".

The quilt is so pretty and I like it so much I thought I'd recreate it with EQ6. I just got EQ6 so I'm not good at it yet. For instance, I have no idea how to put the antennae on the butterflies. They will be embroidered on; not appliqued, so I wasn't sure how to put them on using EQ6. I'll figure it out, though. For now, here is a peek at a possible color combo for the quilt:

I really like the lightness of the original quilt, though. I've got to upload more fabrics into EQ6. Right now I only have the preloaded ones. Then I'll be able to be more creative with fabric choices.

Is This Worth $285?

This pattern is currently bidding at $285.00 on eBay. Yes, $285.00.

I can't believe a pattern would go for this much. It is a beautiful pattern, yes, but $285.00? You can follow the bidding here if you are interested to see how much it ultimately sells for.
I'll be following it!
[EDIT] HOLY COW! It sold for $300.00. I wonder if its the most money ever paid for a sewing pattern???