Here's a picture of the newly cut hole in our house. The stairs go to the basement where my very own sewing room will be located. So very exciting. It's amazing to me to have floor one day. Then out comes the saws and hammers and voila! The basement is now accessible with out making a trip out front door and around house to the back yard.
This is a lovely vintage polyester quilt top who's owner has pestered me to please finish. Soooo... It's getting basted. I think it's going to have to be tacked for the quilting and I will just bring backing over top edges for binding. She just asked that it be done and not to worry about making it perfect.
It's all over but the washing. I think I will stitch the quilt inside a fabric bag to launder. I don't want to have to explain to the man what happened if the threads clog up the washer and/or plumbing.
This is my first attempt at seeing myself a blouse. I was thinking that the stretchy fabric was the challenge. I was wrong. Not sewing the sleeve on upside down was the challenge.
We have tomatoes, squash, beans, peas, pumpkins, watermelon, strawberries, carrots and radishes in our mini garden. Then the farm is in corn this year.
I finally finished my little free motion practice quilt. I just did a charm pack with alternating white squares so that I could just experiment. I am looking forward to washing and drying to see how it looks!
I got a new baby quilt all cut out from fabric I won in the quilt show auction. It's all flannel and a cute lavender floral, green & white squares and a cute pink and green duck print (the little duckies are wearing lavender scarves). I am putting a square of batting in and pinning the middle of each straight side. Then they will be all ready for the diagonal stitching. Fun fun!!
Ok. I got the curve master foot and my non genuine Bernina adapter foot. I am really liking the foot so far. I have a stack of the smaller size GO! drunkards path blocks and it seems to be helping. I can't decide however if it's the foot improving my curved piecing or my amount of determination as I spent $30 on the foot. The puckers are very few and far between.
I have decided to forge on and make puckered apple lemonade. Instead of stuffing this project in a box I am going to go ahead and make a table runner and matching placemats.
I am using pins and embracing the puckers. I did have to frog out a couple places but all is going much better.
I joined a couple strips together and they are a hot mess as Pam from Hip To Be a Square podcast would say. There are puckers and misaligned corners abound. I think my new plans for this project involves shoving it all in a baggie and someday in the very distant future trying to finish assembly. Maybe hand piecing would be more forgiving? I am not a hand piecer at the current time. Maybe some day I will be and this project will be already and waiting for me.
I have been piecing a few by machine without pins the same way I do the Drunkards Path pieces (also cut with my GO!). I am not thrilled at the way they are going together. I can't seem to get a good amount of them to nest perfectly. I tried pinning and ended up with more puckers than when I do them without pins. I am going to go ahead and do rows but the whole time I am wondering how on earth I will ever get any points to match when joining the rows together. What keeps going thru my mind is the saying "better done than perfect". That saying is competing with composing a rough draft to sell the die on the Yahoo group 'Sew It's For Sale'. Going to try for less thinking and more sewing and perhaps all will be well :-) Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
I am about to press my batik fat quarter bundle and the run them through my Accuquilt GO! This will be my first time using the apple core die. As I type this I'm thinking these would make a really nice drunkards path, but I really want to use the apple core. I didn't really have any interest in batiks early on in my fabric acquisition stage of sewing so this is almost all of my batik stash. I picked it up at Fabric Depot on clearance 2-3 years ago. I'm excited to get to unfold and iron them to see the designs.
I just took the mini trial rag quilt out of the dryer. I used the accuquilt 8-1/2" die to cut the squares. Flannel on both front and back with warm and natural batting. I only broke one needle while assembling. I put the wee quilt inside a fabric bag to wash and dry. I have a front load washer so I don't think the fringe got a great deal of agitation. I am just not sure I'm crazy about it. Rachael seems to love it. I should have made it bigger but at the time I just wanted to get something stitched up and in the wash to see how the die worked. I also realized I don't have much of a flannel stash. Has anyone made rag quilts with just quilters cotton rather than flannel. If so, with or without batting? Or with just a third layer of cotton rather than batting? I would love to hear anyone else's success or failures.
I am *finally* putting on the binding for my dad and step mom's Christmas quilt. With some real motivation I *may* get it to them before spring gets here. I am really loving the new recessed desk set up. There is a place to the right to put my roll of binding. My quilt isn't snagging on the adjustable acrylic table I was using. I am thinking my next project is going to be placemats with the apple core accuquilt die :-). I just need to remember which tote I stored it in...
I found the backing fabric for my placemats. It's so darn cute errr kitschy! It's a Michael Miller print I got from a remnant auction from Emerald City Fabrics on eBay. I love getting fabric from them. Very fast shipping and great quality. Also buying remnants at auction ends up with me getting prints that I never would have picked from the overwhelming selection at my LQS or Fabric Depot when I get to Portland.
Look what my sweety drove 2 hours each way to get me :-)
I'm so glad he went with me to pick it up. I found the table on Craigslist. We got to the house and the nice man selling it answered the door. We go inside and the man says 'it's in the basement'. I'm thinking WHAT?? The basement? I'm going to go into a strangers basement? Lol. I am not sure if I was alone if common sense vs. Bernina table would have prevailed :-)
Look at this huge mess that soon will be tamed and organized into the new desk (until I start sewing again anyways)!