Just a quick check in

Not much happening on the sewing front. Since my last post we've had a cold hit everyone in the house with the exception of my son. Lucky boy!

Fall has officially arrived and the trees are turning. Its such a pretty time of year but I can't believe Thanksgiving is only a few weeks away!

Hopefully I'll have something to show after this weekend - I can guarantee there will be no finishes but some progress would be nice!

Have a great week!

M &R's quilt progress

I've been putting off posting this hoping I'd have something to show but I've been a bit slack (understatement of the year) getting any progress done on M & R's quilts or anything for that matter.

I was on vacation the last week of Aug and first of Sept and as usual best made plans went in a totally different direction. Truthfully 2 weeks aren't nearly enough. I had anticipated getting tons of sewing in and do a major Fall cleaning including painting the house top to bottom but other than some usual cleaning that didn't happen. But we bought his and hers cars the very first day of vacation. His the Red Fiat 500 Pop. Mine is the Grey Fiat 500 Lounge. We love them and they are so economical. The second week was back to school and all the first week hecticness that comes with it. I did have breakfast out with my parents on the last Wednesday which was really nice. I also got to visit with my oldest friend for tea. It was a really great visit.

R's Kansas troubles has changed again. Looking at blogs one night last month I stumbled on this Reanna Lily designs tutorial Serger Strip Quilt. R saw it and said that would really look nice in her fabric, she is right it would look good. Looking at the requirements (1 jelly roll + 8 more strips will make a lap quilt) I knew I'd need another Jelly roll to make a quilt large enough to fit on her double bed. All the online Canadian stores were out so Fat quarter shop comes to the rescue again. They have a straight fee for shipping to Canada so I went looking and found they also had a fat eighth bundle of Plum Sweet so I bought that as well.

Why more Plum Sweet? With the fat eight and a 10' charm I can make bigger blocks then the charm and jelly roll. Here's one block done.

Hope to get more done this weekend.

3 finished tops

Just to be clear the finished tops weren't done by me. Long story short, these were given to my sister who has passed them over to me. I was told I could do what I want with them. There is no way I could cut these up, I will finish them as they came to me. The weather has been gloomy and wet and I wanted to get some outside pictures so I tried to run out during the few minutes of sun over my lunch today. All of the quilts are folded - they were just to big for my little clothesline to handle.

The log cabin is the favourite by everyone who sees it - it really has the wow factor (the pictures really don't do it justice). This quilt is MASSIVE - folding it length ways then again in half I could make 4 extra large lap quilts. The binding has already been attached to the front of the quilt which threw me off slightly and along with the quilt is fabric which I believe was intended as the backing. I would love to do a fun swirl quilting on this. I'm pretty sure this was done by machine.

The second and third quilts are appliquéd by hand. Having made a Dresden plate block I know how much work went into the that top. I'm not big on green but the more I look at it the more I like it.

And last but not least the tulip appliqué, while this is not something I would make myself at this point how can I not give it it's due, clean and feminine just makes a really pretty top.

My big fear - my binding and quilting not being up to the standard to do these justice. It's one thing to be less than stellar on my own but I don't want to mess up these tops.

Fun with Dick and Jane - Finished!

 My Fun with Dick and Jane is finished. I started this quilt June 30th and had the top done and sandwiched July 1st. I finally stopped avoiding it and quilted, bound and washed it yesterday. Took the youngest with me this morning and handed it over to mom.  ;)

It feels so good to have this done. I've discovered that after piecing my next favorite part is binding. Who knew! I get a real sense of accomplishment putting the binding on. Pictures turned out a bit dark for outside pictures. I was trying to take them when the sun peaked out from behind the clouds - we're expecting thundershowers all day. That's my youngest hiding behind the quilt in front of a small section of my parents back garden. I really need to start looking at labeling my quilts. I have to say this quilt turned out very light. Much lighter than my Puppy Love which surprised me. I wonder now if I should have doubled the batting. Either way I LOVE how it turned out (the pictures really don't do it justice)! It is so soft especially with the flannel backing.

 

Next to start are my daughters quilts. I want to try the Buzzsaw again (see my last post if you want to read about the troubles I had with that) before I start . If I still can't get it consistently I'm going to go with the Crazy quilt pattern. Another decision to make is whether or not I'm going to work on both simultaneously, or do one then begin the other. I know M's Carpenter Star is much more is more time consuming per block than R's no matter if I go Buzzsaw or Crazy quilt. They both have double (or full sized) beds but I think I'm going to make the quilts Queen sized.

I still have all the body pillows waiting for me to get started on and I bought some Christmas in July kits that were on sale, 2 are smaller full kits and a third is a block of the month. I hope to get the 2 smaller wall hangings done in time to put them up with our tree at the beginning of December. There is no way I'll have the block of the month done this year seeing it's one block for 10 months but I don't see why I can't have it done in time for Christmas 2015. They should be arriving any day - I can't wait!

Things are moving and shaking

I have been doing a bit of hexie work the past week - I know I never show it here but I want to get a full section together before the big reveal. Truthfully, I'm second guessing my fabric choices. In theory the surrounding colors compliment the colors in fabric but am finding it a bit dull muted looking. I'm hoping the layout will make all the difference. My Dick and Jane quilt has been sitting waiting for me to come to terms with the fact that I am eventually going to give in to my current FMQ limitations and do straight line quilting. (pictured Dick and Jane on another fantastic online find- $10 for that quilt stand and was less than 5 minutes down the road)

So on to my too many purchases this past week. The cheapest purchase I made (sigh) were easy thread needles (hoping this will make thread burying easier). I picked up more minky (purple and beige), some body pillows that will need cases, a few meters of muslin, 4 other meters of different fabric, pliers & snaps/eyelets, a much needed second overhead light for my sewing room and a toaster oven.

I actually bought the body pillows and two super king size pillows (for our bed) with the plan to make cases to go on every bed in the house. The girls pillows will be made with whatever fabric is left over from their quilts, my sons using the fabric I bought.

Ours and my sons is a bit more complicated. I don't know what I'll be making for us yet. While I think a jean rag quilt would be best for our bed (the dogs are pretty rough on our comforter/blankets) I dream of sleeping under something pretty and delicate. I bought the fabric pictured with the muslin for him, these are the colors he prefers (greens and browns) and will hopefully match what ever fabric I eventually buy for his quilt.

The beige minky cause it spoke to me, the purple cause I loved the texture and can see it turning into something fun. The muslin is to use for piecing my youngest's crazy quilt - yes you read that right. There is no way the buzzsaw is going to happen. Lets just say I will try to work it out when my mind is a little less all over the place. I did the first section in under 10 minutes. 6 trys later I gave up on the 2nd section of the 4 that make one block. I don't know why I just couldn't wrap my brain around it. Thankfully my daughter loves the crazy quilt pattern after I made a throw pillow for her.

So why mention the toaster oven? Well our kettle and 4 slice toaster were side by side on the counter. Oldest daughter was making jello and long story short the toaster ended up full of lime Jello. There was just no recovering from that. The stainless toaster oven was cheaper than the cheapest toaster and with Chris busy in the kitchen making Dill pickles and 3 types of preserves I decided we really needed a way to make toast..

He made Strawberry, Strawberry with peppercorn and balsamic vinegar and Cherry. The mini cucumbers and strawberries were from the local farmers market (only place we've been able to find the unwaxed cucumbers), the sour cherries are from our tree in the back yard. The cherries on their own are very tart, but after boiling it down with the sugar and real lemon it turns out really nice. (top front is the Cherry, bottom right Strawberry and bottom left is the Strawberry & well the pickles are at the back of course)

Chris if off shift today so we did a second round of picking today over my lunch (benefits of working from home) in less than 30 minutes we had three large bowls full. This is our 3rd year since planting the tree and it's hard to believe that we had already filled that metal bowl last weekend (I think we may have got the red bowl worth in total last year). He's already busy making more - trying out using Certo this batch to see the difference. On the list for tomorrow are bread and butter pickles. He learned from last year to make lots! Pickles were eaten up before Christmas and the last jar of the preserves was opened shortly after that..

Pictured below is one of the shortcakes we made with the foam from the top of the jam. Topped with some cool whip and what a combination of sweet, tart and creamy all in one forkful. My man is one of many talents!

My trusty singer machine is currently in the garage and things are moving around in my sewing room again. Chris found a cheap sewing table online for next to nothing, its 3.5 feet by 3.75 feet. I had to come up with a plan to make it fit in my space. There is something about rearranging and cleaning/organizing an area that always makes me feel content. I don't know why but it's like when I come up with a new placement for furniture everything feels like a fresh start. The opening on the table was a smidge too small (1.5 inches off) and there was no way to mount my machine so he's built an adjustable shelf (to accommodate the different machines) to sit on. Just a few more polishing touches (have I ever mentioned he's a bit of a perfectionist??) and it will be ready to be moved to its new home.  The new light will go in the back section where my cutting table has moved. I can't wait!! Hopefully will have a picture or two in my next post.

Have an incredible weekend!

A finished mini

.

I took advantage of Canada Day being Tuesday and took Monday off as well and enjoyed an extra long weekend. I did my running around on Saturday getting my oldest daughter ready for Prom. Late night waiting up for the call to pick her up and finally crawled into bed after 4 AM. The past week was hot and muggy, perfect weather to stay indoors with the air conditioner cranked. Sunday afternoon I picked up my Superman Mini Tumbling blocks. I didn't love the way I was quilting it - the blocks weren't popping, so I went back to square one and did what had been bouncing around in my head for a few weeks and made a thick border around each block. I finished off the quilting on Monday morning and had it bound, washed and photo ready by mid afternoon! I really like the way it turned out. Chris's childhood chair is a bit worn, but he decided to leave it as is instead of refinishing.

With that done I felt free to start working on something else. Mom's quilts that were for supposed to be for Mother's day have been nagging at me... I picked up the Dick and Jane and just started cutting, coming up with a layout as I went. It was pretty small so I needed to find a way to use the mini blocks as their own blocks. I played around and found what I think is the perfect layout and maximizing what I had to work with. There is a little oops in the very middle block (which was the most complicated and paper pieced) but I'm really impressed with how it turned out. I have it all together basted with pins waiting for me to start quilting. I have no clue what to do. I'm worried that if I stray from my straight line quilting I'm going to make an absolute mess of it. Let's see how adventurous I feel when I get started ... after all when it comes to stitch ripping I'm an an expert so that option is always open. ;)  I'm off to the fabric store after work to find a binding to try to match the blue. I'm really hoping to get this finished and in my mom's hands before my dad's birthday in a few weeks.

Centre Pieced Block

Wishing all my American friends a safe and happy Independence day!

Test blocks

I have some finishes despite being MIA for a bit. I was so intent on finishing my Superman tumbling blocks mini before working on anything else that it led me to avoid my sewing area for 2 weeks. I seem to have a mental block when it comes to the quilting aspect. I'm stitching in the ditch .. so it's not complicated, I think it's an issue with my wanting to be able to do much more than my skills allow and getting frustrated. I know Practice, Practice, Practice is the only way to get through this mental stumbling block.

Shopping at Walmart for extra bobbins last week some fat quarters of Flutterby caught my eye. I loved the bright summery colours and thought it would be great for making mug rugs to practice on. I came across this tutorial last week Easy-Peasy-Binding-Tutorial and figured working out the kinks of my binding and working on my control while quilting is technically going to benefit this quilt ... right!?! Once I had the rotary cutter in my hand, typical me - my plan changed. Instead of mug rugs I decided to make a sample block of the carpenters star (modified) for my oldest daughters quilt.

I had to scale it down to work with the jelly roll and 10' charm pack I will be using for her actual quilt so some math was needed to figure out the best way to go. I figured out all my measurements as I went, used chain piecing for the first (but definitely not the last) time and here we are. It's bright and fun - points aren't perfect but I like it (for the record that upper star point on the right has the same pink on the end - really I didn't mangle it that badly) It will finish to an 11.5' block. I've decided that instead of adding it to my orphan blocks it would make a really nice throw pillow. Added some of the green as trim to make it 16' finished, a bit of minky on the back, gave it a quick wash and tossed in some stuffing and she's good to go.

On a roll I made another block to turn into a throw pillow for my youngest. This months fabric of the month was Northcott's Stonehenge Kids - Undersea Adventure (see full line HERE). It came in over the weekend and it was at the top of the pile. I was originally just going to go with it but seeing she's 16 I thought it would be best to let her pick the fabric. The minute she saw it she had to have it. To make sure I wasn't influencing her or she was picking out the first thing she saw, I pointed out other fabric she has drooled over in the past but she stayed firm. This time I made the Crazy Quilt block from Quilter's Cache that I've been wanting to try for awhile. It's the first time I've ever done piecing and I have to say Wow I loved how quick this block went together. I didn't have any muslin so used plain white cotton and chalked the block pattern on and went to work. I added the border to make it bigger and used black minky on the back. It only took a few hours from starting it to going into the washer. Record time for me!! I ran out of fill half way stuffed so its not fully finished yet but I'm really happy with this.

Next up is a block from the pattern she originally chose for her quilt Buzzsaw block. This one is paper piecing. Originally I was going to fudge it and create templates but now .. I'm going to attempt using the method from the site. I'm hoping to get started on it tonight.

I also need to make a pillow for my son by Sunday. It isn't fair the girls get pillows especially when it's his 21st birthday this coming weekend.

I still haven't tried out those instructions on binding but will get to them eventually.

Picker's delight!

We've added another old singer to our collection and she is a beaut! Long story short - One of Chris co-workers was admiring the pictures of our latest acquisition and came up to Chris later in the day and said he spied a bentwood case at the curb for garbage pick up many years ago and was curious so he put it in the back of his truck. He was surprised to find what was under the cover.
He thought it was from the 1930's and he'd rather it go to someone who would use it/love it then for it to continue to sit in his basement so if we wanted it, we could have it. Chris was off shift yesterday he went to pick it up - it's a 15-30 1921 Tiffany and has the original foot pedal. Chris gave her a quick clean/oil and put her in one of the desks. She still needs some TLC but we couldn't resist giving her a run. She absolutely purrrs. Quietest machine so far (the treadle needs a new belt before we can test her out).

Last night Chris decided my sewing room space was too cramped with all these machines/desks. He felt I needed to claim more of the sitting area (which is only used by me & Chris). I didn't think to take before pictures but here is a panorama of my area re-arranged with all the machines displayed (with exception of Chris's Elna) that we've acquired in the past few months. We still have a small sitting area which isn't shown but it is cozy. The number of machines looks bad but honestly all of these combined including the tables we've still spent less than what we paid for my Brother last year - lots of garage sale/thrift shop finds and a few freebies. He loves working on these old machines and I enjoy testing them all out.

No progress on my Superman mini and we'll have a houseful of people tonight, hopefully I can get it done over the weekend.

A mini quilt & a Treadle

Superman Mini Tumbling blocks

My week vacation is a thing of the past. Busy week at work last week and if today was any indication it won't be letting up any time soon. I did get some sewing time in the last few days of my vacation. I made this mini tumbling blocks quilt for a rocking chair Chris had as a toddler that now sits in a corner in our living room. Top completed and basted in under 2 days and it's been waiting for me to quilt and bind since.  I made some mistakes and to go back I would made the medium value a solid but I do like it and even more importantly Chris really likes it. I finally got back to it this past Sunday afternoon. I stitched in the ditch (or in some places near the ditch...) I'm about half done - then I got sidetracked and so it sits some more. I really want to finish it up this week. (picture is cropped so you don't see the back and batting hanging over and the black is even all over)

We had a garage sale on Saturday and while chatting with the neighbours I pulled out my Puppy love and the half done mini quilt. My next door neighbour's son will be 3 at the end of July. He loved Puppy love and kept saying it was his. If it wasn't my very first quilt I would have given it to him. I will have to find something fun and bright for him and see if I can get it done in time for his birthday. Apparently I'm a glutten for over extending myself. I can't seem to resist taking on new projects when I already have a plateful waiting for me to start!

So what did we do with some of the cash from the garage sale? We bought a 1892 Singer 27 treadle we've been eyeing for a while. The pictures posted in the ad were a bit deceiving - it looked a bit dull but otherwise near mint. Since taking my own pictures for this blog - it really does photograph better than it looks especially if you play with the picture a bit (top is raw photo, lower is tweaked with an editor). What we bought is a bit worse for wear, had been passed down the generations in the same family and has been an ornamental piece for many years. All the working parts of the machine were free moving so I'm thinking of it as a diamond in the rough .. On our way home we discussed its shape and thought we'd do some light work to clean it up and keep it original. After further inspection in the bright lights of the sewing room which is a far cry from the soft lighting where we saw it and with all the time in the world to really look at everything (she was on her way out to meet friends), the top is a mess.

It's cracked/splintered  with lots of sharp bits and the rest has that ripple/bubble going on which indicates water damage, deep circle stains (I'm thinking it's from potted plants), the knobs on the doors are not original and the coffin cover is cracked and nailed on at the top. So in harsh light of reality, Chris is going to refinish the entire top so its smooth and catch free, try to find knobs more in line with what was there originally and clean & shine her up to look like a brand new penny. Not sure what he'll do with the coffin cover (top picture) if anything, I know he's disappointed how much work is required to make it usable but I have no worries that when he's done his magic this will be the star of my sewing room.

So the plan this week is to finish up Superman mini quilt and start working on Dick and Jane quilt. Oh and clean up my sewing room, finish organizing my stash, blog more often, ... LOL if I get one of those off my list I'll be happy.

Puppy Love DONE!!

No that isn't your eyes playing tricks on you, you read that post title right! Puppy Love is quilted, bound, washed and ready for use. I'm really happy with the way it turned out. I can't believe it took me a year to get that done after the quilt top and back had been finished. Binding was going great until I got to the join. I ended up hand sewing it after many attempts to machine stitch. No matter how pinned it was (tried with lots of pins. less pins, no pins) I just couldn't get it together. I realized I forgot to label my quilt. LOL. I'll try to remember on the next one.

Front

Murphy's Law came into play. After a few beautiful sunny days, it came out of the dryer after the sun had started going down and the weather forecast for the next few days is rain. I quickly ran out and pinned it to the clothes line and took some pictures.

I think the back looks interesting, but I'm not sure if I would go to all that trouble for a back again. I was pretty worried it wouldn't line up or would be off center.

Back

We are actually happy about the rain that's coming our way. We put down top soil down on our front yard on Monday to level it along with a ton of grass seed. Also we got the side garden built and planted. Previously, the space between the house and the walk was filled with river rock. I think Chris did a fabulous job relaying the walk and building the gardens using all materials we had in the garage.

Now on to my one of my mom's quilts. Not sure which I want to start on first. Hopefully it won't take a year to finish!!

One last look

Backyard haven

I didn't think to take a a before picture but let me tell you, just a few touches and some flowers and our backyard went from tired and worn out to feeling like a shiny new penny.

Chris and I spent the morning putting up our no dig fence to keep the dogs out of the back garden. Not much going on in there other than a small clamatis (it's second year), our dwarf cherry tree, my lillies and the hanging pots. We are slowly replacing the soil so next year can plant strawberries, raspberries, and whatever vegetables we can find in that back garden.

We put down the sod in the corners, went out and bought flowers and cleaned out and refilled all our pots with new soil and flower seeds. I tend to over fill my side garden, I just love that instant pop of color.

We still need to do something about the bbq area. Chris feels all it needs is some river rock, while I'd like a platform of some kind. We'll see. I'll take a picture again in a month or so when my Clamatis's are in full bloom. This is our little piece of  heaven.

Off to see what we can do in the front. Fingers crossed it turns out as nice. Once that's done maybe I can find some sewing time.

Not much progress

Not much to report, my quilting on my puppy love quilt continues to be a work in progress. I did get more done but still have a ways to go. I also worked on hexies for my grandmothers flower garden using Paris Flea Market while watching the season finale's of some of our favorite shows.

Chris has been on vacation for over a week & my vacation started yesterday for a week. Yesterday was our wedding anniversary, we enjoyed spending the day together doing some running around. As you can see from our wedding pictures to the left we didn't do the traditional big wedding with white dress and tuxedo's. This was a second wedding for both of us and we wanted it small and to do it our way. We got married in our house with only a few people and a bbq reception in the backyard. My girlfriend made my cake. It was a topsy turvey made to match Chris's shirt. I should have moved the flowers from behind, she had silver sprigs that you can't see coming our the top like sparklers. As beautiful as this cake looked it tasted even better. One layer banana chocolate chip, one butter-cream and the top was chocolate.

With the kids off to school, we headed out to the garden center and about 15 minutes in the rain started. Soaked to the skin we bought what we had on our cart (2 Ivy's for the front of the house) and drove to Lowe's. We did get the pieces for a fence we've been talking about for awhile for the back garden, but with the rain neither of us were really in the frame of mind to make any decisions for flowers and greenery. We did quite a bit of running around  here and there stopping for a late lunch before making our way home. It was a wonderful day despite the rainy weather.

 One of those trips was to the Fabric store. It's closing in a month for renovations so everything is 60% off. I couldn't resist and bought this minky to pair up with my denim quilt. Chris picked out and bought me the scissors. They were atrociously expensive even with the discount as an anniversary gift.

The fabric below is for Chris. He bought an Elna Supermatic for $10. a few weeks ago. After a clean, oil and some tweaking it is running like a dream. My scrap bucket has taken a beating so he decided it was time to get some fabric of his own. From his selections I'm sure you can guess who picked out the fabric on my Puppy love quilt. LOL

Lots to do this week with both of us off, not sure if I'm going to get much time in my sewing room though. Fingers crossed.

Puppy love - Some progress

I've finally spent some time working on my puppy love quilt. I'm doing large waves. Some are hits, some are misses (the really bad misses were ripped and restarted). This exercise has re-enforced that for now, I'm going to work quilt as you go style as much as possible. I start off strong but lose my rhythm trying to move the quilt up. I still have the waves to do across before I start panicking thinking about binding.

The background/backing fabric for youngest's Kansas Troubles - Token of Friendship quilt has arrived. It was like a surprise bag, I'd forgotten exactly which fabrics I'd ordered within minutes of placing the order with the exception of the beige and the darkest fabric. I'm pretty sure I had meant to remove at least one of those reds. My own bad habit coming to bite me. When shopping online I tend to add a lot to the shopping cart, compare my choices from there and just remove the ones I decide to pass on. I remember paring it down earlier in the process but waffling between those reds. I know I'd check-mark the one I decided to pass on as Remove once the decision was made. I have a sneaky suspicion that I forgot to update my shopping cart one last time before clicking checkout. I think it all looks pretty good together and wish all my oops moments turned out so well. I'm more than set for this quilt and I'm sure I will have no problem finding a use for any leftover fabric.

Mother's day this coming weekend and I haven't even started on either of her quilts. While Mom knows they won't be ready for a good while yet, I would like to at least be able to show her the beginnings of one when we go for dinner Sunday night. Time to get hustling!

Where does the time go!?!

This year has been another whirlwind & I'm shocked to see May is just around the corner. I swear the older the kids get, the faster time seems to move. Chris has been hard at work polishing up the old Singer. Look at her shine! I'm sure its not threaded correctly, I will need to look this up before I try to use it.

Not much to report this week despite wanting to get sewing in on Sunday afternoon. I did work out some variations of the Carpenters Wheel/Swoon on grid paper and showed my daughter, even included the a mock up of the original Swoon pattern. We all chose the same two patterns as our favourites. I'll be going with the one she likes the best.

It was time for another clean up of my sewing area, moved my machines around, wiped down everything and organized as I went. I love when my sewing area is tidy. I still need more storage and am hoping we can find some this weekend (they were sold out of the color that matches what I already have last time we checked). We got a smaller cube which is working well for odds and ends and is a perfect place for my Brother to rest on top of.  My Desk needs to be refinished one of these days (sigh). What you don't see is the Treadmill in the other corner that has more fabric piled on it and closet that is begging to be cleaned out so I can use it as part of my sewing area. We have a plan for all of that but it won't be happening for awhile so I'll, refrain from getting too excited for now.

See that basket full of jeans (bottom right middle picture)? Everyone tackled their bedroom closets a few weeks ago and all these were marked for the garbage bin. This is just the un-donatable stack that was buried at the back of our closet. I still have a stacks of baskets from the girls to go through (the majority of this will be hardly worn and still in fashion, some girl will be happy to find it for a steal at the donation store, but I'm sure there are few worn out pairs of jeans in there) and get my son to take a few minutes to add his cast off's to the pile. I'm seeing the beginning of what will one day be a Jeans quilt.

I'm surprised to see how my stash has grown in the past year. From having only a small basket with a single jelly roll and a few fat quarters that first month to a year later a large cupboard that I can't stuff any more fabric in. My scraps stash is more extensive than that original selection I had to work with! I've decided I'm going to put myself on a fabric diet for the next while. Now that doesn't mean I'm giving up my fabric of the month clubs. I love getting those little surprises in the mail and what I receive through these clubs are primarily what I use for my Farmers Wife blocks. I just love that what I get is so different than anything I would choose on my own, so in a sense it's broadening my choices in fabric selection (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it). But unless buying a particular fabric will make or break the project I'm working on, I'm refraining. No more planning and buying for future projects until some of the ones on my plate are done.

First step is to revisit the Puppy Love quilt (formerly the Doggie quilt). I still need to fix or redo the backing (too small), figure out how I'm going to quilt it then bind.This quilt first made its debut exactly one year today. Flying By post - April 30, 2013. It took no time to piece together - even the back with the flying geese. I think I like this quilt more now than I did when I first made it. Still have a tiny regret using the brown instead of the black, but that's how we live and learn.

Next at the top of my list is one of my mom's quilts. I always have the Farmers Wife as a fall back if I need a some play time. I'll admit I'm itching to do a block or two of the girls quilts to get a feel for how they will turn out. It's a real incentive to get moving forward!!

Wish me luck!!

Learning Lesson: Trust yourself - Mom's quilts

I found Dick and Jane fabric online that screams of childhood memories. My mother sat with me for hours with these books and know she did the same with my kids when she took care of them during the day while I worked in an office (office closed and I was lucky to get moved to a work from home position when my youngest was 9) . When I purchased this fabric I had a plan. I was going bold and keeping it to primary colors.

Long story short, I told my middle sister about it and she talked me out of using the original color scheme. Here's how she responded:  
That won't work anywhere in mom's house. 
Are you making this to be used or stuffed in a closet? 
She doesn't have anything vintage and nothing is done in primary colors. 
You need to plan the colors around the spare room.

Although the house is over 150 years old it's fairly modern except for one room. This spare room is pinks, greens and white & is where all the kid stuff is stored. It is very girly and has all older furniture. All our old books (including the entire Dick and Jane series) in a bookshelf handmade by my father over 50 years ago, an old refinished vanity, treasures of mine, both my sisters and the grand-kids that were left over the years and most importantly the rocking chair her father gave her when my oldest sister was born (just shy of 50 years ago). So my sister convinced me to change the plan but I'll be honest with the change of plans the excitement I originally had wasn't there.

Mom and Dad are on vacation and we've been doing basement checks every few days so I was able to take some pictures of the room with no one the wiser. Basement check done, I drove to the LQS with the photo's of the room and the new plan. The ladies at the store were incredibly helpful. We worked together and picked the fabric to match the room.

After we had gotten a great theme going that would work with the room, we discussed what I was actually doing with the fabric and what I had originally envisioned, one of the ladies told me what I needed to hear. Go back to the original plan to work with the those panels.

Still loving what we picked to go in that room, we took a quick look at patterns and I really loved the look of the Simply Sassy. We added the middle fabric to the original selection (which kind of works but kind of doesn't) to add an extra pop of color and I like the way it ties the pink and the green in. The bright pink is actually more dusty than in the picture and is going where the brighter yellow is in the pattern. The light grey is the outer border and white will replace the black. Now I have 2 quilts planned for my mother and was hoping to have one finished in time for mother's day . And the best part is the original excitement is back.

The lesson I learned, give yourself a bit of credit, trust yourself and your vision. Just because someone else doesn't love your plan doesn't mean its wrong. Stop letting others talk you out of something you are excited about. This is for my own enjoyment, they aren't commissioned pieces. So I figure this gives me freedom to follow my heart where ever it takes me.

(The top portion of this post sat in draft since I wrote it March 15)
Last weekend we had my parents over for Easter dinner. I took the plunge and showed my mom the fabric for the quilts I had planned for her with the disclaimer, these were to be for Mother's day but I'm not going to make it. When she saw the Dick and Jane selection her reaction told me I had a hit. She is so excited and loves the fabric I picked to go with it. She said they are well worth the wait!

Helpful links I found reading blogs:
Tutorial on burying your knots - I love Crazy Mom Quilts & it seems so simple when it's shown like this!

Quilt as you go based on Ann Peterson's Craftsy class Quilting-Big-Projects-on-a-Small-Machine: littleislandquilting (she got permission to give this quick tutorial) I found this really helpful as I was trying to figure out how to attach the back section. There are other tips and tricks in this tutorial and has moved to the top of my list of classes I want to take.

Off to do some Sunday Sewing, hope everyone has a wonderful day.

My trusty Singer & a Mystery case

My trusty Singer and the Mystery Case

I've mentioned my old singer on here before. I bought it with birthday money from my parents for my 21st birthday and used it non stop until I went back to work right around the time my son turned 2 (he'll be 21 in June) In that first year and a half I made a really incredible polar fleece snow suit with a quilted liner and double zippers (wish I had pictures), some layettes and a precious moments quilt for my god daughter (that was an utter mess), and tons of light weight summer overalls for my son. I loved that machine!

Mystery case hint

After returning to work my trusty singer never came out of the box again. It followed me through a move a year later to a house around the corner from my parents, 2 more children, a divorce, going back to school along with a new career, a new relationship (that would be Chris), and even survived a nasty basement flood. In all those years never did I think to throw it away or put it out in any of our numerous garage sales. Since moving into our forever home 10 years ago, it sat tucked away by the furnace. Writing this I think about what else has been with me as long and I have to say the list is short. Other than my children, a few key pieces of furniture, a few childhood friends (Curious George and Digger) and our family photos, my life has been somewhat disposable.... but I digress.

More hints from the Mystery case

Since I started this quilty journey we moved the box closer to my sewing area and every now and then we'd discuss getting it fixed. The past few weeks Chris started looking around at pricing and sad to say we found we could buy a replacement machine of the same year for less than the work it needed. Now Chris is a pretty handy guy, and have I mentioned he works on huge printing machines with lots of little moving parts for a living. What did we have to lose?

Chris spent Tuesday afternoon taking apart my singer and proceeded to completely clean, oil, check every part and even fixed my broken presser foot lift. Right after work I tested it out and have had a hard time leaving it alone since. I'm shocked by the difference. I remember why I loved this machine. Sews straight as an arrow (even though I forgot to change the needle - I'm horrified to say that needle is at least 19 years old), feeds like a dream no matter the thickness, no fuss - no muss. Its a bit noisier than my one year old brother but it feels sturdy. When Chris asked how it was working the only way I could describe it was it felt like butter putting the fabric through. So my $400 Singer from 92 with a simple dial of 18 stitches vs my 2013 computerized $400 brother with 67 stitches, there is just no comparison - the singer wins hands down. This will be my primary machine going forward.

Now to the Mystery Case: Chris was given this old sewing machine case years ago (before we met) along with an electric organ after his grandma Betty died. Like my Singer it survived moves, garage sales, floods, and even a fire during the time he had it. Unfortunately, the case does show the wounds of it's experiences. So here's where the mystery comes in - there was no key to unlock it. While he knew it was an older sewing machine, he had no clue what year or model it was, what shape it was in or even if it was fully intact. We always assumed it would be from the 50's. Inspired after fixing my Singer, he went looking on-line & found an easy way to break into the box without breaking it .... who knew all he needed was a 3mm flat head screw driver. Take a look at what we had:

1924 Singer 128 -13

This is definitely not what we were expecting!! All the important parts are there and considering it was obviously very well loved and used for many years before it was stored for 20 odd years, all the parts are free moving and rust free. The foot pedal is not original but from a 50's featherweight. The serial number of the machine is still very visible even though a bit tarnished & using that we were able to look it up to discover the year and model, with the information on the motor pinpoint it to the 13.

Other than the bobbin, shuttle and a few needles, the side box contained buttons. The light needs some work, looks like it melted at some point, but my dad is an electrician (or was until he retired 10 years ago) and looking at it won't be an issue for him. We aren't too concerned with what it's missing, a quick search on eBay tells us we can get what we need. We can't do anything about those worn decals, but we're going to give her some TLC and make her shine.

While the resale value we figure is under $50, the personal value is priceless! She is a 90 yr old beauty!