Monday, July 25, 2011

I'm sewing, I'm sewing!!!

I finally stepped over the hump and started sewing this past weekend. My husband gave me a sewing machine for Christmas, it's a Brother.I'm not sure of the model number, but I do know that it's a Project Runway special edition. And it's MINE! Buahahahah! *ahem* Moving on.
Fancy isn't it? I'm still learning all it can do, so it's good enough for me! :o)

Until yesterday, I had only sewn about 5 straight lines back in March. I "made" burp cloths for a friend.  I say "made" because all I really did was make two folds and sew them closed. But hey! It's a start, right?

When it came to sewing my 1/4" seams, I used my 1/4" foot with guide, which made me feel really confident. I may have strayed a bit once or twice, but for the most part, I think I did a good job. I paid attention to all the great hints out there and I chain pieced the charm squares for my place mats. I feel pretty cool, actually. I'm chain piecing!. How quilty of me, huh? :o) I'm still missing an open toe sewing foot so I'm still avoiding the applique, but since I have two blank place mats, I went ahead and pieced it all together. And now... I have a finished top!!! I'm so excited! I messed up a tiny bit so one of my corners doesn't line up, but it's not too noticeable.

I kind of wish the kids would have stayed in the pool a bit longer so I could piece together the second one, but oh well. :o) I get distracted easily so I hope that now that I know how "easy" this is (and fun!) I'll be focused long enough to keep my momentum going so that Christmas doesn't sneak up on me!

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Slower Progress

I'm a little scared of machine applique, and I'm not afraid to admit it. It doesn't help that a) I've never done it before, and b) the super nice sales lady at the sewing and vacuum store told me it's easier to have an open toe foot so I can see what I'm doing. :o(  Did I buy the foot when she told me? No. I was more worried about getting the 1/4" foot with the guide. So now my conundrum is.... try to applique with my current foot? Or go out and buy the "right" one? I *could* do it by hand.... but with 10 names, averaging at 5 letters each... I think I would lose the slight timing advantage I've got going on right now.

Well, on a good note: I did make some progress on the place mats at a time when I could have let Applique Indecision 2011 rule my life. I ironed on all the names onto the white rectangles, and arranged 10 charm square around each.

I've gone as far as I can go without sewing a single stitch. Now... do I start piecing the charm squares? Or do I figure out how to do this darn applique and go for it?! I think I need to figure out my sewing area. Either sew in the living room with the TV or arrange the extra TV in the dining room. Mexican soap operas make great crafting companions. :o)

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Progress!

I finally got EVERYTHING I needed to start my quilting career. :o) I know, I said it before, but I "needed" the 1/4" guide on my sewing foot, since I can't trust myself to sew a straight line. AND... it turns out I bought the wrong Heat 'n Bond. :o(  All that is behind me now.

I started my place mats first, since I'm still missing the fusible fleece I need for the purses. I'm using Frecklemama's Personalized Place Mat tutorial from ModaBakeShop.
So far, I've traced my letters (backwards) and cut them out of the Heat 'n Bond.




I didn't trust myself to not lose any letters in the process, so I color coded all the names.  :o) That way *I think* it will be easier to see what colors I'm putting together. There are 10 people in my family so far. I'll be making a total of 12 place mats, leaving two with plain centers.



These are the 9.5" by 5" rectangles I'll be using in the centers to personalize.I laid out my Flurry by Kate Spain charm pack first so I can see all the beautiful colors together.



Then I got to spend some time at the ironing board! :o) My husband joked that I didn't know where the iron even was since he's never seen me do it. I know how to use an iron, thank you! I just choose not to. But with quilting, I'm not 'ironing', I'm "pressing". See? I'm learning.
 And these are some of the finished product. I ended up using most of the charm pack, minus the duplicates. I think I really only left 2 squares unused. Even then, I was as careful as possible to keep at least half of the square to add to my scrap pile. I see a stacked coins Christmas quilt in my future! Well, maybe after the umpteen projects the CraftMonster is piling up. :o)

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Free!

I finally got the fabric I won from QuiltTaffy.com!!! Well, I'm sure it got here a while ago, I just hadn't checked my mail. I love it! :o)