I finished!!

I finished my place mats!!! *Happy Dance!!!* It helps so much to have a dedicated sewing area where I don't have to take anything down. Well, that and sewing for about 8 hours with few interruptions. :o) I thank my husband for that one. Since our dining room table was clean from Thanksgiving dinner, I just sewed my little heart out yesterday until dinner time. Then I saw that Celebrity Ghost Stories was new, and I had to watch. *Guilty pleasure* I was able to leave everything out and pick it back up this morning. And 6 bindings later.... I finished!!!! I'm so excited. One, because it's not Christmas Eve and I'm finishing them as family is arriving for dinner. And two, because I now have time for my other projects so that I may (hopefully) finish those before Christmas Day, too.

I have 10 ornaments that are ready to be quilted. Hopefully I'll finish those today.

I made these with leftover charm squares from my place mats and a border from a few fat quarters I picked up. There are 5 with a pinwheel center and 5 with a diamond center. I'm not sure if that block has a name.  :o)

And now....the place mats!!!!!

I used my two favorite fabrics to back 6 place mats each. (Sorry, I don't know their names, and would rather not go searching for them. They're both part of the Flurry line, though) I love the one on the left because it's very whimsical, and it combines pink and blue with the traditional reds and greens of Christmas. And the one on the right reminds me of all the Christmases we spent in Mexico when I was young. Poinsettias always do, for some reason. :o)

I should mention that I did a machine binding on all of them. No hand stitching whatsoever. Maybe because I'm a little intimidated, but probably because it's so much easier! About two days after my first binding trial, AmandaJean at crazymomquilts posted this and her results kind of, sort of equaled mine (but hers were WAY better) so I felt like I was doing it the right way. I don't mind that the sewing line shows on the back. Who's going to be looking at the back of the place mats anyway?  ;o)

Okay, I think that's it! I want to upload my pictures to Kate Spain's flickr group for Flurry projects, quilt those ornaments, and get started on the super last minute Christmas stockings that I decided would be a good idea. Like I didn't already have 6 trillion projects going on. Thanks a lot Craft Monster. ;o)

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!

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)