Sewing Machines, Repairs and a ~FIND~ (Quilt Shop)
July 7, 2007 at 9:33 pm | In fabric, finds, sewing | Leave a CommentYes, we had to take my machine to the shop today. Last night as I was finishing up my new diaper bag (which is AWESOME by the way!) it was giving me fits and I was just praying it would let me finish the stitching with no problems.
Okay, Okay, so I didn’t get it serviced last year. But to be honest I had a new baby and just wasn’t thinking about sewing much. But now that I’ve been sewing a lot it’s not so happy. I tried doing the little things that I could here yesterday (cleaning out the lint, oiling, etc.) but no luck.
So we ventured to the A-1 Sewing Machine Shop today. That’s where my dear husband bought my machine for me … all by himself! Have I mentioned that I have the best husband yet? Let me tell you what he did today … First, he held the baby while I looked around at new sewing machines and checked them out. I *might* trade up for a new one … my birthday is coming up :). And he was encouraging me to look! The funny thing was how these sweet little old ladies were really hard-nosed saleswomen! They immediately took me to the Janome Memory Craft 9500 … which was $2899! They kept asking me “Don’t you want to take one home today?“ Of course I want to, but that’s not really the question, now is it?
So I have narrowed it down to 2 machines that I think I would like to trade up on: the Janome 6260 QC or the Janome DC2007 Limited Edition. The latter is less expensive. I want 3 things in particular … needle up/down, drop-in bobbin and speed control.
Then we had lunch at one of our favorite places – Everybody’s Pizza. If you live in Atlanta and haven’t been there you are missing out. And if you come to Atlanta for a visit you won’t be disappointed in their food — it’s the best! So anyway, after that the second thing that my dear husband did today was this:
~FIND~ I wanted to see if I could find a quilt shop – Intown Quilters – that I had heard about but had not been to. I saw that they were featured in BH&G’s Quilt Sampler magazine as one of 10 featured shops in the country. If you pick up a copy and look for the section on Intown Quilters you’ll see what a fun and funky and fabulous shop it is! I just wanted to find it so I could go back on a later date, but he told me to go in and he would stay in the car with the baby. So I did and the place was amazing! Definitely my kind of place with bright and bold fabrics, and lots of Free Spirit designs, among many, many others, and a good clearance section too! I bought some PRISM fat quarters for $1 each!
We came home and napped … a good day all in all :)
~Tutorial~ Find!
July 5, 2007 at 4:51 pm | In finds, sewing, tutorials | Leave a CommentI remade the tote bag from the other day — made it sturdier with lining and a bigger pocket. But I didn’t have a wallet to match (a girl’s gotta have matching a wallet and bag, ya know?!). So I searched and found an E~A~S~Y wallet to make – check out this tutorial for a Super Cool Wallet. I made it to match and voila! Handmade, unique ensemble that I like and looks good, if I do say so myself ;)
I’ll post pix later … gotta run!
~Heather
$$ is burning a hole in my pocket …
July 3, 2007 at 11:05 am | In fabric, finds, quilting, quilts, sewing | 3 CommentsOr in this case I should say a PayPal balance is burning a hole in my … well, I dunno! But it was burning a hole and I spent it. I’ve been wanting to order from the Fat Quarter Shop for a while now, so I did this morning. I should get it in a few days and I’m excited. Here’s what a bought:
Quilted Quickies-Checker Board, Game Pieces & Travel Bag
Perfect for my daughter, as well as to make gifts!
And I bought these to make the one for my daughter … what do you think? Chez Moi Charm Pack from Sentimental Studios for Moda Fabrics –
Can’t wait to receive these!
~Heather
Sunflower Festival Recap
July 3, 2007 at 8:03 am | In family, fun | 2 Comments
We had a great time at the Sunflower Festival this year. We spent too much money and ate too much food and got way too hot, but it was worth it.
The girls had a great time too. There are many local artisans selling their wares, which we purchased (of course). And there was an antique tractor parade, which we liked because we dream of one day having enough land to warrant having a tractor!
There are gardens to explore, a sharecroppers home and, of course, huge sunflowers fields to visit and cut sunflowers.
There was a lot of good fair/festival-type food and entertainment. Also, there was a kids’ area with face painting and pony rides and a petting zoo and an enchanted forest.
~New Book Find~
June 30, 2007 at 7:07 am | In books, finds, quilting, quilts | 2 Comments
The Modern Quilt Workshop: Patterns, Techniques and Designs from the Fun Quilts Studio. I have been wanting this book for a while now ever since finding the Modern Quilt-Along hosted by Kim @ Diaramarama. Although I do THOROUGHLY enjoy quilting, my style is more along the lines of modern rather than traditional. So imagine my delight at finding a book that would help me make some, and even design my own, modern quilts. I finally bought it yesterday and have enjoyed reading it so far. It’s definitely a must-have!
The very first pattern that I will make is called “Out of the Box” and if you know me IRL or read my personal blog, a free heart’s reflections, then you might understand why ;)
My dear husband has given me some extra money to spend and I can’t wait to sit down and begin planning out what I need … then go and buy the fabric and begin making my first modern quilt!
Well, gotta run … it’s time to get ready as we head out to the Sunflower Festival today! I promise I’ll share some pix later :)
~Heather
Always Buying Too Much Fabric
June 28, 2007 at 3:46 pm | In books, fabric, sewing | 8 CommentsI always buy “too much” fabric (is there really such a thing?!) because when I like something, well, I like it. I bought way too much pink geometry fabric because I really liked the prints. And I’m glad I did. I wanted to try a few of the patterns from my latest find, Simple Sewing (which I love by the way!). I made these towels for my kitchen out of some cute fat quarters that I found the other day:
And I was really wanting to make a new tote/purse. I made this one using the tote pattern in the book and scaled it down:
I also added 2 inside pockets for my cell phone and Burt’s Bees Lip Shimmers (I can’t be without them!):
It was a productive morning. I’m pleased with my tote/purse and can’t wait to begin my next project from the book: The All-Day Tote, which I plan on using as a diaper bag. I bought the following canvas fabrics this week – they were on clearance so, again, I couldn’t resist buying 2 yards of each. I can’t decide which to use for the All-Day Tote/diaper bag – I’m leaning toward the black and pink, but what do you think?
Fun with Fusible Web
June 25, 2007 at 5:04 pm | In sewing | 3 CommentsI saw this adorable shirt in the latest Family Fun magazine and thought that I would try it. My daughter had a cheap knit t-shirt lying around that I thought I would use. I hate sewing knits. But I worked it out. Here are the pix.
I added some applique stitching to finish the flip flops off, but it puckered the fabric a bit. The pix don’t really do the shirt justice – it really is cute!
OK … I’m off to embroider some shorts for her. I thought I would cut off a couple of pairs of her jeans with holes in the knees and put some cute patterns on them. I’ll share them when I’m done :)
Sunflower Festival
June 24, 2007 at 8:23 am | In family, fun | 2 Comments
It’s time for the Annual Sunflower Festival again! If you live anywhere within driving distance of Rutledge, GA you simply must bring the entire family out for a weekend of fun in the sun-flowers ;)
There will be live music, the sharecropper’s house tour, cut your own sunflowers for $7 (vase included), hay rides, pony rides and petting zoo, demonstrations, food, local market, kids’ activities, antique tractors, and much more! They have tons of activities for the kids.
Have a :) weekend!
Simple Sewing
June 24, 2007 at 7:29 am | In books, fun, sewing | 1 Comment
I bought Simple Sewing by Lotta Jansdotter last night. My husband and I went on a date to Lil’ River Grill (If you live in the area, it’s a must-try!) and then we swung by Borders. I had some money left over from our trip to the flea market yesterday, so I wanted a sewing book. I’ll write about our trip to the flea market later :) …
I couldn’t decide between Amy Butler’s In Stitches or Lotta Jansdotter’s Simple Sewing, but in the end I chose the latter. Perhaps I will get back and buy the former. I have enjoyed looking through the book and can’t wait to begin sewing something :)
~Heather
Me, The Busy Quilting Bee … and one more thing I learned
June 22, 2007 at 10:38 pm | In quilting, quilts, sewing | 15 CommentsI love it … love quilting, that is. I just finished my baby’s quilt that I call “Pink Geometry”. I designed it myself and I love it. Even figured out binding this time around :)
Here are some pix:
Oh, and my daughter stealthily snapped some pix of me while sewing:
Now … I’ve got to figure out all those neat ways I have seen to label my quilts, like I have seen here: Lost Quilt Come Home Page
here: Quilt Labels
and here: Bryer Patch Studio
oh, and also here: Direct Fabric Printing on a Computer
AND one more thing that I learned today while finishing the quilt binding … thread is IMPORTANT! El Cheapo thread (a la Coats and Clark from JoAnns or Wal Mart) is not what you want to use if you can help it. A few stitches into whip stitching the binding and it would get linty and easily tangle and pull. So … I’m off to buy some better thread … a lot of it ;)
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