Stories from the Sewing Room

I have been busy quilting!  (I do have all those UFO/WIPs, right?)  I decided that to start I would do a pantograph design. After some fits and starts and a lot of frustration, I finally figured out how to run the longarm machine.  I must say, I think I'm getting fantastic results!  And I'm learning a lot.  

I made this quilt top in the late 1990s.  I honestly had forgotten all about it.  It was one of the first quilts I made and that was really obvious when I pulled it out of storage.  The seams were really wavy and some had holes where I hadn't lined up the points properly.  Plus, the blue fabric is denim and the white borders are really cheap muslin.  I fixed all the holey seams but there wasn't much I could do about the wavy piecing unless I redid the entire thing.  No thanks!  My son took a liking to this top, so he helped me pick out backing fabric.  For this one, we used an inexpensive print from JoAnn.  I used the leftover backing for binding.  I machine stitched the binding, which is something I don't usually do since I love hand-sewing binding.  I used a polyester batting that I've had in my stash forever.  You can see the fold lines in the quilt already with this batting.  Good enough for this project though!  The thread I used is So Fine 50 wt. by Superior Threads.  Lovely thread! 


My second longarm project is one I'm really excited about!  This is a quilt using Bonnie & Camille's Bliss fabric line from around 2010.  It was their third line for Moda.  I was really thrilled when I found not only the top, but also matching backing and binding in my stash!  I used a cotton batting by Pellon for this one and stuck with the So Fine 50 wt. by Superior Threads, just in off white instead of the white I used for the first quilt.  I highly recommend Superior Threads!  Great thread, great customer service.  Anyway, I'm hand stitching the binding on this one, so I'm not quite done yet.  This is a selfish sewing project--it's for me!!

Here are the extras Kristen included for me.  She did a great job.
I made a mug rug/ultra mini that finished about 5" for one of the extras.  I scaled down Lori's Granny Square block for this.

Next is a series of close-up shots of the blocks.  I used almost all Lori Holt fabrics except for the two yellows you can see in the pear block and the white on the mug rug.  This quilt was hard to send away. I've been saying that about all of the swap quilts!





Here's a little closer view of the extras I sent.  That 2.5" ruler is a handy size for making 6" blocks (such as those in Farm Girl Vintage).  The red button on the tag is a needle minder.
I used printable fabric to make the tag.  It's a tiny tag because that printable fabric is pricy!  I like how it looks when I got it all done.
I used one of the panels from the Modern Minis line to make the back.  Didn't get it quite straight.  Oops! I need to buy more of this fabric because I love it and used most of what I had to do the back.

I've been seeing a lot of photos on Instagram lately that are labeled as #honestsewingroom or #honestcraftroom.  Many of them are quite pretty and not messy at all.  Although I would love to always have a photo-ready space, in my world, a clean sewing space is an unused sewing space.  Anyway, in the spirit the hashtag, I am showing you my current sewing spaces.  {I think I may be oversharing lately!}

Here is my cutting and pressing area, which is in our office.


Here is my machine area (in our living room):

I keep my notions cabinet, embroidery machine, and coverstitch machine in the kitchen.  This area is usually a little cleaner than this.

My design wall is in the laundry room.

The longarm is in the unfinished basement.

The majority of my stash is also in the basement.  Technically my stash is in my sewing room, but, as you can see, it is currently unfinished.  I jokingly say that it is my ongoing quest to take over the whole house with sewing stuff.  Seriously though, my goal is to have it all in one space so that the mess is contained.  I can't wait until this room is finished!

Saw this dead cardinal hanging out in a car at Sam's Club last summer.  Gross!

Are there some projects you would like to accomplish in your lifetime?  Things that seem challenging but that you'd still like to try?  A few things come to mind for me:

• a Quiltworx pattern
• a Hawaiian quilt
• a Farmer's Wife quilt
• a McKenna Ryan quilt--hmm, have a kit, have only done two blocks