More exciting news!

So much has been going on lately, I need to do a catchup post with all the news.

• Free Motion Class

About month ago, I took a free motion class at the Quilt Barn Studio near Janesville.  It was a lot of fun and helped me gain confidence with different free motion skills.  I'm getting closer to having a nice feather shape, but I still need more practice.  (((Squint when looking at this picture-- it looks better that way!! 😋 )))

And the reason I took this class........Are you sitting down?

• APQS Longarm Sewing Machine

My mom and I (well, mostly her) are getting a new/used APQS Millenium!!!! Woooooot!!
I felt that it was time we upgraded from our Voyager into a bigger and better machine.  Right now the machine is "at the spa" at APQS headquarters.  We are scheduled to get it at the end of August.  To say that I can't wait is an understatement!  I have a whole bunch of tops waiting to finish and it will be a perfect opportunity to learn how the new machine works.

• Quilt Ladder

Massdrop had a drop recently for a handmade quilt ladder from Bourbon Moth.  I've been wanting a display ladder for a few years now, so I joined the drop.  It's lovely!  Made from reclaimed hemlock! For now I have it in my stairwell.  I get to see my quilts all the time and there isn't any direct sunlight to harm them.

• Quilt Expo Exhibit

Happy mail came in early August-- my Hekla quilt was accepted into the Quilt Expo exhibit!  Hooray!  This is my third time showing there.  What an honor!

• Missouri Star Road Show

And the last bit of exciting news to share.... I spent a Saturday in Green Bay attending the Missouri Star Quilt Company's Road Show.  It was lots of fun!

Here I am taking a selfie of with the MSQC van.

And here is Jenny Doan, signing a mini for my friend.

The talk was funny, informative and touching.  She shared how their company began and grew, why they became interested in pre-cuts and gave lots of ideas on how to use them.  Ron (Mr. Jenny Doan) was the quilt holder and he even shared 2 quilts that he has made.  I had a great time and would highly recommend attending a road show if you have the chance.

xoxo,

Kristin

Linking up with Let's Bee Social

Exciting news! Singer Rocketeer

Somehow a sweet little sewing machine followed me home and I decided to keep it. 😎

Meet my newest baby a Singer 500a - Rocketeer!

I have wanted one of these machines for years.  They are sleek and cool and have a built in zig zag stitch (along with many other decorative stitches).  I had never seen one in person, only in photos online.  In real life, she has not disappointed!  A guild member shared the ad for a local estate sale.  The sale was huge and included incredible collections of pottery, silver, LeCreuset cookware and full house of things being sold.  I met the daughter of the machine's owner and had a lovely talk with her.  Her mother was an avid seamstress and made clothes for decades.  She had multiple machines and the daughter kept the modern ones, but was selling this one.  She was happy to hear that it was going to a 'good home' and that I was planning to use it.

After the sale, I jumped right in and started to learn how to use it.  The bobbin is drop in (sweet!  I've never had one of those!) and the threading was pretty straightforward. Right away, it stitched a beautiful straight stitch.  I was dying to try a zig zag-- not bad!  Changing cams and using the dials was easy to do.  I don't think it does a true blanket stitch, though.  (slight bummer)

The same day I bought it, was my monthly Late Night Sew Night at Blue Bar Quilts.  I brought the new machine and a bunch of flannel and batting scraps and spent the night making burp cloths.  It was fun!!

I can't wait to use this machine more, but I don't think it will become my primary.  I love my Featherweight too much to replace it completely.  💗

xoxo,
Kristin

Spring Cleaning!

I'm really excited to share my sewing space after my 'Spring Cleaning'!  On Friday, Mary from Sort n' Release came over and helped me get things in order. It was a bunch of work, but so rewarding! 

Here are the after pictures (if you want to see 'before', go here):

The project bins are in the closet (not on the floor), the tops of my fat quarter shelves are tidy!  My cart is so much more logical and I swapped out the quilt on the wall from CatVent to Elephant Parade.  The fabric on my ironing surface is part of my 'homework'.  Since this picture was taken, I've purged a bit from drawers and found a home for (most of) it.

The closet--- Aaaaahhhhh!!!  It is completely transformed! I could hardly step in it before and was just throwing things in and closing the door.  Now each space is assigned a job-- storing completed projects, holding project totes, etc.  I can't believe that it looks this good! But it is more than just looks, it is functional, too.

Here is the view of the design wall side.  I didn't manage to take any pictures of the cutting table and cubbies.  Trust me-- they are looking good!

Here's my pile of sell/donate:

It has a bunch of felt I haven't used for years, some things from cardmaking days, some fabric and notions and storage containers that I didn't 'love'.  Part of the process was-- If I don't like something, why keep it?

Before the big clean, I wanted to finish up my On Ringo Lake.  It needed just a few more inches on either side, so I did a simple border of bricks of the coral/orange/pink/yellow leftovers. The size is much better.

I hope to quilt this in 2 weeks, so I need to think about backing.  I've done a bit of looking and wasn't finding anything, so I placed an order for an assortment of yardage in the colors of the top.

On Friday night, I had my Late Night Sew Night at Blue Bar Quilts.  I would have been perfectly happy to collapse on the couch after such a busy day, but I couldn't.  Sew-cializing needed to happen! I grabbed my log cabin diamonds as a simple, small project to work on.  Now that I have a handful done, I can see how cool this is and I want to devote more time to them.  I'm not sure if I should switch to orange for the next ring?  It might give the quilt a bit more interest...

And lastly, part of my homework was to go through some of my tubs and thin the scrap herd.  They have multiplied into 3 small bins and I know that is not necessary. While sorting, I did a bit of Wild and Goosey with some of the scraps.  After the first few of these blocks, I wasn't too keen on them.  I've now switched to using only really light fabrics for the background and it is making the difference-- I like these better now.

And to finish this long post, I've got a cute picture of Finn to share. He kind of looks like a doll in a box! 

xoxo,

Kristin

Linking up with Judy's Design Wall Mondays, Lorna's Let's bee Sewcial and Cynthia's  Oh Scrap!!

Little bits of this and that...

I've been doing a little bit of sewing here and there, but don't have a lot of progress to share. On Tuesday evening, I had my second class of my monthly Scrap Happy Sampler.  We made this 'maze' block.  It was a good opportunity to test out how accurate our 1/4" seams were.  Each log was a chance to validate how well you did! I loved it, because it keeps you honest!! =O

During the day on Tuesday, I attended the Lutherdale Gala Luncheon.  Once again (4th year!), I presented a block to the group.  They will make them and return them for us to assemble this spring.

The speaker for the day was Kim Lapacek of Persimon Dreams.  I know her from the Mad Mod Quilt Guild.  Everyone LOVED her! She has a contagious energy.

For a few months now, I've been using up scraps to make wonky log cabins as leader/enders.  I decided to throw a few up on the design wall and take a look at them.  There are about 10 in progress right now.  I plan to make each block about 12" square and I've settled on using about 1.5" strips(ish).  The goal is to make this at least twin sized and use a neutral sashing between the blocks.  It is so much fun!

And the last thing I have to share is pretty exciting--- I've hired a professional organizer to help me improve my sewing room.  It sure needs it! I can't wait to have my closet be more functional and to have fewer piles of stuff lying around.  We get started next Friday. Woot! Here are my "before" pictures.

xoxo,
Kristin

Linking up with Judy's Design Wall Mondays, Lorna's Let's bee Sewcial and Cynthia's  Oh Scrap!!

New Featherweight!

It was bound to happen sooner or later-- I added another Featherweight to my fleet of machines.

If you are wondering how many machines you need-- the answer is "one more"! 😊

I've been hoping to stumble across a machine for a good price.  There was one at an estate sale 2 years ago that was very tempting.  They were having a silent auction and I did not bid aggressively.  Oh well-- it wasn't meant to be.

Yesterday, the Mad Mod Guild was having a "De-stash Sale".  Basically a time for everyone to purge things from their collections that can be put to use by other fellow quilters.  I picked up a few things- fat quarters, patterns, tins.  Not too much (except for the machine!!!)

This machine, which is in pristine condition, belonged to the grandmother of a fellow member.  She inherited it, but really hasn't used it and was willing to part with it.  Her grandmother's name was Selma, so that is what I'm naming the machine!  It is from 1948 and has the original receipt and all kinds of other original things, including the motor lube (yikes!)!

I'm thinking that I might have one featherweight setup in my house to use and another one packed in a 'to go' bag.  I just placed an order with the Featherweight Shop for all kinds of goodies that will make her a joy to sew with.  Did you know they are making LED bulbs for Featherweights-- posh!

In Quiltville Mystery news... the end is in sight for this top! I've got the setting triangles started. I'm actually a bit further along than this, but don't have a current photo.  I would be thrilled if I can complete this top this week.

xoxo,
Kristin

Time to get sewing!

Now that I've got my sewing room put together (it still needs more work, but it is mostly functional), it is time to start creating!  I have a million projects that are in progress that I should work on-- instead, I'm dying to start something new.  I hope to make 2 baby quilts in the near future and have them planned out (sorta) in my head.  But first, it's time to make a mini-challenge quilt for the Mad City Quilt Guild's booth at Quilt Expo.

This year's theme is "My Favorite Color".  That's tough!!  I like many colors and had a hard time choosing.  When unpacking my sewing room, I re-folded all of my yardage.  Blue-Green fabric seemed to be a trend.  Not quite blue, not quite green: Blugreen. =)  So that's what I'll use.

The guidlines for the mini's are that they should be approximately 12" x 12" and use one colorway plus a neutral.  I joke all the time that lime green is a neutral and would like to make a mini like that--but I'll be conventional.  I've pulled these aquas and plan to make a 'Sparkler' mini with 2" cut squares.

Amanda Jean made a mini and it is my inspiration. I've had this quilt pinned for ages and hope to make a bigger version someday.

http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/2015/07/a-quilting-marathon.html

--Can't get the hyperlink to embed. :/

Sewing room progress:

Found my thread!!  It was in a box marked "closet".  I was able to hang this antique printer typesetting drawer and it holds my thread nicely.

My closet is still a disaster zone.

Hopefully the next post will have a completed Blugreen Mini to share.

Xoxo

Big changes, little bits of sewing...

I'm in the middle of a big life change!  Selling my current condo and buying a bigger/nicer/newer one. Just like the Jeffersons, I'm movin' on up!!

My free time has been focused on the buying + selling + loads of paperwork needed to make this happen.  I'm listing my place tomorrow, so I've been packing up all non-essential items and moving them to my storage unit.  The goal is to make my place look spacious and appealing.  Spacious is a relative thing, considering there is only 853 square feet total!!

Here is a photo of my sewing room from a few months ago:

And here it is today:

Finn has been helping pack!

I'm nearing the end of my packing and treated myself to a bit of sewing time last night.  I thought, "if I can finish up or move some of my current projects along, it will make it easier to pack them!" =)

My Elephant Parade is slooooowly inching forward.  It should almost be called the Snail Parade!  I still want to re-make the blue flowers in the style of the red ones, but in the meantime, I sewed the sashings on and started assembling the rows.

One of my neverending ongoing projects is "Little Ladies".  It's a paper pieced pattern and I use all scraps.  The rest of the blocks are packed (who knows in which box!!).  I'm not sure how many Little Ladies I have so far (25?).  Quite some time ago, I cute one of the papers up into the components and set it on my ironing board.  Instead of packing the small bits of paper, I made up this girl.  This fuschia fabric is part of my Cartwheel quilt and that is one of my favorite parts of the project-- each dress is a reminder of something else I've made. 

I managed to enhance my stash this week with another package from Massdrop.  Lizzy House, Mini Pearl Bracelet fat quarter bundle. Squee!!

Because I'm packing and moving, I've declared a moratorium on buying fabric (until I move into my new place!).  Here is a sneak peek at my future sewing room (the palm tree + dragonflies are gonna go!)

Linking up with Molli Sparkles Sunday Stash and Judy's Design Wall Monday

xoxo