The Learning Curve Hurts!

Sometimes it's fun to learn but sometimes it hurts.

I finally decided to start really 

using my "new to me" sewing machine.

Yes,  I did read the manual and visited YouTube

to get some good advice on where to start

and some hints on making free motion quilting easier.

I started doing some straight line quilting and gradually

upped the speed for the sewing.

A really productive morning happened.

Two small quilts were stitched up.

Later that afternoon stitching began on a slightly larger quilt.

A little bit of distraction got in the way 

and I ran over my finger with the needle.

Yes, it hurt and yes, I did the instinctive thing 

and pulled my hand away.

You won't have to see the painful result but here is the needle!

 Yikes! Yes it went all the way through 

but the poke cleaned itself out effectively. 

Now I only have a little bruise and no permanent damage.

It is a good reminder to not let your mind drift 

while  stitching .

Here's a quilt I was working on.

It was one of the smaller legacy quilts 

finished and bound last week.

This week, I managed to pin base three lap quilts.

The top  one here, 

the bottom quilt here and

the finished one on the bottom.

Stitching went fairly fast but safely. 

Three are binding ready!

Look at this great line up of 

quilts on the move!

I am enjoying the new machine.

 It has a feature like my featherweight.

Unusual, I know but the bobbin area 

underneath a singer featherweight is open.

It is easy to keep the area clean with a small brush

 or a nice blast of pressurized air.

My new and much more modern 

machine also has a bobbin free to the outside world.

 A  blast of pressurized air chases out all the thread

cutoffs lint and dust bunnies. It is oddly rewarding too!

This product is available at my local bargain store.

I  stock up with three of four cans and label them,

1/4, 2/4 etc. When I get to 4/4, I swing by and restock.

The week is getting pretty busy, with some family time, 

snow, home chores, and some medical assistance,

so it may be a lean week for finished quilts.

Happy stitching this week and keep focused 

so you don't run over your fingers.

Stay safe and sew on!

Linking up with:

Design wall Monday

Monday Musings

Sew & Tell

To Do Tuesday

Ohh! A Favorite Find!

 Another winning streak continued for me with a

vendor prize at a quilt retreat. I used my gift 

certificate to buy this little goodie.

Here it is all set up.

I am hoping it will keep me from having to do

a clean up on the sewing table every time I get a drink.

This contraption holds a drink, and has a side hook

for a thread catcher, sewing scraps or even some garbage.

I was going to pack it away in the retreat supplies,

but I realized I do more spilling at home

 than I ever do at a retreat!

Here it is all set up with not bag as

there are waste baskets nearby.

A little homage to the US here, as it is election day today!

A new plan came up and 

now there is a baggie hooked on to collect

dog bed scraps.  

There is a debate on using scraps for

bed filling but some vets find the 

beds useful for recovering animals.

A win for everyone!

Happy stitching

Quilting Time!

The first ice has appeared on the

 pond this morning so it's time for quilting.

What we need to do first is do a big tidy of the sewing room. 

My new machine, (new to me),

is giving me that use me now vibes 

so I'm going to start with something simple.

First,  here are a few  pictures of the Big Tidy.

Clean work tables, 

clear sewing tables,

and the extra quilt support area all cleared off. 

This keeps me from acting like a cat at 

a flat Earth convention and 

pushing everything off the edge and onto the floor

while quilting.

Lots of little goodies went back in their places.

Some errant scraps were

stuffed in a box too, for later use in a  crumb session.

Now on to the quilting!

First trim up the top, 

pull the the binding out of the bag,

and get to work.

After trimming the quilt, I use a quarter inch foot 

to put the binding on the back side of the quilt.

Then I fold the binding to the front clip it thoroughly.

Next, I stitched it down using the stitch in the ditch foot.

The central fin rides easily on the edge of the binding . 

I move the needle just a bit to one side to make sure my 

stitches are always equidistant from the edge.

It turned out well and the corners mitered nicely.

This quilt was made by a member of my guild, the SPQG.

I only had to trim and bind it.

Here are three more little charity quilts,

done up and ready to be donated. 

These legacy quilts, I pinned, quilted and bound.

These quilts were pieced by a friend, layered and pinned up.

I quilted them up and put the binding on.

It sure is nice to have a pile of 

something done in the sewing room.

Stay safe and sew on !

Linking up with :

Design Wall Monday

Monday Musing

Sr Pit Stop

Sew & Tell

Finished or Not Friday

To Do Tuesday

Off the Wall Friday

Wednesday Wait Loss

Beauty Pageant

Midweek Makers

Needle & Thread Thursday

Put Your Foot Down 

Free Motion Mavericks

Another Successful Retreat

 Retreat weekend is over and 

it is  now time to unpack and review!

One item that got finished up at the very 

beginning of retreat,

is the flannel teddy bear.

This poor bear has been hanging 

around my sewing room for quite a few years.

I managed to cut out more pieces for his head,

so it  is all together and now it actually looks like a bear!

A little bit of finishing, stitching on some eyes,

clipping the extended seams all 

around to make him fuzz nicely,

and it should be ready for gifting.

Then I finished up the curved nine patch.

This UFO had been languishing in my 

sewing room for some time.

I was avoiding it since I didn't want to make additional blocks,

but I didn't know how to finish it up!

The center was stitched up at the last retreat,

and this weekend gave me a good chance to organize,

and randomize some postage stamp squares into a complete border.

The colour family postage stamp blocks

around the outside were quite large.

They were divided into smaller units to 

 decrease the impact of the colour blocks.

I had to add a few rows here and there

 to make the corners line up,

but I am quite pleased with the result!

This quilt doesn't have a designated home yet but I'm hopeful

whoever receives it will enjoy the bountiful colours

and curves of the nine patches.

Remember all those twosies 

left over from the Stash Buster Challenge?

I spent a very enjoyable evening stitching

them all up into another Irish chain quilt.

This could be the last one, but it is doubtful.

I really enjoyed stitching this up.

Another retreat attendee displayed

 a spectacular Irish chain quilt

completely from solids.

That may be the next quilt on the sewing table!

Last stop for the weekend,

was a bucket of Halloween Fabrics.

The pieces went together quite rapidly,

using the quick cut and piecing method I learned years ago.

The searchable name for this block is 

shaded four patch. The quick method makes it  fun to do.

On the last day of fun and games with my quilting friends,

I put together enough to see the pattern develop.

Look at the adorable Halloween characters

peeking out that appeared when I placed 

them together on the design wall.

Stay Safe and Sew On!

Linking up with:

Design Wall Monday

Finished or Not Friday

Monday Musings

Beauty Pageant

Sew & Tell

Off the Wall Friday

Wait Loss Wednesday

TGIFF

Midweek Makers

Patchwork & Quilts

Put Your Foot Down

Oh Scrap!

Needle & Thread Thursday

Free Motion Mavericks

Sr. Salon Pit Stop

Riding the Rails

 Very exciting! I had the good fortune of winning

 a draw at my most recent Guild meeting.

I just have to do a little book review because 

the book I won is so very interesting.

The book is "Hobo Quilts "

written by Debra G. Henninger. 

The reason this book is so appealing is that my father was

young during the age of riding the rails. 

Boxcar Willie and other

 famous or infamous hobos were part of his childhood.

This book has patterns and stories of quilts

 based on the language of the hobos.

 This book show modern quilts that are 

made using realistic findings and evidence of signs used for

communication between travelling people during 1880s-1940s.

Signs means drawings or graffiti left by the people 

on their way through towns or farmland.

According to Dr. Google,

the term Hobo emerged in the American

 West around 1890, though its origins are hazy.

 Some say it was an abbreviation

 of Homeward Bound or homeless boy.

 Author Bill Bryson wrote in his 1998 book

 “Made in America” that it may have 

come from “Ho, beau!”, a railroad greeting.

Many times they were retired or returning military,

 or laid off, unemployed men.

Rarely if ever were women seen

 travelling around or going door to door.

One of my favorite blocks is the pot. 

During the Great Depression 

my father recalls his mother, who herself was an orphan,

always having a pot on the back of the stove.

This pot got all the leftovers and off cuts

 from every dinner and would stew until late afternoon.

Around 4:00, knocks would start on the door.

She would go to the door and ladle out

stew to the men standing on her porch.

A most particular note is that

 each visitor to the doorstep

would extend his own pot to receive the stew.

Does this sound familiar?

I believe this custom eventually

made way for the term "panhandler".

Many Halloweens growing up,

we would dress up as hobos.

A bit of charcoal from the wood furnace,

to make a beards on our faces, a scruffy hat, 

some baggy clothes, 

and finally a stick with a 

checkered sack on it usually 

made out of an old pillowcase.

Certainly not politically correct now as a costume,

but then it was quick easy and identifiable.

Have a great Halloween if you and yours 

observe it!

Stay safe and sew on!

Linking up with :

Wait Loss Wednesday

Midweek Makers

To Do Tuesday

Design Wall Monday

Monday Musings

Put Your Foot Down

Needle & Thread Thursday

Sr Salon Pit Stop

Free Motion Mavericks

Beauty Pagent

Finished or Not Friday

Design Wall Friday

RSC 2024

Patchwork & Quilts

Oh Scrap!

Light 'em Up! Color Everywhere!

 Mother Nature gave us some spectacular views last week.

So I just have to show a few picture of our evening skies!

This dome of color formed directly overhead. 

These were very similar to the display I 

remember from a cold October night

beside a huge oak tree in my Michigan back yard!

Due North over the big city. 

We do get a lot of light pollution from the city of Edmonton.

The pictures that have the pinks and 

pale greens are taken with a night exposure of 6 seconds

on a basic smartphone.

The display of that night however was so 

strong and so vibrant that the pictures below 

were taken with minimal exposure 

time and just normal shots with  a phone a phone

The shots through the trees makes

 

me understand how people could think of 

extra-terrestrials in a less enlightened time.

Can you imagine waking up and seeing

 glowing green lights through the trees?

Many of us Northerners can remember growing up,

And getting called out to the backyard 

wearing our pajamas to look up at the Flaming Skies.

Just back week did remind me of the Vivid displays

I saw in Michigan in the fall.

It isn't just the leaves that come alive 

when the weather gets cold.

Scientifically, temperature 

has nothing to do with the northern lights displays.

Those are just some times I remember 

watching the Northern Lights.

So is that in mind let's talk a little bit about other colors.

Has anyone noticed the delightful colors 

that are available on modern  sewing machines? 

I saw one last week on a quilting show 

that was teal and greens.

It was absolutely wonderful to see,

and was a name brand machine.

That trend seems to translate itself right into sewing tools.

I can see pink rotary cutter, a yellow rotary cutter 

(classic  Olfa colour) and a pink and blue ergonomic  cutter,

without moving from my chair.

Yes that also indicates I need to tidy up my sewing area!

It is truly a rainbow in the work room!

Scissors of course have come in a multitude 

of colors almost forever.

I have blue ones, black ones and even one pair

 of iridescent mini scissors!

These little ones were left behind at a sew day!

 I have to pick up them up this morning. 

Their usual home is on a hook on the side 

of my Elna quilting Queen.

Have a great week sewing and enjoy 

the rainbows in your sewing room!