Happy National Sewing Machine Day

Happy National Sewing Machine Day!  

There are TWO different National Sewing Machine days, the other one is September 10th.  

I bought some fun shoes to celebrate the day.  These shoes are really comfortable!

my sewing machine shoes

My Family Reunion was this past weekend.  We raffled off the quilt I made, that family members signed at the last reunion.  Here are the winners in front of the quilt.

Family Reunion quilt winners

I had family members sign new quilt squares for the next Family Reunion quilt.  It was a fun weekend!  I love to go to Family Reunions!

This was posted to a vintage sewing machine forum.  I've seen it before, many times.  I thought you might like to see it, too.  Big difference between 'Then' and 'Now' for sewing advice.

I'm off to finish prepping for the Missouri TOGA (Treadle On Gathering & Academy).  I'm teaching how to make Marilyn's Ruler Bag, and also how to make project boards and DIY Flying Geese trimmers.

Some Finishes and Some Fun Gifts!

I've finished two quilts this week.  One of the quilts, I made the top back in the summer.  It's the 2nd quilt like this.  The first was for one baby, and this one will go to my new granddaughter.  I quilted this differently than the first quilt.  I used my walking foot for the quilting. 

Little Lamb baby quilt

I used a backing fabric that is similar to a Shannon Cuddle Luxe.  I followed the tips & tricks from Shannon Fabrics for sewing with Cuddle Luxe fabrics.  The tips are for sewing the fabrics together, not for quilting, but it worked nicely. Here is the backing that I used.  I think it looks like sheep fur. (the fur is all white, the brown is the light from my sewing machine).

backing on Little Lambs baby quilt

I also finished one of my Family Reunion quilts.  I just needed to to sew the binding onto the quilt. The pattern is String Crossroads.  I changed up her pattern to substitute 4 patch blocks for the string blocks.  I like how it turned out.  I still need to sew the binding down on the 2nd one (I made 2 quilts, one for me and one to auction off to raise funds to cover Reunion costs).

1930's reproduction fabrics

Friday was my birthday.  It was a fun day!  I had friends take me out to Red Lobster for lunch, then to a quilt store for some fabric fun.  Dinner was at Olive Garden with my husband and oldest son and a close friend.  I was surprised with lots of fun gifts.  Here are a few.

Marilyn made me a Iron Caddy for when I take my iron to sew-in's, etc.  I'm showing it open, too, because the fabric she used is sew cute!  I had to read all of it.

Iron Caddy

fun fabric

insulated fabric inside

I also got 2 Bluebonnet towels (Texas State Flower) from Kathy.  

Bluebonnet towels

Kay gave me a thread caddy, thread and a cute sewing themed door knob sign.

thread caddy, thread and door knob sign

My youngest son sent me flowers for the first time.  

I also got to show off my new Accuquilt Studio 2 after lunch.  I also got more Birthday cash to go towards it and the dies I've bought.  

Now to stitch the binding down on the Autumn Chains king size quilt (and make a hanging sleeve).  This has to be done before the quilt show March 11 & 12, 2023.  I'll be starting that as soon as this posts. 

Finishes and Disappointment

I finished both Family Reunion quilt tops!  I've not had much sewing room time the past 2 weeks, so this took me longer than anticipated.  I've made both of these quilt tops on my Featherweight.

1939 Singer 221

I made two of these quilt tops.  One to be raffled off at the family reunion (the raffle and an auction of fun 'goods' pays for all the reunion costs) and one for me.  I'm not interested in buying a raffle ticket for something that I paid for the fabric and sewed myself (and paid the long arm quilter to quilt).  That is why I make two quilts.  These quilts are identical.  The colors are brighter in person.  Cloudy & rainy days don't make good days to take photos. (the background is bright white, and the fabrics are 1930's reproductions).

first quilt top

2nd quilt top

I had problems with the backing fabric.  I choose red with stars for the backing, but it bled so badly.  I washed the backings 10 times!  Two of those times I treated the fabric with Retayne, and 3 other times I used vinegar and salt. I washed the quilts with soap and a Color Catcher in between each time I treated the fabric.  These are the Color Catchers after washing.

Color Catchers, still showing color bleed

The last Color Catcher was still very pale pink, but I gave up.  I'll included Color Catchers with the quilt.

Here are some up close photos of the quilt, including the center square.

Center square, used as a label

As I was sewing the last seams, my mother called me to let me know that the Family Reunion had just been cancelled (again).  This was the second year that the reunion has been cancelled due to Covid.  Grrr!!!  Covid, just GO AWAY!

Stitching Away!

 I've been working on two different projects, a machine project and a hand project.  I'm a home health care aide, and my client has lots of doctor appointments, so I've been getting lots of hand stitching done the past few weeks.  

I've been stitching on my Olde Treadleonia map.  I decided to stitch all around the block and all around the sewing machine island.  I also stitched all the waves in the water.  It just seemed easier to get those parts done first.  I've also gotten quite a lot of the locations and trails stitched.

stitching I've done so far

This is what the map looked like before I started stitching.  You can see the difference.

before any stitching

As for embroidery, I've never done anything other than back stitching until now.  I decided that the whale needed to be filled in.  Not too bad for a beginner.  I have a book with embroidery stitches somewhere.  I didn't look at it before I decided to fill in the whale.  

whale filled in

When I start back on this, I'm going to fill in the snow on the 'Here there be Dragons Mountains.'

'Here there be Dragons Mountains'

Those mountains are why Fred, Scarlet and Bumble came to live with me.  

Scarlet, Fred and Bumble

They are only a few of the dragons that live (or want to live) in those mountains.

I'm usually behind on projects (too many squirrels around here).  I'm hoping the dragons chase a few of those squirrels away, so that I can get started projects finished.  So far, they are helping.

My family reunion was scheduled for October 2020, but, like everything else, it got cancelled due to Covid.  Well, it's rescheduled for October 2021.  That means that I have to finish the raffle quilt for the reunion.  We auction off items to pay for the reunion costs, but we raffle off the quilt, so that everyone gets a fair chance to win it.  Years ago, someone would buy a cheap Chinese quilt from Walmart, have everyone sign it, then auction it off.  I was never interested in those cheap Chinese quilts, but thought about making a quilt instead.  Well, I make two quilts.  One to raffle off and one for me to keep (since I'm the one paying for all the supplies and making the quilts).  I have everyone sign two matching blocks so that the quilts will be identical.  The next reunion, there is a finished quilt to raffle off.  This is the first quilt I made (and the winner).

first family reunion signature quilt I made

Back in 2016, I also found a pattern to use for the next family reunion signature quilt.  I loved a string quilt over on The Eclectic Abuela blog.  She also has a tutorial for the quilt here. I was planning on making all the string blocks, but I get bored making string blocks after a while, so last year (when I was already behind on these quilts) I decided to make 16 patch blocks instead of strings.  I had already cut lots of squares for the corner flip blocks, and just decided to cut lots more squares for the 16 patch blocks.  This is what my box full of squares looks like 'after' I've finished all the 16 patch blocks. 

leftover squares

That box was FULL when I started.  I wanted to make sure I had enough different fabrics for each block.  I needed 100 16 patch blocks to make 2 full quilts.  I'd started putting the fabrics for each block together last October.  I hadn't touched this project again since last October.  This is what I found when I pulled this project back out in early August.

stacks of blocks, waiting to be stitched

what they looked like from the top

This was slow going, since I wanted to nest the seams, and I had to press each time I stitched.  My new seam presser came in handy. 

my new seam presser

Last night, I finished stitching and pressing all the blocks.  I have 102 of these blocks.  

102 16 patch blocks

The 'X' blocks have been finished since August 2017, along with the border blocks. Now I just have to lay them out, making sure none of the same fabrics are next to each other. I decided to make these quilts smaller, so I won't be using all the blocks for these 2 quilts.  I think I can get a 3rd quilt out of the extra blocks.  

Now you know what I'll be working on this weekend.  I also need to make a pin cushion for the Treadle On Pin Cushion exchange (to be mailed by September 1st).  I'll be switching back and forth between my Featherweight (Betty Sue) and my 1927 Singer 15 hand crank, since the pin cushion has to be made on a people powered sewing machine.  Thank goodness I have a double sewing machine cabinet (no, it doesn't look that neat and cleaned off now).  If I took a photo of how messy is is now, you'd wonder how I got anything done.  

What are YOU working on this weekend?

Stitching & a few other things!

****Special Announcement at the very bottom of the post****

Between the 12 Days of Christmas in July blog hop, the Michigan TOGA and being sick (worst sick I've been in years), I haven't gotten a lot of sewing done the past few weeks.  I've felt better this past week, so, I'm trying to play catch up.

First, I finally finished the second set of blocks for the Family Reunion quilts.  I make 2 matching quilts, so that they can raffle off the first one, and, the second one is for me.  That means double blocks.  The quilt I'm making this time is from TheElecticAbuela blog, and is called String Crossroads.

98 blocks (2 quilts worth)

up close of one block

her version (pattern on her blog)

I'm making my quilt in 1930's reproduction fabrics.  I still have the string blocks to make.

blocks left to make

The reunion isn't until October 2018, and I only needed the signature blocks finished (the 98 blocks above), so, I don't think I'll get started on the string blocks for a while.

In making these blocks, I did get a bonus gallon sized Ziplock bag full of mini Half Square Triangles.  I haven't ironed or trimmed any of these.  There are 552 Bonus HST's in this bag.

bonus bag of HST's

On Saturday, hubby and I traveled about 2 hours from here, to pick up a long arm table with a machine, that a friend found for me. 

12 foot long arm table in our trailer

machine that came with it

The lady's sister bought this around 1985-91.  The lady got it when her sister died, a few years ago.  When we got home, we realized that the table is too long to fit in our basement :(  Other than taking the sides off the solid wooden base (they are screwed on, and also stapled on the base) I don't know how to get it in our basement.  Hubby is still working on this, but, I don't think there is anything we can do to make it fit around the stupid corner, to get it down the stairs.  This is an older model, unlike the newer models, that can be folded up, or taken apart.  Waaa!  Does anyone in the Chicago area want a long arm base (with 3 rods)?  The good thing, is that this was free, so, I didn't spend anything more than gas money to get it.  There was a bonus.  The lady was going to throw out a portable sewing table, similar to  this one (sorry, the picture won't work.  Someone had cut out the machine area (roughly) and added wooden extensions to the legs.  We removed the extensions (made it too high to comfortably sew with a hand crank) and hubby will make the cut out area neater, when he gets a chance.  I forgot to take pictures.  I'll do that when hubby has finished his part.

Well, hubby is going hiking in the Uinta Mountains, in Utah.   He asked me to make a table runner for the lady who will be shuttling him and his fellow hiker.  I saw this table runner on the blog hop.  Unfortunately, it uses a specialty ruler, and, I haven't a clue how to use that ruler.  The blogger doesn't show how to use it, either.  After some guessing, I came up with these table runners.  The first one is in 'frost' fabrics, the other is in patriotic colors.

2 table runners

I still need to figure out what backing I'll use for these, and finish them.  Sorry about the picture.  The 'frost' one is really lovely, but, the picture doesn't make it very pretty.  It looks like ice and snow in real life.

On Sunday, I was given a great gift, from one of my beginning quilters, that I taught a few years ago.  She had vacationed in Wyoming, and brought this back from a local quilt shop.

perfect fabric for me, don't you think?

Row by Row pattern

another view of the blocks in the pattern

 Between the sewing machine fabric, and the boot in the Row by Row, she said that these spoke my name.  I've never done any of the Row by Row patterns before. 

My little quilt guild is having a name badge challenge.

Somewhere, buried in the basement, is my last name badge, with my first Wego Quiltin' car pin.  I put it up, in a safe place, years ago (remind me to NEVER put something in a safe place, since they always get lost that way).  The only rule is that we put our car on the badge.  Easy enough.

I'm in 2 quilt guilds.  I've been meaning to make a new badge holder for the larger guild, for a couple of years now.  This is what I've been using for the larger guild.

I found this at a thrift store a few years ago.  I added all the pins, over the years.  I knew I wanted something along these lines for both quilt guild badges.  Here is what I came up with.

Wego Quiltin' name badge, with my 'car' on a road

Pride of the Prairie name badge, with printed name tag in a plastic sleeve

Of course, I  had to put the pins on the new badges.  Here they are, with all the pins added. 

I forgot to take pictures of the backs, but, I used my practice piece, from my ruler class, as the backings.

ruler practice piece

No need to waste that practice piece.  Now it has become useful!

Well, at the very top of the blog post, I said that there would be a Special Announcement.  I was allowed to share this back on July 14th, but, I was driving to the Michigan TOGA, and the 12 Days of Christmas in July blog hop was going on.  I didn't want to add this to any of those blog posts.

I AM GOING TO BE A FIRST TIME GRANDMA!

The baby isn't due till February 15, 2018, so, I have plenty of time to start making things.  My daughter in law has chosen to decorate the nursery in Peter Pan.  I love Peter Pan, but, there isn't much out there to work with.  The last Peter Pan fabrics were printed in 2009, and I can't locate any (still) available.  I did find a great fabric at the JoAnn's in Battle Creek, MI, the night before the TOGA.

Pirate Map fabric

This fabric is on clearance at JoAnn's.  This is the only fabric I've found so far, that is good for Peter Pan.  I've bought all of it at 3 of 4 JoAnn's stores (one store was out already).  I should have enough to make several things now, for the nursery, etc. 

The few Peter Pan things I've been able to find, are some paper pieced patterns at Fandom in Stitches.  They have a Peter Pan block, 2 different Captain Hook blocks, Smee, and the Crocodile.  They also have a Tinkerbell block.  I made the Tinkerbell block a few years ago (another thing that I put up in a safe place, and now can't find).

missing Tinkerbell blocks

I messed up those Tinkerbell blocks (looks like she has white eyeshadow, where is should have been flesh colored material). 

Now I'm looking for Wendy, and some of the other characters, so that I can make a quilt.  If you know of anything, PLEASE let me know.  I do have a couple of the Tinkerbell fabrics, but, since we want it to be gender neutral, I can't use very much of those fabrics. 

I finally joined a social media site.  I joined Pinterest, so that I could save ideas and share them with my DIL.  I have a whole folder of Peter Pan nursery ideas.  I'm listed as Cheryl Parker, if you want to find me.  (contact me, and I can give you more info).

I'd better get back in the sewing room, since I have several projects due before the end of August.  I"m behind again!