Category Archives: Uncategorized

Sunday Stash #14: A BIG purchase

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I have been sewing/quilting for the past ~18 months on a brother machine, I purchased of amazon for $150.
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It is a great lightweight machine (very portable) and a great machine to learn on, as I was 18 months ago.  However, I have been struggling on it recently because:

  • It is having trouble going over seams and I have to lift the foot slightly to keep it moving (probably need the foot pressure adjusted)
  • The stitches are a little irregular.
  • Lastly but the most important point….it has a little harp space. I have been pulling my quilts through that tiny space.

So, I had made the decision that I will look at another machine. My biggest criteria was enough harp space that I can easily quilt without slipped stitches or moved stitches from yanking it through that space. Luckily, I was going to Sew Down and I was excited about using one of the supplied machines to see what sewing/quilting was like on another machine. In the FMQ and Paper Piecing classes they provided Janome 8900 QCP.

I liked it so much, and the fact there was a 60% discount/ no sales tax/free shipping…just made it so appealing….that this came home with me this week…..
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I have been sewing yesterday on it, trying to finish up my Carolyn Friedlander Aerial Quilt. My favorite features so far:

  • The hidden thread and the storage compartments for all the components.
  • The wonderful large pedal
  • The cool automatic thread cutter feature.
  • The evenness and smoothness of the stitches

We are definitely going to be “Besties” for life 🙂

Linking up with Molli Sparkles for Sunday Stash (see button on the right).

My mum’s mad skills

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My mum has been visiting the last few weeks, and has done a wonderful job looking after my son and us, during track out (school vacation). This past week we had a blast in New York….that’s my Mum!!!MumNY

My Mum is a fabulous seamstress, who has made our kids clothes, my ball gowns and 1930’s outfits for the Hawkes Bay Art Deco weekends in New Zealand. This is the first time, my mum and I have talked about fabric and sewing. She had mentioned that a woman in her book club had this great teapot skirt. We raided my fabrics and next thing you know she has a finish….FullSkirt

I love the waistband on the skirt and how she has finished it off with the edging and the bias. It breaks up the print wonderfully.Hem_biasHer fabric choices are:

That’s my Mum first Friday finish, is it not a pretty finish. I am linking up with Amanda Jean over @ Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish it up Friday.

 

 

 

Sew Down Nashville: Paper piecing and hand appliqué

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Sunday, the last day of sew down continued the wonderful classes, lectures, socializing and food. The first class of the day was Carolyn Friedlander’s paper piecing class using her aerial quilt.  We had a chat about layout, as I had chosen my fabrics based on the full quilt and the class was a mini quilt. Carolyn_Michelle_AerialQuilt

This mini version of Carolyn’s aerial is my favorite layout, and it is the one we are making in class. Paper piecing was not new too me, so this class was not challenging but I love the pattern. I was so excited and knew I would be using my Lotta Jansdotter fabric stash, that I had been saving up.CarolynFriedlander_AerialQuilt

I managed to finish 3 of 8 blocks in class, which I was thrilled about. The other 5 blocks will be all grey, black and white. I loved how my first blocks turned out. You can check out some of the other people’s blocks on Carolyn’s blog.AerialQuilt_LottaJansdotter

After lunch, our final class commenced with Anna Maria Horner. Of course, we took advantage of a photo-op. with Anna Maria – who wouldn’t right??Michelle_AMH_Daisy_Antionette
(Photo Left to Right: Me, Anna Maria, Daisy, Antoinette)

Anna Maria’s class was on Modern Corsage where you could choose to use either:

  • Structured design and piecing
  • Or fussy cutting and hand appliqué techniques.

This project definitely took me out of my comfort zone…way beyond my comfort zone. I decided to do the fussy cutting and hand appliqué, as this was all new to me. It took me a while to decide on my background fabric and then from there it came together.

I added the low volume prints with the focus print for the complete background. The flowers were fussy cut from a variety of Anna Maria’s fabrics. Currently, they are pinned but will be basted on, then hand-appliquéd. I was so surprised how this turned out….I am not huge on flowers but I can picture the end result and I am excited. ModernCorsage_AMHClass

To finish off the day, I took a couple of celebrity shots of our wonderful organizers. Elizabeth, Heather and Jen did a fantastic job all round. The classes were so great, the food was wonderful and it all ran so smoothly. ElizabethDackson_Michelle
(Photo: Me, Elizabeth Dackson)

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(Photo Left to Right: Heather Grant, Me, Jen Carlton Bailey)