A Labor of Love....

Once I set my mind to designing my first quilt, I quickly realized a smaller scale project was probably going to be for the best. Having one store bought quilt purchased with Alexxis' nursery bedding, I measured and did some calculating. I thought since her crib will turn into a small toddler bed one day, maybe I could use the pattern; yet make it a bit bigger than the one we currently have so that it too can functional through some of the transitional stages of life. So, I played around with the Seasonal Magic Quilt pattern to adapt it for my needs. The photograph above shows the fabrics that I previously chose, quilted in the Seasonal Magic Quilt pattern with my adaptions. I'll be taking some measurement tomorrow to determine what size of a border I desire; whether it will be one or possibly even two. Although my cutting and sewing aren't perfect, this quilt is truly a labor of love.

Heck, I'm even now thinking of using some of the extra fabrics to sew a matching pillow case and even a few 18" toss pillow! I may also check the fabric store to see if there is anymore of these Calico Keepsakes fabric still available... as I may just one day desire to add another border of quilt blocks and turn it into a twin size or a larger quilt for Alexxis to snuggle within.

P.s. The small green print is more of a neon-looking spring green... without the brown-ish undertones my camera picked up. And, the border I am intending to add, has the same paisley design as the aqua colored print blocks only in a a deep and light lilac purple with just the slightest hint of white appearing in the design. I think it's going to be turn out just beautifully! {smiles}

Christmas came early!!!!

Don has known that I have desired a sewing machine for quite some time. When we saw this Euro-Pro 7132L Sewing Machine on sale, we purchased it! Here are some of the features: Shark 7312L 34-stitch sewing machine. It easily converts from flat-bed to free-arm and features double over-lock, 1-step button holes, drop feed, stitch width/length adjustments and an automatic needle threader.

Accessories Included:

* All Purpose Foot
* Zipper Foot
* Buttonhole Foot
* Blindstitch Foot
* Cording Foot
* Narrow Hem Foot
* Darning / Free Motion Foot
* Quilting Foot
* Gathering Foot
* Satin Stitch Foot
* Button Sewing Foot
* Overlock Foot
* Seam Ripper / Lint Brush
* Oiler
* Needles
* Seam Guide
* Bobbins (3)

Full Manufacturer's Warranty - 25 Years on Mechanical Defects, 2 Years on Electrical Defects, from Euro-Pro

Granted I don't know much about what features to look for in a good quality sewing machine, so I was a little hesitant to purchase it without researching it. But we took the plunge anyways. I did search online for product reviews for it {and like most products} was able to find the good, the bad, and the ugly! Since, I am not a seamstress --- I believe that I am going to take this over to my mom's, along with the instruction booklet, and see what we can {hopefully, there will be no "cannots"} do with it. One drawback that I have read about already is a lack of customer service response...... ACK! while others have seemed to have fallen in love... here's to hoping that I will too!

I am feeling a little bit better...

Enough so that I ventured out into the art studio yesterday shortly after my chiropractor appointment and a simple lunch. {Smiles.} Unfortunately, it wasn't to create anything, however, I did gather up the fabric that I had purchased earlier this year, before I found myself attempting to make a dent in some of the creative chaos that it has become. LOL! I managed to clear off the top of my bookbinding station, approximately 75%, and put somethings away, in the short half hour I was there. Organizing it once again, is on my list of things to do! If only in short amounts of time spent here and there until I'm feeling back to my old self.

I returned to the house and began pre-washing the fabric and drying it before folding it back up. It is still in need of a good pressing before I'll be able to actual use it. If anyone remembers, I purchased this material in hopes of creating a quilt, so my day was spent researching all the "how to's" online, making a list of supplies that I will need to set me up a sewing area within our home. The good news is that I will have very little that I will actually need to purchase to create a sewing station or the quilt itself. I have an extra table and chair that I can set up here in the house and my Ott light can be brought in for additional "seeing what the heck I am doing" lighting. I am thinking I'll empty one of the 3 drawer organizers to maintain all the necessary supplies in that I'll need during this process.

I am not a "sewer"... in fact, I haven't touched a "real" sewing machine since I was in the 7th grade and was forced to create an apron in Home Economics class --- and at the time, I hated it! However, I have been won over after seeing some of the creative things that other bloggers are sewing and some beautiful quilts online. As I stated, I am completely a beginner, so some of the "beginner" patterns that I was discovering online... look far to complicated for me, LOL! I was successful of discovering a website: http://www.sewaquilt.com that had some amazing, easy to read, and understand basic tutorials; from which, I printed out an article on rotary cutting. I found myself laughing at myself... me printing an article on rotary cutting, LOL! I have some experience with rotary cutting; however, I am certain that there are some major differences between cutting paper and cutting fabrics --- so this will be another learning curve for me.

Next, I set out on a search for a simple basic free quilting pattern... one easy enough for a beginner! I won't even begin to describe what an ordeal that was --- let's just say that I was on at least 100 websites, LOL! before finally coming across
http://www.freespiritfabric.com and a downloadable pattern called Seasonal Magic that appears "do-able" to me. I do need to measure the fabric that I purchased to be certain that I have enough before I begin. Anyways, the finished quilt top is 53"x66" and uses a 13" block size... which instantly scares me. What if I discover this isn't for me? LOL!

Thinking quickly, I remembered that when we set up Alexxis' nursery, I had purchased a baby quilt with her crib bedding, I'm now thinking maybe a smaller quilt, using this pattern is the way to go. Of course, I will need to consult my mom on this before proceeding to do anything, as we will need to adapt the pattern to the size quilt I am desiring to create. To prepare for that, I measured every square inch of the purchased quilt, created a diagram with each measurement, and made notations of those measurements for the 1/4" seam allowances. I will be visiting with my mom today to discuss all of this and probably creating a new diagram to work with in actually getting it created. Hopefully, I'll have some progress made soon to show for all my effort! Also, the baby quilt won't be a waste of time or fabric since I chose the colors to work within Alexxis' nursery and her crib is a 4 in 1 that converts to a toddlers bed. I am even thinking that if enjoy this process, I can use the remaining fabrics to create her a pillow case and some decorative pillows to toss on her bed! I'll post more once I determine how all this is going to go..........