Christmas in ... August

Only a crafting mind would start thinking of Christmas this far ahead, right?  Us sewers and quilters know it takes time to create our treasures, so I've begun thinking ahead.

I bought this panel a few years back at the very first and only quilt retreat I've ever been on.  My Mother and I went together and a vedor there was selling the collection and I went a little overboard.  I made a quilt top from another panel purchased that has also yet to be quilted...I better get on that.  :)

More thread and feather experimenting...

I never thought I'd get that into panels, but this whole thread thing just opened up a new dimension of quilting to fall in love with.  This is why I just NEVER get sick of quilts!!!  There is so much creativity to be had.

A Tote for Me and a Quilt for Etsy :)

All those totes and I really wanted one for myself.  I showed you the Kate Spain fabric I purchased to make one...and I finally finished!  I've been "toting" it around all weekend, I love it!

This is the front...

...the back...

...a closeup of the stitching...

...the handles...I wanted a little more color in the handles so I used some of the charms there too...

...a closeup of the inside stitching...

...isn't it pretty?  This picture just doesn't do the richness of that fuschia and orange together justice.  I'm really happy with it.  It's nice and sturdy and I can toss it in the wash if it gets dirty.  Perfect for a Momma of 3!

Oh and I cannot forget my Etsy chinese coin quilt...I am so happy with how this turned out.  Isn't it pretty?  I am so glad I finally experimented with poly thread and bleached muslin fabric.  I just love this clean crisp look.

More feather practice!  LOL*  I am so happy with it though.  I can really see the improvement, I think the spines on these are much more polished looking.  I can only improve the more I do them.

Thready Freddy.

That's a lot like Feathers Shmeathers.  ;)

Got my thread order today, and bought some thread on sale from Jo-Anns after my good experience with poly for quilting.  Also bought some low loft poly (fleece) batting to experiment with.  I love the look and feel of cotton but I'm going broke at $13 a yard and hopefully this poly will give a similar look and cut the cost a little.  I can also lower the price a bit on my Etsy quilts, as I know not everyone afford $100 for a baby quilt.  We will see.  The biggest thing I want to get done is my tote!  I have been making so many for others I want my own!  :)

Anyhow...here's my pretty new things...  :)

If I didn't think I could do feathers before...

I know I can do them now!  LOL*  I think I have pretty much quilted this little quilt within an inch of it's quilty life!!!  The feathers are not perfect...actually they are a bit sloppy, BUT, I really got a feel for what the best way of doing feathers for me is and it was great practice.  It's actually growing on me.  I am tempted to keep it...after all we spent about 10 hours together yesterday!  LOL*  Here are some pictures...I'm kinda proud...even if it is all warped out of shape!  Oh well I need some practice, but it's still pretty.  ;)

Feather Schmeathers.

Well, they are far from perfect, but I thought my nightmare quilt would be the perfect quilt to practice on.  I have already offered this quilt as a functional quilt for my In-Laws to use on their boat.  I have of course quilted a nice big ol' wrinkle in the back, lol*, but at least now I can go to town and experiment and not worry about imperfections.  I thought even if the quilting isn't perfect, at least the colors are bright and right for the boat.

You can see where I began, there on the left - the feathers are small and kind of funny looking!  LOL*  I had to get my rythem going and figure out how the easiest way to create feathers for me would be.  I like those big chunky round feathers, for a quick over all feathered look, but my favorite ones on quilts are the long flowy skinny ones that really give that antiqued feathery look. 

Still gotta work at achieving that...but it is really FUN!!!

Motivated by the refusal to be at the mercy of any thread or fabric company, I purchased POLYESTER thread today.  I have always been fascinated by the mysterious world of thread and what it can do for my quilt.  My budget hasn't afforded me much other than inexpensive spools of 100% cotton (which is just fine I might add), but lately there has been this need in me to experiment.  I have blogged about this before, so many of you probably already know I've played a little with rayons.  But today my starving artist Momma of 3's budget could afford this little spool of Coats and Clark trilobal polyester thread...

...and what fine feathers it did create!  I can DEFINITELY see the difference, can you?  I really love the silky shiny look it gives - it's a different world to quilt with than cotton.  I noticed that I had to play a lot with tension and could not get away with using this in an old fashioned metal bobbin.  Yes, I still have old metal bobbins that I can't bare to part with, so when I run out of the new plastic drop ins I fill those metal clunkers up.  Usually they just make a lot of noise but quilt fine, but this polyester thread likes to catch on it and bunch up underneath.  No fun.  But I seem to have gotten it going fine with the plastic bobbin so that I can go full speed without too many hiccups.

I need some practice, but I think I'll feel good about feathers AND polyester when I'm done with this quilt.  :)

The Death of Customer Service and a Table Runner

I just had such an awful conversation with one of my favorite fabric and thread compaines...I literally was in tears over it, thinking I could possibly never order from this place again because they just treated me like I truly didn't matter.  I won't name names as of yet because they said they would take care of it, but it's someplace that I name drop like crazy and was absolutely dumbfounded at the way they spoke to me.  I have never had such an experience with this particular place, it has always up until now been really wonderful.  I really hope they do something, even just an "I'm sorry, that wasn't right on our part" would make my day at this point.  Wow.  What a crummy way to start a blog post, I know, but wheew, what ever happened to customer service?  I'm not expecting anyone to move mountains, but at least just act act a little understanding towards my complaint and maybe like you value me as a customer a little.  I will elaborate once things have fully resolved, unless they just leave me hanging and never respond to me again.  I may very well soon be professing love to a new line of thread and never looking back.  Oh what a phooey stinky day!

Here's the good part - I did get a runner done to put on Etsy.  I am SO tempted to keep this.  But Hubby's birthday is this Saturday and my daughters want these fancy light up shoes...so...on Etsy this pretty little runner goes.  :)

I Just Can't Stop!

I am really on a roll here!  Maybe it's the few sales that I've had that are motivating me, it's really nice to have a little extra fabric money.  But also I think it's been so long since I've sewn that I just can't get enough.  I really missed this!

Here's a little pincushion I made...isn't it cute?  I don't know if I'm going to put these on Etsy or not.  Do people buy pincushions?  I don't know.  Lol*  But it IS awful cute and I cut a bunch of fabric to make more.  These could use up a lot of scraps too...and some vintage buttons that I could barely part with, but you know, what fun is collecting fabric and supplies if I'm never going to use them?

You know I am finding I just love the quilting process.  Even on my little Simplicity Quilter's Classic.  My new goal with this whole Etsy thing is to save up for a good sewing machine...maybe a Pfaff or a Bernina...or really, a Viking Husquavarna...I demo'd one of those with the embroidery option at Jo-Ann's and I loved it!  We shall see.  It will require lots of saving but I am itching to have a machine with stitch regulation...I think it will dramatically improve my quilting and allow me to do some things that my little economical machine doesn't like to do.