WHOLE LOTTA CUTTIN' GOIN' ON

Nearly a month ago, I said I was going to my first craft retreat.  Due to crappy Internet service, I've been unable to share everything I got accomplished at that retreat.

One of the big things I got done was my stitch sampler.  I'm in a class to learn all about my new machine, Regina Bernina.  One of our homework assignments, as it were, was to complete a stitch sampler.  I felt pretty lucky compared to most of the ladies in the class -- I only have 85 stitches.  There's one woman who has THE fanciest machine Bernina makes.  She has over 1000 stitches she has to sample.  Whew!  Glad I'm not her!  Anyway, here's the result:

It was a lot of fun to do, and one of my friends, whom I call Crazy, watched over my shoulder the whole time.  I asked her if she was bored at all.  She said no!  Too fun to watch!

And I did a TON of cutting.  I'm 5'10" and I own a very short table on which I cut.  That means I can't cut for long periods of time without getting major back pain.  The house we had the retreat in had a huge kitchen island that was nice and tall.  I set up cutting shop on the island and cut the fabric for an entire table runner for myself.

That's all of it!  It was so nice not to be in pain when I was done with cutting!

After the stitch sampler was finished, I worked on my mom's table runner, which is going to be bargello.  I love bargello, and I've made one before.  It turned out pretty darn good.  So I had a honey bun of Blessings that I'm turning into a runner for Mom.  I already have the tubes finished and ready to cut.

There's four different tubes that I'm going to use.  It's going to be a lot of fun to put together.  I'm even thinking about trying to cut really small strips, like 3/4" to see what happens!  Wish me luck!

And here's an action shot of Regina Bernina because it's awesome!

I'll post pictures of my table runner when it's done -- just have to add the borders and do the quilting and binding!  Woo-hoo!

SMELLS LIKE NEW SEWING MACHINE!

So, I finally got a new sewing machine.  I've been balking at sewing for a long time because I was getting very frustrated with my 35-year-old machine.  Can you imagine?  I have been saving up for a new Bernina, a B 350 PE to be precise.  I don't need all that fancy stuff -- yet.  But I wanted a 1/4"-inch foot and some quilting capabilities.  I now have them!

SOMETHING CUTE TO WHILE AWAY THE WAIT

So, I'm waiting for fabric from ConnectingThreads.com to make a lap quilt for my sister who's moving to Australia.  While I'm doing that, I decided I would take the Tweet Tweet Charm Pack my mom bought me, and make half-square triangles out of the fabric.

My god-kids were here today, so they helped me sort my darks and lights, and we got to work.  Emily, my god-daughter, wants to learn to sew.  That was kind of the plan today.  However, even though she's six and has the IQ of Albert Einstein, she decided to run an index finger across the blade of my rotary cutter.  That's what I get for assuming she knew better!  So, no sewing for Emily.  Just some tears and tissue paper.  But she watched, and we did a fun little technique I saw on Moda Bake Shop -- making four half-square triangles with one pieces of Charm Pack.  Put the together RST, sew 1/4" all around the four sides, slice once on one diagonal, slice again on the opposing diagonal, and -- VOILA -- four half-square triangles.  I haven't pressed, but I'm going to do so to the dark side, as it were, and go from there.  Here are some pics.  Excuse the quality -- these are with my cell phone.

So, a little jumble of unpressed half-square triangles.  Fun times!

I tried to show off the different ones I've cut so far.  I have about 12 more pairs to sew and cut.  I'm thinking pinwheels, but I'm going to let Emily choose, since it'll be for her.

Here's a preview of a pinwheel, if we go with that.  I'm trimming the squares down to three inches.  Closest measurement I can get!  Fun times.

Enjoy the pictures.  Love this fabric collection.  It is darling.  So very fun.

PROJECTS FOR MY MOMMA

I finally bought fabric for Mom's projects! She wants placemats, which I decided I'd make for her birthday, which is in September. I'm thinking I might make them reversible or something like that. Something funky. Anyway, I also bought enough to make a small table runner for her as well. Same fabric collection -- Blessings for Moda Fabrics. It's an older collection, and it took a bit to find some yardage at the quilt shop I visit. Oh well, we got it done! I bought two charm packs of the collection, and I might go back and buy all the rest I can find. It's not my style, that's for sure; but it is very definitely my mom's.

Here's a pic of one of the large-scale focal fabrics from the collection:

I picked this for the back of the runner. That way, she can turned it over and use the pretty backing as a runner, too!

THE DISASTER THAT WAS HARVEST FESTIVAL

So it totally sucked to be honest. The weather would have been perfectly crisp but for the fact that it was so windy chairs were falling down and we were shaking all day.

I got up at 7:30 Saturday morning to help my mom. I was ABSOLUTELY frozen by the end of the day. We only sold about six hats and gave away a couple of order forms. There just weren't enough people -- they took a look out their windows Saturday morning and said, "Screw this!" It was miserable!

I didn't get anything sewn for the event. I used Malu's bargello that I gave her for her birthday last year. That was all I had. By the time I thought of making stuff, it was too late. Maybe for the Arts and Crafts fair this year. Who knows? Oy.

At least nobody missed anything. However, the parade did break the five-minute mark this year! It was cute. One of the guys drove his tractor backwards, which was pretty funny. When I asked my mother why he did that, she goes, "Because it's Ray." That pretty much summed it up. Oh well!

TABLE RUNNER PREPARATIONS

So I have all the strips cut for Mom's table runner. It might not be totally finished by the time Harvest rolls around this weekend, but at least Mom'll have something to decorate her table. And I'll get some coasters done -- quicker than potholders. Sets of four or six, depending on how much I have left over. I'm just going to do pinwheels since they're so easy. And kinda crazy quilting since I have such an old machine! Wish me luck!

HARVEST FESTIVAL

My mother and a bunch of her cronies up in Cambridge started a Harvest Festival last year. The parade wasn't too successful -- it lasted less than five minutes -- but was entertaining. The big draw was the market. It was a farmer's and arts and craft market.

They are doing it again this year. It's on Saturday, October 11. It's going to be fun. It was a blast last year. I sat at Mom's table and sold her hats and purses and took her first commissions. I'd like to have something of my own to sell. Perhaps I'll work on something this week since I have no money and tons of time on my hands. I haven't sewn at all for a while. I only have two placemats left to quilt, and they are already pinned (thank God -- that is such a pain in the ass), so it shouldn't take long. It's just painful since the table is so short and I'm so tall. Oh well!

Hope to see you at Harvest Festival!