Friends, Fabric and Food Equals FUN Every Time

Do you get together with friends to sew?  Some quilters I know belong to guilds that encourage small sew groups.  A quilt shop near me, The Orange Quilt Bee, has Fuzzy Slipper night a couple of Friday's a month.  Piecemakers  in Costa Mesa schedules regular "Open Sew" times.  As a matter of fact, that is how I met Charlotte S.  (That's a story for another time.)  My quilting-buddy-Auntie started her own group.

Because of my work/travel schedule, I can't commit to a "regular" get together so every now and then I sponsor my own Gathering of great ladies.

Yesterday was "A Gathering."
We sewed a lot, feasted on forbidden foods a lot (too much) and laughed a lot.

From R to L: Charlotte-the-Tall  (taking a think-break), Arlene & Kathy. Missing from the photo is Caren (and me.)

I was able to complete the Nephew's Tee-Shirt quilt I started last month in Portland.
It's ready to add borders, and maybe a few embellishments.

If you have not yet discovered the pleasure of sewing with a group of ladies, check it out at your local quilt shop, or your guild, or start your own.  What could be better than a Fun day with Food, Friends and Fabric?

A special shout out to Charlotte S for staying behind and helping with the clean up.  It was appreciated.

September - National Sewing Month

It starts out innocently enough, but before long......

But at least it keeps us off the street corner, right??? 
A little piece of heaven here on earth.

Happy Sewing

Creative People Amaze Me

Last night was the monthly meeting of the Flying Geese Quilters Guild.  They had an amazingly talented speaker,  

Susan Carlson.  Not only were her quilts beyond belief, but listening to her narrative on how she came up with the ideas behind the quilts, decided on fabrics and actually put them together was so interesting.

Dingo Dog Dreamng

Golden Temple of the Good Girls

One in a Million

Check out her website.  Sign up for her Blog.  Enjoy.

Summer Travel - Summer Fun

My end-of-summer travel landed me in Portland, Oregon for a week.  Such a beautiful, wonderful city.  There are so many things about Portland I miss but it is so fun going back for a visit, ESPECIALLY if my visit includes a stay with my quilting friend Dawn White of First Light Designs.

Pacific Northwest Peeps.... look for her classes at
The Pine Needle* in Lake Oswego, OR

Not only did she and her husband, Charlie, pamper me oh so much, she gave me the use of her sewing rooms (yes, she has more than one) AND let me "shop" from her stash!  So generous and gracious!

What did I work on while in Portland?  Last May I wrote about making a tee shirt quilt for my very-athletic nephew who was graduated from high school in 2015. (Click HERE)  It was one of those projects that just would not cooperate with the quilt-making process and had to be put in time out for a while..... Ever have one of those?  They eventually become a UFO.

After a time of punishment, Joseph's quilt was released from the penalty box and I took it with me to Portland.

Dawn helped me think though the design as there was no pattern suitable for all the shapes created after chopping up the tee shirts.  She also helped pick a very nice sashing fabric on one of our trips to Fabric Depot.

Of course, it is not perfect (as only God is perfect, we quilters like to say) but I think it is shaping up very nicely.
More importantly, I think Joseph will like it.

I wasn't able to complete the top while in Portland, but I'm far enough along now that I'm motivated to finish it up quickly.
No more time outs.

All good things must come to an end.

As I packed up to head back south
Princess Cordelia inspected my luggage to 

ensure I was not making off with the family silver.

*The Pine Needle and Fabric Depot have both closed their doors since the writing of this post.

Epic Movie Remake

Movie remakes.  Sometimes they are a success and sometimes you just cannot improve on the original.

But, in my case, the daughter-requested curtain remake project was a huge success!!!

I did not try the curtain grommets again....I decided I'm just not a curtain grommet girl. (That was expensive discovery...)

Instead I opted for back tab curtains.  I looked up the "how to" on YouTube.  Isn't the net grand?!
If you're interested in this technique, click HERE.

They are lined and the hem is weighted.

I'm pretty pleased with them.

Now that that little chore is finished, I can move on to something fun, like getting the binding on my mom's piggy hanging and the binding on my "plum quilt."  The projects just go on and on....

Keep it Simple, Silly Woman

My daughter asked me to make her some curtains.  Pretty simple, right?  But, if there is a hard way to do something apparently I'll find it....

I decided rather than making straight forward curtains with a simple casing at the top I'd use curtain grommets.
Elegant, No?

They looked so nice.... I lined 'em and added weights to the bottom hem so they'd hang nice.  The whole 9 yards!

But, It was All A Bust!!!

I bought grommet tape and the grommets.  I watched several YouTube videos... it all looked so easy!!

The grommets just won't snap together!!!!!  They work just fine on the grommet tape alone (after removing the metal ring) but, NOT after the tape is sewn to the curtain header.

I removed the medal ring.... re-trimmed the opening.... and re-trimmed again... and again...
The grommets just won't snap together!!!!!  I even tried pliers!  (I considered a hammer but they are just plastic rings.  I decided that would be a mistake.)


I GIVE UP!!!  I HATE TO FAIL!!!  I HATE TO GIVE UP!!!!

So, today, I'm off to the fabric store to buy more fabric and start over.  Ho, Hum.

I did end the weekend on a positive note, however.  My daughter also wanted some pillows made with some fabric she sent me.  I did accomplish that.  I kept it simple.

New Adventures

Sometime back my Daughter-In-Law (D-I-L) casually mentioned she wanted a sewing machine and she'd like to learn to sew.  I have been pondering that statement since then.  Her birthday is coming up in a month or so.

Good Lookin Family, No?

Yesterday I was out-and-about with a friend.  Our destination?  Mel's Sewing Center in Anaheim to pick up fabric for the backing of the Piggies and to pick up Mel's Row-By-Row block.

Visit Their Website

Nice, small-ish shop.  They are a Bernina dealer.

And, a very cute Row-By-Row block.

While my adventure partner was paying for her purchases, I was browsing the Berninas. I wasn't really interested in buying a new Bernina ... I'm a Janome girl, myself.

I casually asked if they had any pre-owned machines for sale.

"Mel" said "Yes, we do." (At least I think it was Mel.)

I picked up this little beauty for $100.

Bernette Seville 4.

I threaded it up today to do a bit of sewing and give her a test drive.
Very nice.

My main concern was whether the bobbin thread would tangle up easily as I have seen with some other inexpensive machines.

Nope.... hummed right along.  (Truth be told, I'm a bit tempted to keep it.)

Now, to get Vanessa to LOVE sewing!  I decided I'll help her sew some warm baby wraps for her sister who is expecting a baby in August and moving from tropical Guam to C-O-L-D North Dakota in December.  (The husband is in the military.)

Cute baby....but no one I know.

Isn't it cute?  And, it will be easy for a beginner.

The moral of the story:  If you want to make points with your D-I-L, buy her a sewing machine (if she wants one) AND teach her how to use it.  And, before buying any machine from a big-box store, visit your local dealer.  You just might find a beauty.


UPDATE:  I've been sewing on this cutie for a couple of days now and the bobbin does seem to have an issue.  Every so-many inches it seems to tangle.  So, now I need to experiment and see if it REALLY has an issue, or if it could possibly be the bobbin....the thread.... the fabric ???? Oy vey...