Double Whammy

The time has come. My new heater for ThistleFire, my sewing room, was in place and the longarm machine was warmed up and ready to go!

I had two Ringing In The New a year quilts to stitch up. No time like the present! On the rollers they go. Yes, both of them fit on ol' Bessie's bars! That's a big time saver!

Since these quilts are matching, I wanted to distinguish them with the free motion stitching. The feminine one has soft, circular patterns throughout each design.

The masculine one needed something more, well, masculine. I chose to make each stitch pattern to be straight and angular. 

I believe my ideas worked out pretty well. I can't wait to deliver them to the owner! They are to be Christmas gifts and I as honored to create them!

Are you making any Christmas projects? Only 3 weeks left. Crunch time!

Borders A'Plenty

In my quilting club, we are doing project exchanges with each other. One is to make a block and the second one is to add a border. After all the quilters are done, we get our projects back with everyone's personal touch. Since you cannot see what has been done each month, it is a surprise when you get them back!

I was pondering the border project before I dove into making it. Since I wanted to do more than solid sashes and corners, I decided to use a paper piece pattern to liven my addition up a notch. 

Here's what it looked like-

My border is the outermost one with the triangles. I think it came out good! The lone corners look like carrots to me. That wasn't planned. But it was a fun border to do. Looking forward to the next one!

Boxed Bag

Craftsy has struck again. I had to try the Boxed Bag in Beginning Serging class. Check it out. 

I was excited to get my zipper inserted so well. I did break a needle but it was too thin for the job. My bad. I see more of these getting made in the near future!

Have a creative weekend!

Carpentry Work

Here's the finished block!

It's a Carpenter's Frame around a Le Moyne Star. And it's a nice big 24" block! Pretty smart looking, if you ask me. It would make a nice center panel for a wall hanging. A bunch of them would be a gorgeous quilt. 

The idea of the pattern I used was to make 1/2 square triangles and lay them out to form the diamond shapes. It worked! I want to make more!

Tension

Ever think about tension? It gets dialed in and changes your stitches. Most times, we don't have to mess with it very much. 

I was paying attention to something  lately. There's another kind of tension that occurs when you sew. It shows in different ways with everyone. Sometimes it isn't there at all or it's there and we don't realize it. 

For me, it looks like this (check out my lips)

Or this- 

This is not a relaxed face. It's tense. It's something I try to be aware of so I can let it go. My sewing needs joy on it, not more tension. 

Did you ever try to smile when you sew? Or hum a happy tune? Or pray over the piece to be a blessing to the person who is going to get it? Try it! Projects will look better to you when you do!

Speaking of projects, here's a WIP (work in progress) that I started tonight. 

It's a good looking pile of squares and 1/2 square triangles! Wait til you see what it turns into when it's done! 

Now loosen up, stop being so hard on your work, and enjoy the quilting process! What's under your needle?