The Sewing Mom

I went into my sewing room this morning for the first time in several weeks.  For 2 of those weeks, I was away from home and this past week, I’ve been attempting to get caught up on other household chores before going back to my sewing.

I need to organize my projects in an orderly fashion.  I think I will put them in order of which ones I want to work on first.

I’ve decided that I have one tote bag project to create and then I think I may step back from the bag sewing for a little while.  I have several other projects that I’m itching to work on.  One of those is my block of the month quilt.  I have completed 1 block of the 6 I currently have and am almost done with the second.  I have 2 more blocks to pick up at the quilt store, so I believe that gives me 6 that I need to do and then I will be caught up.

While I was on vacation I purchased the fabric and pattern to make a wall hanging.  It is quilted and has applique, but I think it’s a project I can do.  My aunt and mom helped me choose all of the fabrics at a quilt shop in Bull’s Gap, Tennessee.  We had fun doing that together!

I also have a Christmas quilt that involves machine embroidery.  That will be the first time I’ve ever done a project like that and I’m looking forward to it.  The quilt is a snowy white and the embroidery is all done in red.  I can’t wait to get started!

I have a couple of other small quilt project waiting as well.  Boy, for a non-quilter, I have an awful lot of quilt projects lined up waiting to be done!

What are you working on?

Tags: block of the month, fabric, machine embroidery, quilting, sewing

I am very pleased with myself. I have only ever made one quilt before in my life and it was a very simple baby quilt that I made last summer under the very watchful eye of my mom, an expert quilter. While I’ve never made any other quilts, I do love them and my house is full of them, all made by the hands of my mom or sister.

I do however shop at quilt shops. I love their fabrics and some shops also carry a few other items such as fabric bag patterns, something I do make. Recently, while at my local quilt shop buying fabric to craft more bags from, I saw a quilt that I adored hanging on their wall. It was comprised of 12 different quilt blocks surrounded by a border and was called the “Be Attitudes” quilt. The shop was offering it as a quilt block of the month club and I just couldn’t resist.

The blocks themselves are fairly simple, crafted from rectangles, all with straight seams, no curves. So, yesterday, I sewed my first block together.

I then cut out the pieces to create the snowman applique and placed it on top of the block.

This morning, I used a machine button stitch to stitch around each piece to give it a hand sewn look. I still have more applique to add and there is some embroidery to do on this block before it’s done. I was just so excited about it that I wanted to share!

Tags: block of the month, fabrics, quilting

This is a first for me, I’m actually working on two projects at the same time. I’m in the middle of sewing another “jelly” bag, similar to the one I have up for auction (see my auction box in my sidebar), but this morning, I couldn’t stand it anymore, I had to open up the package for block #1 of the Be Attitudes quilt that I bought. It’s a block of the month club and I’m sort of excited about it.

Now, I’ve mentioned before that I am not a quilter. So, why did I join a block of the month club? I fell in love with the finished quilt I saw at the local quilt shop! So, I am going to put my best sewing foot forward and attempt to sew these blocks together. If I can accomplish putting the blocks together, I will then ask my mom (the primary quilter in this family) to put it all together and quilt it for me. Sssshhhhh, don’t tell her! There are 12 blocks total, I currently have the first two and have not yet begun to sew. So, it will be at least December before I will be giving it to her for completing it.

This is my Sew Crafty Friday and even as I type this, my laptop is sitting on top of my cutting mat. I can’t wait to move it and get started!

Tags: block of the month, quilting