Meet My New Friend!

I'd like to introduce a new friend of mine....Suzie...Suzie Singer....my new sewing machine! Travis got it for me for my birthday back in April. I was totally surprised. I had been wanting to get a new machine, not to replace my old one, but just to have a variety of stitches. See, my other machine, Kathy Kenmore, was my Mom's first sewing machine and she passed it on to me. I love it, it's great and I'll never part with it, but it definitely lacks in the extra stitching variety. And now I'm doing more that it would be beneficial to have more stitching to choose from. So here she is, Suzie Singer. Travis actually went to Joann's and spoke with a little old lady that showed him all the models and persuaded him from a machine offering 35 different stitches to this sweet momma machine that offers 90 something different stitches. She was one good saleswoman. It was so sweet that he took the time to really figure out what would best fit me and that he knew enough about me and what I can and like to do that he was able to tell this lady and she helped him choose the best machine for me. I can quilt my quilts with this big momma! How about that! Isn't she beautiful. I think this is going to be a beautiful friendship.

This is a shot with her extension table on it....it was much larger than I had expected from looking on the box before I opened it. I still can't believe I have a machine I'm going to be able to do quilting with...so happy!

Now, I couldn't make this post without introducing you to my old trusted friend, Kathy Kenmore. She was my Mom's first sewing machine that my Dad bought for her. All metal...heavy...one solid machine...she can sew through anything. I rarely have problems from her...and when I do, I find out pretty quickly that I'm actually the problem not her.

I just had to get a shot of this...these are the peddles to my machines. The one on the left is obviously the one that belongs to my old trusty Kathy Kenmore and the other on the right belongs to my new friend Suzie Singer. I took this just to show you how different they are. Kathy's peddle is completely metal and Suzie's is all plastic....amazing. Oh and the electric tape you see on the left does belong to Kathy's peddle and there is a story behind it. When Avrie was about 3 years old, I was on the phone with a friend and he was suppose to be in bed, but I found out quickly that he wasn't when I heard a loud pop and saw a spark come out from under the table where I was sewing....he cut the cord while the machine was plugged in and on. Talk about freaking out! By the grace of God, he was holding onto the scissors just right to not get killed...the scissors didn't survive though...they were damaged and deemed unrepairable. So as you can see, I will forever have a reminder of that frightful moment.

This here is Kelly...Kelly Kenmore...a relative of Kathy's. She was a gift from Grandma to the kids. Surprisingly she sews great. The kids love it and are eager to learn how to sew.

Yes, I admit it, it is strange to name your sewing machines...it's probably even more strange that I talk to them :o)

Transformed Thrift T-Shirts

I got the idea to do these while browsing the blogs I follow. The blog that inspired these is Max and Ellie. Here is their link: http://maxandellie.blogspot.com/ The girl's t-shirt design came from them and Avrie's t-shirt design was his own idea. I made templates of the designs with paper and then cut each separate section of the design out, next I cut each section out of the fabric, then I placed the fabric design on my steam-a-seam paper and cut around them....finally, I placed them on the t-shirt (they stick with the steam-a-seam) and once I had them where I wanted them, I ironed them to the shirts. I could have just left them that way, but I decided to stitch around them...using zig-zag on the cupcake (very difficult...need some more practice) and regular stitch on the other two designs.

There is one more thing I need to tell you. These were t-shirts purchased at a thrift store sidewalk sale for .25 cents each....now they are transformed. This would be a good idea to use to cover up stains too...the possibilities are endless.

Emma wanted a "pupcake"...

Here's a close up...

Elise chose the tree with a bird...

And here is Avrie's creation. He wanted snake eyes...so we searched the web and I traced one off my screen and this is what he wanted.

Hankie Quilt Progress

My supplies are as follows:

Old Hankies - at least 58 of them

13 yards of bone colored fabric for the front

13 yards of taupe colored fabric for the back

13 yards of Warm & Natural Cotton Batting

20 yards of Wonder-Under to adhere hankies to squares for extra security during sewing

2 - spools of cream thread (1000 yards)

Handy Dandy Rag Quilt Scissors to snip the edges around each square after assembling

Here are some up close pictures of a few of the first eight squares I have finished. And then a couple more of them lined up to get an idea of what they will look like. I will need a total of 56 squares for the quilt itself, and then two extras to apply to decorative pillows. So, that means 8 squares down and 48 squares to go! Everything is fairly easy, but some things are quite time consuming...such as the large amounts of cutting, cutting the Wonder-Under for each hankies and ironing it on and applying it to the squares of fabric, and the stitching around the fancy edges of some of the hankies...extra care must be taken. I'm so glad I decided to use an adhesive to secure the hankies to each square. I believe sewing them onto the squares would have been much more difficult. I think the hankies would move without it.

I think it is going to be beautiful when it is all finished. Especially when the taupe colored fabric on the back is outlining each square. Can't wait...I'll keep y'all posted on the progress!