My First Foray Into Free Motion Quilting

This was my first foray into free motion quilting. The best thing I can say about it is IT'S DONE! I practiced A LOT before doing it, and I was terrified of doing it. So terrified that I came up with an alternate plan. I was going to quilt a grid pattern, and I did. But I didn't like it. So, I unpicked it and practiced free motion a bit more. I finally got brave enough to just do it. And now it's done. It's not great, but it's not horrible either considering how bad I was when I started practicing.
This is another Moda Bake Shop project. The braid fabric is Gobble Gobble by Sandy Gervais for Moda and the main fabric is Harvest by Timeless Treasures (I previously posted the main fabric was by Northcott. Sorry for the confusion.)

Fall Topiary

It's finished! Don't you just love finishing a project?

It didn't actually take that long, but it felt like it did. I bought three craft pumpkins and the largest one was not even close to the same color as the two smaller, so I spray painted them all, and didn't like the flatness of the color. So I had to antique them. Then I had to put a sealer on them. Then there was the cutting the holes to put the dowel through. I broke a knife trying to cut the holes! But it's finally finished and I love it!

Machine Quilting

My friend Kathy is amazingly talented and I admire so much about her (not just her crafting style, but today's post is about quilting). She is a great decorator, and has the cutest house. She is so creative and is always making the cutest stuff. Just today she showed me the most ADORABLE tote bag she made. The last week has been a real eye opener as to how talented she really is.

This last week I have been trying to teach myself to machine quilt. It is not easy! I ended up buying THIS BOOK and it has been very helpful. It's still not easy. I am making progress, but not as quickly as I would like. It is an understatement to say that I am not patient, but this learning process has highlighted how truly impatient I am.

Kathy on the other hand is so good at machine quilting! I wish I had some pictures of stuff she has quilted so you could see it. I will see if I can get some pictures of her quilting next time I see her.

Quilt Festival - Fall 2009

I am participating in Park City Girl's Fall 2009 Quilt Festival. I love looking at all the beautiful quilts. It's fun to see all the different ways people express their creativity.

I know I already posted about this quilt, but I love it. This is only the second quilt I have made, and I made it for a wedding. I'm still a little sad that I gave it away, but my sister-in-law loves it. And that makes me happy, because she has done something for me that I won't ever be able to repay. She is the one who took care of my only child when I had to return to work after my daughter was born. Not only did she care for her, she loved her. This quilt was beyond my skill level and could not have been completed without the guidance my mother provided. It was quilted by my friend, Kathy.

The quilt pattern is Making History from the magazine Quilt Sampler. The fabric is Gallery in Red by Marcus Brothers.

Candy Corn Wreath

I saw this:

HERE, and decided to make one of my own. It turned out just great, except it clashes with the walls in my living room, and the landlord won't let us repaint. So, to remedy this problem, it's hanging in the laundry room. At least the laundry room is festive...better luck next year.

Gift Bags

I had planned to make these gift bags from Christmas fabric, but an opportunity presented itself which requires the use of a cute gift bag. These were so fun to make! I can't wait to make the Christmas gift bags. I think I may try different sizes. They turned out cuter than I thought possible. I think it would be really hard to ruin these. You can find the tutorial HERE on Moda Bakeshop.

The fabric is from the Zippity Doo Dah line by Sandy Gervais for Moda. I had some scraps left so I covered some little notebooks to match that I will give with whatever else ends up in the bag.

Halloween PJ's

My daughter loves fun pajamas, and I'm such a pushover that I make them for her. Also, she is so grateful whenever I make anything for her, it makes it even harder to say no. I intended to have these done before the start of October, but considering I was only in town for 6 days in September, I think I'm excused. I don't like sewing clothing with stripes, but this fabric was so much fun and the pants pattern so simple that it didn't bother me at all.

The t-shirt is from Target, and I machine appliqued the jack-o-lantern. All the fabrics on the t-shirt are from scraps, so I can't tell you what they are. The face on the jack-o-lantern turned out scary instead of happy when I tried to sketch it by myself, so I got out a quilt pattern with a cute jack-o-lantern, Halloween Fun by Angie Stevenson. The fabric for the pants is from Scary Night by Laurie Godin for Northcott.

I made a list of all the projects I need to complete, and there are 20 that need to be completed before Christmas. There will be more to come in the days ahead.