Sewing Machine Fever

It's kind of like new car fever without the tv commercials. It started last week when I was telling Hubby that my mom mentioned that she might give me her sewing machine, a Pfaff which she bought about the same time I bought my New Home (now Janome) about 22 years ago. Only while mine has sewed miles of fabric, she has probably used hers ten times. Hubby asked if that is the kind of machine I wanted, and I told him I didn't know because I've only seen it a few times, I just knew it was nicer than mine 22 years ago. Then Hubby spoke these magical words "Why don't you just go buy the machine you really want instead?"

Excited? I'll say! "Get outta here!" I cried. And he did - keeping up with the lingo is so hard at our age.

"No honey, come back. Get outta here doesn't mean 'leave the room', it means something like 'far out' or 'unreal'.

"So why didn't you say that?" he asked.

"Because no one says that anymore, they say 'Get outta here' or something about bonkers. Never mind that. About the sewing machine, you were saying?"

It's true. He thinks I should finally get the machine of my dreams rather than settling for something that just has basic functions or is a hand-me-down. Wow. I think I'm going to caress some machines tomorrow.

Oh, and in all fairness, we were driving down the highway the other day, and we saw a license plate on an old car, completely tricked out, that said 69 HO, and I thought... well, I thought the worst. Hubby explained that it was a 1969 Hurst Oldsmobile. Oh.

Until next time, may you have blessings and a groovin' vocabulary,
Marti

Tablecloths Finished

As you can see in the above photo, I also found some lampshades I like. Thanks to all who participated in the poll. It was enough for me to see that while everyone has different tastes, the shade options I found locally just weren't right for the lamp (or for me). The original barrel shades may look good with the lamps, but after disliking them for over thirty years, they just weren't an option for me either.

When I showed these shades to a friend (while they still had the plastic and price tags on them), she gasped and said "I thought you were supposed to be frugal!" I had been feeling a bit guilty over the price even though I knew these were the shades and at first I started to agree with her. But being frugal isn't necessarily being cheap. Often it's cutting back in some areas so you can spend in other areas, and that's exactly what I've done in this bedroom.

Ok, with that out of the way, let me show you what I started with and why I really needed to get these tablecloths made. Hubby made these tables years ago out of an old bookshelf, and when we got the new bed, they were too short. Since they weren't anything special to begin with, Hubby made them taller the easiest way possible, but not the most attractive way.


I found sheets the same color as the coverlet and made round tablecloths out of them. Then I used extra curtain panels to make square cloths to layer over them. I may make them a big smaller but will live with them this size for awhile.

To soften the hard edge and prevent snags on finer fabric tablecloths, I used an old mattress pad and the elastic from the fitted sheet to cover the tables.


We had the glass cut years ago and I have no idea why we got smoked glass instead of clear. I guess we liked it better at the time. The table tops and glass were cut so I could use these crocheted table toppers made by my great aunt.


The finished tablecloths (with excess fabric wrapped around pillows to see what it looks like).



Remember what I started with?


Until next time, may you have blessings and happy sewing,
Marti

P.S.2. I've got a sewing tip too. After I made the first tablecloth, I realized that the sheets were a little on the limp side, and since I didn't have any spray sizing I mixed up a batch of liquid starch, the heavy formula. I only had one table cloth hemmed, but I starched both tablecloths. When I began hemming the second tablecloth I didn't have to use any pins, the starched fabric stayed firmly flat after pressing. Cut my hemming time in half or less for the second tablecloth.

Quilt Blocks for Fort Hood Families

I heard about this project from a quilting friend and just had to pass it along. Gina at Splinters & Threads is heading up a project to make signature quilts for each family of soldiers lost at Fort Hood, and the police officer who took down the shooter. I contacted Gina and asked if they would give quilts to the living shooting victims as well, and she said they would, and if there aren't enough quilts or blocks before Christmas, they will continue afterward. I think this is a great project and would like all the families who suffered loss, injury, or trauma to have a quilt. Please join me if you can. It's not just for those who quilt, anyone who can embroider or sign their name on a plain piece of fabric can participate. I love it when everyone can be included.

I'm making a few to send to my mother so she can pass them out to her friends for siggies also. She was happy to do it and happier not to have to make them herself.

I've just turned into a real linkity-link blogger lately, haven't I?

Until next time, may you have blessings and nimble fingers,
Marti

Dust Ruffle Finished

When I told Hubby I was going to make a dust ruffle for the bed, he grimaced and said he didn't like dust ruffles because they made the bed so hard to make. Puh-lease, like he ever makes the bed. But I told him not to worry his pretty little head about it, because I had already thought of that. When I had it pinned this afternoon, he saw it and commented on the "scrunchie part". I told him the word he was looking for was ruffle, and technically this was a gathered skirt rather than a ruffle. Hubby doesn't like ruffles. (Or pink.) Early in our marriage when I was less temperate than I am now, I bought a set of pink striped sheets with a lace ruffle on the top edge. (This was after an argument.) I regretted it later, but didn't have the funds to buy anything else for a long time. But after that, Hubby was a lot more tolerant of ruffles, and eventually, I just became more tolerant.

When I started this project, he asked if I had a pattern, to which I quoted Gold Hat: "Pattern? I don't need no stinkin' pattern." After I had ripped out stitches for the umpteenth time where the platform sheet got caught in the seam, I was thinking I should have had my stinkin' head examined though. But finally, I got 'er done. Instead of going between the mattress and boxsprings, the platform fabric goes on top of the mattress - on top of the blankets. No need to tuck the blankets between the box springs to keep them out of sight, they can hang down, as well as the sheets. We'll just fold back the dust ruffle with the comforter every night.


Shown over the dust ruffle is an old quilt turned over with the cream backing showing to give an idea what it will look like with a quilt. Eventually I'll get that quick quilt made. However, next on the to do list are the tablecloths for our bedside tables.


Until next time, may you have blessings and smooth sewing,
Marti

p.s. I used a king size flat sheet to make the platform, with darts in the two corners to make it fit close to the mattress. The "ruffle" is a green and red plaid homespun.

p.s.2   I thought I'd add a photo of the finished master bedroom too - long after this post was made

Unintentional Tip of the Day

Have you ever reached for a spool of thread on your rack or spool drawer and found the end of it tangled with all the other threads? My spool drawer is always like that, and the polyester embroidery machine thread is the worst. Today I had to cut about a yard of tangles off the end of a spool of invisible thread and reached for the Scotch tape, even though I hate the sticky residue it can leave behind if the spool isn't used very often. However, I couldn't find the tape, so I thought I would wrap it in plastic wrap just for now (knowing that just for now usually turns into forever). Then my eye caught sight of the Press n Seal wrap and I snipped off a corner of it (about an inch square). It works great!

This is the way my spool drawer used to look (if not worse).


These are a couple of spools with the Press n Seal.


No sticky residue, comes off easily, and is reusable. How great is that?!!

(Edited, two years later:  After a length of time, the Press n Seal DOES leave a sticky residue on the thread.  So, now I only do this for short times when I am using spools and alternating between colors in a project.)

Until next time, may you have blessings and fewer tangles in your life,
Marti

Painting Fabric

Before on right, after on left (Yeah, I know it's backwards)



Remember the sheets I bought to make a quick bedspread/comforter? I didn't love it, but thought it would work, so I decided to make a comforter. I washed the sheets, and after looking at it awhile, decided I really didn't like the pink color in it. I found a red & green plaid homespun fabric I loved to make the dust ruffle and then I knew I had to do something about the pink roses. So I bought some fabric paint and repainted most of the roses. What do you think, can you tell any difference or am I just wasting time?

Until next time, may you have blessings and a steady hand,
Marti

Interesting Mailbox

This was at a local sewing center.

Not an Heirloom, and Not Clutter

At least it's not an heirloom from my family. This quilt was given to me by a friend; a local quilt expert said the top is from around 1850. The back is from the early 1900's and that is when it was quilted also. It's not a national treasure (as they say on Antiques Roadshow) but it's still a treasure.

A close up of the center:

Introspection

Began and Finished 2009

As usually happens when I hear about the death of a friend or acquaintance, especially one who is younger than me, I wonder about my own mortality. Today is a bit different though. This morning while driving, I got a call from a friend who has been battling cancer for the second time. It's been awhile since she called me, usually I call her, so I was happy to see her name on the phone. However, there was a bad connection, and after saying her name a few times and hearing what seemed to be a radio in the background, I hung up. I thought she might have bumped the phone and it dialed my number without her knowing, or it could have been just bad cell reception, so I called her back. Her husband answered the phone and I asked if my friend had called, and he said, no, that he had called me. The tears came immediately, and I just moaned "oh no" fearing the worst. He was calling her friends to tell them the end was near, and as he explained, I cried, he cried, and we mourned together for a few minutes.

Living with ourselves as we do every day, I don't think anyone really knows how others view us. I know I don't, and I don't think this friend does either. I don't think she knows that I would like to be more like her. Since I have known her, she has always put God and her family first both in thought and action. She is fun to talk to, has a great sense of humor, and I know she keeps my secrets, what few I have told her. During her first bout with cancer, she was so upbeat and optimistic that everyone around her just had to be also. She had a joke to go with every unpleasant procedure she had to endure, and I'm sure she kept the nurses in stitches too. She would probably call that payback.

When I look at my life, and all the things I am doing now that seem so worthwhile, I wonder how important they really are. Will they even matter to anyone after I am gone? How would my time be better spent?

Above is a quilt I made and friends from the Frugalista Files wrote messages and signed the border.

Marti

Great Grandma's Quilts

Sometimes I watch Antiques Roadshow and I am in awe of the wonderful and valuable antiques left to people by their parents, grandparents, and greatgrandparents. All I have from my grandparents is a broken watch and some well-worn quilts and embroidery. But along with my great grandmother's quilts and embroidery, I have memories of her. She was never without needle in hand during our visits, talking and laughing while her needle moved surely and quickly through her fabric. They also remind me of her big feather bed and summer nights in New Mexico - the laughter of people visiting on the sidewalk outside, crickets and frogs in her garden, and the far off sound of a train.

Here are more of her quilts:


Until next time, may you have blessings and warm memories,
Marti

New Year Quilt

Began 2008, Finished 2009

So far I am faltering on my goals, but they are goals not resolutions so I am not worried about it.

Finished a quilt though. The fabric has been sitting in my stash for well over a year. Actually I'm not quite finished, I need to quilt the big floral squares, either hand quilting or stippling, I can't decide.


Until next time, may you have blessings and progress on goals,
Marti