A bust.

Stupid Joanns.  Why can't we have a decent fabric store somewhere close by?  Why is it that the only easily accessible store to me sucks so hard?  Needless to say, I didn't get what I needed.  I bought some sashing fabric, and some backing fabric.  I even took my fabric in with me.  The blue sashing?  It looked pretty decent in the store.  But I got home, and after nursing my stupid jaw, I decided to lay things out to see how it looked.  It looks like crap.  It looks ok with some squares, but with others, it's a total clash.  I thought maybe I could reverse the backing fabric (a tan khaki), but it's just too blah for the front I think.  Grr.  

So now, what will I do?  I guess the quilt is on hold for now, until I can make it to another Joann's.  I guess I could order something online, but I'm nervous about that.  Though....  I might check out the collection and see if anything catches my eye.  

I guess I will start on another project.  I've got two or three waiting in the wings.  

Goodbye H.S.S.Q.

Well, the good news is that the quilt survived the washing, and the drying. Tonight, it will become the first item for sale in our Etsy shop. I need to take some decent pictures of it, write a description, and post it. I'm sorta nervous, and also, even though I'm not a huge fan of it, I don't quite want to part with it. But I'm going to let it go. And hopefully it will be the start of a lucrative venture.

In other news, I abandoned Roy G. Biv for now. Not necessarily forever, but the whole piecing of triangles is damn near impossible for me. It was too frustrating, and after having sewn and sewn, only to have to disassemble things, only to put them back together and still not work right, well, I couldn't take it. So, it is off to sit in the corner alone. Maybe it'll be revived one day.

Instead, I started another quilt, with another charm pack. The squares are already pieced. Now I just need a trip to Joann's to pick out sashing (gray blue), backing (maybe flannel?), and some binding (which will probably match the sashing). I even had the forethought to bring them with me today so that I will be prepared to stop by the store, and actually match things. I'm also looking forward to this quilt as it is a little more masculine, perhaps perfect for a baby boy.

The moment before the moment of truth.

So, I finished my second quilt.  I like to call it "Hawaiian Seventies Swinger."  I put it through the wash, on gentle of course, and it didn't fall apart.  It is now in the dryer, so I'm just waiting for it to dry and hope that it remains intact.  I'm crossing my fingers.  If it passes the test, it will be for sale this week.  Price is to be determined, but I'm thinking I'm gonna try it at around $80.  Afterall, it is hand made, and another like it will never truly exist.  Plus it's on the larger lap quilt size.  

Worst case, no one buys it, right?

In other news, I'm working on a zigzag quilt.  The piecing of it is tedious and traumatic.  It is not lining up exactly, and that is pissing me off.  I'm hoping that the details won't be so noticeable once I assemble it.  I'm calling it "Roy G. Biv."  You know, like the colors of the rainbow?  The quilt has some pink, and 2 shades of green, and does not have any indigo or violet, but regardless, I'm putting it together in consecutive color order, thus the rainbow correlation.

Pictures of H.S.S. will be posted as soon as it comes out of the dryer. 

Something finished.

The baby quilt for my friend, Melissa, and her soon to be born baby, Susie.  It was well received.  You can see the chenille backing in the second picture, nice and cuddly for baby.  Though they decided to hang it on the wall in the nursery.  Huge compliment, for sure.  

My New Employee

Not to leave you hanging...

I got a new machine over the weekend. I thought about it, agonized over it, cried for it. In the end, my wonderful husband took me on a trip to buy a new machine.

After really thinking about it, and hearing that it was going to cost almost as much as I paid for the thing 2 years ago to service it, I decided it really wasn't worth it. The machine that I had was purchased on a whim, 2 or 3 years ago, when I decided I was going to start quilting. Nothing much came of it until recently, and really, I'm making it work harder than it can handle. Plus, I've really been using the machine a lot, so I figured a small investment would be worth it.

So, off to the store we went. The woman at JoAnn's tried to sell me one that was $600, and then one that was $450, and then told me that the cheapest one, at $350, would not make me happy. Even though I TOLD her I was looking to spend $200 to maybe $300 at the very top. So, off to target I went, and bought this, the Singer 7444. It is WORLDS better than that other piece of crap I was using, and I'm really excited to get to using it more. So, look out world.

I'm almost finished with the baby quilt for my friend. I just have to go around about half way to finish hand stitching the binding on. I think she'll love it. I'm really happy about it, it looks really good for my first real try.

I'm waiting on the proper foot attachment to finish the wedding quilt for my friends. And in the mean time I will be working on a baby quilt for my brother and sister-in-laws July arrival. I also need to find time to find something that I can make quickly enough, easily enough, and well enough to sell for our store.

So much going on, and this is only my sewing life!

I also have several pictures to post, but my computer at home and blogger don't always get along when it comes to loading pictures.