Amara!

I did it! I bought a longarmer today. I still can't believe it. It's a dream come true.

The shop that I purchased it from is called The Quilting Connection and it is located in Elkhorn, WI. It's a 45 minute drive from my house and because they do many quilt shows and spend time setting up machines, their shop is by appointment only.

I called first thing this morning hoping to get in early in the day but they were out setting up a machine. They called and stated that they would be back in the shop by 3:30 and I could come then. At the time of their return call I was babysitting my granddaughter and we were swimming. I still said yes I would come today even though I felt covered in chlorine-laden pool water. The hair just frizzes up under those conditions.

I got to the shop at 3:50 and left with a signed contract at 5:05. Wow! What an afternoon. So now I await confirmation that the machine is being built and sent to the shop for setup. Then they will contact me to pick a delivery date to my house. My sewing room is ready and I can't wait!

Poppy Bag

Tomorrow I am attending a veterans picnic where our American Legion Wisconsin state auxiliary leader will be honored for her successful year of leadership. She just so happens to be a member of our local post and she comments to be regularly about how much she likes my poppy bag. So today I thought I would make her one just like mine.

The funny thing about my bag is that I didn't really use a pattern as much as I just copied some dimensions from another bag. So when I made this one I just got out my bag, measured it and made some improvements based on my bag. The one thing I really wanted to change is that I wished I would have used some heavy-duty interfacing. So I got out my decor-weight iron-in interfacing and ironed it to the inside pieces of the bag.

I put the entire bag together in just one afternoon since I've made so many before this one, it went pretty quickly.

The bag has a nice long shoulder strap and some interior pockets as well as the big outside pocket. the top is zippered shut so nothing can spill out. The interior of the big pocket and the bag lining is made with pretty paisley fabric that matches the outside of this bag. I sure wish I would have taken a photo of the inside of the bag.

I hope the bag is a nice surprise.

Sewing Machines for Sale

I decided it was time to let go of some of my favorite friends today. I posted my serger and my embroidery sewing machine for sale. It was very hard to let go of them but I knew they would be better off somewhere where they would be enjoyed. I just don't use them anymore. It took less than 8 hours to sell the serger. A woman who works at a local flag manufacturing company picked it up tonight.

The embroidery sewing machine is still for sale and hopefully it will go to a good home soon. I listed them both for sale on Craigslist and on some local Facebook sellers' pages. Both have had many inquiries and it just happened that the serger sold first. I think it's because I sold it for very little money. The sewing machine has a bit higher price tag on it so that one might take a little while to sell.

The sewing machine is quite the work horse. I saw one for sale for twice what I listed it for. I just want to see it get used.

Client Quilting Projects

Today I have quilting projects to complete for a client. She is going to donate this one to charity so I just had to do a meander all over this simple quilt for her.

I also had a table topper to quilt for this same client. The fabric is so pretty, I wouldn't mind owning this myself. The pictures do not do the fabrics justice. I quilted it using a blue fabric on top and a red on the back. It was hard to see my stitches since the thread blended in so nicely. That's not a bad problem to have! Such a pretty print. 

Sewing Room Update

I spent this weekend cleaning out my sewing room. After our last meeting with our financial advisor, it seems there's room in our budget to make one of my dreams come true.

I will have a longarmer in this space very soon!

I can't believe I am saying it.

What's on the design board?

I've been all about table runners lately. After I made a bunch to send to a client, I've been inspired to keep going. So far, I've started 4 new ones.

I'm trying to branch out from my favorite color palettes to broaden the appeal for these at craft fairs. I hope to have many for people to choose from by the end of summer.

Time to Plant

Our visitors are back again this year.  We've had a pair of sandhill cranes hang out with us all through the summer last year. They did disappear for a little while though and when they returned there were three. Let's see if that happens again this year.

The weather was cooperative enough to put in my vegetable garden. Ha! Actually it was a record high of 95 degrees for Milwaukee today. It felt good to get everything planted even though the sun was so very hot. I can't wait to snap another photo in a month to see the garden's progress. 

Table Runner Frenzy

I made this table runner using my small 5-inch tumbler ruler. I really like how this turned out. It is a bit smaller than most that I have been making lately but it would look nice on an end table or a coffee table.

This was made without a pattern, I just used a sampler pack from a designer collection of fabrics.

I have a few more table runners to make but for now I think I need to take a break from these before I get sick of looking at them - ha!