Singer 185

I'm thinking of getting this Singer 185 for my young adult granddaughter but have been getting mixed reviews.   Haven't seen it in person yet, the seller says it's in good condition and wants $75.00 for it.  Any opinions on if it is a good value.

Easy Street - Step 3 Finished

I started out with my scraps and then with my 1/2 yard or less pieces, and hardly had to go to yardage, just for the white with blue. 

Parts is parts (flashback to Burger King commercial), and these are all my Easy Street parts so far.  I may have to call mine easy money as that's what I always think first and then have to correct myself.   It doesn't fit though, no green.  Easy Street doesn't fit too well either, there hasn't been much of that around here lately.    Step number 3 is in the box.  
To see the progress that others have made go here to Bonnie's Quiltville blog.

2012 Quilt Collage

I'll be quilting one more, but it's my granddaughters, not mine, so I think this is it for 2012 for me.  As I said in my previous post, a lot of easy ones.  

Maddox's Quilt Finished

I think that this will be my last quilt finish for the year.  I think this makes 22, not bad for me, but of course most of them were of the easy variety, several strippies. 

The back of Maddox's quilt.  It is nice soft flannel so hopefully cuddly for Germany's cold weather.

Craftsy BOM Finished

It's wild and crazy and it's finished.  Definitely not a quilt for the bashful.   I've decided that I'm going to try and do these blocks all again and add the 12 that Amy Gibson is offering for next year, and then I'll have 30 blocks plus a couple of extras to do a quilt for my bed.  It won't be quite as 'happy', but hopefully a fun quilt at the end.  If you like the idea of the sampler quilt, you can go on the Craftsy website and this years was free.  Next years is only $7.95. 

Here is the flannel back that picked up a few threads and fluffs off the floor.  If I spread it around a little I probably won't need to vacuum. 

Tabbie's Sewing

I was quilting my Craftsy BOM when my granddaughter texted and asked me if I could help her make a wallet.  Of course, I said yes and did what I could to prepare for the next day.  In my previous post I added a picture of the bag we made and the outside of her wallet (here).   Here is the inside of her wallet.  It's not perfect, the pattern was not well written and had no pictures at all, so there was a lot of figuring out and a couple of mistakes that we had to get creative with, but all in all, it was a success.  She loves her bag and her wallet and thought that it was fun. 

While we were at Joann's buying zippers, interfacings and such she decided that she would like to make a Christmas gift for her friend.  Her friend likes camo and the Georgia Bulldogs, so I suggested a fleece throw.   That appealed to her so we looked at fabrics and while we were looking for fabric for the binding, she changed her mind and decided she'd like to make a quilt instead, like the one her mother had made for her husband.  Same pattern, but big difference, he's a Florida Gator fan, a big rival of the Bulldogs.   She had two days off, the first day was wallet and bag and the second day was quilt.  She still has one border to add and binding to prepare, and I have a label to add to a sheet that we chose for the back, and then we'll be able to baste.  I'm hoping her next day off that we will get to that point and then I'll quilt it for her, she'll come back and attach the binding, a wash and a dry and her friend will be opening her Bulldog quilt in the middle of some die hard Gator fans on Christmas. 

Easy Street - Part 2

I have some extras, good thing as a few are pretty darn wonky.  This picture is more true to the colors than the one below, for some reason it is very washed out.   I still have to cut my rectangles, and then this step will be in the bag (or box in my case). 

Not sure why this is so washed out, I tried it with and without the flash.  Without is better, but not good.  If this was true to colors, it would be a very pale quilt.  

12/03 Monday
Wow, my granddaughter came over today for me to help her with a bag and a wallet, and so I didn't get a very early start to add to Bonnie's step 2 Easy Street Linky, and I'm number 143.  When I went to look I was so happy to actually have one of my quilts on Bonnie's blog.   Sharyn, from KalamaQuilts Annual Quiltville Mystery had mentioned on Quiltvillechat that I had done several of Bonnie's quilts and it started a discussion of who had done the most.  I was far from winning, but it did get my quilt pictured.  
The picture above is the bag that I mostly made, and the wallet that my granddaughter, Tabbie mostly made.  tomorrow she's coming back and I'm helping her with a Georgia Bulldog quilt she's making.  It's such fun to sew with the girls in the family, a real treat.
Oops, my original intention was to direct you to Bonnie's linky, but I got so excited telling about my granddaughter and my quilt that I forgot.  Here it it.  

Year of the Bags

I think this has been the year of the bags.  I see that except for two they are all my old stand-by no pattern bags, but for different people mostly, and in lots of different fabrics, including cotton, velveteen, lamé and Ikea upholstery fabric.   I'd say 15 bags in a pretty good amount.  Sandra's Fire bag was a collaboration between my daughter and I. 

One Down Two To Go

It's blue like a river and shiny in spots like sunshine, I think it has the right name, and it's done, almost done.  Some ladies say it isn't done, done until it has a label and it doesn't have one of those yet. 

Pieced flannel back.  I had to use what I had, so there is some orange and purple in there, too.

While I was quilting the blue one, I kept thinking I liked it best, but now, here it is with its sister and  I'm back to wishy-washy.  I'm planning to give one away as a Christmas gift and I want to keep my favorite, what to do, what to do. 

Thread Review

I'm about 1/4 finished quilting my Roll Roll Sunshine Rivers (RRCB) and I'm liking it so far.  I love Aurifil thread for it's thinness (I hate when the bobbin runs out), but the price is something that I don't love so much.  I thought I'd try some of the Essential Pro from Connecting threads, it is very thin and a fraction of the cost.  I don't have a longarm, I have a Juki, which many people use on a frame, so I thought it was worth a try.   I resisted, mostly because I have bought into the 'everything cotton' camp, but I got to thinking that I used to use whatever, and I haven't noticed any undue deteriorations.  Sooo, this is my first try and no problems so far (knock on wood), and a bonus, less lint.  The essential pro is 3315 yards for $5.99, and the cheapest that I've found Aurifil is 1422 yards for about $8.28.   I think Connecting Threads has a new believer.   Also, I love the King Tut for the top thread, again very expensive.  I tried the Coats and Clark machine quilting cotton thread from Joanns with a coupon, very much cheaper, and I also haven't found any problems with it.   Quilting is a fairly expensive hobby (obsession) and I think that this is one way to make it a little more affordable.  For me anyway. 
Don't you think the shiny blue border looks like sunshine on water. 
PS  It just occurred to me, I wonder how it would be in the bobbin for piecing.   I don't have any illusions that my quilts have to last for generations.  I make pretty simple quilts for the most part and not with exquisite quilting, etc., just nice not masterpieces.  If the bobbin thread took a year or two off their life, I don't have a problem with that.   If in future generations a museum is opened for quilts with 'mediocre meandering', I'm sure there will still be one or two they can use, lol.