I love shiny, happy things!

One of my favorite sites to visit is Pinterest because I love seeing all of the crafty, DIY tutorials out there. I became inspired to make a sequin word shirt. Basically, I took a plain tshirt, cut the neckline off, and the plan was to sew on sequins along a hand drawn word.

I wrote the word Love in cursive on the t-shirt and then I placed the string of sequins on the drawn line so I could see how it would look finished.

Sounds easy enough, right?

My carefully laid strung sequins

Except my Plan A involved hand sewing the string of sequins onto the front of the shirt. Two hours and twenty curse words later I gave up.

Plan B? I go to YouTube and look for videos on how to attach the sequins by machine. Lo and behold, I discover that there is such thing as a sequin foot. I go to my Baby Lock site, look for the part number, find it, verify that it IS compatible with my machine, and then I'm off looking for the foot. I find the foot and order it. When it arrives, I open it and... wait... WHAT?! It doesn't fit? It seems that the presser lever will not lift the presser foot high enough to get the foot under it to snap it in properly. I decide to improvise and lower my feed dogs and I can barely get the foot under it and it is really tight. I decide not to try the foot for fear that I may damage my machine. Instead, I write to the seller and to Baby Lock. The seller just tells me that I can return it if it cannot fit but Baby Lock tells me to go to my dealer. I still have the foot and I'm going to drop by the dealer when I get time to see what the problem is.

In the meantime, my project sits unfinished and abandoned until I can get more information on how to complete the shirt.

I have a feeling that the product, although advertised to be a Baby Look and Brother foot, may not truly be a Baby Lock foot and THAT is why it doesn't work. I posted a question on a Quilting Forum and someone suggested that it may be a Brother foot or may have been compatible with the older version of my machine.

Anyway, I just want to add that I follow a blog called All Things Schwin and I was excited to see that one of the posts was a DIY tutorial on making a sequin anchor shirt. It reminded me of my unfinished, neglected Love sequin shirt.

I'm going to try to attach my sequins using the All Things Schwin technique and see if that makes a difference.

Wish me luck!

I'm interrupting this Blog Post with an important announcement...

Happy Spring Equinox! Today is the first day of Spring!. It is a time for rebirth, renewals, and new beginnings.

What am I getting at? Yes, I'm baaaaack!

I have missed posting and blogging. The holidays swept me away and I neglected my blog! I have so much to update but I am making a list (and checking it twice...hey I am a Christmas baby, I HAD to throw that in) of the things I am going to post about so I can hold myself to some sort of blogging schedule over the next couple of weeks. Here is a sneak peek of what's to come!

Let's see what I have for a start....

• Nyan Quilt update and finish
• Iron Quilter update
• MIL quilt update(I finished it and sent it to her)
• Two baby quilts I made (1 finished, 1 in progress)
• My box of WIPs
• Oh, my NEW sewing machine that my darling sweetheart surprised me!
• The box of goodies that a colleague of mine gave to me (wait until you see this)
• The vintage sheets that another colleague gave to me (I think they're vintage)
• The pattern sale that I came upon at Joann Fabrics (even though I am a beginning sewer)
• The bags that I made over the holidays as well as the aprons
• My experience making vinyl/paper wallets from a tutorial on Martha Stewart's site
• The sewing swag I scored (say that three times fast) at Tuesday Morning
• The test coasters I made using bathroom tile and a tutorial from Pinterest

and seriously, there's more! I have been busy!

I'm considering moving my content over to my WordPress blog which is empty with default goobledegook so that is something that may also happen soon.

Blessings!

Week 11 - Top sections sewn together!

I have been so busy with my quilt entry into Missouri Star Quilt Co.'s Iron Quilter contest that I put the Nyan Cat quilt on the back burner for a bit. My entry into the contest is submitted and if you'd like more info on it you can read my blog post here.

If you are just catching up I have been participating in a Nyan Cat quilt along and I have to give mad props (yeah, I went back with that) to the young lady who presented this quilt along. She has a ton of fun tutorials on her site and this won't be my last one, not by a long shot.

When I first looked at the nine sections that I had completed I started to panic thinking that they wouldn't fit all together the way that I needed them to. I started pinning the sections together according to the quilt along instructions and I started feeling more at ease as I saw it all come together. I made sure to line up all seams where Nyan Cat's colors transitioned from one section to another and even though I know every quilter doesn't do this, I pinned every seam open so I could sew straight flat across it.

I think it paid off in the end but of course I'm partial to my own work so I'll leave it to you to decide.

The next step will be to make a backing. I really do not have any funds in my quilt jar (especially since I want to buy myself a machine within the next couple of months) so I think I will use fabric from my stash and from my scraps to craft up something.

I definitely want to make a multicolored binding like I did with my Iron Quilter 2 entry. The young lady who wrote the Nyan Cat quilt along also made a multicolored binding for her completed quilt.

I don't know how I am going to quilt it just yet but it will be interesting to say the least.

Moving right along, I am proud and happy to present my Nyan Cat quilt top which has been completely pieced together.

Please comment and let me know what you think!

*Update to the Iron Quilter Contest 2 voting* *You can vote in Facebook now*

Missouri Star Quilt Co. has FINALLY decided to put the contest back on Facebook as in the original rules of the contest!  Please visit my entry on their Facebook page to vote for my quilt! I need all the help I can get! I am a beginner quilter and when you see the competition, I am up against far, far more advanced quilters than myself. I wish they had categories for beginners but it is based on the number of votes for the initial voting round which ends on Dec. 8. The top 25 entries with the most votes gets to go on to the next round of voting. Even if I don't make it I am so glad I entered! This has been a really fun ride and I hope to do it again and again! Thank you all for your support!  ~~~ Annette

Iron Quilter 2 Entry!!

Finally, I've posted a pic of my quilt entry into the Iron Quilter 2 contest:

Please +1 my entry in Missouri Star Quilt Co.'s Google Plus page by clicking ----->  here
Give it a few seconds to let my pic load. You will need a Google or Gmail account. Please click just once to +1 the photo of my quilt. If you click twice you are undoing your vote.  

I am extremely proud of my quilt because it is the first one I've completed that is larger than a baby quilt. 

Here are some details about the quilt:

*I followed a tutorial on Incolororder.com to create this patchwork chevron. 

*I used four charm packs of Debbie Beaves' Lovely for RJR fabrics and some white yardage (that I always keep on hand) for the top. For the back, which isn't shown yet (I'll have to snap a pic later) I used yellow small print flower yardage. For the binding, I broke open a Kona Cotton Solids by Robert Kaufman "dark palette" jelly roll and used some of the strips for binding. I love the transition of the dark colors along the outside edge.

*This entire quilt was pieced AND quilted on a basic machine,  my trusty Singer Simple 3116. Right during the end, I could hear a change in the sound of the motor and I felt a difference in the power of the motor. I was deathly afraid that she'd give up and just stall but she didn't. 

* I used a quilt ruler and a #2 pencil to mark one inch lines in the negative white space and I used my sewing machine equipped with a generic walking foot to quilt those lines. In the patchwork area I used a sloppy meandering pattern. I say sloppy because there are places where it crossed over and I actually fell asleep a few times while doing it. 

* The actual quilting took me two full days. Thank goodness for Netflix and Dexter. 

Here are some of the details about the contest:

*It is hosted by Missouri Star Quilt Co. and the details about the Iron Quilter 2 contest can be found here.

*Let me tell you, the competition is fierce! I LOVE looking at all of the entries!

*{This is so exciting!} There will be about a week of initial voting to determine the top 25 quilts. After that, at a later date, there will be a final round of voting.

Thank you for visiting my page and I hope you enjoy my quilt!!!

Iron Quilter 2

Update: Missouri Star Quilt hasn't put up the contest entry photos yet so I don't want to reveal too much about my quilt until it is up. When it is (and I've read somewhere that it will be Monday) I will begin posting.


I have been really busy lately and I have been meaning to finish up my Nyan Cat quilt but have yet to do so.

I do have to let you know why I have been so quilt busy! I have entered Missouri Star Quilt Co.' s Iron Quilter 2 contest!

I now realize that I chose too big of a project for my poor Singer Simple 3116 but she stuck by my side every step of the way and didn't let me down.

I will follow up this post later in the day (Sunday) with more info about my quilt, the contest, the quilt pattern I used, the fabric, and the quilting techniques, quilting designs, supplies, and so forth.

May the quilt be with you!!!

Week 10 Section 9 - DONE!!

It. Is. Done. Well...not exactly. But at least this section is! I can't tell you all how much I've enjoyed following this Nyan Cat Quilt-along. Just one part to work on per week gave me the quilt fix I needed and built up anticipation for the next week.

When I got down to sewing together this last section I will admit that I rushed through it tonight and I can see a little bit of wonky seams. Eh. Overall, I think I did a darn good job. And I couldn't have done it without the excellent tutorial quilt-along written by Choly Knight. I love to see someone so young and accomplished and passionate about what they love to do!

I am so happy that I decided to follow my own crafty heart and take up the hobbies that I've always longed to do. Doing this makes me a better mom, a better half, a better person overall. Okay, enough mushies.

Here is my version of the last pieced section: