Nothing newsworthy

I haven't posted in a very long time because life is just marching on and I really didn't feel like I had much to say.  I am back to work after a great 2 week vacation and have to work a whole 5 more days before getting a day off.  I do love teaching :)

This morning I started cleaning and sorting and organizing and went through 6 boxes of stuff that was donated to me from a lady whose mother died.  I have at least another 20 boxes of stuff.  Most of the stuff I went through today was cross stitch kids, fabric and misc notions.  Makes me question some of the purchases I've made over the last 20 years and how my interests have changed, yet I still hold onto the stuff of the past.

 One way I clean is to take the scraps of fabric and batting and make a new bed for my big dog Mandy.  She loves getting a new bed and will sniff and smell it and then climb up and go to sleep.  I use weird fabric that would not be really useful for anything else as the outer cover.  Then, when the pillow gets dirty and full of hair, I put it in the garage where she sleeps at night.  She has about 6 of these pillows out the and it keeps her up off the cold floor at night.

I finished up the last tennis patch yesterday and cut it out after taking this picture.  My husband has been spending $10 a patch for the last 20 years.  He gets 10-20 patches a year.  It is so nice to be able to make them now.  Just wish we would have though of this sooner.  

I'm also working on some designs of my own and playing with the trial version of SewWhat Pro which is an editing program for the embroidery machine.  I'm having a lot of fun and learning lots of things about the program and my machine.

I'm hoping to get some quilting time in today, but have to run out and pick up my son from the County Honor Band in just a little bit.  He is so busy now that Robotic build season has started.  He has the County honor band this weekend, the Northern California one in Stockton next weekend and then in Feb the All State Honor band.  He is also trying out for the Solano County Jazz band that he got to play in last year.

I'm not sure where he gets his energy from :)

Oh, and the principal called my husband and I in this week to congratulate us and our daughter for making Valedictorian.  She still has to keep A's this semester, but was told to start writing her speech.  

Quilt labels

Just playing around with my new embroidery machine (Brother pe770) and making some quilt labels.  I sewed these onto flannel, no stabilizer on top or back.  They are soft and will be sewn to the back of a quilt.

It's snowing!

 Well, not real snow, but I finally got my embroidery machine to cooperate and let me make some snowflakes.  I wanted to make and send some to Sandy Hook Elementary, their PTA was asking for snowflakes to decorate the new school when the children return in January, but they have been so overwhelmed, they have asked everyone to please stop sending things.  Seems like they had a blizzard of paper, crochet, knit, embroidered and every other kind of snowflake you can imagine.  They had them come from many different countries and I know the kids will feel the love that went into making them all when they get back.

To make my snowflake, first I put Aqua Magic by inspira into my hoop and picked out a snowflake design.  I used double layer of the water soluble fusable webbing.  I got it at a sewing shop that is inside of JoAnn's.  They sell Viking sewing machines and embroidery machines and it was bout $10 for a 5 yard (12inch wide) roll.

Then, I picked out a design and let the machine do its magic.  I picked out two different snowflakes, a small one that took about 15 minutes and a big one that took about 45 minutes.

 After stitching, I cut the extra webbing off.  I hope to learn how to make these without using up so much and wasting. I will save the extra pieces for smaller projects.  Or, maybe I can overlap and sew the extra pieces together like you do with batting scraps.

 Drop the snowflake in a bowl of warm water and in just a couple of seconds, the fusable is gone!

 Pull it out and if it is too sticky, rinse it again, but you want a little of the starch to stay on the snowflake to keep it stiff for hanging on the tree.

 Here's the big one going into the warm water bath.

 Ready to come out?

 Yep!

I laid mine on a towel to dry.  Then, I will hang them either with fishing line or Christmas tree hangers.  I think I might make a blizzard and hang them all over the house.  Out here in Northern California, we rarely get snow.  Like 2 times in the 20 years I've lived here.  And it doesn't stick when it hits the ground :(  But we can drive an hour and get to the snow or the beach.  I like it!

new toy learning curve

When I first got my quilting machine, I had days where I wanted to pull my hair out.  It was so frustrating because the thread kept breaking and shredding.  Then, I figured out the trouble and have't looked back since.  Now, when there is a problem, I can usually fix it in 5 minutes and I'm off again.  Most of the time there is a burr on the quilting foot and a quick change of that puts me back in business.

Well, I got my new to me Brother pe 770 embroidery machine and I feel like I'm back at square one.  Because I purchased it used from a private seller, there were no lessons and while I feel like I'm a pretty good do it myself kind of girl, I'm at the hair pulling stage again.

I can't get the snowflakes to work with just the water soluble stabilizer.  Supposedly you sew them, then wash away the stabilizer and have the free form lace to hang from the Christmas tree.  I've tried two different stabilizers and both of them just poked holes and made a tangled mess of thread.

I won't give up though because one day embroidery will be as easy as sewing, quilting, crocheting and knitting.  Maybe even as easy as walking and talking :)

Finally here

My new to me embroidery machine got here today after a very long trip from Indiana.  I guess with Christmas mail and winter storms, that was to be expected.

I wanted an embroidery machine so I could make labels for my quilts and make patches for my husband's high school tennis team.  We spend $10 a patch and after playing with my machine, I know I will be able to make them much cheaper.  So many things to learn about this new hobby.  This is the first successful snowflake I made today.  I will get a small embroidery hoop and turn it into a Christmas tree ornament.

It takes a long time to stitch out and the thread broke about a dozen times.  I think I need different thread.  I remember when I first got my quilting machine and it kept shredding the thread until I finally found some threads it liked.

I know this is going to be a fun and addictive new hobby.  And the best part will be that I can start up the machine and do some sewing or quilting and then check on it when it beeps at me.  It is mesmerizing to watch though!