Well, we've been gone a while. I am just back to health after a bout with pneumonia, and Carrie's kitty has been requiring a great deal of medical care. So much for excuses.

Today was pretty exciting. Remember back when Muffy and I made potholders? Well, that day, she brought down her Featherweight, an old Singer sewing machine that was built like a WORKHORSE. They go for a great deal of money on eBay...and they are mechanical marvels. Just straight stitches. That's all it does. It's white. And it's heavy as a son of a gun.

She brought it down to see what was wrong with it...it wasn't sewing properly. Clearly there was more wrong with it than I could figure out. However, there is that new sewing place near my house, and the woman who runs the store also fixes (or can have fixed) sewing machines -- even oldies like this one. My darling husband, of his own accord, toted it down to the store one day to have it fixed. That was a couple of weeks ago. They called a few days ago and told us it was ready. New belt, fix a spring -- $66 later and the thing is good as new. So of course I had to give it a go.

Ahhhh. What a connected experience. Don't get me wrong. I love my computerized sewing machine. Its ease of use is fantastic, and it is so precise. But using this machine was like driving a 66 Mustang. You can feel every bump in the road, it's very responsive, and you really feel like YOU are doing the sewing, not that the machine is doing it for you. It really is something. Now I get to call Muffy and surprise her with the fact that her machine is fixed! (In the meantime, she's bought herself a nice simple Brother machine, and she's making great use of it...but still. Featherweight. I'm only giving it back if she promises to let me borrow it from time to time.) :-)

Posted by Kerri at 04:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Quilting Bee is closing up shop and having a going-out-of-business sale. Fat quarters for around a buck. Really pretty yardage. Some really nice stuff, too.

Posted by Kerri at 04:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Back in the day, I used to do my fair share of quilting fabric swaps. I still have 'squishies' of the charms I got for the Y2K quilt (I SWEAR I am going to finish that some day), and I have a gorgeous pile of fabric with stars on it that I am going to make into a quilt. Honest.

I would love to organize a fabric swap, but I wonder if we have a critical mass of sewists here to pull it off. So here's what I propose.

First, we have to decide on a theme. I really loved the stars swap -- Send in a dozen 6" x 6" squares of one kind of fabric that had some stars printed on it, and you'll get back a dozen DIFFERENT, ASSORTED 6" x 6" squares of star fabric. So if I send in twelve pieces of red fabric with gold stars on it, I'll get back twelve pieces of all different colors of fabric -- the only thing in common is that they'll have stars on them.

The fabric has to be quilt weight and quality...but it doesn't matter where you buy it. It has to be prewashed and dried and ironed and cut (straight) by you. Take your 12 pieces (remember, they have to be washed, dried, ironed, and cut cleanly), and stick them in a quart sized Ziploc baggie, zip it, and on that baggie, write your name and address (or stick a sticker on the baggie with your name and address).

Then mail them to me. I'll sort all the fabrics, and send them back to you.

If you want to get back 24 squares, just include an additional Ziploc baggie full of a different fabric. I'll even cover the mailing expenses, so you don't have to worry about that -- if that makes you feel guilty, feel free to send a big SASE, or some extra fabric, or something my way (just don't put it in one of the Ziploc bags -- I get confused easily). ;-) But you don't have to!

Even if you don't want to make a quilt with the fabric you get, you can use it as a great stash builder for all kinds of projects -- embellishments, patches, pockets, purses, wallets...lots of stuff.

SO! If you think you'd be interested in participating, comment here, or drop me a line at missyousewmuch@gmail.com, and I'll start organizing. I'm thinking we could do stars, or brights (oh I love brights), or novelty prints, or batiks, or robots, or ponies... what do you think?

Posted by Kerri at 12:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Sometimes, you find a pattern that's the convergence of a lot of greatness -- good paper (instead of thin brown wrinkled tissue), good instructions, and a good outcome. TimberLane Press' First Choice Boxers #404 are all those things, and they're FUN to make. They're *real* boxers -- not like the Kwik Sew ones that have a seam up the middle of the butt. And they only take about a yard of fabric and some elastic.

Four cuts -- two fronts, two sides, one back, and one fly flap. The cutting does take a while, but the rest of the pattern makes up for it. The seams are all flat-felled -- a seam I hadn't used much, but now I am in love with. You basically sew with WRONG sides together, then cut one side of the seam allowance in half, and then roll the wider side over the side you just cut. Voila! They look so professional, and they're really sturdy.

It took me about two hours to do the actual construction on each pair (I made two), but I trust I'll get a little quicker as time goes on. In both cases, I got a little gap at the bottom of the fly, and I'm still not sure why, but I did a quick little bar tack over that, and they're just fine.

Most importantly, Spud loves 'em. This pattern gets a huge thumbs up from me, especially since I got it for TWO DOLLARS at my local sewing shop!

Posted by Kerri at 09:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)