Long time no see!

Happy New Year! 

It's been a while since I've had a minute to sit down and blog, much less work on anything other than Christmas gifts.  So, I'm going to catch you guys up on what's up around here...

First with the WIP(s).

I've been working on a few patterns.

Bow Tie Required - I actually downloaded her pattern and have been working from that.  My blocks were modified to be a bit smaller. :) I'm doing yellows, purples, and black for my blocks as well, rather than the teal and red. 

Here is my new baby.  My sweet husband picked her up for my Christmas present.  On top you can see the fabrics I chose for my next quilt..  I can't finish a project before I've started thinking of my next one!  I'm going to make the Bursting with Blooms quilt from the Feb 2014 issue of American Patchwork and Quilting (I might have already started cutting pieces for the appliques).  Again modified to be black instead of the cream print. That is such a beautiful quilt!

I LOVE my new Elna, the throat is so wide... I FMQ'd a queen sized quilt with NO PROBLEM over the holidays.. I can't wait to work on something for me. :)

Now I want to share some HUGE news with you: I'm going to Impfondo, Republic of Congo in March with Mercy Ships on Field Service (a missions outreach).  This is not my photo, so I take no credit.  But I will be sure to post plenty when I return. 

Last weekend I went to the opening reception for the first gallery showing that I have works in:  Light/Dark. I don't think there are any photos from the event, they don't like cameras inside the gallery, which I'm appreciative of.  The next exhibit is a fiber arts exhibit!!  I'm really excited about that.

Thanks for reading!
Cassie

Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday - oh wait, I already linked to her =D

A Strange Job Interview

So, I have to do a sort of audition for Grumbacher to become certified as an instructor of acrylics.. they asked me to submit a couple paintings - all realistic, which is something I don't really do often.  One of the options for a type of painting I could submit was a Still-Life.  I chose to paint some things I love -

 

On another note: the husband and I found THE PERFECT HOUSE!!  It has everything we wanted, needed, and it's 3 blocks away from a great school (for when the little ones arrive), and the grocery store is within 1 block - we can walk there, easily.  The best part, it was a foreclosure, but it's in pristine condition, and it's WELL within our price range.  We're putting in a bid first thing on Tuesday. 

 

Thanks for reading :)

Cassie

I think I missed my calling

Over the past month or so, I have been sew crazy. I picked up my first sewing machine - a Janome 7330 Magnolia - from Wait's Sewing in Tyler, TX last year, but barely used it, as I was a work-a-holic. (He doesn't have a website, but his YP entry can be found here)

As a stroke of good fortune, I have had the opportunity to spend much of my time lately in front of the machine. My husband wasn't thrilled about it at first, but then he started to see how happy it made me to create something beautiful out of a few scraps of fabric and time. (Plus his grandmother does a lot of quilting, and I think he's hoping that I can eventually create the beauties that she does - I hope so too!)

  Right now, I don't think it's anything more than just a hobby, but I would eventually love to do some design work - maybe put my painting skill to the test and come up with a fabric design. (How do you even get something like that started??)

Let me show you what I've been working on so far!

I have never been shy about jumping right in there and trying something new. So I started Googling and YouTubing quilting tutorials. (After all, sewing a quilt top must be easier than garment sewing....) I came across Crafty Gemini's blog and YouTube Channel. She had just started her Victorian Modern Quilt-Along. You can find her Victorian Modern QAL here.

...I decided to give it a go. This is what happened:

There are a few things I learned while putting together this quilt top:

1. Be careful when picking replacement fabrics if you don't want to use the ones from the tutorial/pattern/quilt along. I found that my fabric selections didn't really have the same "feel" as the original that Vanessa made. Anyway, there are only a few fabrics that I used that, in retrospect, I would have selected a different fabric instead. Namely, the green and corners on all the blocks, and the sashing strips. Other than that, I don't feel that I did such an awful job choosing fabrics for my first project.
2. Corners are not easy if you're careless with measurements and seam allowances.  A little here and there can really add up to the end result being off by quite a bit.  

Long story short: I started paying a lot closer attention to my seam allowances.  I still don't have a 1/4" piecing foot, but I did attach a little stack of sticky notes as a guide on my machine. That definitely helped - A LOT.

So that this post does not get too long, I will share my other projects in a future one.  Thanks for reading!

Special thanks to Vanessa, the Crafty Gemini - she came up with the design for the quilt featured in this post.  Here is a link to her blog: Crafty Gemini.