After finishing my last quilt, I took my 50+ year old Pfaff in for regular cleaning and service. It was a work horse for my mom for many years, then sat idle for several years before I started using it. It's so old though that parts are hard, if not impossible to find, and the throttle had gotten sticky. It was time for a new machine. After countless hours of research, I landed on the Janome Horizon Memory Craft 8200QCP Special Edition. I absolutely love it - happy birthday to me!
The first project I did was a cover to keep dust off the machine. Rather than use a pattern, I designed the cover myself (nod to Full Bobbin Designs for inspiring how I shaped the machine applique). I wanted a dust cover that would hold its shape, and since my new sewing table was packaged with several foam sheets, I cut and used the foam rather than cardboard.
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I'm quite happy with the results.
After finishing my second quilt (link) in January of 2024, I immediately chose my next quilt and went out to buy the fabric. I love color and my husband does stained glass, so I wanted to try a stained glass quilt. After lots of googling, I chose this quilt for inspiration. Without a pattern, I spent quite a bit of time calculating the proper measurements for each piece. I got all the colored fabric cut in February before my Dad passed away and the project was put aside.
I picked the project back up the beginning of this year. It was my first time working with sashing, and boy was that a mind bender at first. Here's the project part way through...
Today I finished my fabric art tree - YAY! The center panel, which was the bulk of the work, was done in 2023. The borders were added last year and today I attached the finished piece to sturdy foam board for hanging. It feels good to have a project finished, and I'm pleased with the results. It measures 17.5" x 20".
This month I played in the craft room for the first time since April. We lost Dad this year and nearly every weekend has included a day taking care of estate business and preparing his house for sale. It's been a sad journey but we had an endless supply of good memories to pull us through. Changing my work hours from 40 to 20 last month certainly helped lighten my load. I LOVE part time status and am so very grateful for the gift. Anyways... this month I made 24 of these cards to send to friends and family. It was therapeutic to play again. The paper is gift wrap that caught my eye.
Wishing you happy holidays, whatever your faith, and a healthy, prosperous 2025!
This month's projects were a 12" x 16" throw pillow and a summer nightgown. The pillow was the first time I've ever done piping. The nightgown was my own design after realizing the pattern I'd purchased was going to be far more complicated and time consuming than expected. I've got to say I'm pleasantly surprised and pleased with the results of both projects.
After finishing my first quilt (link) last February, I decided to try something more challenging yet still fairly easy. I landed on a disappearing 9 patch design with fabrics to match the decor in our TV room where I planned to use the quilt to keep warm on winter movie nights. Rather than use a single fabric for the back, I chose to make the top large enough it could fold over and be the back as well. Here are a few photos of my journey:
At this point it was early April and I wanted to be doing things outside so I put the project on hold, finally picking it up again last weekend. Saturday I added batting and quilted using the stitch in the ditch method. This worked great on the side I could see while sewing but the pattern didn't line up the same way on the back and thus the stitching there is a little more obvious. Sunday I made and attached the binding for a finished quilt measuring 4.5' x 6'.
It has mistakes but that's ok - I learned a lot that I can apply to future projects. I enjoyed every step of the process and am pleased with the results. Two of our four boys gave it their approval as well - LOL.
I made these in November but didn't want to post them until after gifting the red pair. No idea if she'll ever wear them, but I had fun making them. The other pair are for me and I've already worn them a few times.
Nothing else has been made since -- just too brain dead after work to be creative so instead, have escaped watching Christmas movies and snuggling with our new dog. I'm hoping to do a better job of dealing with work stress in 2023 so I can get my life back.
After my last post I started a large disappearing 9-patch quilt, then spring arrived and all my time shifted to being outside. It's now turned cold here so today I FINALLY got back in the craft room. A dear friend has a birthday this coming week and since we both love nature, I decided on a fall theme. First I embossed photo paper and then applied alcohol ink. I like the that it's simple and unique. Inside is a simple "happy birthday" stamped in dark orange.
The end of January I started my first quilt, intentionally starting small and simple. My research lead me to try a jelly roll style quilt-as-you-go approach. This is a 3' x 4' lap quilt of my own design, using scraps, clearance pieces and some fat quarters I couldn't resist. The entire process (well, except the iron burn on my finger the last 15 minutes before I finished - lol!) was so much fun! I can't wait to make another one!
Today's creation was a simple shaving cream card. I embossed the words and then went over them with marker. The diamonds along the sides were made using a Sparkle Pop pen. It's a simple design that took far longer to make than it looks, but it was fun none-the-less.
I was able to use a few hours of PTO last week to begin dreaming about and planning for 2022. After reviewing 2021 and searching inside myself for what I want in 2022, I landed on my theme, areas of focus, rough game plan, affirmations and vision board. It feels good to have this all done already so I'm starting the year with direction. Without direction or a plan, I flounder.
In follow-up to my 01/31/21 post, I'm listing my new and old themes together in one place:
2012 – physical
2013 – do
2014 – you always regret what you didn’t do
2015 – action
2016 – give
2017 – energy
2018 – perspective
2019 – practice
2020 – balance
2021 – accept
2022 – what are you waiting for?
Tried something new and made some desktop calendars. I started by embossing metal foil which I then painted with alcohol inks. Once dry I cut and scored card stock and assembled the pieces. Shout out to Debbie Simko at graciousbeegreetings.etsy.com for the printed calendars - quality product, good service and reasonable pricing.
Believe,
Di
This year's holiday cards are done and in the mail. I made 28 using 6 different designs. Yes, they could have been decorated much more elaborately, but that's time consuming and I'm rather pleased with the clean, simple look they have without all the extras. Next up, finish making the mini calendars I started before shifting gears to these cards.
Believe,
Di
A few of my friends expressed interest in a private Facebook group if I started one so I did. I thoroughly enjoy encouraging and supporting others, and receiving the same in return is icing on the cake! These ladies inspired me to pull out my yarn bag which I hadn't touched in 3-8 years. In it I found an item I'd played around with in order to get used to crochet again. I had no idea what to do with it when I realized by adding more to it, it could be a neck warmer. Surprisingly, I remembered what to do and immediately started back up, finishing the scarf while listening to an audio book yesterday morning. I'm so tickled by this, and hope that others are finding the group as beneficial as I am!
Believe,
Di
Yesterday I pulled together a few things I've made this year to share as gifts for friends. This makes me happy.
I've been in the craft room a handful of times since my last post but it continues to be tough getting back into the swing of things. The scanner in me wants to play in so many mediums, making it difficult to pick one at any time and stick with it long enough to grow. I get frustrated, reorganize the work space and start the cycle over. Ugh. Yesterday I decided doing this on my own hasn't been working out so well for me so I grabbed my laptop, checked out a few Skillshare classes on the general topic of creativity and asked my Facebook friends if anyone would be interested in joining a private group to support and hold each other accountable if I started one. I'm nervous about how much time the group would require, but I won't know until I try, we shall see what transpires.
Believe,
Di
It's been seven months since my last post. Work has kept my plate full and when I haven't been working, I've been gardening, doing yardwork and helping take care of family members. Now that fall is here, I've been able to start getting back in the craft room a wee bit. It's tough to get into things again, so I started with making a few cards. The plan was to make more today, but my hard drive crashed recently and I've had a dickens of a time dealing with that. If only I could function on less sleep I could craft more - hahaha. Oh well, it's all good.
Believe,
Di
Trinket bowls, pendants and earrings...
In my last post I indicated I planned to dust off my polymer clay supplies and play with the medium a bit to determine if I want to pursue this art form or donate my stuff. Decision? Being a tactile medium, I had a blast and am not about to let go of my supplies! I have much to learn but hey, that's half the fun.
All in all, I had fun, learned some things and made a few friends and family members smile when they received their cards and realized someone was thinking of them. Life is good!
Next up: I'm dusting off the polymer clay supplies to play around with that medium for awhile. It's been 10 years and the clay might be dried out. If it is, I'll buy just enough to play a bit so I can decide if I want to get active with this medium or let go of the supplies to free up space. At this point I have no clue how things will play out - LOL.
Believe,
Di
I'm mesmerized by the cosmos and hubby is a fan too, so when I came across this colorful sheet set I instantly ordered it. When we switched from a queen bed to a king I looked for a bed cover I liked, but didn't find anything. That's when I decided to convert the queen sheet set to a king bed cover with pillow shams. I found a navy king quilt, cut the flat sheet so the quilt border was the same size all around and attached it to the quilt. Next up were the pillow shams. The project took most of January, fitting in a few hours each weekend, but it's done and we're both pleased with the results. Oh! And here's a 'before' photo of the sheets piled on the new folding sewing table hubby built for me. Love it and him! ♥
