Downtime

Today I spent most of the day sewing and researching sewing techniques. I'm almost ashamed to say that I've had my machine for 7 years and I know very little about its features. I actually decided to read my owner's manual and explore my options. After perusing the internet, I think I've been using the wrong feet for the wrong projects and that may be one of the reasons I have found sewing frustrating at times. Of course, I can't just attempt a simple project of sewing two pieces of fabric together and call it a day. Recently, I tried sewing with vinyl and this morning I lined a fabric shower curtain with a plastic curtain. I can now say that I dislike using any form of plastic as a medium. I find it very aggravating and will be staying away from those types of projects for a while. After the shower curtain incident, I spent quite a bit of time going through my fabric stash and figuring out what was worth using and what could be sacrificed for playing and learning just what my machine can do. I also decided to tackle Lexi's Christmas present to my mom. Using different tutorials, I made a potholder that I felt would be easy for Lexi to make. After preparing the fabric and "quilting" it, I'm beginning to understand the allure of quilting. I don't think I would ever have the patience to make elaborate quilts, but my anal retentive inner being really enjoyed cutting squares and sewing neat, evenly spaced stitches in the fabric. Now I want to start researching easy, beginner's level quilts. But that will have to wait until after the holidays when I have a little more time to devote to playing with my machine and spare fabric.

I had this bright idea to adhere the plastic liner to the shower curtain with tape. That worked for about 3.72 seconds.

My anal retentive nature would not let one little sliver of liner creep past the curtain. The result is that I accidently cut the curtain. I'm hoping the Fray Check is my new best friend. (Forgive the picture, it keeps downloading rotated differently than the original shot.)

Quality control sleeping on the job.

Oh my gosh, I love to cut straight lines. Do you like the fabric Lexi picked out? I didn't like it at first but it has a neat retro air about it and I'm starting to fancy it. It looks pretty nifty with the brown border I put on it.

My new favorite tool. I can't believe it took me 7 years to discover it.

Now I know who the kids get their pestering gene from. He can't just let Whisk enjoy the peace and quiet of his box. It's a good thing Whiskey likes him or else this could have ended badly.