An apron for a wanna-be cowgirl

First of all, I need to tell you about my new toy.

I love my new toy.

My new toy is a Bernina special edition 765 sewing machine. 

My old machine quit working. Again. 

So I finally decided it was time.

Time for a new one.

Brand, Spankin' new. 

It's my 3rd sewing machine, but my first new one.

I love my new sewing machine.

 My friend has the Bernina 770 quilter's edition. We have compared them, and they are exactly the same except for where mine says Special Edition hers says Quilters Edition. And mine is "rose gold" across the top part, and hers is silver.
I like the rose gold better, but don't tell her that. In fact, I'm naming her Rose in honor of her beautiful color. But you can also call her Rosie.
I have this theory that the Bernina company was trying to come up with a creative way to sell more of the 770's. So they changed the silver part to rose gold, called it a Special Edition, and sold it with a promotional deal.
The deal was this: it came free with either the "quilters bundle" (which then really made it identical to the 770) or an Embroidery unit. Well, about the only things I'm willing to dust off my shabby math skills for is sewing and quilting. So I did the math. Because I already had the walking and 1/4 inch feet, the only thing I needed to make it the quilters edition was the Bernina Stitch Regulator (BSR) which was $899. The Embroidery unit was $2,000. I hope you know which one I chose to be included and which one I bought (with the 20% off deal you get on everything you buy the day you buy your machine)

So I am a happy new sewing machine owner. I hope that means I will be whipping out projects like nobody's business.... but if you've read my blog before, you'll know that's not likely.

I DID, however, finish this Texas Flag pillow sham to go with my sons quilt that I made him... 

  4 years ago...

 And I also made this apron for me:

 Out of some cute scraps a friend had left over from making her daughter a dress. It was too cute, I couldn't let her throw it away. I made it for myself. I pretty much live in aprons, so I am loving it.

Star Wars Chevron Quilt

 Finishing a project does not come easily to me. I'm not sure why. The universe seems to really have something against it. It is a fight   all out battle to get anything done. Last winter, when I was on such a roll finishing up old projects, I made the mistake of being in a quilt store  I had to go to a quilt store to get my machine fixed (that is only a part of this saga of how-come-it-was-so-hard-for-me-to-get-this-quilt-done) and while I was waiting, I walked by some bolts of Star Wars fabric. While I'm a pretty big fan of Star Wars, the biggest fan I know is my younger Brother, Chuckie. I also had his name for Christmas this year (we rotate gift giving among my siblings) and he was turning 40 just a few weeks before Christmas.

 So I went against that promise I had made to myself not to buy any fabric for new projects until I had finished all the ones I'd already started... and bought the fabric. And I started making it a good six months before his birthday, ensuring that I would have plenty of time to get it finished. Then my machine broke, and I had to take it into the Bernina shop which is almost an hour from my house... like 4 times. So I pretty much didn't have a sewing machine ALL SUMMER! I worked on it until Finally I had it pieced by the end of October. So I called the quilt shop that's an hour and 20 minutes away to schedule the long arm quilter.
Well, it was that time of year when every one is finishing their Christmas gifts/quilts, and there were only two days available before Thanksgiving. One wouldn't work, and the other was the day before I was leaving for Houston- where myself and 4 siblings and our families were gathering for Thanksgiving and a surprise birthday party for Chuckie. Well, at 6:30 am that day, my 3 year old threw up.
He was fine, but I didn't know that until later, and could not in good conscience leave him with my friend who has 4 small children. So I had to cancel it.
I packed my machine, and spent hours and hours at my other brothers house quilting this on my machine. It would have taken a fraction of the time on a long arm. I finished sewing the binding on at midnight the night before the party.... cause that's how I roll sew...

Scrappy 9-patch wedding quilt (project 75)

 So, first off, let me confess that I didn't piece this quilt. I friend of mine did, and gave it to me as payment for babysitting and for quilting some other quilts she had pieced for her.

 Then I got a wedding invitation from one of my old Young Women. I was her leader like 13-15 years ago. I knew I didn't have time to piece something in time for her wedding gift, so instead I just quilted this for her. There is a quilt shop about an hour and 15 minutes north of here that rents a long arm quilting machine by the day! So, it would end up being much less expensive than even using the one I used to rent by the hour! So, I made arrangements for someone to watch the kids and spent the day quilting away. It was like going on a vacation!!

 I have to admit, that once it was all done, and I saw that it even fit so beautifully on my KING sized bed, it was a little hard to part with!

 This fun lime green fabric I chose for the back specifically with the bride in mind. I think she'll love it.

 Below is my favorite way to wrap a quilt. Just roll it, tie a pretty bow around it, and wrap the bundle in cellophane. It doesn't completely give the surprise away because they don't really get to see it until they lay the whole quilt out. But, it gives them a peek, and it's prettier than any wrapping paper anyway!

 It was a 6 hour drive to get to the wedding reception, and I don't think she thought I'd really come, so it was really fun to surprise her!

More Quilts! (projects 72---74!!)

 This Spring I really got busy finishing up some old quilting projects. Although this one is a brand new one, but made out of old scraps that I had. I made it for a new mother I go to church with, for her first baby- a girl...

 I tried some new machine quilting styles, like these swirls, and I also did some feathers for the first time.

 Then I got out this old thing. This was from a class I took when I was at the quilters guild. We had a guest teacher come who not only designed the pattern, but all the fabrics we used were hand dyed by her! They were beautiful.

 I actually really liked doing this raw edge applique and would love to do more of it!

And I also drug this old Valentines quilt out. It gave me so many headaches, and I had to take my sewing machine in to get fixed so. many. times. while I worked on this. It was honestly just a huge relief to get it done. I'm totally fine not to look at it again until Valentin's Day. Next year. Or the year after that might be soon enough.

Quilting Again!! (projects 69-71)

 These first two quilts are a matching set of twin quilts. I started them about 2-3 years ago for my two youngest daughters, who began sharing a room when their little brother was born. I wanted them to have matching quilts. Of course, with the new baby and our lives getting so crazy, these took a lot longer than they ever should have.

 They were supposed to have a big huge daisy applique on them... but it got to the point where I just needed them done, so I left it off. My friend who owned a long-armed quilting machine was moving last summer, so just before she left, I went to her house and quilted both of them. You would have thought that since they only needed binding, I would have quickly finished them. But instead, they sat there for six months!!!

 Then about a month ago, I started quilting again with a new friend, and these were the first things I finished!! It really didn't take long once I got serious about it! I love the 3-dimensional look of it, with ric rac and ribbon, and especially the scalloped part.

 They are really nice, and it's so great to have them done and now my girls have some cute matching bedspreads!

 This zig zag quilt was actually pieced by a friend of mine from church. When she saw the chevron wall treatment we painted in my oldest daughters room, she was reminded of this and went home and got it and gave it to her.
So, I quilted and bound it.

 Then we had a dilema, because we had also started to finish her quilt (last one in this post) which she wanted to hang on her wall. She didn't want multiple wall hangings, and she also couldn't use it as a regular quilt because it's baby size. So, we decided to talk to the woman who pieced it and ask how she felt about gifting it to a new mom we go to church with who had a baby girl just before Valentine's Day.

We thought it was perfect for her since it has a hear fabric background

 This last quilt was done with Batik fabrics, and was started more than 5 years ago!!! Before we moved to Texas, I decided to teach my two oldest kids how to sew/quilt. This was the project my with my daughter. She loved the bright fabrics. 

I'm embarrassed to say that we didn't finish it then, but when I started quilting again with my new friend, she finished piecing it while I was quilting one of her quilts. So, it finally got finished!
Once again, it was amazing how quickly I was able to finish it once I got serious about it. I did all the quilting in an afternoon. It's probably hard to tell from here, but I quilted it with a variegated thread that was rainbow colored. It looks SO COOL up close as sometimes the thread blends in an disappears and sometimes it pops in each color.
It feels SO great to get some little projects done. I have more in the works, and even better: I have a plan for finishing them and a place where I actually can work on them.

Halloween Projects (we'll call all these number 68)

 As I am trying to catch up on blog posts and projects I finished in 2014, I came across these pictures. I went to a craft day- which is like heaven to me, and made these Halloween signs. Have I ever mentioned that Halloween is my favorite holiday?
Cause it is. Me and Martha Stewart. We both like it the mostest.

 So, I am excited, because coming up at the end of January- here in a few weeks, my friend is hosting another craft day. It will be Valentined themed. I'm so excited I want to go eat pink and red forms of sugar! Valentine's day is one of my favorite holidays too. It's in my top 5 list.

I hope to post those projects much sooner than I did these ones!

Another Pallet Project (Number 67) Go Cougars!

 So, after making the Texas flag/scripture pallet project , I decided that it was too much fun not to do another one. This time I had to tear apart the pallet myself (Ok, I had some help, but still...) and I learned why people stop making these things after just one. Oh, they are a BEAR to take apart!
But, so much fun to paint. This time I did a BYU one for my son's room. It was pretty easy. I was going to stain it a little, but I liked it how it was, so I left it.

We decided to just prop it up on top of his book shelf (these are also a bear to hang on the wall) and I think that's where it will stay.

And that reminds me... I still need to blog about the bookcase.

Pallet Art (project numba 66)

Some women from my church got together at someone's house recently for a craft day.
It. Was. Awesome.

I haven't been able to do so much since I have so many kids.
Just stating the obvious.

So, it was a blast getting my craft on. Especially at someone's else's house. I didn't have to get all the stuff ready or do much cleaning up. And I have such cool friends who were just happy to visit and hold my baby while I painted.

2 of my friends had gotten all the pallets ready ahead of time (I know, you wish you had friends like mine!)
The plan was to make a stylized American flag. Like these:

Of course, I can never follow directions, I had to do my own thing.

I had seen this great idea on pinterest of putting a scripture verse on it. I asked my son what his favorite scripture was.

"Luke 24"
"Which verse?"
"All of them. It's really good."

um... I just chose one I liked that was a lot shorter.  And he liked it too, so whew!

I also saw that this same person had nailed a metal star to a pallet and I liked how that looked too. I figured that if we could do an American flag, why not a Texas state flag (I'd already make my son a Texas flag quilt!)
But I was wanting to do turquoise, lime green, and orange instead of red, white, and navy blue.
So, this was what I came up with instead:

And I love it.

And I really want to do another craft day.
Like tomorrow.

 So... that's as far as I got on this post last summer, but today I am trying to wrap up all my 2014 projects that I didn't post about, so I'm happy to say that this is what it looks like now, hanging on my sons wall.

Hmm... I forgot to pull back and take a picture of the whole room. But you get the idea.

Bride and Groom Stockings (project 65)

In the sibling gift exchange for my husbands side of the family, we got the name of his brother who just got married this summer. So, I made these stockings for them.

I'm totally loving them, and there is even a part of me (a very, very small part) that thinks a Christmas wedding would be so fun. 

 The groom stocking was a little more work, you can almost see the lapel in the photo below. If I ever make another one, I might not choose velvet. There were some things I loved about velvet, and some things I didn't. It was a first time sewing with it for me.

 It was perfect looking lying on my table, but I wasn't loving the way it hung. But who cares, no one's looking at the groom, right? They're just looking at the bride! And she turned out beautiful!!

(P.S. I'm scheduling this to post after Thanksgiving, so hopefully they will have opened them by then and I can tell you their reaction)

Also, I made some stockings last year that you can see here and some other ones here.