Taking my sewing to a new level....

When I purchased my Janomi 8200QC a year ago it was with the intentions of learning to quilt... I had sewn for many years and had kind of almost given it up.  I first learned of sewing from my dear Late Mom!  Some of my earliest memories of her were her sitting at her Treddle Sewing Machine and sewing for myself and my four siblings as well as herself and anything she could sew for the home.  My Mom could do anything! :)  Her mother (my grandmother) passed away when I was 2 1/2 and really all I know about my Grandmother was that she was pretty crafty too.... she loved to crochet and quilt!  I learned to sew small things as a kid and as I got older I began sewing my own clothes, and then when I had children I sewed clothing for them.

When I bought my machine I never intended to fall in love with Bagmaking, but I sure did!  Please do not think I won't be making bags anymore, because I will!  I finally accomplished what I set out to do a year ago and I do not plan on stopping that either!  I made my first quilt, a twin size from a Craftsy Class by Camille Roskelly.  I made the Piece of Cake into a Twin Size Quilt.  I actually made it with Scrumptious by Moda which is designed by Camille  and her mother Bonnie!

 
Below shows me free motion quilting on my Juki 2010Q, yes I know I over quilted but it was my first and YES my arms and hands were extremely tired when I finished!

BUT... I do love how it turned out!  I just need to find a good place to take a full picture of it!

SO, I had to try my hand at another.... this time I made a Strip and Flip Baby Quilt  by Cluck Cluck Sew, out of the same fabric as I did my first quilt....  I LOVE IT!  I did circle quilting on it and it was sew much easier and quicker!

 I even tried a Zakka pincushion out of the book Patchwork Please!

Now I need to get busy and get my March Bag of the Month by Noodlehead finished!

Hope the Son is shining wherever you are!!

Nancy

                              

A Special Purse....

What excitement we have had in our family this past month!  FINALLY my daughter and her husband got the call that the Adoption Agency had a son for them!  The long awaited phone call had finally come and they quickly went about planning their trip to Bulgaria to meet this handsome little 2 year old boy who melted their hearts the first time they saw his picture!  While they were only there a week the bonding was immediate as they welded their hearts together.  It will be anywhere from 3-5 months before everything is complete and they can return to bring him home!  During that time they will be able to Skype with him every two weeks!  God is so Good!  Everything went so well with their trip... While this Momma's heart was a bit anxious, I certainly did a lot of praying for their safety and for a wonderful time with the little guy!  While a lot of people travel abroad frequently so all those long flights are nothing for them, this is something new for our family!  I had the joy of staying with their 3 children for 5 days while they were gone and couldn't ask for sweeter kids ( I shared duties with their other Grandma)!  They are so excited to be getting a little brother!

So what did I do immediately upon finding out they were finally getting to go to Bulgaria?  I ordered some Vintage Old World Map fabric from Mango Tree Creations on Etsy... Tried to figure out which purse pattern I had that would work out to be a great small travel purse and Oooooh Laaaa Laaaaa I picked the Butterfly Sling from Janelle at Emmalinebags.com  and I could not of been more pleased with the outcome and Amber loved it!

The lining you see  below was not what I had planned, but somehow it just seemed perfect!  It is my logo fabric "Wrapped in Love" that I ordered from Spoonflower.  Since my fundraiser had been called Wrapped in Love, I felt like I was sending my love with her to Bulgaria!

 Here is Amber standing in front of the Black Sea!

We have freezing rain here today, with the promise of yet more snow!  I love winter but am looking forward to Spring!

Blessings to you!  Nancy