Wednesday, April 29, 2015

WIP Wednesday: Lotsa Projects

I've been so busy in the craft room... I just keep forgetting to post.  Bad Blogger!!  Lol.  Unfortunately, most of my recent projects are upcoming gifts and I don't want to ruin the surprise (in the off chance they read my blog).  I'm most definitely going to have a bunch of finished project posts here in the next few weeks.  I promise!

There are, however, a few projects I can share.





I saw this awesome pattern over on Craftsy and knew I just had to try it out.  Turned out to be SUPER SIMPLE, and even with adding the embroidery to it, still was done in less than an hour!  I've got enough fabric to make two more of these, just need to get a couple of other projects done first.

1-Hour Basket 

  • Pattern:  1-Hour Basket Tutorial by Hearts and Bees
  • Started: April 8, 2015     Finished: April 8, 2015
  • Fabric: Home Decor fabric from JoAnn's 

Also on the finished projects list are some Keychains/Snap Tabs I did on my embroidery machine.  These will soon be in my upcoming Etsy shop and I hope they'll be big sellers :D  Especially considering I kinda went overboard with the vinyl and have enough to make quite a few :D

They're made using marine vinyl and some KAM snaps.  I'm seriously addicted to making these!  I've probably got two dozen different designs in my arsenal and can't wait to start getting them made up so I can get them listed up for sale :D

I've got lots more projects to share, so stay tuned for more updates :D

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

Also linking up to Freshly Pieced's WIP Wednesday and Sew Fresh Quilts' Let's Bee Social



Sew Fresh Quilts







Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Another "Addition"

Wow, dropped the ball again with blogging. :-(. So sorry!!  It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks and I've just been crafting away... Forgetting to document things.

Anywho, I have a new addition to my sewing machine family :-). Meet "Thor"....


He's my new Juki TL-2010Q and I LOVE him!!  Last week I had the opportunity to get him for a fabulous price and I just had to jump on it!  Now, he's not to replace any machine, but as an enhancement to what I have. Being a straight-stitch only machine with a great sized harp (amount of room from the needle to the side of the machine), I think I'm going to be able to quilt much faster and easier, not to mention more accurately. 

I love my "Rosie," and even though she has a 10" throat, she's only got 4" in height which made getting quilts thru her harp somewhat of a challenge. Lots of cramming and adjusting and frustration. Doing anything more than straight echo stitching in the body of the quilt was sometimes a real pain. I've only been able to do FMQ really on the borders because of the space issue. With the Juki, I don't see that being much of an issue. 

The other thing I love about him is he came with practically every foot I could need plus a generously sized extension table. No need to run out and purchase the accessories to do what I need him to do... He's good right out of the box!

I got him Friday and just couldn't wait to get to work!  Got him set up, figured out how to wind the bobbin and get him threaded, and I was off!  Grabbed some scrap fabric and just started going. I had some tension issues, but that could be because of the kind of thread I was using. After some finagling with the tension knobs, I finally think I got it :-)




Now, this being my first "industrial"-type machine, there was definitely a learning curve. 
  • Speed - Oh yea!  So fast (1600 ditches per minute I think). Got him set at medium speed and so far that is working for me. I'm sure the high speed will be great for quilt piecing though, and chain stitching. 
  • Auto Thread Cutter -Something I've never had on a machine before.  Took a while to get used to the rocking back of the foot petal to cut.  Kept cutting threads when I didn't mean to.  Lol.  After a few days of playing, I finally got the hang of it... and now I'm spoiled!  LOVE this feature!
  • Knee Lift - Honestly, I thought this was going to be the greatest feature, but turns out... not so much.  At least for me.  I put the knee-lift on right away, and between that and the thread cutter on the foot petal... I was a mess.  I'm sure once I get the complete hang of the machine, the knee-lift will be a valuable lasset, but for now, it's being stored away.
Now, for the things I'm not quite liking....
  • Lighting - This machine has some serious lighting issues.  Even with my OTT light on my desk, there is so much shadowing it's hard to see.  Thankfully, I saw on a bunch of blogs when I was doing research that there is a bit of a work-around.  I ended up buying a set of the Inspired LED lights off of Amazon and I think that will be the fix.  Haven't had a chance to install them, but that is on the list of things to do this week.  I think they'll definitely make a difference!
  • One-Piece Presser Feet - This is something that I'm totally not used to, nor do I think I ever will be.  Instead of the snap-on feet like on the rest of my machines, this one has solid piece presser feet which require unscrewing in order to switch out.  I've been working on Bionic Bags over the past few days and having to keep switching between the regular foot and the zipper foot has proven to be a bit of a pain.  Not a huge deal-breaker, but still an annoyance.
  • Walking Foot - It's awesome that they included a walking foot with the machine, however it takes some finagling to get it to work correctly.  First time I tried it, it made such an awful sound and I was afraid I was breaking something.  After further investigation, I found out that you're supposed to drop the pressure on the pressure foot and only go at about a medium pace.  That is supposed to be the fix for it.  Haven't tried that yet, but will definitely be doing that soon.
Other than that... I LOVE HIM!!!!  So happy with the purchase and can't wait to see how well I can do my quilting now.

Oh, and on his name..... Hubby totally named him.  Lol.  Since it was Hubby that pushed me to jump on the opportunity, I let him chose the name.  Told him it was going to be my workhorse machine, so he saw it fit to name him "Thor."   I was fine with that, so Thor it is :D

I've got LOTS of projects to share, and I'm going to attempt to get them posted here in the next week or so.  Been busy, busy, busy... I just need to remember to post :D

Happy Tuesday Everyone!

Linking up to Linky Tuesday at Freemotion by the River, Fabric Tuesday at A Quilt Story, and Sew Cute Tuesday at Blossom Heart Quilts



Fresh Poppy Design

Sew Cute Tuesday

Friday, April 3, 2015

Finish Friday: Busy As A Bee


With the arrival of my third "nephew" back in January, I've been in complete "baby mode."  The baby's nursery theme is "Bees and Honey," and I was having the HARDEST time finding fabric!  Seriously... checked out every online store I could think of, as well as JoAnn's and Hobby Lobby, and came back empty handed.  Well, that was until a couple of weeks ago.  Just happened to be browsing the aisles at JoAnn's and stumbled on some adorable bee flannel. Just knew it needed to be turned into something fun!  I already made a self-binding receiving blanket for him, but hadn't done one of my Cuddle Quilts yet.  Forty minutes later (having the hardest time matching colors for some reason), I was ready to go.

LOVE how easy these quilts are.  No time in getting the pieces cut, and even the main assembly is really quick.  Only issue I seem to have on each one of these is my basting stitches on the twists showing thru.  Thinking on this one I should have used white thread instead of black for the piecing... but ah well!  It was done and ready to give last weekend.  Mommy & baby love it!


Happy Friday Everyone!


Fort Worth Fabric Studio



Linking back to Fabric Friday at Fort Worth Fabric Studio, Finish It Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts , TGIFF at Quokka Quilts, Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? over at Confessions of a Fabric Addict, and Link-A-Finish Friday at Richard & Tanya Quilts

Thursday, April 2, 2015

Sewing Expo Recap (A Wee Bit Late)

I'm a little late with my post, but things at Chez Rosie have been a bit on the chaotic side lately.  Last Friday I headed off to the Cleveland IX Center for the Original Sewing & Quilt Expo with my mom and my sister's MIL.  It's and annual tradition for us, and so exciting this year because I actually do half the stuff that they demonstrate and know what I'm looking at.  Lol. 

I had a shopping list and everything!  Ha ha ha.  So many things I wanted to check out, and excited for the great deals ahead :D

Me, Mama, and Kath taking a break for lunch
I didn't take any classes, but had a blast shopping with the gals!  Mom was on a misson to find embroidery software, and after HOURS of walking around and exploring all the options, she finally settled on the Husqvarna Viking 6D software.  She got a KILLER deal too.... 50% off!!  Talk about a fabulous deal!  Honestly, I'm totally psyched she got it.  I've got a couple of designs I need for some upcoming projects that I've been unable to find.  What a great way to "play" with the new software!

I also took the opportunity to meet a fellow Missouri Star Forum member, Debbie MM (Debbie).  She was at the expo on the same day, mainly taking classes, but we were sure to meet up in-person for the first time.  So great to meet Internet friends :D


I wish I could say that I was "good," but I can't.  Well... technically, I was some-what good.  I followed Hubby's rule of "if it doesn't fit in the craft room, I can't buy it."  Lol.  No major purchases for me, but I did manage to pick up LOTS of great goodies!

Don't mind the mess in the background!  I didn't clean off my table before shooting pics.  Lol.  Included in my "haul" was....

  • Tear-Away, Cut-Away, and Poly-Mesh stabilizers for my embroidery machine
  • (6) Tea Towels (for co-worker Christmas gifts this year)
  • BIG spool of embroidery machine bobbin thread
  • Various spools of day-glow and neutral embroidery threads
  • A package of the Bosal In-R-Foam Single Sided interfacing (just HAD to try it out!)
  • A couple of 1-yard cuts and a couple FQ's
  • A Viking 1/4" piecing foot and package of bobbins
  • (2) Stuffed Lady Bug panels
  • Couple of patterns
  • A fabric stack for the "Betty Bag"
All-in-all, not too bad.  I was debating on going back on Saturday (Hubby offered to take me) to pick up some more of the big spools of embroidery thread and to see what kind of wheeling and dealing was going on with it being the last day of the expo, but decided against it.   I got enough stuff to keep me occupied for a while, and while I didn't "break the bank," I still hit my budgeted amount and didn't want to go over.

Already looking forward to next year's expo... is that sad?  Lol.  Was very happy this year though, going into it with some knowledge before hand of what I was looking for, what would be a good deal, what I needed, etc.  Completely beats last year's visit