Oops!

Well, here's hoping that Kelly of Don't Look Now doesn't decide to drop by... Okay, so that's really unlikely, but if she did, she would be horrified. In my haste to have something wonderful for the Sew Cal Gal quilt-a-long and to complete a long-time WIP, I decided to finish up my :first Day of Christmas" pillow. Apparently I was in too much of a hurry, and asked the WRONG quality assurance person (my 6 year old).

Because...the leaves are all upside down.

Let's Wiggle!

Here's my first attempt at quilting without using my BSR. I have to admit that I'm pretty proud of it! It was easier than I thought it would be, and the results turned out almost as good as if I had used my stitch regulator (better than when the BSR is having issues). The biggest problem I had was remembering that I was in control of the speed with both my hands and foot, and that they needed to move together. When my stitches started to get too small, it was hard for me to slow down my foot rather than my hands. Apparently I'm not as good at multitasking as I would like to think I am! I have to admit that I was a little disappointed that my husband couldn't tell the difference when I showed him, I was truly hoping that the BSR stitches looked a lot better-sounds silly, doesn't it?! I wanted to feel justified in buying the Bernina with the BSR rather than the machines I had been looking at with the larger throats. After stewing over it for a little while, I realized that maybe it was a good purchase, that the BSR was like training wheels for me, giving me the confidence boost I needed to try quilting my own quilts.

Learning to Quilt

So I don't really need to learn the basics, although that's where I'm going to start, I want to learn to quilt without the help of my stitch regulator. And guess what!? There just happens to be not one, but two, quilt-a-longs going on right now to help me do just that! I have ALWAYS shied away from quilting without the stitch regulator because it has done a pretty good job in the past. Well, something changed on the last quilt I did, my grandmas, because there were all sorts of issues with the quilting. Many of the issues weren't the fault of the stitch regulator, but some of them were. I was warned by a sewing machine salesman that the BSR had it's inadequacies, and one of them was quilting on red or purple fabrics. It also seems to have trouble doing any dark pinks and some light pinks. Well, it just so happens that I kind of like most of those colors. As I was quilting one of the centers of the stars (with my free motion flower), the machine kept.skipping.stitches.

(Up close quilting of the star center)

(It looked pretty cool on the other side too)

And it drove me crazy, like ready to pull out my hair crazy. And I almost threw my machine and it's highly-touted BSR right out the window! That's when I knew I needed to learn to quilt like a big girl. Without any help. So, I've joined both quilt-a-longs in an effort to learn to quilt all by myself. In a way, I'm kind of worried. The reason I bought the Bernina 440 QE was for the BSR. No other machine could offer that. Now I wish I had learned to quilt without the BSR and instead opted for a machine with a larger throat. Ahhh, there's always the next machine.
So, I'm joining The Free Motion Quilting Project and SewCalGal as they share their insights into FMQ. Here goes nothin'.

Grandma's Quilt

One of my biggest regrets is not making a quilt for my paternal grandma before she died. She would have loved one! So, determined not to let that happen with my maternal grandma, my cousin and I put our heads together and decided to make Swoon! She made three of the blocks (we decided to make it a little smaller after realizing just how long each block was going to take us), and sent them to me from Hawaii, and I make three blocks, sashed them, made an additional block for the back, and then quilted it. It is such a pretty quilt, it's one I might make a second time!
It was very well received, and I loved getting to collaborate with my cousin! We need to organize a little swap between the two of us!

Show of Gratitude

So, what does one do if one makes a quick, easy, baby quilt for one's neighbor's baby (still cute even though it was quick and easy), and doesn't hear back from said neighbor? Do you just think, well she isn't crafty, so she doesn't understand and I probably won't hear back? Just chalk it up to the taking-everything-for-granted society we live in? I don't know. But I made this cute little quilt, and will definitely make the same pattern again. It went together really easily, and is fun for showcasing fabrics. I used only stash for the quilt, so it felt great to clear out a few yards of fabric I purchased years ago!

Working on a Non-Crafty Project

So, you may wonder what happened to August, September, and October? I was busy. And not feeling well. Busy growing a baby. I truly didn't touch my sewing machine in August or September, but have been busy easing back into things. I finished all my Swoon blocks. And they are beautiful! Those big beautiful blocks are the best. So, without further adieu...The back. I used something from my stash on the top, made another block for the back, and used Delightful by Quilted Fish for the bottom. Honestly, the whole reason I used the little bit of stash and made another block was so that I could keep more Delighted for myself.
The top. I made three of the blocks and my cousin made the other three. It's a Christmas present for our grandmother. She will love it! And we will love giving it to her.

Presenting...

Oh wait...I can't present anything. I'm terrible at taking pictures of things I make and give away. I think I have exactly 4 items that I've taken a picture of before giving away. The quilt I made for my really good friend's baby? No picture. What about the really cute iPod pouch I just made for a friend? Gifted. No picture. At least the cute pillow I made for my grandma out of scraps of Central Park can still be photographed. Next time I head to Boise. Same with the pinwheel quilt I made using the pinwheel QAL at psiquilt. Oh and all of the cute little table runners I've made for my mom's entry table. Yeah, all of those can be photographed too, the next time I remember. Problem is that I get so excited to give the gift (I think it's SO true with the whole better to give than receive when it's handmade), that I forget to take pictures. Note to self: remember to take pictures!!