A Little Happy, A Little Sad....

I am happy but also a little sad when a project is completed. Happy because the project is finished and I can give it to the person for whom it was made. Sad because I will no longer be able to work on it. I find the greatest joy in working on a project. Decisions have been made, fabric purchased and work has begun. All of the boring stuff out of the way: cutting, measuring, washing and ironing. Sometimes I wash the fabric, sometimes I don't. Since I try to always use quality fabric, washing is not usually necessary and if I am quilting it, I don't bother. I love the antique pucker look when a quilt is washed and then line dried. Here is a tried and true quilt pattern that I love. I really like using it for baby quilts. It makes a nice size baby quilt using a little fabric and a charm pack. I found this pattern on Moda's Bake Shop site. They have all sorts of free patterns. I believe this one is by Pleasant Home. Now that I think about it, I believe that I have made over 10 quilts using this pattern, maybe more. I need to get better at keeping up with what I make and give away. I love to look back and see what fabrics that I used or if I hand quilted or machine quilted. Can you believe that when I first started quilting I believed all quilts should be made by hand. I did hand quilt them for years but then I realized that it's ok to machine quilt, they look just as lovely and probably hold up better in the long run.

Pretty pinwheels make a perfect baby quilt.

I am lovin' on those prairie points. Don't let them scare you, I have a tip below to make the process finger friendly while ironing them.

Quilt label. Hand embroidered. I used to embroider my labels on my sewing machine but I think that hand embroidered labels look so much sweeter. 

Isn't she a beauty? This sewing machine was lovingly used by my husband's great grandmother, Granny. My father in law said that he remembered her making potholders with it. I am sure that she made aprons, dresses, curtains, children's clothes and possibly quilts. I haven't looked at the serial # to determine what year she is but I am betting the 50s. What a pretty light aqua! I am guessing by now that you have figured out that I love antique sewing machines. I have quite a few. One of these days I am going to have to introduce you to all of the pretty ladies. Each one has her very own story to tell and some speak louder than others. 

Granny. Wonder if she made this dress with her sewing machine. 

I have a trick for ironing all these prairie points. I was tired of burning my fingers with steam or just the hotness of the iron. So this was my solution. Not only did it keep me from injury but it was so easy to get the points to stay even while being ironed.

Fold the squares in half and pin on the outer point, folds turned toward each other with about a 3" gap between the two rows of folded squares.

Now, go from side to side, ironing the triangles. To the right, now.....

To the left.

It's time to fold the fabric again. Fold the triangles in half, pin and do the same as above.

 See how I angled the pins. This helps to keep the pins out of the way. I usually place between 8-10 squares on each side. You could definitely do more per side.

I just love sewing and I have many more projects that I plan on finishing this year :) What projects do you have planned for 2014?

Happy sewing,

Holly