Tuesday Tip #2 - Needle Down

Hello Again!

Tuesday has come back around, so it's time for me to share a little tidbit I have learned over time.

I find that when I am helping my family and friends learn to sew, one thing I have to constantly tell them is to put the needle in the down position when turning a corner or adjusting the fabric.  This  is especially true during the quilting process.  Working those big heavy quilts require an adjustment here and there, and putting the needle down, will keep your lines straight instead of zigzagged.

If you are lucky enough to have a machine with a needle down function, just enable this function.  If not, you will have to manually turn the wheel and put the needle into the fabric before adjusting/turning.

This may seem like a very insignificant thing, but it really does make a big difference in the overall quality of your finished product.  If you can get in the habit of putting that needle down, it is something that you won't even have to think about.

Have a great day!
~Corrie

Friday Finish #2

The Girlfriends print reminds me of the innocence of girlhood.

Happy Friday everyone!  The weather here was beautiful this week, and it was really kind of tough to keep my nose to the grindstone!  

I am sure you all have felt that feeling at one time or another.  

I have a lot of work to get done in my garden.  It's almost time to start getting serious about planting.  Which means I should be doing prep work.

This is a vintage cherry print, who doesn't love cherries!

I was able to pull off these three aprons this week.  As well as the top of a baby quilt (that I will show when it gets finished).  I would love to see what everyone accomplished this week as well.  

The blue roses are my favorite!  I absolutely love this fabric, I keep looking at it and running my hand over it.  I know I am silly, but some fabrics just really capture me.

Linking up with:
Fort Worth Fabric Studio
My Quilt Infatuation
Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

Tuesday Tip #1

Happy Tuesday Everyone, 

I have decided to start sharing a weekly tip every Tuesday.  

Today I am sharing a tip to help shave a little time off of your quilting.  While putting blocks together, cut your strips, but do not cut them down to the size of your square.  Instead, leave it in a strip and attach square after square, leaving a small space in between. 

Next, you will press your seams, and cut your pieces down to size.  

I hope this helps!  Happy Sewing!

~Corrie

Friday Finish - Heart Quilt

I started this quilt back in January at one of my family quilting weekends.  Got all the hearts made, and then set them aside for a really long time!  I finally pulled it out and wrapped it up.  I have a baby on the radar, so I needed to get moving on it!  The pattern came from Cluck Cluck Sew.   You can find the tutorial here. Thanks so much for sharing this cute quilt with me!

Now that I have the girl blanket done, I have to make a boy one too, just in case!  My brother and sister-in-law are like I was, and do not find out what they are having, so I have to be ready for anything!  

I tried out a little free motion quilting on the side borders, I have just been testing this out a little here and there, and I must say it is harder than I thought it was going to be.  But I will pursue on!  

I absolutely love the minky fabric I put on the back, it looks like little roses, and is oh so soft!  Can't wait to see if baby loves it.  

Happy Friday!  Enjoy your weekend.

~Corrie

How To Turn a Corner When Binding

Happy Wednesday everyone!    

As I was putting the binding on my last quilt, I was thinking to myself how so many of us struggle with corners.  So today, I am sharing with you a simple tutorial on turning, as you attach your binding to the front of your quilt.  

The first thing you will do when approaching a corner is to stitch right up to 1/4 inch from the edge.

Next, you will fold the strip completely back so that it is in a straight line with the edge of your quilt, and perpendicular with the edge you have just stitched down.

Now, fold it back down and in line with the edge you are getting ready to stitch down, lining the fold up with the edge you've already stitched.

(I pinned it so I could take my hands away and snap a picture, but I would not usually do so.)

And Finally, begin stitching right along the edge and continue on to the next corner.

 This will create a great corner for you when you flip it around to the back. 

I hope that this helps!

Remember to keep smiling, spring is only two days away!

~Corrie

To Sew, or to Sow

I certainly try to produce as much food as I can for our family.  I feel that it is very important to know where our food comes from, and know what is in it.  So today, instead of spending the morning Sewing, I decided to do a little Sowing.

Living here in Western Washington, we usually put up with a lot of rain and dreary weather (I am sure you have heard the statistics of depression and suicide in the Pacific Northwest).  But this year, we have had beautiful weather the last three weeks. 

Yesterday and through last night we had a pretty good rain, and the ground is nice and saturated.  I however will never complain!  The rain is what makes it so beautiful here!  And to to be honest, this winter has been very mild, and we need more of it.   

This morning, I saw some signs of life from the peas I planted a few weeks ago.  I wait until the ground warms up to plant most of my garden, but there are a few things that I like to get into the ground early.  I always plant my peas in February.

I also was even able to put in some lettuce and spinach today.  They too, can handle a little cold, and it will be nice to have an early crop.  This is about all I am willing to do for another week or two.  Maybe it's time to get some starts going inside.  But without a greenhouse, I really do not have great luck with them.      

What sort of gardening do you enjoy doing?  Do you get an early jump on it like I do, or play it safe and wait?   

Enjoy your day!

~Corrie

Loving my machine

Over the last few days I have really been enjoying my new machine.  There is no better way to get to know a machine than quilting out a king size quilt.

I must say that I am amazed at how simple the Juki feeds my blanket through.  It makes me feel like what I was doing before was a very labor intensive chore.  

Also, after reading a lot of reviews on the machine, I came to the conclusion that the walking foot was going to be a little noisy and klunky, but I figured I could live with that.  After quilting with it for a few hours, I knew there had to be a way to fix that, And I have!    I have figured out a way to make it fit better and not be so  noisy, so if you're interested in that little tip, let me know.

Have a great Day, I am off to my quilt!

~Corrie

Linking up with Titus 2sDay.

Sewing Room

  Up until today, I have been sewing on my dining room table.  The more I got into doing jobs for people I know, the more things overtook my house.  Many Many days, our table looked like this: 

 but usually worse!

My family has been very patient, but being a family that enjoys sitting around the table together, we began to miss it a little.  They all began to grow tired of pulling chairs over and squeezing around the kitchen island.   My husband finally said enough is enough!

Since my kids never play with toys anymore, I overtook the playroom.  We cleaned it out, set in our new floors, and it sat empty for a couple of months.  Why?   Because I move at a snails pace sometimes!

Finally the time has come!!  I went to Ikea a couple of days ago, and yesterday, my husband slaved away for me, and today, I was happily sewing in my room!

Not only did I get a new room, but I am feeling very blessed, it's like Christmas all over again, I GOT A NEW MACHINE!
I have been sewing on my Singer Curvy for about 4 years or so now, but as I get more serious about my sewing adventures, it was clear to me that I had to step it up a notch.

So thanks to the review from Cluck Cluck Sew last week, I took the plunge.  What a difference this machine is making as I try to quilt out a king size quilt!  There is no way I would be so happy about doing this on my old baby.  But don't worry, I will be keeping her around to teach some cute little girls how to sew.  My first student will be here on Sunday to dive into some sewing with me.  My kids love to tool around on my machine once in a while too, so I am sure Miss Curvy has many many miles left in her.  Isn't it funny how we get attached to our machines?

For my cutting table, I chose to put two dressers back to back.  I wanted my table to be a little taller, so I don't have to bend to cut.  I really put a lot of thought into how I wanted my room, but will probably shuffle things around a few more times before I really get it set.

I also need to paint, I am thinking I need to get rid of the orange cream and blue and do something more neutral.  But you know how that goes, it could be a month or two.  Plus, as you can see, the dressers need to be finished in some way as well.  That too will come.

I hope I have many happy sewing hours in here,   Now I am curious, where do you sew?  Are you lucky enough to have a space for it, or does your family have to be patient with you like mine was?  

Thanks for stopping by and letting me show my joy!