One graduation present down, one to go...maybe two...

I finished Matt's quilt this weekend. I didn't think I would because we've had a family member in the hospital. My Handiquilter was delivered last Friday, but I didn't really get to play as much as I wanted. Huntsville Sew and Vac and especially, Sherri were very good to work with. If you're interested in a Handiquilter, ask for Sherri!

I had a few minor glitches when I started quilting Matt's quilt. But...Matt will never notice them. I hope.Tension is still a four letter word to me. But after Friday afternoon, maybe not so much. I have to say, the Handiquilter is the most user friendly quilter I've ever used. After a little nervousness, I finally had fun. So the top half of the quilt is not as nice as the bottom half. But, hey. They are friends and they'll understand if I used their quilt to practice on!

Here are some of the designs I finally got brave enough to stitch. I even wrote Matt's name and wrote "Goal" and "Kick" and "Midfielder" on the quilt. It'll be somewhat of Hide n Seek. I also had some fun with loops and stars.

I didn't think it was too bad for my very first free motion run. (OK. Second run since I took a class!) I can't wait to quilt my next top. I think I'm going to enjoy free motion quilting!

What do you think of my label? I've been trying to come up with a name for a quilt "store". My husband came up with "Cynz Creations". My goal is to quilt tops for people once I get comfortable enough with free motion and get some designs under my belt. I've also had a lot of requests for tshirt quilts. So I decided to make the commitment and try to open an online shop of sorts. I'm still working out the details. I still have a full time that gets in the way of fun. But I'd like to pay myself back the cost of the longarm quilter. Like the quilt says "Don't go through life without goals!".

Happy Quilting Ya'll.

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My New Favorite Toy!

I decided to try my hand at using the rulers with my Handi-quilter. I was very nervous at first. The longarm is still new to me. I've mastered loops, but need to add to my arsenal of patterns. So...I watched a YouTube video (my go to "how to" site) and decided I would stitch in the ditch using the straight side of the ruler. It is really hard to stitch a straight line on the longarm without help. How hard can it be with the help of a ruler??? It was the easiest thing to learn! I started slowly, but as I gained confidence, I got a little faster. Unfortunately, I got over confident and accidentally tried to sew straight through the ruler! Besides sewing through my fingernail, it was one of the scariest thing to happen to me! (Maybe I should have stopped and gone to bed sooner!) The machine set off a loud alarm, the needle snapped (thank goodness the thread was threaded or it would have flown off...possibly toward my face) and I had this horrible thought that I had just ...

If at first you don't succeed...

There are several old sayings I could think of in my situation. I think I can. I think I can. Or my favorite: If at first you don't succeed , try , try again ! Maybe that last part should be: Walk away and drink a glass of wine! I volunteered to quilt one of the guild's charity tops. I thought I could use it as a practice piece for the Handiquilter. Keep in mind this is only my second top I've loaded onto the rollers. Two tries to get it straight. Grrr....Then I had issues with thread breakage. Thought my friend, Tension, and I were going to have a fight. Nope. Finally decided it's a bad spool. You find those every now and then. So with one eye on the spool to make sure it didn't double over on itself as it unrolled, I tried to quilt. Well, you can see the results for yourself. Practice makes perfect! Right? Happy quilting ya'll???

Coiled fabric basket

I know. I know. I haven't posted in a while. I've been extremely busy and I haven't had the time. But I wanted to share with you a little project that I made this weekend. It took longer than I thought and my sewing machine didn't like to cooperate. But I finished it and it's really cute...more importantly, useful! I decided I needed a basket to keep all of my receipts till I file them. So I used clothesline rope and wrapped scrap fabric around it and made a basket. It's called a coiled fabric basket. There are several blogs and help online. The only tip I can suggest is to sew along the rope with a straight stitch to attach the fabric to the rope and it kind of flattens the rope, making it easier to sew. I used the largest zigzag stitch and a heavy blue jean needle. Don't forget the large blue jean needle. Or you will break needles. Trust me...I speak from experience! I even asked my husband to bring ...

It's A Cynch!

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