It's A Cynch!

We all love our kids and want to keep those old baby clothes.  I've made a couple of memory quilts with old kids clothes.  I need to post pictures of the last one I did because I made a huge boo boo.  But my quick thinking husband helped me figure a fix.  That's not what I want to write about now.  I want to write about our pets.  Our other kids that we love.  The ones that don't talk back and actually listen to you. A good friend of mine lost her beloved dog.  He was a great dog and she took him to a lot of shows.  He was her baby.  So she was very, very sad when he passed.  She asked me to make a ribbon quilt out of his old show ribbons. Ribbon quilt?!  What is that?!  I have never heard of that before.  And I've been quilting a LONG time!  So I Pinterest-ed (is that a word???  It is now.) it.  And there are beautiful ribbon quilts out there. She gave me three boxes of ribbons and a few of her f...

I've told you before that my Babylock Unity embroiders also.  I bought the digitizing software a few years ago that goes with the Babylock called the Palette.  I think I have version 10.  I use it to digitize designs...well, ok..I'm learning still.  Digitizing is not easy!  I figured that since I'm a mechanical engineer and I work on CAD software all day, digitizing would be a breeze.  Well, it's not!  There are a lot of little tricks and order matters.  I played around with the picture aspect of the Palette.  Supposedly, you can scan in any picture, tell Palette that you want to digitize it and voila! You have a digitize picture that you can then embroider.  So I used one of my youngest son's senior pictures.  Isn't he handsome?  I had to crop his face or the file would have been huge! It took a few tries and I had to adjust the number of threads, the contrast and brightness a few times before I got an image that I l...

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 ...

My eyesight seems to be getting worse and worse. Quilting on the Handiquilter at night gave me headaches. I even borrowed my husband's headlamp. I went by Huntsville Sew and Vac and looked at all of the accessories for the Handiquilter. I saw this pack of LED lights that stick onto the frame. It made so much of a difference! I cut a section of the strip off and it made the rest a little brighter.

Sorry I haven't posted in a few weeks.  I've been so busy working on several projects.  I completed two t-shirt quilts in time for graduation presents!  I also finished a baby quilt for my brother's baby who is absolutely adorable!!  (I'm not biased at all!  💗 )  I am now working on another t-shirt quilt! OH!  Before I forget...I officially opened my little online shop.   It's A Cynch! is open for business! Like the name??  I can't take the credit.  My sister came up with it.  She's more creative than I am!  The link to my Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/IsACynch .   As soon as I figure out how to add the Facebook link on this blog, I will. I also got a new toy to help stabilize t-shirts faster.  I bought a heat press.  I researched and checked reviews and this one had really good reviews for the price.  It is quite heavy though!  But what would have taken me an entire day of watching Dr....

My brother, Kevin, and his wife, Nicki, are expecting their first baby! We are all over the moon with excitement! We can't wait to meet this new little person! Defying the popular trend of finding out the sex, they have decided to let it be a complete surprise. I think that's more fun. So Nicki said she wanted neutral colors for the baby quilt. I fell in love with the scrap bin flying geese pattern. I used neutral colors with a tiny splash of aqua or blue-green. I said a tiny splash of aqua...I just loved the geometric pattern.  I used the leftovers to piece a modern quilt back.  The quilt is about the size of a lap quilt. I think that's a better size. They can use it for picnics and a play blanket. I have some bibs and burping rags to make.  I hope the baby knows how loved they are!  Meaningful gifts is what it's all about!  Happy quilting y'all!

I finished another graduation quilt!!! It's for a good friend of mine's son. And good thing too. He graduates in two weeks! It's the best one that I've made so far! I did black and gold sashing for Vanderbilt colors. I also embroidered "Vanderbilt university" on top and "Commodores" on the bottom border. The finished quilt is 96 inches wide x 130 inches long.  You may be wondering why it's so long. Nick is 6 foot 7 inches tall. So it should cover him nicely! Happy quilting y'all!