Caveat emptor!

I broke one of the cardinal rules of Ebay.  I bought a Singer Featherweight back in January.  I was in a serious funk when the machine arrived and I wasn't sewing at the time, so I didn't even bother to test the machine.  I do believe the listing said it worked.  Well, I tried it out this weekend and - you guessed it - it DOESN'T work.

And of course it's too late to even bring up the Ebay listing to see if it was supposed to work, and I have no recourse with the seller after all this time.  I do feel like the machine can be repaired.  The electrical system works - the light comes on - but nothing happens when I press the foot pedal - so maybe it needs a motor or a new power cord?

I am registered to take a "Care and Repair of Your Featherweight" class sponsored by my guild in May.  I will take the machine with me and ask the instructor what he thinks before I take it in to the repair shop - or perhaps it is something I can fix myself after taking the class.  If nothing else, I have a cute  and very expensive sewing-related paperweight.   :(

Swing your partner, Allemande left!

I completed the pieced portion of Miss Rosie's Allemande quilt yesterday - wahoo!  I made it using Moda's Faded Memories fabric collection.  This project was a long time in finishing - I started it early last year and had to put it aside after it started to drive me koo-koo (sadly, a very short trip).  But my second attempt at assembly went much more smoothly when I relaxed about fabric and piece placement and just grabbed pieces randomly.  What freedom!

I didn't think I would like the finished quilt because I'm not much into pastels, and assumed this quilt would be going to live with my Mom.  But guess what - I love it!  The pictures don't do it justice, for sure.  It's hard to capture this quilt's beauty with my digital camera.

One little snafu - I was planning to dive right into the mitered borders, but when I went to cut them out yesterday, discovered I don't have enough of my border fabric.  I don't know how that happened, as I tend to overbuy.  If the pattern calls for 2-1/2 yards, I'll buy 3.  But, I'm short and will need to see what else I can find.  I was planning to use the same dark pink print as I used in the big pinwheels, but maybe I'll have to improvise.  The borders will be scalloped after it comes back from the machine quilter, which will be another first for me!

Where it all began

This should probably be entitled Lisa's Hall of Shame, but I still "sort of" like this quilt, even though the fabrics and workmanship make me shake my head and wonder how I was ever proud of this quilt!

This was a pattern called Winken, Blinken & Nod from an old issue of Quiltmaker magazine - I believe I started this one in 1993 and it was indeed my very first quilt. I cut the pieces out when I had to to be home from work to prep for a colonoscopy.  I used a rotary cutter and cardboard templates.

As it turned out, my colonoscopy went awry, and I ended up having to have part of my colon removed as I had complications following the procedure and the doctors suspected they had punctured my colon. It was months before I got back to this quilt as I recovered from my unexpected surgery.

When I began to actually piece the quilt, I couldn't figure out why none of the pieces fit together correctly.  I checked the pattern in the magazine again and realized that each time I cut out the pieces, I'd shaved off a tiny portion of my cardboard template, making my pieces smaller and smaller with every cut.

So it was back to the cutting board with all new fabrics since I had already cut up all the blues, greens and whites from my then meager stash. The second cutting attempt using a laminate template material was much better, but I still struggled with the piecing - see how my centers don't come anywhere even close to matching?  Go on, click the picture to see it REALLY CLOSE - it will make anyone feel better about their piecing, I guarantee!!!

Oh my, I should be ashamed to even show this, but I suppose we all have to start somewhere! And as Darlene and Nicole reminded me, it is part of my quilting history and should be remembered. I also shake my head about my stunning white cornerstones! My original idea was to hand quilt some celestial symbols in the corners, like moon and stars, but obviously that never happened.

But, there you have it - in all its glory. Stay tuned for more from Lisa's Hall of Shame! This is NOT the worst of it, my dear readers, by a long shot!

A takedown!

Yesterday's kickboxing class was so much fun.  At the end of the class, we were doing some "real life" stuff and the instructor had me try a move on him.  I didn't mean to, but I TOOK HIM DOWN - he went flying to the mat.  He is a 6'4" black belt in Tai Kwan Do and I am just 5'3" little me - what a rush!  There was hootin' and hollerin' from the gals in class who saw it (including his wife!) and since there were 4 who didn't see it, they all made me do it again and it was just as much fun the second time around.  Ah, the simple little joys in life....

And the winner is...

Using a random number generator, I picked commenter #5 to win the fabrics in my March 29 post.  The winner is Kim of A Peach in Stitches.  Congrats Kim and thanks to all of you that played along by leaving a comment.  I love the quilt blogging community - everyone is so inspirational!

Happy Birthday Big Boys!

TEN YEARS ago today, my beautiful twin boys were born 3-1/2 weeks early. Here's them sharing a bassinet in the hospital. Now one of them (the one who was born the smallest) is 4'10" - nearly as tall as me! This ten years has just flown by. Happy Birthday Eric and Owen - two finer young men, I've not had the pleasure to meet. Love you bunches and bunches, Mom.

Major progress, but I can't show you!

I have less than 2-1/2 rows left to go on my Allemande quilt.  But the rows are too big for my design wall, so as I complete each one, I drape it over my sewing table.  It will be a huge surprise for me to see the overall effect of the rows put together.  I am really loving the process and the look of the blocks as they are going together into rows.  I can't wait to see how it looks when it all comes together, and to be able to share it with you!  SOON!