A new baby

My old Brother sewing machine has been having issues lately, and I was using my mother in law's machine, but we have known that I needed an upgrade for a while. I did my research and decided on the Pfaff Quilt Expression 4.0 to use and abuse next.

The husband and I made a weekend out of it, starting out at a bed and breakfast called the Traditions Inn in Columbus, Nebraska. How CUTE! The rooms were affordable and gave you that country feel even with the great downtown Columbus location. And the owner was just the nicest woman! We were late (thanks to trying to hurry and getting stopped outside of Albion...luckily it was just a warning!), but called ahead to let them know, and she was more than accommodating. We arrived around 9:30 and we debated between just grabbing a snack before bed and supper, but we realized that we were in the "big city" and could actually eat out at a nice restaurant late, so we went for that option.

 Here is a sunset we enjoyed on our way there...the hubs even offered to stop for a picture!

And the super cut planter...need to figure out how to DIY that! Don't you just love the garden tool curtain rods in the breakfast room? I will do this in a mud room someday!

In the morning we headed to our first quilt shop, where I oogled over these gorgeous kaleidoscope quilts.

And then I drooled all over these antique quilts they had for decor. I love the little ruffle in the flower, and the yellow and white...how classic!

And then at the second quilt shop, I was told we weren't allowed to take pictures of the quilts unless we bought the pattern. :( Country Traditions Quilt Shop in Fremont was amazing and they had SO many quilts hung up! And SO much fabric...and SO many Pfaff sewing machines!

Here I am with the new baby! I was thinking about naming her Daphne, because it kind of goes with Pfaff. Ha...so funny. Anyway...She's awesome, and I'm loving having such an advanced machine. I've only barely scratched the surface on what she can do, but I'm hoping to hit one of the free owner's classes at the quilt shop sometime soon to expand what I can do.

I did buy one other little thing at the quilt shop that has made a huge difference in my sewing...fork pins! I am making this quilt from Moda Bake Shop for Lily, and she uses them in the tutorial, so it inspired me to try them out. They are SO handy, and so easy to use! I just love the look of a quilt with the seams pressed open, so now that I have these, I'll be doing that more often.

 

Happy quilting!!

Nestie Quilt Along 2011

Hey all! There I was, just quilting away on a billion other projects and I said to myself, “Self, let’s do something scrappy!” I asked my dear Nesties if they knew of any scrappy quilt alongs were going on in blogland, but they ended up talking me into doing one myself. Eek! Well, of course I like easy patterns, so I thought a nine patch quilt would be fun.

So, while I’ve never even written a tutorial before, I’m going to try my hand at this quilt along thing! I think if we start it with the goal of doing a nine patch a day, we will get there sooner than we think.

To start, let’s do the math. I’m more of a do it as you go type, so this is new for me! Haha For the throw size, you will need a total of 140 (4.5”) nine patch blocks. If we do one block a day, you’ll need 20 weeks for this project. Of course, you can work ahead if you want, but this is just a project to work on your stash and get a quilt done on the side of other projects. Sometimes you just need to look at something else. Anyway, back to that nasty math part! To make 140 nine patch blocks, you’ll need a total of 1260 2” squares. That sounds like a TON (ok, it really is), but just stack those fat quarters and cut a few at once. Or just cut as you go.  If I did my math right, you should be able to get 1260 2” squares out of 14 fat quarters. I’m leaving the amount of different fabrics up to you! For those of you who want to work out of your stash and use anything and everything you’ve got, have at it! For those who like a coordinated, thought-out look, go buy 14 coordinating fat quarters. For sashing, you’ll need about 2.5 yards (I estimated…I always buy extra and cut up the leftovers for my scrap bins) of a solid color, and then another fabric for a border (optional). And batting, binding, and backing of course, but I usually by those fabrics after finishing the quilt top. Everyone is different, though.

Ok, so let’s imagine that you have 1260 2” squares cut out. Or 9 of them, that works too… Take two different colored squares (A and B)  and sew them together. Then take two more different colored squares (A and B) and sew them together without taking the first set off the machine. Same with the third set.

This is called chain stitching and will save you time and money (that little bit of thread will add up!). Anyway, do a third set of the two fabrics and cut the ends. Leaving that chain together, sew the last three squares to the chain you have, making sure you have two ABA rows and one BAB (which will be the middle) row. Make sense? Sorry, I'm not great at this! :) 

Now, I press my seams apart. It makes for a smoother finished quilt and it is easier to do the actual quilting when it comes to that.

However you do it will be fine, but this is how I do it. Easy, right? Now do that every day for the next 140 days.

I’m not cool enough to know how to make buttons or logos or flicker groups, or whatever , so we’ll just do check ins on the nestie crafts board, if that is cool with you ladies! Please post a comment here to let me know you're doing the quilt along with us (with your Nestie name if possible). If I'm missing anything or you have questions, please don't hesitate to let me know or ask! I've never really done anything like this, it's more just for me to have someone to be accountable to for a block a day type thing, so if I'm too disorganized, let me know! lol

*****Edited to add: One of the members made a Flickr group for us to share photos and discussions on. http://www.flickr.com/groups/nestiequiltalong/ *****