Half-way through my goddaughter's quilt top!

Finally.

I was able to sew!

(I broke the bottom of the fibula bone in my right ankle,

so I have not been able to use the pressure foot until now).

***

It's been over 2 years since I designed the 

actual quilt top and got the squares all ready to be sewn!

***

I finished the 8th row today!

It felt so very good to be working on this again.

I really hope I can continue on this.

***

I love both quilting and baking for the same reason:

one can actually see results and make something

that others will enjoy.

***

I am hoping that I can sew at least a row a day

if possible and then move on to cutting out the bottom

fabric and then I will have to have it all basted,

which will take more effort.

Of course I will have to press open all the seams

with an iron before moving on, 

but one thing at a time, right?

***

Little by little,

I hope to create a quilt that my dear just 3 year old

goddaughter will love for years to come! 

First Sewing Lesson

My Quilting Friend brought this green fabric for me to 

practice on.

She set up my machine, made sure all the parts were there,

(we did not have tons of time, she understands what she is reading

and efficency counts for something!!!),

and got me going...

I had a cutting lesson on how to measure fabric to be cut...

This omnigrid is amazing!

Hello easy to measure!

And the huge cutting mat?

50% off at Joanne's last Tuesday.

So we washed all the fabrics I have and ironed some of them.

My QF (quilting friend) told me of these snapware

containers that are great to keep fabric in.

My friends, 

you are seeing all of the fabric for the quilt

for my goddaughter!

Actually, it's enough fabric for two quilts if I don't 

blotch the cutting/sewing!

I got the supplies we needed;

in a moment of mercy 

(considering all that was going on at the time)

I thought to email my friend to ask her to make

a list of all the sewing stuff (notions) I would need

to do this project.

She made a list on evernote, I downloaded evernote to my

smartphone, she emailed me the list and we were good to go!

Bonus was that most of the stuff I needed I got at least 

50% off at Joanne's.

Whew.

So not only did I have my

how-to-use-a-rotary-cutter-and-measure lesson,

I got the 

how-to-wind-a-bobbin and how-to-thread-my-machine lessons!

Picture above is my first bobbin!

I got on QF's suggestion a bobbin box and I have decided

that the word 'bobbin box' is one that should be in the 

vocabulary of all hobbit-lovers as it just sounds like

it should be in a Hobbit's hole...

bobbin box....

And after two ties on smaller squares,

I did a strait line of sewing!

Now I just have to repeat this a lot of times... 

I am so excited to learn!

Saint Maybe, Blue Blanket & Other Knits

New Blues for what I think will be a blue

checkered blanket...

Also my grey mink shawl (a little more done) and new white wash cloth

(up top of the picture they are)...

*

I hope to go a bit of a ways by train soon and will be

bringing the blue yarn to use on the trip!

*

My husband was talking the other week about how when he was in

grad school he would listen to books read on the radio 

as well as classes.

He's always been a huge nerd that way and it makes

me fall in love with him at the past years in his life,

though I did not know him at the time.

*

One of the books he listened to was

Saint Maybe.

He told me that it was about a boy

who blurts out his suspicion that his older brother's

new wife is cheating on him. 

It leads to the death of his brother and his brother's new wife

and the boy ends up raising the kids and getting involved

in a fairly fundamentalist, if a bit cooky, church.

I read it the week my husband was away for work

and wow, that first part was hard reading.

But then, I loved it.

The author really loves her characters,

there is a lot of redemption in the book,

a lot of growing in humility, love and mercy.

*

In other parts of creative life,

I baked bread,

yesterday I made a cheesecake

and last week I used a sewing machine for the first time

in at least 28 years.

 My friend whose machine I was using helped a lot

and it felt momentous! :)

I did a fairly strait line!

I hope to get into sewing more after Easter,

as I have a lot of things to do between now and then!

*

What are you making and reading?

Yarn Along with us!