Back after years

 I decided to start using this blog again. Started it when I was 14 I think. Now at 26 my life is a lot different! I live in Philadelphia PA and am married with 2 children. 

I still quilt and have added weaving, spinning, crochet, dyeing wool and needlefelting.

Oct 20

Hi!

Got several strips cut out today for my 4 patch quilts - I'm kind of making them in bulk. Right now I have several different layouts planned and am going to work on it.

I was gone for most of the day, so didn't really get a lot done.

Emily

Oct 18

Hi!

Today was my Dad's birthday. It was a fairly good day, but again didn't really get a lot of quilting done. Less then yesterday even. I have a goal to get some done tomorrow though.

For my Dad's birthday(he is 62) I gave him a lap quilt. I'll try to get it from him again and take pictures tomorrow though. I should have several pictures over the next few days!

Oct 17

Hi!

Not a lot to report today, as I was helping with Llamas and we had people over. I helped catch 12 Llamas for the vet today - my neighbor has them. I get the wool from them, something I really appreciate it, as I can't afford to buy wool.

Llama fiber might not be the easiest fiber to work with, but at the same time it's what I have. And I work at using what I have!

On the quilting front, I didn't get a lot of binding done on the 2 quilts, but am going to work on it more tomorrow.

Have a great day!

Emily

Goals and etc

Hi!

I now have a goal with this blog. I am going to post every day. Since August 25th, I have been keeping a written private journal, and have not missed writing in it. I want to do this on this blog as well, but mostly pertaining to quilting and also to improve my skills as a writer.

This summer, I've had a lot going on, and quite a bit on my plate. In July, I went to Virginia for a week. It was a youth conference that my church hosted. It was at the College that I want to go to. The college is called Southern Virginia University, and my goal now is to apply for August of 2012.

So, I've been busy doing a lot of schoolwork, and until the end of September(I'm 16 now by the way) I haven't done anything other then move my sewing room, quilting or machine wise.

Starting in September though, I was able to piece 3 quilt tops(all very simple) and finally get the binding on a quilt I've had in process for over a year. Two of the three Quilt Tops are now quilting, one is bound and one is in the process, as is the other one.

Right now I am working on my Round Robin Quilt, I'm going to try getting it basted and ready to start quilting soon. I am also in the process of several more lap quilts with 4 patches. Busy, but a lot of fun!

More Tomorrow!

Emily

Spinning Wheels

Hi!

Wow! It's been a loooong time. I got my treadle working, and yes the needles did get there and I was able to start playing with it :) I have been piecing with it, and actually using it quite a lot - my next challenge is free motion quilting, I have to mess with the tension on it.

Different topic. I have become obsessed with spinning wheels. This is my hopeful one that I am getting from KY. A very generous person offered it to me for free - but I have to get it from KY to Oregon..

Thanks for looking!

Emily

Picture of machine(with more rambling)

Hi!

Here is a picture of my machine I talked about yesterday. Like I said, I am picking it up on Tuesday. I'm also going to get 4 heads, which will bring my total to 31, until I sell my white FR treadle Tuesday evening. I'm currently working on the White FR head, and am having a few issues. I am positive it is a user error, I just have to figure out which one!!

On the quilting front. After I get my mother's king quilt done, I am going to be working on a vintage top I have - very pretty lady of the lake pattern. Not sure how I'm going to bind it - so wish me luck! On my mom's quilt, I am trying a different strategy. I don't have room to lay out a 120x120 quilt, so I am going to sew the top and bottom right sides together and have the batting on the bottom. Then I will turn it right side out, baste and quilt it. Also, with this method, I will not have to do a lot of hand work for the binding, and I am pretty sure it will last for quite a while. I have another quilt that is in very poor condition, you can tell it was used a lot, and the binding was done this way. The binding has no wear whatsoever!!

On my "new" machine, I also got needles from ebay! I am crossing my fingers that they will get there by Thursday, so I can start playing with it!!

Have a good day all,

Emily

Industrial

Hi!

I've been actually making and selling quite a few things! This week I am taking the money I've made from my quilts, and buying a industrial machine! I am really happy about this, as I have wanted one for quite a while. It's a singer 31-20...

My current project is a quilt for my mom, a king size. Will be posting pictures of it in progress soon. It's the bargello I posted pictures of a few posts ago. I had to add a huge border to it, but it still looks great!!

Hope all of you have happy holidays,

Emily

Crystals

Hi!

I've been sewing like mad! I've made around 15 potato bags(which are very controversial by the way) two lap quilts, two table runners, a table topper, and a few other things I can't remember at the moment. I've had a lot of fun :)

So far the market my dad started is going pretty good. This will be the 6th week, and we have a crystal vendor. She was at another craft sale I was at today, and I got two crystals. One is a black one and I cannot remember what it is called. The other, whose name I do remember, is a quartz. I'm going to put both in my main Davis VF's drawer!! Fun :)

Apparently, we are expecting some snow. Main thing I see, is if the power goes out - I'll still be set, besides light and my iron, of course. I am hopeful we don't get snowed in, but if we do, we do.

Hope everybody has a great thanksgiving!

Emily

Picture Time!!!

Glasses Cases

Hi!

It seems like I dropped of the face of the earth for a while. Maybe I did ;)

Been pretty busy with quilting and book processing etc. My birthday was the 22nd of September!

My current project is quilted glasses cases, and other things to sell. Kind of fun - though I prefer quilts!

I am up to 23 sewing machines. I did have 24 but I gave away two, then bought another one. I'm going to a treadle on gathering on Saturday, and I will come home with a few there...

I'm actually doing a demonstration at the treadle on gathering - the glasses cases. Should be fun!

Emily

Shelving Project

Hi!

This week we have been doing a shelving project. In June we got 18 tons of shelving( I think I mentioned it)

This week we got rid of some of it to a FOL bookstore. It was cool to watch a empty room transformed in 3 days.. Fun sort of, and at the same time - I'd rather be quilting/knitting! Actually did take my needles to the store and did a few rows. The thing that is the most annoying about knitting is that I can't really stop in the middle of the row unless I want to mess up. I'm getting faster though :)

My dad is a farmers market manager and so I get to go there on Saturdays. It is really fun - the people are nice and the food is awesome! Good place to work on a project, am debating on yarn or quilting this week!

Hope you all have a good day,

Emily

Not much quilting

Hi!

I have not been doing a lot of quilting or blogging lately. The days seem to rush by and I don't get anything done!!

My current project is a doll quilt, then a twin size I have to finish quilting, and then a king size quilt for my mom. My goal is to use the bargello center, and put a 50 inch border around it using sampler blocks in varying shades. My hope is to have a common color though.

I also hope to enter it in the Sisters Oregon quilt show, that is my goal.

My newest hobby is knitting. A few posts back, I said I hated it(removed said post) and that it was frustrating. I have a new look on it now, and I just hope I can keep doing it. Somebody showed me that was a teacher, and that helped a lot. I am having fun with it :)

Emily

Back from Camp!

Hi!

I got back from camp, and it was really fun! I did not have anybody I knew in my cabin this year, which was frustrating, but I had a really cool Jc, which made up for it. I also knew the cabin mom!

I didn't do very well on my certification, but it wasn't as hard as I thought it was. I was actually able to start a fire without matches(battery and steel wool)

In all, it was a good week.

On another note, the week before we had a big project. We helped a library that had lost it's lease. We ended up with 18 truck loads of items, and about 200 shelf units! It was a lot of hard work, but some of it was fun. Camp was a nice break after it..

Emily

Camp!!!

Hi!

I am going to girls camp today, and I am really looking forward to it. I will post later this week when I get back :)

My family had a shelving project they were doing - 20 truckloads, so I haven't posted. More on that at the end of the week...

Emily

Quilt for a friend...

Hi!
I got the bargello even further finished( I added more onto it) and I am going to put borders around to make it a king sized quilt. I am think I need a 50 inch border, not sure what I am going to do with that yet!

I am making a signature quilt, and I'm starting to work on that right now. I have a charm pack, and thus am laying out the sqaures. It's going to be very simple, just squares solids and white alternating. I have until the 12th to get it finished, so I need to hurry!

Today I talked to a women I have known for quite a few years. She used to quilt, but has not done so for a while. I'm going to make her a lap quilt in blues. I am thinking maybe a Jacobs Ladder pattern but I am not sure.

Yesterday we picked up from a booksale - Manzinita. It was fairly nice, and we got about a truck load and a half(maybe around 2 tons) from them. They are the nicest sale we pick up from, so it's well worth the 4 hour driving time! We took two trucks, and one broke down sadly, so we were able to call AAA, and get it towed back to salem. Luckily it was under 100 miles!

I had a eventful day, at any rate, and I am hoping to make tons of progress on the signature quilt.
Emily

Bargello

Hi!

I got the top done, sort of for my Bargello. I am debating whether or not to add the strips to make it bigger. What do you think, add it or use it for something else?

I had a lot of fun with it. What I'd like to do, is make it into a king size quilt, maybe add borders or something. My mom wants a blue quilt for her bed, and she sort of likes this..

It was sewn on my riccar treadle, and will be quilted on my davis VF.

On another note, I am hosting a swap on another board. I think I talked about it a bit a while ago. I am having fun with it, and have opened the swap for the next month :) I got my package(it was great) and it seems like other people are having fun with it too!

Emily

Getting the blues - bargello wise

Hi!

The above pictures are what I have done so far. I'm having some problems with it - I have to resew what is on the machine, but other then that, it is coming nicely. Currently I have over half of my strips cut, and I hope to start arranging and sewing fairly soon.

Will post a longer post later, when I have it done!!

Emily

More Bargello...

Hi!

I've made some good progress on my Bargello. I have 20 different strips of fabric, 3 1/2 inches wide. They are light to dark blues, and are very pretty in my opinion ;)

I've been sewing them on my faithful Riccar. It's a circa 1962 Green Class 15 clone, in a Singer Straight leg base. It is a awesome machine!

Currently I have all the stirips sewn together, now.... I just need to cut. This project has really consumed me, I am not like this on a project - usually. I don't think I have ever been. My constant thought process is: Bargello Bargello etc etc etc....

I am looking for a Davis Vertical Feed - as I posted, I recently got a base for one, now I have an excuse to get another one ;)

I was watching one on Ebay, but I asked the seller how many watchers, and she said 18. Yikes!!

I'm off to sew, and obsess over The Bargello... Will be posting pictures pretty soon, maybe later today.

Emily

New - sort of Treadle!

Hi!

I need to start the Bargello soon - I'm thinking about it more.. In the meanwhile, yesterday I got a treadle! It worked out very nicely for me and getting it, the seller was very nice. It was funny. I thought it was a White FR head, with a base that the machine(White FR) would fit. I got the White FR of which I now have 2 - though the one I got yesterday looks a lot nicer then my other one.

So, we were driving home, and I looked back at it. The irons didn't look particularly white like...

It looked like my Davis NVF base, only nicer. Sure enough, I compared it, and they are for the same machine. While I was hoping to get a base for my White FR, this is even better! I love my Davis NVF - and now I have a excuse, I call it "bait" to get another one :) I put my Davis NVF in it, and it works so nicely.

It was really neat, the cabinet's sliding chain had come apart(all parts aside from a few screws were there) and I was able to get it to work again! I've never done anything like that!

Now, for this to be quilt -ish, and not just me going on and on about a new treadle ;)

I signed up for a Round Robin yesterday. It sounds like it'll be fun - I already have a center for it, and I think I'll learn a lot. I've been postponing joining one, because I felt like I wasn't good enough. I hope I've learned enough to be good enough, but the rules didn't appear to say "you work has to be perfect" it was more do the best you can...

Wow, this got long! Shows you how long I can go on and on and on about treadles...

Emily