"CHOP CHOP" Chef Aprons

To break in Missy Q, I decided to use her to make aprons for the students in my cooking class that I taught the past two weeks.  So last weekend with the help of my sewing buddy Nikki I pulled out one of my sewing for dummies patterns (because my confidence level in garment making is a negative 10!).  Even though it was one of those....it's so easy....I will admit that I stopped following the directions early on.  Yeah me and direction following are like oil and water...we don't mix well!  To simplify my project I choose to make the apron with one pocket instead of two.




To help Missy Q out, her big sister, Futie (Futura XL-400) did all the embroidering because I had a wild hair up my butt to personalize each apron!  I was glad I did it that way because my husband got a chance to see the benefits of having multiple machines...and I was able to multitaskcraft without having to consantly change settings!

I had my son (who is home from college) cut out the apron so I could begin my "sweat shop" sewing!
I had come upon this sewing novelty fabric at Joanns---of course bought on sale and with my teacher's discount.  What you see here is the front pocket with bias tape for the finishing.

So here it is my first completed project on Missy Q! 

My colleague, Tashua Woodham whom assisted throughout the entire two weeks at the cooking camp was one of the apron recipients.

The new baby arrived!

Last week the baby arrived.....the Singer Quantum 9960!

The third baby in my sewing machine collection found her spot next to my Juki Quilt & Pro. 

My Quantum will be used for sewing garments and my traveling machine.  I've broken her in and I must say this baby runs so quietly and smoothly that I feel like the sewing machine has a luxury car engine and chasis!  Of course my first project on my machine is the stitch sampler.  The machine is equipped to produce 600 built-in stitch patterns including five alphanumeric fonts and 13 fully automatic one-step buttonholes.  Well I will say that after sewing four 7x10 blocks of stitches.....I still have not utilized every single stitch for the sampler!  Will I ever use all 600 stitches....who knows....but it makes for a nice challenge.  I did do days upon weeks of reading reviews, pouring over websites, and checking the machine out in it's flesh at the local sewing store before making the purchase. 

The 5 pros that I loved about this machine are:

1.  The abundance of pressure feet that came along with the machine.

All purpose foot
Zipper foot
Button sewing foot
Satin stitch foot
Buttonhole foot with underplate
Open toe foot
Blind hem foot
Overcasting foot
Narrow hem foot
Cording foot
Quarter inch foot
Darning and embroidery foot
Even feed foot
Adjustable Bias Binder Foot
Single Welt Cording Foot
Braiding Guide
Braiding Foot
Clear Stitch-in-Ditch Foot
Fancy Trim Foot

2.  Lucky for me the bonus sewing feet came with these handy dandy info sheets....perfect for the novice sewers like myself who really don't know the purpose is for the different sewing feet!

3.  The bobbins are the same for my Quantum as the Futura!

4.  It is a compact machine with a larger sized machine capabilities!

5.  Machine case and extended table came with the purchase!

Now for the con:
The only problem that I have had is that the needle threading is a bit frustrating and time consuming compared to the big sisters Futura and Juki that I currently have. 

The next test will be the traveling component.....I'm taking a little road trip and will bring Missy Q (her pet name) with me to do some quilt piecing!

In the beginning....there was fabric....

a woman with some time on her hands....and a desire to do something creative! I got tired of watching Project Runway and have ideas piling up in my head about how I wanted to sculpt the fabric.  With my sewing buddy, Nikki Greene in tow....everything fun is better with a friend (this is both of us a year ago at the Project Runway Show in Palm Springs) I started the journey to Sewfinity and beyond.

So over the past 6 months I have begun my new journey as a not "sew" serious sew gal as a way to get back into touch with my creative side and "destress" my life. I will say that so far the journey has been a life changing experience.   I would encourage everyone to tap into their talents---it will add balance to your life. 

To bring everyone current I thought I summarize some of my sewing milestones  (yeah it's like you have your first baby but you don't start completing that baby book until 6 months later and you are trying to remember all those key events because everything went so fast!). 

The first change was creating the environment to sew in....so what was once a formal dining room is now Studio M!  Yeah I have two sewing machines starting out.... but that allows me to multi-project!

Then of course I had to dive in all the way!  I spent countless hours at Joanns and Hancock Fabrics building a fabric stash, gadget collection, and notion emporium!    I also received words of encouragement from my long time friend, Maryrose Solis from elementary school to .... March 4ward with my creative talents and use my passion not just for myself but to help others.  I'll admit that sounds so simple, but those few words were deep with meaning.  She asked me to send her a little write up of my beginning experiences as a quilter....and yeah....I froze up and did not follow through to meet her deadline....however I did not forget.  Everytime I would read the quotes on her March4ward Facebook page....it brought me a step closer to following through.  I'll admit, I honestly did not think I was worthy or even qualified to be on anyones website being that I was a newbie.  You know...its that type of thing that is not being a progressionist and that is definately the opposite of the mindset that is at my core.  So Ms. Solis....here it is progress in process. 

Next I took a big step...drove up to Rancho Cordova, CA for Cindy Needham's 3 day Beginning Quilter's Workshop.  I will say before I got there I was definately a "baby" quilter....after that experience I was empowered beyond belief and can say that she transcended me from the baby status to a quilting toddler!  There were quilters of all levels there, but the common thread among all of us was the desire to improve our craft.  Everyone helped everyone.  Everyone praised everyone.  Everyone taught everyone.  I can say that all of the ladies that I met made my experience positive and priceless. There's no dollar value on spending time with other ladies whom can help you grow in your craft and as a person. I highly encoourage you to take one of her workshops/trainings no matter where you are in your quilting experience.  She taught us all about free motion machine quilting, the value of our local quilt shops, and of course threads (I had no idea that one could earn a degree in such....but it is the glue that will hold all the projects together...and I learned one should not skimp in this area---for the sake of your machine and your project!).  Oh and its okay to have a bunch of pieced tops....theres no quilitng police that is going to come and arrest me if I don't immediately baste, quilt and bind before I start the next project! Not only is Cindy an exceptional teacher but just an overall nice person.  She was very approachable and she made everyone feel special....especially with the little rooster name plates....here's mine that came home with me and sits at my embroidery station.

So with my sewing basket full of confidence and new gadgets I came back home and put my sewing machine to work.  Realizing that I needed to master sewing in a straight line, I choose quilt patterns that allowed me to practice that skill.  So "stained glass quilt" was born.

 

I used Moda's Sassy Charm Pack to put this baby together.  I liked the charm packs because it removed the need to cut the pieces and I could just focus on getting acquainted with my machine.  Notice that i's really nothing but straight line sewing.  For the record both sections have been sewn together however I have not made a final decision if I will put a border around it or not.

Somewhere in between that quilt and the next one....I dabbled into making some garments.  I'll be honest I don't get that ultimate sewers high making clothing as I do quilting---did I go there....yes I did!  Plus I've never been very good at following directions to a tee....so those darn patterns throw me for a loop and by the end of the day I just want to abandon the entire project.  My only favorite outfit so far is one that I freehanded from an existing dress I had in my closet----got it done in a day and wore it that evening to a barbecue.  Here it is.

Then I was fortunate enough to go to a Accuquilt workshop put on by Eleanor Burns.  Now that lady has energy like no other!  I will admit, those two days challenged me because she had us sewing triangles which was totally new for me.  I admit that I had many breaks to accomodate my sewing melt downs but I'm glad I stuck with it because that alleviated my triangle fears.  So I left that event with the Blazing Star Project.

Then I decided to try a new technique of sewing strips onto muslin....this is one of my favorite technique so far.  I like how the muslin foundation gives the quilt top a little more weight.  This was a quilt that I worked on while I was recuperating from gall bladder surgery....so this quilt is called...Recuperation.

Then there was my random stitching of different quilt blocks.  I fell in love with the pinwheel and started another quilt top.  Its a little busy for me right now, so its on the tarmack of projects waiting for me to pilot it back again.

So this past weekend I started and completed my first applique quilt top!  I really enjoyed this project.  I put together what I have learned so far and used my new Sizzix dreseden quilt die to make this quilt pop (Yes I have both the Accuquilt and the Sizzix...I'll go more into detail on my preferences on another posting)!  Now Steam A Seam is my best friend!  Here it is.

There are some other quilts I have completed....but I'll introduce them to you later....they have special meaning behind them and deserve their own separate posting.

So the 3 strands of wisdom to stich in your life today...

• Tune into your creative side....let it become your passion and don't be afraid to run with it.
• Get a partner that you can practice your talents with.
• Don't be afraid to progress forward...you can slow down....just don't stop...and move at the speed in which you can handle.