Not quite quilting but home decor of sorts

When I first started in my classroom the previous teacher had made valances for the windows. They were black with bright colored musical notes. Very cute material, but, the were cut and sewed crooked, and each valance was a different length. Every time I looked at them I cringed. I could not find the time throughout the year to make new curtains. Finally, I had a bit of time and tackled the task of making new curtains. This is my first attempt at home decor type stuff. They serve the purpose though and we keep them open all day and closed at nap.

doll quilt

I used my go baby and cut some 4.5 inch squares and made a quick little doll quilt. It was simple and fun to do. I will bring it to school so my girls can cover their baby dolls while they sleep. I have a feeling I will need to make at least 1 more.




Have I mentioned how happy I am with my go baby ? Before I got the baby it took hours for me to cut and half the time the blocks was crooked. Now, layer crank and it is cut and ready to sew! I could seriously advertise for them. They made quilting with one hand a hundred times easier and I don't cry in frustration anymore :)

My new old machine and table

Last year I decided to buy an older sewing machine as back up for my Bernina. Well, I got it cleaned and oiled etc. then it sat in my closet. until two weeks ago when I was cruising craigslist. I found a vintage sewing table for 10.00. With machine measurements in hand Josh and I headed to check out the table. At first we were not sure if my machine would fit but then Josh remeasured and said it would. He picked up the table and then we ordered hinges to set my singer in it. I also got a darning foot off of e-bay for quilting. My main reason for wanting the table was having a larger quilting space. One day I will get a koala table for my Bernina but for now I'm loving my new set-up.

It took hours to figure out the tension etc. but once again with Josh's help on the troubleshooting we got her set up. I am now using this pretty singer to piece and will practice a few small quilts on it before I attack the memory quilt I am working on for my aunt. I want at least 20 hours on the machine before I put something that special on it.

Little project

I have several ongoing projects. However, I wanted to share one I completed today. My kids have a reading center and I wanted to make them something to allow the center to be more desireable. I took some extra curtain material from the teacher before me and made 2 comfy pillows for them to use. Here is a picture of one.



Next on the list is to find some pretty kid fabric and make new curtains for my classroom.

experiment

A few weeks ago I had such creative block I could not sew a thing. A friend suggested I grab some scraps and sew. This is the result. The front is all the scraps that I sewed a few weeks ago tied in by rick rack. This top has Halloween, Christmas, cars, flames ... It is truly an uncontrolled scrappy top. The back I used my baby go to fuse on some flowers. I really like the idea of using a two sided runner. In the end this runner dissolved my creative block :)


My only dilemma is what to do next??????