quilting bee

i've decided to make a quilt!  my mom is a fantastic quilt maker and taught me many moons ago.  i've never made a quilt without her help, but decided to give it a go.  this meant pulling my old $10 kenmore sewing machine (acquired at a goodwill store in portland almost 10 years ago) out of the garage. 

it doesn't have a cover and has been beaten up pretty good through my moves.  and it was covered in a layer of filth.  but it's one of those big old heavy ones that was built when they made things right.  it doesn't have any plastic parts. . .this sucker is all metal and tough as nails.  so i dusted it off, threaded it up and tried a little practice stitching.  uh oh, no go.  it runs, but it doesn't seem to be working properly so i dropped it off for a little tune up.  hopefully, they can sort it out, but if not, it might be time for a new machine.

anyhow, my quilt is going to a bright and happy sunshiney yellow.  i'm cutting out all of the pattern pieces now.  which by the way is so much faster and easier now than back in the day.  my mom and i used to make a little cardboard template that we'd trace on the fabric and then painstakingly cut each square out with scissors.  i discovered sewing technology has evolved and acquired a rotary cutter and quilting ruler that makes the old way seem archaic.  so much faster now. . .but i already have a couple of nicks from the super sharp rotary cuter.  trying to be more careful.

here's a mock up preview of what the quilt will look like: