Confessions of a tableware addict

I love, love, love china of all sorts. My current everyday tableware is Blue Willow, which is the pattern I had when my husband and I started seeing each other. It's kind of sentimental. After we began working we bought several sets of dishes, but after the inevitable breakage, the replacement pieces weren't always available. Thus, another whole set would be purchased. After doing this twice, we said, "Why not just get Blue Willow? There will always be Blue Willow." So we did.

The reason I had Blue Willow to begin with is that I adore blue and white china. In the past several years I have begun to pick up Spode Blue Room pieces whenever I find them at a reasonable price. (Thank you, T. J. Maxx!). I like to do holiday dinners on the Zoological Series, although I feel guilty giving someone the rhinoceros plate! I have serving pieces and teapots and cookie jars and all sorts of blue and white ware.

My serious china is a pink rose pattern. It's gorgeous, delicate stuff, the thickness of a sheet of parchment, and I always panic when hand washing them, for fear that I'll break a piece. The funny part is where they came from. They're gasoline purchase china. (You know, 99 cents with a fill-up.)

My father was a Standard Oil dealer. In the 60's, the company ran a number of dishware promotions. Each piece was available for a week or two, except for the plates, which you could buy all during the promotion. The pieces were about a dollar each when you filled up your car. The pattern is called Island Rose, and the promotion was announced during a dinner meeting of Standard Oil dealers with the theme "Come to the Chevron Island." Island - you know, pump island. Think gas station. I remember this because Mom and Dad came home with silk flower leis and we thought it was so funny.

Anyway, when the dishes arrived, Mom started putting away a set for me. I was in high school at the time. She was forward-looking enough to know that when I was out on my own I would want china, and good china is expensive. I think it is beautiful and I have always enjoyed using it. I love telling dinner guests that the dishes came from a service station!

New sewing machine and new project

My new sewing machine arrived! It's unpacked and sitting on the work table in the computer bedroom. I took the time to ooh and aah over it, but haven't sewn anything yet. I'm going to be good and read the instructions first. Who am I kidding? I HAVE to read the instructions first. It's kind of complicated. I'm not exactly sure how you thread it. (Caution: learning curve straight ahead.)

And, the quilted cover fits. Thank goodness!

I also completed the prototype purse for the one I'm going to make for Mom's birthday. Dear Reader, it was not fun. It looks great, but the darned thing almost killed me. Lessons learned:
a. Use thinner fusible interfacing.
b. Make it larger so you're not wrestling with tight areas.
c. Cut the lining side panel a full 1/2" narrower than the outside side panel, or the lining bunches up.

Be that as it may, it did turn out sort of cute:
No, the pattern on the front above and below the zipper doesn't match. I didn't have the fabric to make it match. Don't worry, Mom's is solid tan linen; no matching required. Here's a close-up of the front. The zipper pocket will be handy for keys and cell phone.
The inside has three pockets. I didn't do an inside zipper pocket because frankly it was making me a little crazy. I'll bite the bullet and add one to Mom's purse. There's also a pocket in the bottom of the lining to insert a plastic base so it's more rigid. I sacrificed an old flexible cutting board.
I like the top zipper and the D-rings holding the shoulder strap better than the integral strap on the other purse. I'm sure I'll use this one; it's a very practical size and shape.

After Mom's gift is completed, I doubt I'll ever make another purse. I do, however, have the pre-quilted fabric to make a laptop case since my Toshiba didn't come with one. It will be much less complicated. It's a big rectangle with a zipper. No lining. No pockets. Web strap handles. (Sigh of relief.)

Have you ever noticed that when you make something like this purse, everyone oohs and aahs and says, "You ought to make these and sell them!" This is usually uttered by someone who doesn't sew.

I made a purse!

It's my first purse, unless you count that horrid crocheted thing in college (hey, it was 1971!). The outside is pre-quilted with my favorite color, aqua blue, and the inside is batik. There are six inside pockets with elasticized tops and a toggle button closure. I decided to forego the outside pocket in order to not detract from the fabric print. Here's a detail of the fabric and the toggle closure:

And the inside, with pockets:

I can't say I enjoyed the daylights out of sewing this, but it was different. I'm making one for Mom in solid tan, with three inner pockets, a zippered outside pocket and top zipper closure. The shoulder strap will be thinner and attach to the body of the purse with D rings. I think I have it figured out how to sew the thing together at the top edge and turn it through an open seam in the lining.

I like the color and print of this purse, but am not sure how much I will carry it: it's kind of loud! And, to use this one, I would have to put away my favorite-of-all-time cream colored leather purse from Banana Republic, which I carried all last summer and has become my go-to bag for summer weather. I got it out yesterday after Memorial Day (Hey, I'm a southern girl from the 50's: No white before Memorial Day or after Labor Day!).

Miscellaneous sewing, and not a quilt in sight

After moving the fabric I had bought for a new sewing machine cover once too often, I decided that this was the afternoon I would finally make the darned thing. I only bought the fabric four months ago. Gee, I'm speedy. It's not much to look at, just a standard cover, although it is reversible. Since I have to put my sewing machine away between uses, the only reason I even decided to make one is to keep little cat feet out of the thread. The plastic one that came with it did the job just fine but was ripping at the seams. Then, for good measure, I looked up the dimensions for my new machine on order and made one for it too. Man, I hope that the website was accurate on the size!

I had a few scraps left over, so I decided that my itty-bitty pink Fuji camera needed a case so when I carried it the camera wouldn't get scratched up in my purse. Why did I think that bias binding was a good idea to finish this tiny thing? It took me forever. The only velcro in the house was self-adhesive dots, which were the right size for the flap closure, but a mess to sew on. Have you ever tried to put a needle through that gluey backing?

After all that, I was feeling inspired to try the purse pattern I bought. The outside was ready to go - pre-quilted fabric - but the insides needed constructing, with fusible interfacing and elastic edged pockets on both sides. I'll show and tell when it's done, but it's quite spiffy. The six pockets will catch all the small items that are rattling around in my purse -- keys, cell phone, sunglasses, camera, MP3 player, hand disinfectant bottle (I'm sold on the stuff - not one cold in more than a year). I'm wishing the shoulder strap was thinner, but that's my only criticism of the pattern. Easy-peasy to put together, just bulky seams with all that interfacing and padding. This is really a trial run before I try to make my Mom one for her birthday. Hers gets a zipper closure and double shoulder straps

I have to finish that purse tomorrow and mark up the pattern changes. I've got less than a month to find the fabric and get it done.

I'm getting a new goodie!

I'm getting a new sewing machine! My husband decided that the Brother general sewing machine he bought for me several years ago wasn't good enough, and since we'd had such good luck with my Juki quilter's machine, he would investigate the regular multi-stitch machines they made. Here it is!

We ordered it yesterday and I will probably have it by the end of next week. It's a Juki HZL-E70 with 50 stitches, automatic buttonholes and all kinds of things, like automatic stitch locking at the beginning and end of a seam. I'm calling it an early birthday present, because it seems extravagant to up and buy something like this without an occasion.

It's a little intimidating to learn how to use a new sewing machine. Before that Brother model, the most complicated machine I owned had four stitches! That was my beloved White machine that I simply wore out with all the quilts and clothes I made. It's still in the closet because I can't bear to part with it, but haven't used it for years. Before that -- a 1950 Free Westinghouse with straight stitch only. When I bought the White and it had a zigzag stitch, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven!

The Brother machine is fine, but never seemed as robust as the Juki. I also got spoiled with the 1500 stitches per minute on the Juki. I am pleased to note that the new machine will sew 900 stitches per minute, so it won't feel like I'm poking along. I also hope that machine applique will be easier with this new sewing machine.

Here's the funny part: Allbrands.com includes a free Barbie II sewing machine with the order! It's somewhere between a toy sewing machine (it does have a bobbin) and a real one. I have no idea what I will do with it. Maybe my great-nieces would like it. The only problem is, it's only worth $40 and it would cost more than that to mail it to Germany where they live.

It's not just a hobby.......

.....it's an exercise program. This afternoon, I'm gathering my tools to cut out a quilt. The kitchen, where I cut out, sew and press, is at the east end of the house. The third bedroom, where fabric and tools are stored, is at the west end of the house. The house is 80 feet long. Wonder how many miles I have logged going back and forth since I moved here!


Also, I splurged this morning on a rolling case for my Juki sewing machine. The case was on sale at Hancock's for 40% off, making it what I considered a reasonable price. This machine doesn't have a hard case, just a soft cover, and I hated to try to take it somewhere because it was unprotected, and pretty heavy too. There were several tapestry patterns, but I just had to pick the one with ladybugs.

I was at Hancock's looking for a fabric printed with old radios, that Jacquie used in a mini quilt. She was kind enough to answer my question about where she found it. It came from her local Hancock Fabrics store, but unfortunately, it looks like Hancock's here never had it. I'm disappointed because one of my husband's hobbies is restoring old radios and I have tried to find radio fabric for a long time. If anyone ever sees quilting cottons printed with antique or old radios, please let me know.

Oh, yes. An update on the Laurel Burch kitty print quilt. I completed the top and pieced a backing - using the orange and green fabrics I couldn't seem to use on the front! With the print on the back, they work fine. No use letting some good fat quarters go to waste.

That means I have four small tops waiting to be quilted. And I'm cutting out a new one anyway!

Listening to the fabric

I'm making a Project Linus quilt using a large print from the "Fanciful Felines" line by Laurel Burch. It has bright orange, green, blue, pink, purple and yellow in the design. When I bought the yardage, I picked out fat quarters of predominately green, orange and purple, as well as a few fat quarters of purple and hot pink batiks that I got for free when I filled my punch card at Lavender Lime quilt shop. In the shop, they looked fine - bright, interesting and compatible.

When I started cutting out the quilt at home I held every piece of fabric up to the print, and except for purple and pink they all shouted "NO, NO, NO!" The purple and pink cozied up to the print and purred "Oh, yes, just imagine us as a cute little girl's quilt."

"But I didn't want to make a gender specific quilt this time. This bright fabric will be OK for any little kid."

"Nope," the focus fabric replied coyly. "This is a little girl's quilt, and you can't make me be anything else."

Chastened, I used the purples and the hot pinks in the blocks. Then came time to pick sashing. Again, I tried the greens.

'You're not listening," the fabric protested. "I said pink." And it wouldn't be argued with.

So to the stash closet I went and pulled out a few softer pinks. And, just like the three bears, one of them was JUST right. So I'm not making the quilt I envisioned at all.

The moral of this story is that sometimes even the best planned color schemes fall apart, and we need to be open to see other possibilities. We stack the bolts up in the quilt shop and squint at the colors, trying to imagine them blended together in blocks. Maybe it will work, maybe it won't. I figure that it's hard to hear the fabric talking to you in that visually busy environment. At home, lay it all out and let the color story it tells best come to you. Trust your gut feelings, and be open to change.

If you're a controlling sort of personality, this is hard. But I know every one of you has completed a quilt top that was 90% there design-wise, and just couldn't figure out where that last 10% went. Something just wasn't right. Often you try to convince yourself it is OK as it is. Sometimes you start ripping out seams and doing a little cosmetic surgery.

Projects that fall a little short of the mark are learning experiences, I tell myself every time. It's true. But while I'm wielding the seam ripper, that seems a dear price to pay!