2012 Goals!

I figure I might as well set some goals for this coming year. Because that's what the new year is for!

Crafty Goals:

1. Finish the Little Folks quilt
2. On that note, finish 5 (at least crib-sized) quilts this year. I did 3 this year, and I didn't even get a sewing machine until August, so that seems pretty doable to me.
3. Make ONE wearable piece of clothing. Even if it's for one of the babies. One piece of clothing that doesn't necessarily look handmade.
4. Use my craftiness to decorate my apartment in a way that I feel satisfied with. I feel like I accomplished that fairly well around Christmas time, given my budget ($0), and I'd like to continue that throughout the year. This is not limited to sewing or fabric.
   
5. Make more presents for my loved ones. Again, I did pretty well this Christmas, and I'd like to continue that.

Life Goals:

1. Cook at least 1 meal a week from scratch. They don't have to be perfect, or low-calorie/carb/fat/sodium or whatever. Just from scratch. I'll get to the rest.
2. Start saving money for whatever is next in store, be it moving, a new car, a vacation, or some other unexpected thing.
   
3. Make more time for myself. A lot of my time I spend focused on other people. Even crafting is usually for someone else. I need to learn that it's ok to spend time that just for me. Maybe take a vacation with myself at some point.
4. Spend more time with California family, whether it be via Skype, phone, or an actual vacation. It just needs to happen.
5. Just be healthier. I don't care about losing weight. Yes, I'm solidly a plus-sized woman, but I like who I am and I don't need to be skinny to feel happy about myself. I just think that everyone could be a little healthier.
6. Do something new. Maybe learn a new skill, take a language class, something. I miss learning, and I'd love to get back into that.
7. Project 365. Here's to hoping I don't give up on this one in a week.
   

I think that'll work well. For now.

WOW

It is like 1000x easier to finished a quilt with a sewing machine. Holy cannoli.


Pictures later.

So There's That

Today, I called my mom, got in my car, and drove to Joann's. There, I picked up a pattern (Simplicity 2274), a half yard of DS Quilts cotton (the name escapes me... Kitschy is involved, I think), and I bought a new sewing machine.

My old Kenmore was just that: old. My step-aunt bought it at a yard sale for 20 bucks. It was kept in her (Hoarders-esqe) house for x amount of time, then she gave it to me. It was a lovely, lovely thought. But it was not good. The tension was always off, it wouldn't pick up the bobbin thread any longer. I'd abandoned it a few months ago to go back to hand sewing.

But the influx of nieces coming my way has made me despair at the thought of two quilts to hand-sew, two receiving blankets to bind by hand, two of everything. And I'm sick of looking at all my quilt-y blogs and being unable to keep up. And so. My new sewing machine is here. Hooray 3 paycheck month.

For those interested (if any): she's a Singer Talent. Not the cheapest model, but very, very basic. I don't need much fluff, just something that can keep up. So far she's bound Baby H's receiving blanket, sewn 5 more rows onto Bean's quilt, and made a burp cloth for Bean.

Here's hoping there are LOTS more projects in my near future :)

All Quiet on the Sewing Front

Sorry there haven't been posts as of late. Subbing has kept me busy, and a healthy fear of cutting into and then sewing together my precious Little Folks fabric has kept me away from my machine.

I did start sewing together some rows of LF a few days ago. My machine promptly then decided to stop working (I think the needle threader hates me, as do all of the tension settings). While part of me is super disappointed, there's another part of me that would just rather be handsewing it all anyway. I'm much better at it, I get much less frustrated, and I think that the product lasts longer when properly stitched by hand (I'm going to research this soon, for proof of my theory). But then I remember that there are 118 blocks to that quilt. And I'm not so sure I'd like to tackle something like that. We'll see. I might take the machine in first to see how much it'd be to repair it.


One adventure I have partaken in! I want to have a pieced backing for this quilt, so I cut out (too many) 2.5" squares. Because of the overflow of those squares, I decided to jump on the bandwagon. I started a paper-pieced hexagon pillow that will match my beauteous quilt.

The hexagons are all basted and pieced; I just have to determine what size pillow this will be, and the general construction of the thing. I lurve the LF fabric all together; seriously, this square could not be any cuter. Pictures soooooooon.

Dear Blogosphere,

How do I make my bobbin tension not get all tangly? I have an old Kenmore machine (a 14, I think?). I've tried EVERYTHING I can think of. Really. I've tried every single tension setting. I've tried all the different stitches with every tension setting.

Maybe I'm doing something really wrong. Maybe it needs to be cleaned and oiled. I haven't had it for very long; it came used from a garage sale, then sat in my step-aunt's kitty filled house. Maybe there's a whole lot of hair in my machine that I can't even see.

Help. Please Help.

<3 Meg