The Dream Machine






       Ok,  I'll admit it.  I love this machine.  I want this machine.  And it is expensive, but  I believe for a serious sewist, it is worth every penny.  I had the opportunity at the Atlanta Sewing Center in Marietta to sew on the Bernina 830 and make this pretty little jewelry case.  We made it under the direction of Jeanne Delpit, Bernina's Director of National Events, and had a wonderful time to boot.  I call that a Win Win!  The really cool thing is, it wouldn't even let me mess up!  As I embroidered my design on the fabric,  I did not have it centered .  No problem...accordiing to Jeannie.  She showed me how to recenter my design in my Jumbo hoop, and voila!  It was perfect!  

   The next morning we listened to a wonderful presentation by Jeannie, and she not only highlighed the special features on the 830,showed us how to use several accessories and feet, but gave us ideas to take advantage of our own sewing machines.  I took lots of notes and am eager to sit down again in front of my 200. 

Marian presented a favorite Bernina needle threader to Jeannie on a silver platter!

Marian's customer's always seem to turn into friends!




The day was made complete through the efforts of Dianna and Suzanne, (watcing Jeanne demonstrate). Raspberry bars, cheeses and crackers, dips, cheese wafers....I could go on and on! We had delicious food which was beautifully presented, met some new friends, and talked about sewing...  making it a perfect morning!

YUM!

war eagle??

Fall is in the air and it is time for my little girls to wear their blue and orange dresses on Game Day for the Auburn Tigers! As a graduate of Tuscaloosa High School, Huntingdon College and the University of Alabama, this is more than a little difficult for me...but we do these things for our children and grandchildren.

The design of the dress is from one of my favorite shops, Sweet Treasures, in Columbus. Georgia. I got enough fabric to make 3 of the dresses, and a t shirt version for little Sarah. The pattern is from Ginger Snap Designs, and was quick and easy to stitch up. They did the dress in 5 different blue and orange prints, and I cut out three of them and did them in assembly line fashion!

I am in the midst of one tiny problem. Sweet Issa, who shows impeccable taste, even at 6, put the dress on for Spirit Day at school and asked to wear a sweater, in spite of the sweltering temperatures last week. Mandy and I did not need to be particularly perceptive to figure out that the dress was not to Issa's liking. I couldn't bear the thought of her wearing a dress that Bibi made her just not to hurt my feelings, so I am going to try to fix it. I have a couple of thoughts. The dress is fairly full, so I washed it hoping that the sizing in the new fabric would make it hang a little closer to the body. The pattern gave the choice of 10 or 12 strips for th skirt; I chose 10. The other option is that perhaps she is showing better taste in colors...maybe red and white next time? Roooooll Tide Roll!

Bibi Serges?

     The dreaded lower looper has done me in.  I give up.  I will have to ask for help.  Sweet Kathleen gave me this serger.  It has the original paperwork included in the box, it was purchased in 1987 from the Atlanta Sewing Center.  It runs with a nice quiet hum, is metal and heavy and just has to be a good one.  I just can't make it work.  It just doesn't stitch !  Could it be Operator Error ? 

I will have to make my 3 little orange and navy dresses on the trusty Bernina 200, and finish the strips in the skirt with a zigzag.  it will take a little longer, but I will get the job done.

     So I will take this with me to work on Wednesday, when Barbara the Serger Queen at the sewing center can thread er up and get her hummin.

Cute little Cubs

Little girls have to wear ribbons in their hair for spirit night at school, so Bibi looked in her stash and got busy !  I think when I do Katelyn's ribbon I will try a little Wonder Under in between the two layers; maybe that will keep them from waving in the humid air. I embroidered the navy ribbon then used a glue pen before stitching it to the orange .   The little paw came from a Martha Pullen CD, and I was able to delete the rest of the image thanks to the Artista software .  I entered m-a-e one at a time into the software so that I could space the letters a little closer.  Seems that I learn a little bit from each project that I do.

The girls were most impressed, and the smiles and thank-yous just made my day!

Hmmmm...think they will notice that my paw has only 3 toes?

Kathy quilts

I sooo wish that I were a photographer.  Kathy made this beautiful quilt and it hangs at the store.  It is from the OESD Holiday Collection CD, and I just love it.  I want so much to try quilting, and if I can ever make enough dresses for 4 little girls I will try a quilt; this would be the one.  The designs are beautiful; some of them are appliques and some of them are straight embroidery.  She embroidered it, pieced it, and asked a friend to quilt it.  She does the binding by hand.  (She makes lots of binding!)  She also has a neat little trick that she uses to make the binding meet, putting both ends at right angles and it makes her binding fit perfectly. She is a master at her craft.              

We have some beautiful quilts on our walls; thanks to Kathy.  If I could just get her to do a class....