linques design speaks

completed!

I finished my quilt yesterday! I Love it. I'm just waiting for the first of many Cosmo throw-ups to occur on it though...

I wound up quilting the gridline, and then also around the cream x's, which made nice little diamonds in the middle.

It wound up a bit short in the width though. It seems like the cream cotton shrunk more than the Swell prints. That's ok, I plan to keep another thin quilt under it anyways.

The back is pieced with the pink roses on one side, and then 3 other prints on the other. It shrunk and crinkled beautifuly. I'll get a better shot later, when Cosmo's not lounging.

I have to say that I'm glad it's done so I can use it, but it's a little sad I don't have it to work on anymore! I'm going to have to start another big project to take its place.

You can find a few more photos over here at Flickr. I normally don't use Flickr, but I'm going to try uploading my pictures there in the future. We'll see...

and so it begins

I pieced the backing for my quilt today and began quilting it. It took awhile for me to decide how to quilt it, but I decided to go with straight lines. We'll save the stippling for practice. Love the new machine for quilting; it's so great to have room to fit the rolled up bit into. BUT my machine seems not to like Gutermann thread!? It's fine on the top but makes little knots every now and then on the back. I did the first row with it, then switched to Madeira, which seems fine. I don't know why - I've always used Gutermann!! I might take the machine in to the shop and see if they'll adjust the tension, that might do the trick. I've got nearly 40 spools in lots of colors and it seems like such a waste to leave it sitting here.

Aside from the thread issue, the quilting is fine. I'm getting a few puckers on the back, but I anticipated that since this is my first time making something so large. I can live with that, especially after it's washed and dried.

I made these little pouches yesterday for a custom order. Why is it so satisfying to make a pouch? I love picking out the coordinating fabrics, and the embroidery stitch, and the little bead for each of them. So fun!

little things

Look what was waiting for me today! I got my little bitty Moo cards! These are the designs I picked. These will act as my business cards for Etsy, since I didn't have any before. I love them, and I love how little they are!

I'll be able to just keep some of these with me in case anyone ever comments on something I'm wearing!

I've been playing around with these little pincushins. I don't use them, but I do like to make and look at them! Plus I get to pick pretty buttons to use for each one.  I think I'll make a square one next.

It's weird being home on a Wednesday! I sewed a bit before the vet appt, and made another tote bag. I like this one too! It's got a little pleat.

I also boxed out the corners on this one. I want to keep it, but a girl can only use "sew" many bags...so I've put it here. Oh, and the vet appt went well. The 2 vets we saw pretty much think it's just a deep muscle strain that can heal with some rest. If not they'll just remove the 2 pins he's got in his knee and that should fix him up!

patched

Thank you for you nice comments/e-mails about my Etsy issues. So nice of all of you! Thank you thank you! I'll just continue to keep chugging away.

I told you I had some more to share, the main and most exciting being this:

Yes, my quilt top is done! Finally! It didn't hurt to be able to finish it on my new machine. This thing is huge! Just what I wanted. I don't think I'm going to put a border on it, but I haven't made the final decision yet. I have no idea how I'm going to quilt it yet either. In the ditch? Along the X's? Free motion? I don't know.

I also patched up some jeans for a coworker's children. They're just play jeans he said, but the knees were in bad shape. He has been kind enough to lend me many books, and said he could also suplement them with garden fruits and veggies this summer, so I happily mended! I've never patched jeans before, especially such itty bitty ones! I just used some old jeans and wonder unde. On the bigger jeans I also put a patch on the inside with some light, soft cotton since the holes were so large. I then shoved the legs under the needle and zig zagged it all in place. Worked perfectly!

Well today is beautiful out, so maybe I'll take a drive. I normally work Wed-Fri, but I was lucky enough to be able to switch that out this week and work Tuesday instead of Wednesday. I get the joy of taking Cosmo for an ortho consult Wed. His vet can't find anything wrong with him, but he's still limping. She said if ortho doesn't know then we can try neuro. Seriously?! I'll do it all since I'm not going to leave him uncomfortable, but he's a 9 lb little Chihuahua! I hope he appreciates it!!

my first project

This was my test run of the new machine, which works perfectly by the way! I LOVE this fabric!

And it's reversible too!

And it's got a matching pouch!

And I liked them both so much I made two!

Next up for the machine is to try the new stippling foot. It's not spring action like my other one. And try the alphabet embroidering! Fun!

Thank you for the sweet comments on my dress the other day! Looking at that picture of myself I can see how people mistake me for being so young! I've gotton carded (more than once) when buying instant lottery tickets!!! Come on! And if I'm out with my little brother (little by 8 years), people assume we're on a date. Yikes.

here's the dress

Sorry the pictures are kind of bad! I wore the dress to work today so it's wrinkly, then the sun was setting, etc etc. And the picture's a little crooked. But you get the idea. Used the Amy Butler pattern w/some of her fabric. I loved the pattern - easy and pretty. I could've probably taken it in a bit, but it's nice with the belt. I did make the fabric flower to match but I don't have any pin backs so I couldn't wear it.

The button closure is nice, I usually don't like them. It helps that I had some pretty vintage buttons that matched nicely! Speaking of matching, you probably can't see them but I wore some cute kelly green shoes too!

(My hands are in fists! Maybe I was tense? And the hem is perfectly straight)

Also, I don't think my picture was very clear from yesterday. My new machine is the Viking Sapphire 870 Quilt. It's an amazing machine...and I've barely sewed on it! I got it pretty late yesterday evening, so I've mainly been going through the manuals first. So exciting!!!

small things

Thanks to some help and info from LeeAnn and my mom, I just made my first chicken broth and then chicken noodle soup. Yum! I'm turning into a little baby chef. Small steps, right?

I also sewed up that dress I mentioned yesterday. I didn't get any pictures of it today, so I'll try to snag a few tomorrow. It wound up very cute. I also made a little pleated wristlet. This Ginger Blossom fabric is adorable!

What I love best about this bag is the zipper. It's a vintage zipper with metal teeth, and it's mint green! So cute. Why did they switch to plastic?  Oh, more inexpensive and longer lasting? Who needs those!

mmm...chicken

Have you gotten your May Martha mag yet? I made the chicken dish on page 76 today. It was very yummy, especially since I used a fresh chicken. It's so easy too; you just need a little lemon and thyme.

Here's the bird pre-cooking. You can see the lemon slices under his skin - poor guy!

That skin was so delicious - except for the slightly burned part where the lemon was. It was nice and salty. The meat was fall apart tender too. I'm saving the leg/thigh meat and the carcass to try to make soup this week, which I've never done before. I've got a soup cookbook, so might as well give it a try!

I finished this up the other day and popped it here before I could change my mind. This is my kind of bag. I love roomy sizes. I just told myself it will be mine if no one snatches it up! I mean, who doesn't love a good elephant print?

And I finally made a necklace for this pendant I got. I used some peridot and glass, and like the way it turned out. I kept the red out to make it a little bit more of an accent color. I love the pendant!!

And poor Cosmo's feeling a little under the weather again. I can't tell if it's his knee or hip, or hopefully just a muscle. Derek said it might be because of the weather change again back to cold. Fingers crossed. He's an old man now - just turned 3 yesterday! I told him - and yes of course I talk to Cosmo - that he's falling apart. I do NOT want to make him have surgery again, but will if he needs it. I just got a call from my friend with a chihuahua (while I was writing this post!), and poor Giselle's got to have surgery this week. Ick.

Off to cut out some fabric for a new dress!

desk accessories

I made this little can cozy this weekend, a la Sally. I had bought one from her awhile ago (the smaller size), and I love it. I use it for my makeup brushes in the bathroom. But I wanted one for my work table, and none of hers right now seemed to match what I was looking for. So I figured I should make own. Hah! The first one I whipped together was horendous. It was maybe about 1 1/2" too short. See, I didn't measure, I just cut and sewed, cut and sewed. So I cut it some more and added the band at the bottom. It helped a bit, but it's still wonky. You can't really tell in this picture, but it is. Trust me. I still like it though, and it's getting the job done. But a word of advice -

If you want a really cute pencil cup, just visit the NEW shoppe. Her workmanship is lovely and it will save you a lot of hassle!

Cosmo Ate It

Or at least he tried to. Like my new banner? It's finally starting to feel like spring here (yay!) so I figured I'd give a quick lift to the blog. I also updated my little Etsy links over there ---> to correctly show both Lindsey Marcella and Lindsey Marcella Jewel.

Cosmo seemed the think the tulip was both a toy and lunch. This was the runner up for the banner picture. I can understand how he might see it as a toy, but lunch? I guess it's because he's on a puppy 'diet'. His vet says he's not at his ideal weight. He weighs 9 lbs, but last year was 8lbs, which is supposedly much better. She did say his waistline is still good though. Come on! He's a dog!! Oh well, we've cut back on his treats but he's never been a very big eater anyway - except for his chicken treats. Those aren't even fattening; they seem like people jerky. We'll see if he drops his extra pound while he cries himself to sleep now.

I've been enjoying the weather so much that I haven't been very productive. I've made some jewelry, worked on the X-quilt...but it's much more fun to be outside. Especially in a convertible. I don't even need a destination; just a drive is nice. But I did make it to the library and also picked up a bagel for lunch.

Cosmo will jump at the words 'outside' or 'walk' (also 'bacon' or 'chicken'), but he's been a party pooper these past 2 days on his walks. I've been excited because of the weather, and have wanted to go for a nice long walk. He has other things in mind though. He just stops. Dead in his tracks. And will. Not. Budge. I don't want to yank him because of his cute little neck, but it's kind of ridiculous. If I turn around towards home he goes willingly. Maybe it's a terrible threes stage or something.

I was able to pick these teeny tiny daisies on our "walk" today for the macro challenge. They are so small - each bloom is about 1 cm!