I got my sewing machine back, finally. It hadn't actually been serviced, after all that time, but Brandon, my handy husband, oiled and cleaned it thoroughly for me, so it's purring like a kitten. I won't go into the whole story here; I'll just say the Sears employee that we dropped the machine off with did not inspire confidence, and most of the foreboding that I felt was justified. Except it didn't get dropped in the highway somewhere between Clovis and Albuquerque and come back to me a mangled wreck, which was my worst-case scenario.
The Sunday before I got it back I borrowed my mother-in-law's machine again (A vintage Pfaff, and wow, you can tell it is well-made. So nice to run.) and doodled around with some batik swatch bits I had and made a cake stand block.
For some reason lately I have been obsessed with this block, sketching different ideas and such, just waiting to get my machine back. It is strange, because the first cake stand quilt I saw in a quilting book scared me. It was in ugly colors, for one, and those strange spiky things on top don't look like any cake I want to eat. But now I like it.
After I made the batik cake stand (or cake plate) block, I was on the internet looking up some other quilt thing, and found the same block but named Cactus Pot. Now that explains the spiky things. Here is my most literal rendition of a Cactus Pot.
I have been planning to make myself a queen size bed quilt, and mentally auditioning different patterns. I've decided now: I will do a sampler. Just all different kinds of blocks, out of scraps, whatever blocks catch my fancy. Some of the blocks that I've made in the past and never found a use for will find a home in this quilt. I'll just do blocks in between my other projects. I'll get to try all kinds of new techniques out.
The big thing that I decided I had to do when I got my machine back was bedroom curtains. I purchased five yards of home dec. fabric about a year ago for this, but I hate sewing curtains (such an expanse of fabric to keep straight and square, so many long, long straight seams), so I've been putting it off. Yesterday I finally buckled down and just did it, and here they are:
I love the fabric, and they turned out just like I wanted them to. Did I mention that the fabric was on sale for $2 a yard? Sometimes sewing your own really can save money.
6 comments:
Glad the machine is back! Cool curtains. Yes, curtains are very expensive. I bought some last summer before we left for a month to go to Colorado. I wanted something to keep the sun out and not make the air come on so much while we were gone. It was quite an investment, but hopefully it saved us a little on energy.
Very cool you got the machine back!
I have to say, I like the block as a cactus better then a cake, but I have a weird love/hate thing with cactus.
Very nice curtains and the price is right!
You didn't mention how I almost lost my right index finger servicing your machine. Bad, BAD machine.
I like them as cactii. (Cactuses?) I can also image them as cakes with all the actual cake stand parts being the same and the cakes different.
Yay! I just got mine back from Sears (thank goodness!) and so I know exactly how wonderful that feels! Although, I can't say that mine is purring... maybe I should have had your husband tune it up instead! ;)
Anyways - enjoy! :)
I seem to be in the minority here, but I like the scrappy cake plate with the different fabrics. I was pleased with the cactus, too, though. It's amazing the difference that fabric choice makes.
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