Saturday, February 25, 2017

Sapphires and Rubies

Six Bits and Bobs appeared this week.  That leaves me 16 left to make for the year!!!
 I made four more Barn Dance blocks.  Oh, how I love sorting the fabric for these!  I really want to make a quilt out of just my turquoise, blue, and green fabrics with a background like this.  Oh, the possibilities!
 Finally, I took four orphan blocks from the bin, made five more from stash and scraps, and whipped out this little baby quilt flimsy.  It's not even 30", but I think that's okay.  I have a small quilt Karol-Ann gave me for Q, and I still use it as a floor mat, four kids later!  I hope to quilt this next week and finish it.  The orphan blocks is definitely emptying out.
I still have a stack of blue-green four-patches, but I don't think I'll finish those out this month.

In sad news, my sewing machine finally gave up the ghost.  You may remember several months I said I needed a new one.  I limped along until Wednesday with this one.  It managed to quilt my Tshirt quilt, but then it started skipping stitches, and no matter what I did (clean it, change the needle, rethread everything...), it was skipping 5-10 stitches in a row.  Since I've also struggled with an inoperative light for the last three years and the feed dogs weren't functioning well or consistently, I was okay with getting a new one.

I ran to Walmart, knowing the last time I'd looked, they had the machine I wanted (cheap, functional).  This time, they didn't.  A trip to a second store delivered one I could use.  I can tell I'll tear up this one too, and it definitely feels like the quality has gone down, but I refuse to invest in a good machine until the kids are older and won't destroy it.  I can sew again!

Be sure to check out the other teal, turquoise, sea-green projects this weekend!

from the room of Zana's Ninis,
katie z.

12 comments:

Mari said...

I love the baby quilt! Aqua and red always look so good together. Congrats on the new machine! It may not be expensive, but if it works, who cares?

gayle said...

Sorry about your machine! Hopefully the transition to the new one will go well!
I love your little orphan block quilt!

Pamela Arbour said...

Love all of your blocks. That aqua and red really stands out. I think I would like to have a whole quilt in those colors!

Katie said...

You're blocks are beautiful! As for the machine...who cares where it came from as long as it sews straight! (My mom has an expensive Pfaff and hates that my Walmart Brother sews straighter and more reliably than hers)

LIttle Penguin Quilts said...

I love your barn dance blocks, in the different sizes! A bunch of them in that color scheme would make a beautiful quilt!

Deb A said...

Glad you found a machine that will work for you. Your little baby quilt is adorable.. and I love the idea of a teal, blue and green quilt.

Cathy said...

I don't have an expensive machine either and all my kids are grown and gone. They just don't make sewing machines like they used to.

Angie said...

Maybe you could find a vintage electric SM via Craigslist or local ads? The Japanese copies of the Singer Model 15 are usually easy to find and not expensive. Vintage Singer machines have gotten a little spendy (depends on what part of the country you're in), but most are great workhorse machines. Even though the machines are vintage, they usually don't need serious work to get them in running condition and will run forever with a little TLC.

Alycia~Quiltygirl said...

Oh so sorry about your machine! Love your barn Dance blocks!

The Joyful Quilter said...

Turquoise, teal, and aqua with a touch of red makes a GREAT baby quilt!! Best of luck with the new sewing machine.

Sandy Panagos said...

The teal and red baby quilt is adorable. I need to put red and teal into something now! Your projects look great. So glad you were able to get your hands on a new machine quickly.

Kate said...

Lots of pretty blocks. Your orphan mini turned out beautifully. Sorry about the machine. Hopefully this one will last you till you want that good one.

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