pictures of my work to date

I began this blog over two years ago but never posted pictures. Life is sometimes like an ocean. The kind that looks like its moving in one direction but the undercurrent moves you in another. Crazy thing. But, lately I am feeling more grounded than usual and I think its time I show my progress from beginning to present day. It helps me to move forward and I hope it will inspire any of you who arent sure you can really create. Well, you won't know until you actually try. Don't hesitate. Just jump in. Jump in the middle, jump in the end. Just jump.

I want to re-fall-in-love with my Bernina

I have several sewing machines. As all sewists know, every machine you own has its own special function. Because I may still be a hesitant embroiderer, I have a Babylock Sofia 2. It was well made, affordable and pretty easy to use. I also own a Brother CS6000i. This little machine was purchased from Amazon.com and shipped to my sisters house so I could sew up some items for her while visiting. I was going to leave it for her but she had no interest in sewing so I brought it home. Great machine for retreats or classes. It's light and does a wonderful job! You can find it at https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000JQM1DE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1. My third sewing machine is a Juki TL2010Q. I am IN LOVE with this gem! While at a Crafty Gemini retreat in October of 2015, I had the opportunity to use it for the entire weekend. Needless to say it was on my flight home. The only problem? My fourth machine, bought while in a funk in Ohio, is a very expensive, fancy schmancy Bernina 750QE. I barely touch her. She might file for divorce. She has amazingly beautiful decorative stitches, a BSR (Bernina Stitch Regulator) for FMQ and with another investment of only $2,000 (yikes!) I can attach the embroidery unit. Yeah, that's not happening any time soon. You might ask, "why did you buy the Bernina if you aren't thrilled with it." Well, at the time, I was in Ohio and just beginning my sewing adventure. I owned a Viking Emerald, which I traded up for an Opal. Then I traded the Opal for the Sapphire 960Q. I loved that machine. I took it to classes at the LQS where they sold Bernina and ... I kid you not ... I was snubbed. Not taken seriously. I eventually gave in to peer pressure and financed my little beast with little knowledge or research. I wanted to learn more about sewing and thought I needed a "serious" machine. Now, I have nothing against Bernina. But this machine has a deep learning curve and it's too fussy for my liking. So when I bought the Juki and began FMQing, and sewing nearly everything on her I began to wonder why I was paying for the fancy Bernina. Well, this week I sent my Juki in for servicing and found myself staring at ... Miss Fussy pants. My Bernina. We began hesitantly. She doesn't trust me for the moment because I have abandoned her for months. But, I didn't forget her. I actually purchased two additional specialty feet when they were 25 percent off for "future use." You all know what I'm talking about. Slowly and carefully I began my first project and by the end of the day I completed several projects including a strip quilted pillow finished with a binding. That's where we hit the big snag. Which foot should I use for the binding. The 1C is too wide and offers no real guidance or markers. I know this because I used it for the pillow binding and it was a disaster. Bindings are the most difficult thing for me at the moment and doing it on my Bernina didn't make it any better. I turned to the internet and found other methods with Bernina specialty feet. Tried Foot 71 and looked at the Bernina Bias Binding Attachment... a whopping $300. I don't make this stuff up people. Then it hit me. Walking foot. I have it and even though my Bernina has a built in Dual Feed, the extra help of a walking foot cannot be beat. The internet reinforced my thoughts on the subject. One of Bernina's bloggers also agreed that using the open toe Walking foot for binding made life much easier. After reading this I realized that I need to re-fall-in-love with my Bernina because for better or for worse, she is mine and I need to do what ever it takes to make this relationship work. What this means for my blog is ... there will be more to come on this subject, including stories and pictures and maybe a video of what I am discovering and creating with Little Miss Fussy Pants! Happy Sewing