Very First Time

The past couple of days have been so much fun.. and successful! I got my elephant quilt top finished, and I will have to take a picture and show you when I have a chance. But today I am going to mark my calendar, because it was the very first time I have ever tried machine quilting. And I am so excited about it.



Please realize.. these are my very first practice pieces. I had gotten my Singer 301 cleaned and oiled a few weeks back, and purchased a darning foot so I could try free motion quilting. My other older machine does not allow me to lower the feed dogs, but the old Singer does. I have not had a chance to even try it until today. I was so nervous. I watched several YouTube videos and read all the blog tutorials I could find before trying it. Then I found some nine-patch blocks that were left over from a quilt to practice on. The first one I was really disappointed with. Look at all the places where the thread skipped.. Frightening!

At first I just thought it was because I was moving the fabric too fast, but then when I looked closely I could definitely see that the needle had gone through, it just didn't seem to be picking up the bobbin thread.
Well it turned out that I was really skipping some very important steps. And all of you probably know the answer already.. I did not start out with a new sharp needle. Plus I was just using regular sewing thread. So while we were getting our oil changed at Walmart this afternoon, I picked up a new package of needles and a spool of cotton machine quilting thread. I also notice to my dismay some 25% off signs on the fabrics in Walmart. And just as I feared. The clerk confirmed that they were closing the sewing department. This is going to be devastating to a lot of folks out here in the country, because there really is no where else to pick up thread or a new rotary blade.

Anyway.. this is my second block. Of course you are not supposed to be looking at all the places I crossed over.. I will get better at this. But I was just so happy there were no more skips!

Planted the Lavender seeds from England the other day. I used some acid fertilizer in the soil, because I read that they like that. But I really have no idea if I can get them to grow. I'll keep you posted..

And we went to the greenhouse yesterday and bought our flats of geraniums, impatience and pansies to plant in the beds and pots. I am keeping them on the porch until I can be a little more sure we won't get frost.

And Oh! A couple weeks ago my daughter and I had coupons for GoodWill.. our favorite spot. And what luck! There was a basket simply full and overflowing with packages of vintage trims and ric-rac! The sign said thirty-nine cents each. Which would have really been wonderful right there. But with the 40% off coupon, it was even better. I did not look closely at them. I just told the lady behind the counter I wanted the whole basket. She dumped them into a bag. It came to twenty-two dollars and seventy cents.. and when I got home I counted 97 packages. So a few more little treasures to go in the Attic. To use one day.. and to share. ☺