Joy goes on a Mini Vacation

I didn’t want to go, but I had to.
Oh, well, I did want to go to Marquette to see some of the inlaws, but not ALL of the inlaws, if you know what I mean. My husband goes every summer, and I only every other time, because I don’t think it’s right to spend all the time and effort it takes to go up there, only to endure hateful comments by one person. I didn’t go last year, so I had to go this year. and it was my MIL’s 90th birthday.
Sew I planned ahead, and made sure I didn’t repeat any of the “mistakes” I made last time. I get up at 3am every day for work, so getting up at 6am is sleeping in for me. I am not going to change my schedual for 4 days, only to have to revert back when I get home, and this seems to be a source of contention for my MIL. No matter how quiet I am, I just can’t make her happy unless I stay holed up in our room downstairs until 9am, which I just can’t do. Yes, I already told Hubby I wanted to stay in a hotel, but he wasn’t having it.
It is tradition to stay at his brother house, when one visits, and his mother visits every summer.
I brought a coffee maker, so I could make coffee in the bathroom downstairs, in hopes of not waking up the MIL, and being ridiculed for the remainder of the trip.
and I brought Joy! There is a little walk out with small table and gorgeous view, and I imagined myself sitting there sewing while watching the sun come up.

Sew much fun – no extension cord needed!

Watched the sun peeking through the trees.

Joy’s little corner of peacefulness.

With nice views in all directions, it was as awesome as I imagined!

I don’t know if I got it right, or if it’s because MIL had another person to be mad at [someone who should have been there, but wasn’t], but I did have a wonderful [and insultless] time!

I wore my Bag/Shirt outfits, and everyone seemed to love them!

I went to the Ben Franklin craft store, and bought some . . . . [are ya ready?] fabric! I also got a row-by-row pattern. Not the kit because it was done in black and white. Note to shop owners: If you want to sell your kits, make it in fabric that every quilter doesn’t have in their stash already. – Just sayin . . .

We went bar hopping with some cousins. Saw a live band. It was a  One Man Band. Bought the CD. Drank Craft Beer. Wished someone would carry Labat Blue!

The next day we went to a park, where I did NOT jump off a cliff, but got a picture of the cousin that did.

What a pose!

Then I went rock hunting/sight seeing by myself, while others left early to get stuff for the Birthday party. I think hubby was slightly worried I wouldn’t come back, but I had to. My rock bag was full. LOL.

After I stuffed a grocery bag full of pretty rocks, I found an art gallery on the way home. I ventured in, and bought some greeting cards by Kathleen Conover. If I love you, yer getting one of these. Hopefully I only love 12 people cuz I am keeping 4 of them. I love her works, and it turns out she was a quilter!

The next day, I went to a real quilt shop called Alley Kats, and got a row by row pattern and a bit more fabric. They had some Kaffe, but not in the colors I needed.

SIL took me to a retro store called  Boomerang Retro & Relics and it was so cool, I had to take a picture of the shop keeper! I coulda done some damage if I didn’t have to pay for our car repairs before we went.

I finished all my blocks for a pattern I am making from charms, and ended up having a wonderful time!

Which is good, because summer is almost over.

I hope you all are having a wonderful summer!

#JoyGoesOnVacation

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Singer 99 is Dressed to the 9’s

Dressed to the 9’s!

In the weeks that followed my Singer 99 conversion, I accessorized a bit, then I took her to an all day sew. I usually bring a couple other machines with me, but I only used Joy that day. I marveled at her true portability, as I churned along. At first, I found myself looking under the table for the foot pedal, and laughed at myself. Once, I found my legs crossed, and told my friend, “Hey look! My legs are crossed! Can you do that?” and she mildly, said “no” Then she lit up and said “Oh my goodness! The light just turned on. That is truly a portable machine!” I smiled and said “I know, right? I can take her to the park and just sit and sew.”
Now, she wants one.
At that time I had only made a dust cover, accessory bag, and piecing tool caddy, with padded bottom [possible coffee cup mat] built in pin cushion, scissor pocket, and small pockets for tweezers, 6″ ruler, and poky stick.

 

Pretty cool stuff, considering I wanted to be able to carry her outside and have everything I need to begin sewing.
but then I went full out batpoop crazy, and made a custom Pack-n-Play for her!
I finished in time to take her for a test run at my local quilt shop aply named “Sew Crazy”

The hooks were added because I accidently ironed over the nylon webbing while pressing the panel on, and got some black goo on the red panel. After thinking about remaking the panel for a tenth of a millisecond, I decided to hide the marks with hanging hardware! I don’t know if I will ever need to hang anything here, but no one has to know that I didn’t intend to have them.

Please notice the position of the word “Singer” in the appliques.

 

I did not want a bag that I would have to lift her out of to sew, so I made sides that drop down.

Beauty unfolding!

I ran out of velcro for the side pocket flaps. I don’t have any idea what I will put in these pockets, but you can’t add them later, so here they are.

 

In case you can’t tell just how much I obsessed over this, here are the features:

The end pieces contain pockets with print matched flaps on the inside [of course], and print matched sleeves on the outside for the webbing straps to go through because I do NOT like spending $12 /yard for fabric and then having black straps run across the top of  it.

The front drops down, and is made to hang over the table. It has 3 pockets with a print matched flap. The flap is held closed with velcro, because these pockets will be upside down when she is all packed up.

The back is designed to hold patterns, paperback books, or quilt blocks, and also has a print matched flap. This flap also has a velcro closure, but will be right side up, when she is all packed up.

Then we have a shape matched bag for threads, bobbins, and portable battery operated light. I designed this to fit the exact shape of her throat where it will travel with her. I used an invisable [teeth covered] zipper so as not to scratch her when I slide it in place.

Then I needed a way to have the tools I always use handy, so I made this tool cozy with pin cushion, scissor pocket, and little pockets for a ruler, tweezers, and poky sticks.

[See those little red scissors? They are made by Fiskars, and cut thread really well. They only cost $1.49! Look for them in the school supplies [not sewing] section next to the crayons. I buy them in colors to match every sewing machine I have.]

There is a flap on the back to put her foot down on, and hold it in place for travel.

More velcro to hold her secure.

The front has her name in fussy cut applique.
The back as an outline of her in fussy cut applique, from a template I made.

If I learned one thing from this, it’s that the ‘stick on’ velcro sucks!!!! If you have any,  throw it away! Now!

Really!

I’ll wait . . . . .

Is it gone?

Ok, good.

So what will you use to hold the velcro in place while you sew it?

Something that will make it stick where you want it, but also be able to sew over it without gumming up your needle?

Temporary basting spray! Yep!

Here are the rest of my tips for sewing velcro:

Use a walking foot! I was lazy, and left my walking foot on, and it worked better than any of my past velcro sewing experiences! Skipped stitches anyone? Not with the walking foot. I’m telling you, it was awesome.

Cut the pieces to fit before spraying them. Then lay down the ones you will sew first, because you don’t want the pieces in waiting to get too dry. I used freezer paper for any overspray.  Spray them, then place on fabric, finger press, and sew them down.

Next, spray your matching pieces, and lightly place on top of the sewn ones.

Then carefully close the flap, and if it looks good, press with your hand.

Next, carefully lift the flap, using your finger tips to seperate the pieces so the unsewn ones stay stuck to the fabric. Now, you are ready to sew those down.

I had so much fun, I may velcro EVERYTHING!

um, as soon as I get some more.

That’s it for this week! I am off to work on another quilt now.

#DressedToTheNines #PrintMatchObession #PackNPlay  #SewingWithVelcro