Sewing Archives - home is where my story begins...

Embroidery Projects

January 21, 2023 By Becca Leave a Comment

Kimberbell Candy Cane Lane Machine Embroidery Bench Pillow

About a year ago I started really getting into machine embroidery. I took a class at my local quilt shop (Quilting Mayhem) and I was hooked. Machine embroidery makes everything look so much more professional than traditional embroidery. I realize that there is a lot more talent involved in traditional embroidery, but WOW… I really love the way these projects have turned out. A lot of the Kimberbell machine embroidery projects have places for fairy lights, which make the finished product absolutely adorable. The project, shown above, is the Kimberbell Candy Cane Lane machine embroidery bench pillow. I bought the fabric kit and the embellishment kit for this project. I’m not a huge fan of pink, and I don’t have any aqua in my house, but I just loved the finished look, so I couldn’t pass it up.

I worked on the Kimberbell 2 Scoops machine embroidery bench pillow over this past summer. Again, I don’t love pink and I don’t own anything else in blue, pale green, or aqua, but how can you say no to the color combinations in this pillow. Doesn’t it just scream SUMMMER? This was the fabric kit and embellishment kit for 2 Scoops. The best part about this project is the ice cream truck. There is a little pocket sewn into the back side of the ice cream truck that holds a music box. If you push on the speaker that is on the top of the ice cream truck it will play music that sounds like it’s coming from an ice cream truck.

I finished making the Kimberbell Sweet As Pie machine embroidery bench pillow well after Thanksgiving. (Back to school season is a little crazy when you are a kindergarten teacher.) The fabric kit for this project included a lot of purple and did not have red. I shopped my fabric stash and pulled a few different red fabrics. I love the color combination and was sad to put this pillow away so quickly after it was made, but it was time to move onto Christmas decorating.

The Kimberbell Spring Showers machine embroidery wall quilt was one of the first projects I completed when I really started in with machine embroidery. It was a loooong project. This was supposed to be a seasonal wall hanging, but it’s been up all year, since the only time you see it is when you walk down the stairs.

You might have noticed a theme when it comes to my love of the Kimberbell machine embroidery projects. I truly think they are the best “project kits” out there. I have ventured out on my own machine embroidery projects. I saw a really cute pillow on Pinterest, so I decided to make the Christmas pillow in the picture below. I just used the font that was already on my machine and did a little patchwork piecing with some Christmas fabrics that I had on hand.

I have spent a lot of time, over the past year, making kitchen towels. They are the easiest things to make. The coffee embroidery project, below, took a lot more time than most of my towels because I needed to change the color of thread so often.

My husband was little worried when I made the Bunny Snacks embroidery kitchen towel. He thought that because we have a bunny, I was going to embroider bunnies on everything. This was only an Easter embroidery project and now it’s back in my kitchen drawer until next Easter.

I’ll have to post about my embroidery machine and the process that it takes to complete embroidery projects soon. Until then, happy stitching!

Moda Salt Air Quilting Projects

February 8, 2022 By Becca Leave a Comment

I can remember a time in my sewing life, when I walked into a Joann store and said to myself, “I don’t understand why anyone would shop at one of those fancy quilt stores, when you have all these choices at Joann AND you can use your coupon!”

Those were the good old days. I’ve found, over the years, that I have become a fabric snob. I still shop at Joann. I still use my coupons. But, a specialty quilt shop is my happy place. I’ve even started stalking some of the Moda fabric blogs to see the new lines that will be coming out. I love how a fabric line will have 20+ different fabrics that all coordinate. I can pick and choose my look, but know that it all goes together. It takes the guess work out of fabric selection. Not only that, but the quality of Moda (my favorite) fabrics is so much higher. It makes a much nicer quilt, I must say, when you are working with a higher quality fabric.

A few summers ago, we were in a small little town in Eastern Washington. We were just passing through, and had stopped for lunch. When I spotted the quilt shop across the street, I couldn’t resist. I bought a few fabrics from the Salt Air line. Here’s a peek at some of the projects they’ve been turned into.

So far, there are two quilts. I played around with different designs on a computer quilting program I have, and came up with these. I can’t tell you how much fun I had designing my own quilts.

I made a bunch of floor pillows too. Our family room has comfy seating for about 3 people. After that, it’s pillows and blankets on the floor. Joann (see I do still shop there) sells giant 27″ square pillow inserts. I make all of my pillows with zipper enclosures so I can trade the covers out. I like to change my look with the seasons. The Moda Salt Air fabrics are definitely going to be my Summer look.

I think I may even take these quilts to the beach with us, and snap a few pictures. How can you resist taking pictures of projects made with Salt Air, when you’re at the beach. (Ok, that just shows how incredibly dorky I am.)

Happy fabric shopping!

By the way, if you’re a quilter but have not ventured into a quilt shop, it’s time. Go in, browse around, and pick a line that jumps out to you. Moda is my favorite brand. I love the Moda fabrics designed by French General, V and Co., Fig Tree, and Camille Roskelley. Ask the nice ladies in the shop to show you where those are. You may just find your happy place too! Personally, I’ll be at Quilting Mayhem, in Snohomish.

Favorite Hobbies

February 3, 2018 By Becca Leave a Comment

There was a time, when my kids were very young, when I put aside absolutely everything I enjoyed doing in my free time. “Free time” was the craziest phrase I could imagine. There weren’t enough hours in the day to work full time, feed my family, keep a fairly clean house, bake cookies, and still have enough time to do something for myself.

Now that my kids are older (my son turns 17 tomorrow and my daughter is 13), I’ve taken back a little time for myself. They are off doing their own things, spending LOTS of time at sports practices, plenty of time chilling in their rooms, and a good chunk of time doing homework. Sadly, when they have spare time they don’t usually say, “Hey, mom, do you want to play a board game?” Nope, those days are gone.

So, how do I spend my time? I really love to cook. I enjoy looking through cookbooks, Pinterest, and blogs to find new recipes. If I can cook with ingredients grown in my own garden, this makes me even happier. As much as I love to cook, I must confess something. There are days when I ask myself, “WHY, oh why, do my children want to eat 3 times a day EVERY single day?” I try not to use too much processed food as I’m cooking, so that makes things a bit time consuming, but I have a hard time keeping every meal on the healthy side. I really love cheese, and cooking with butter and cream just makes things taste better. It’s a work in progress to find healthy meal options, but I’m trying. (If I don’t try hard enough, my naturopath gently reminds me at every appointment.)

I’ve always loved to bake. Cookies and bread tend to be my favorites. Lately, I’ve tried to change things up and try whole wheat breads or flourless cookies. When my kids were younger, we’d have Cookie Friday. Our district dismisses early each Friday and I’d always have cookies ready for the kids when they got home from school. There would usually be a handful of friends and neighbors and sometimes a cousin or two. Those were the good old days. Now the kids just hurry home so they can take naps. Ah, teenagers.

Sometimes (most times) I really wish I lived in a sunnier location so I could happily enjoy my garden day in and day out. To say that I love to be outside is an understatement.

Most of my edible garden space consists of herbs and veggies that don’t require full sun. My neighbor’s trees have grown so tall that they shade my veggie garden. I’m barely able to produce tomatoes any more, so I’ve just given up on things that needs tons of sun.

My basil and mini tomatoes have been moved to a plant stand on the deck. The deck gets a good amount of afternoon sunshine and the heat reflects from the house onto the plants. Basil is probably my favorite thing to grow and we eat a lot of pesto in the summer time.

I have my fair share of perennials in the center of my yard. I love that I don’t have to replant them every year. Every few years, I get to divide them. Score! Free plants!

The best part about gardening is the end of the day. I love the “golden hour” in my yard. After spending the day getting my hands dirty, I absolutely love putting my feet up and enjoying the view. I do miss the days of the kids playing on the swingset or jumping on the trampoline, but there is also something incredibly relaxing about the quiet of the backyard.

Sewing and quilting are my winter hobbies. When I can’t spend time outside because of the relentless rain, my sewing room is my happy place.

My mom taught me to sew when I was about 7 years old and I insisted that both of my kids learn to sew. I make all of my own home decor items. I love making curtains, valances, pillows, and quilts. I love the personal touch handmade items have on a home. I’ve even been designing my own quilt patterns with a quilting program for the computer.

I’ve had to start changing pillows and quilts out seasonally because I’m running out of space. I’ve started putting zippers into my pillow covers so they are each to wash and change out frequently.

This was one of my favorite projects. When my daughter was younger she picked out a fabric line that she thought was pretty. I bought the fabrics and she chose a pattern that she liked. We painted her room a color that coordinated and her new room was born.

I love looking through blogs and seeing cohesive quilts that all have the same feel, but I can’t seem to stick with one theme. I love vintage/scrappy, French General, warm and cozy, and also whatever is new and trendy. As much as I like the cohesion, I also like to try new things when it comes to quilting.

I don’t even know where to begin when it comes to photography. I love trying new things with my camera. My favorite subjects are my own kids and my YoungLife kids. My YL kids are Juniors in high school and I feel so lucky that they’ve allowed me to follow them around with a camera on my neck, capturing memories of Summer camp and school dances.

Of course, these two have my whole heart and they know to always pack “picture clothes” every time we go to the farm or the beach.

How about you, friends? What’s your hobby?

I’m sharing a few of my favorite photography items that are sold through Amazon. I’m part of the Amazon Affiliates program and if you choose to purchase through Amazon, I get a teensy-tiny portion of the sale.

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Farm Girl Vintage Quilt Project

September 15, 2016 By Becca 1 Comment

I’ve decided I just need more hours in the day. I know everyone probably feels like that, but I need time to spend on my hobbies. Crafty projects make me feel like a whole person, plus when I finish a project I get to add the cuteness to my house.

I found the Farm Girl Vintage book on Instagram, after I saw the adorable Baking Day block. I fell in love and HAD to have the pattern. This was the first block I completed in this awesome sampler.

Baking Day Block

The Canning Season block was just too cute to pass up. I finished this one second.

Canning Season Block

The blocks were very simple to make. I wouldn’t call it a beginning quilt, but it’s a good project for an intermediate quilter.

There are so many blocks to choose from. The barn block is another favorite and it’s been on my “to do” list for quite a long time.

I think it’s time to start cutting into the vintage fabrics and get sewing!

I’m promising myself some quality time with my sewing machine this weekend!

Happy sewing!

Salt Air Summer Projects

June 28, 2016 By Becca Leave a Comment

So far, there are two quilts. I played around with different designs on a computer quilting program I have, and came up with these. I can’t tell you how much fun I had designing my own quilts.

Happy fabric shopping!

Quilt Binding 101

November 25, 2015 By Becca Leave a Comment

When I got the urge to start this quilt, the fabric had been sitting on my sewing table for quite a while and I really had no plans for it, so a quilt seemed like a good choice. I wanted something simple and mindless. I wasn’t in the mood to think too hard about measurements and fabric placement. I just wanted to sew. I came up with a VERY simple quilt top, which I figured I’d try free motion quilting on. I wasn’t too excited about the free motion quilting part of that idea, so when I finished, the quilt tops sat there for about half of the year. Finally, I decided it was time to get these quilts out of the craft room and into the family room. While I was at it, I took pictures of the quilt binding process.

If you’ve ever wanted to learn to bind a quilt, here’s the step by step tutorial. If you really don’t care, please don’t waste your time reading this, because it’s very picture heavy.

I use 2 1/2 inch strips when I make quilt bindings. I use a cutting mat, rotary cutter, and quilting ruler to make sure my strips are perfect.

Once the strips are cut, it’s time to join them together. I place two pieces (right sides together) and sew from corner to corner. I overlapped a little on the ends of each piece because I knew I’d cut that part off. You can draw a line to follow if you’d like, but I just eyeball it.

Cut off the extra fabric.

When you open in up, it looks like this. Press the seams to one side and then keep adding more strips in the same way.

Next, you need to iron your fabric. In the past I would fold my fabric, wrong sides together, finger press it down, and then iron it. It’s not hard and it’s not too time consuming, but then I spotted this cool contraption on a quilting show on PBS. (There I go again, admitting that I spend my spare time watching sewing shows on public television. Nerd alert!) This is a binding maker from Singer. It is so cool! It folds, presses, and spits out perfect quilt binding in about 2 minutes.

It comes out of the machine perfectly pressed. That little piece on the end is the iron. It has a little roller in it so everything is automatic. If you sew, you know how cool this is! It even makes piping, although I haven’t tried that yet. Ok, so if you don’t have this cool machine, just fold the fabric in half and iron. That’s the way I have made it for the past 15 years and it works just fine.

Just one more picture of my fun new toy doing its thing.

Ok, maybe just one more. See how it fold the fabric for you before going into the iron. You can get that tip in other sizes too. It’s “sew” much fun!

When you’re done pressing, you’ll have a pile of quilt binding. Get ready to sew.

The first thing I do is trim my starting edge at an angle.

Then I open it up and fold it back.

When you close the fabric back up, it gives you a clean edge.

To start binding my quilts, I usually don’t start at a corner. I just pick somewhere in the middle, at the bottom, and line my binding fabric up. You’ll notice that I have the raw edge of my quilt lined up with the raw edge of my binding fabric. The over hanging fabric is my quilt batting, and you can’t see it but the backing fabric is there too.

Line the presser foot up along the edge of the fabric, backtack a few stitches and then start sewing a straight line.

When you get just about to the end, maybe a quarter of an inch away, backstitch about an inch.

Pull the binding fabric back on top of itself, so it folds into a 45 degree angle.

Then, fold it back on top of itself, lining the edge up with the next side you need to sew.

I know that’s kind of tricky. Let’s try that one more time. I’m close to the edge.

Backstitch an inch.

Fold.

Fold and line up with the new side.

Then, you can lift your presser foot, turn your quilt, and get ready to sew the next side.

When you get to the end, turn the fabric under again, like you did at the beginning. That gives it a nice clean edge.

Finish sewing the binding down.

Hey, look at that! Someone got a pretty new cutting mat! I really needed a new cutting mat and found this one in red. I’ve never seen a red cutting mat before, but I’m loving it!

I use my ruler and rotary cutter to remove the extra batting and backing fabric. I line the quilt ruler up along the edge of the binding fabric and cut. This still leaves that 1/4 inch seam allowance. Don’t cut that off, because it’s what makes the binding fluffly.

When you’re done trimming, the quilt will look like this.

Flip the quilt to the back side, roll the fabric around the edge and pin. I really hate pinning, so I only do it when I really have to. The first couple of times you bind a quilt, you’ll want to pin. After that, just hold it with your fingers and go for it.

When you are sewing the binding down, you want to get REALLY close to the edge. See how my needle is right next to the edge of the binding fabric. I want to go right along that edge. It takes some practice.

When you get to a corner, you’ll need to fold the fabric.

It makes a nice mitered corner. When you get to the point, put the needle down into the fabric, and turn the quilt so you can keep sewing.

Keep going all the way around the quilt.

Here’s my finished quilt. I can’t say I’m in love with it. I love the fabrics, but I’m a little bored with the finished product.

I did get to try my hand at machine quilting. I made the swirly patterns in the big squares, which is something I’ve never done before.

I made two of these quilts and put them over the chairs in my family room. They add a little color and I’m happy about that. If you’re working on a quilt of your own, I’d love to see it. You can email me a picture at homeiswheremystorybegins@gmail.com.

Happy quilting!

Vintage Sheet Quilt

November 24, 2015 By Becca Leave a Comment

A few months ago I was browsing different sewing blogs and came across several different quilts made from vintage sheets. I’ve never been a huge fan of the shabby chic look, and the frilly look has never been a favorite either, but I do love vintage! I started looking around for vintage sheets and didn’t find anything quite vintage enough. (80’s sheets aren’t quite vintage in my book.) I asked my mom to keep an eye out for me, and she found the vintage sheet motherload in about 2 days flat.

Well, those vintage sheets sat in my cupboard for quite a long time. I didn’t really know what I was going to do with them and it was a ton of fabric. I was a bit overwhelmed. Then, one day, I decided that doing something (anything) was better than nothing, so I started cutting them up. (More on that later. I definitely learned a few things about how to tackle the cutting phase.) I decided to cut the sheets in fat quarters and then use the fabric to make a little quilt.

What do you think? Not bad for a bunch of old sheets! I used a combination of 5 inch squares from sheets and 5 inch plain white fabric squares. I wanted to make a small quilt because I think it’s a good example of a simple quilt that even a beginner could do. I did my own quilting on this one. I’ve always enjoyed taking my quilts to my quilt lady to finish up for me. I know how to do my own quilting, but it’s my least favorite part of the whole process. I figured if I made a quilt that was small enough, I could tackle quilting it myself. Surprisingly, I didn’t hate the process and I didn’t even hate the finished product. (Usually, when I try to do it on my own, I end up cringing every time I look at it.) This time, I think it turned out ok! I think the quilting pattern adds to the overall look too.

My daughter’s eyes lit up when she saw the finished quilt. I think she almost had a bit of panic when she asked who this was for, probably afraid I was going to give it away. I told her I was going to use it as a sample, but that she could have it when I was done taking pictures of it. In her very calm voice she sighed and said, “I really love that one.”

So, friends, I have several of these vintage sheet fat quarter bundles all packaged up. I have also written up the pattern for this quilt with super-easy instructions. This is a great beginner quilt. The vintage sheet bundles are available for purchase. Feel free to email me and I can hook you up. (homeiswheremystorybegins@gmail.com) The bundles will be selling for $12 per pack of 7 fat quarters. For those of you who are unfamiliar with fat quarters, it is an 18″x22″ rectangle.

I’m kind of in love with vintage sheets now.

Happy quilting!

Farm Girl Vintage Baking Day and Canning Season

October 30, 2015 By Becca Leave a Comment

My Farm Girl Vintage quilt project is just in the beginning days, but I have two blocks finished! I started with my two favorites.

The Baking Day block was the one that caught my eye on Instagram and I just couldn’t resist! Throw in a vintage rolling pin and sifter, and it makes a pretty cute photo too (except for the lack of daylight, making an exceptionally dark photo).

The Canning Season block was just too cute to pass up.

The blocks were very simple to make. I wouldn’t call it a beginning quilt, but it’s a good project for an intermediate quilter.

There are so many blocks to choose from. I can’t decide which one to do next! I think it will either be the chicken or the barn block.

I may need a few more vintage fabrics in the the red color family, but these were a pretty good start.

I’m in love with this quilt and can’t wait until I get a few free minutes to sew. How could you NOT get sucked in? The combination of vintage fabrics and country farm girl vintage quilt blocks is just too much to resist!

Happy sewing!

Farm Girl Vintage Quilt

October 14, 2015 By Becca Leave a Comment

The other day I ran across a photo on Instagram of a quilt block that made my heart go pitter patter. It was a quilt block that looked like bowls and a wooden spoon. I absolutely had to know where this came from. I tracked it down to a book called Farm Girl Vintage and now I have a new quilting project in the works.

The Farm Girl Vintage quilt is made of a variety of different blocks and I think it will be so much fun to make these. There are several styles that I don’t have any experience with, so this will be a good challenge for me.

I have a few vintage fabrics, but also picked up a couple of new fat quarters at my local quilt shop. When I told the ladies at the quilt shop which quilt I was making, one of them said, “Oh, you got sucked in too, huh?”

How could you NOT get sucked in? The combination of vintage fabrics and country farm girl vintage quilt blocks is just too much to resist!

I can’t wait to get started! I think I’ll make that cute bowls and wooden spoon block first.

Happy sewing!

My Favorite Sewing Blogs

September 23, 2015 By Becca Leave a Comment

There are some months that I sew several times each week. September is not one of those months. In September, I’m flooded with back-to-school-ness, curriculum nights, and just trying to survive the energy of 20+ five year olds. I’m needing a little sewing inspiration and motivation to break out the sewing machine again! (It’s inching close to October and then I have no excuse!) To help get myself going, I’m revisiting an old post about my favorite sewing blogs. Enjoy.

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Have I mentioned how much I love to sew?

I have a lot of hobbies, but I think sewing has to be my favorite. I love the fact that I can see some expensive drapes, or an over priced pillow, and whip up something similar at a fraction of the price. I don’t particularly like sewing clothes. Garment construction frustrates me. My favorite projects are always quilts.

I’m not sure how I would describe my quilting style. I love traditional blocks and have several antique quilts around my house, but I’m totally drawn to the newer fabrics. I could spent hours in my local quilt shop picking out fabrics and planning quilt tops in my head. When I hear the word “modern” I think about sharp edges, straight lines, and dark fabric that makes a statement. So, when I hear the term “modern quilter” I tend to shudder a bit. That’s definitely not my style. But, over the past few years, I’ve been seeing “modern quilting” in a different light… a bright and airy light! I now think of modern quilting as updated, fresh, on-trend, and a new spin on old favorites. That’s how I see these ladies, below. They are my sewing idols. They have both recently published books, which I have in my library, and I find so much inspiration from their blogs as well.

First up, I’d like to introduce you to Camille Roskelley, who is the author of the blog Simplify (and two books). If this were my sewing room, I can assure you I would never leave. Will you just look at that fabric wall! This is a quilters dream come true!

http://www.camilleroskelley.typepad.com/

Camille is also a fabric designer for Moda and a Craftsy instructor. Maybe that’s how she gets all of those fat quarter bundles and jelly rolls!

http://www.camilleroskelley.typepad.com/

I’ve been inspired by Camille’s patterns and photos of quilts she has made. My biggest take-away has been to use more solids in my background. I think it gives quilts a modern look, but keeps the light and bright feel. I’ve been using solid white, solid cream, or solid tan lately on my quilts and I’m loving the way they are turning out. The Swoon quilt, below, will be one of my next quilts. Camille teaches this one in her Craftsy class. I’m hoping to get started over Christmas break.

In one of Camille’s books, she mentioned that the actual quilting part is her favorite step in making a quilt. Well, that’s always been my least favorite step, so she’s inspired me to give in another try. I’ll let you know how it goes. I hope it turns out half as beautiful as the quilting on Swoon!

http://www.camilleroskelley.typepad.com/

Allison Harris is the author of the Cluck, Cluck, Sew blog, and she also has a new book out. The title of her book is Growing Up Modern. Again, it’s taken a bit of getting used to, but I like referring to the quilts that Allison and Camille do, as modern. Allison’s quilts have the same light and bright feel that Camille’s do. I love her use of white solids for the background fabrics.

I really enjoy it when the authors of blogs share a bit about their personal lives. It helps me get to know them as people, rather than just getting to know their art/craft/project. A while back, Allison’s family got a bunny and she’s been sharing photos. Being a bunny owner myself, I suddenly liked her even more. (I can’t even begin to tell you how experiences raising animals enrich a child’s life!)

My heart melted a little when she shared pictures of her bunny’s babies. Ummm, seriously, is there anything cuter than these little guys?

http://www.cluckclucksew.com/

I just want to scoop them up and snuggle them!

Allison designs patterns, writes books, quilts, and snuggles bunnies and her own kids in her spare time. Here’s a great example of a modern quilt, using the latest fabrics. Doesn’t this look like something you’d love to curl up under while watching a movie? I love her use of color. It’s still light and bright, put it’s not pastel. The white background really helps accentuate the colors in the hashtags.

http://www.cluckclucksew.com/

The picture, below, might just illustrate why she could be my BFF. Take a look at this organization! Ahh. I hear angels singing.

http://www.cluckclucksew.com/

I’m off to go organize my fabric stash or pile some little squares of fabric!

Happy quilting!

(Pictures in this post were used with permission from the blog authors.)

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