Feb 27, 2013

Last Day, my day! " It's All About Me"

And here we are, my "ME" bringing up the rear on the very last day. 



In late January my pal Cher at Marathon Quilter ( featured in yesterday's group and honored in the top 2 of the day---woohoo!) had told me about the hop when we were chatting online.  I jumped at the chance to try Amy's pattern and Cher suggested I see if there were any openings.  No harm in asking!  I adore Amy Bradley Designs, (more about that after I show what I did with the "ME").  The pattern was designed especially for the blog hoppers at the request our fearless leader Madam Samm of Sew We Quilt.  Big thanks to her and our cheerleader Marlene who blogs at StitchinByTheLake for letting me join at the last minute!  I had a ball on my first blog hop participation!

Here are the day's participants---thanks for hanging with me for a bit and I hope you enjoy seeing what we have been up to!

Cherry Blossoms
Hill Valley Quilter
Dachsies With Moxie
I Like To Quilt
Quilt Smiles
More Stars in Comanche
Tea Time Creations
Shedding the Wolf
Life, Quilts and a Cat Too  --- YOU ARE HERE!
Judy at That Other Blog    not up yet?
Madame Samm

Moving on------
I'm afraid that I didn't get too "out there" or change the design much.  I missed the memo about making this look like a "future" me.  My figure is already there, unfortunately.  Hands on the ample hips??  Oh that IS me.  Frequent postural pose there. The glasses could have been dark ones, the wrap around variety, as I have been recuperating the last 6 weeks from bilateral cataract surgeries.  I was wearing those puppies quite a bit not only outside but inside to keep the steam out when cooking and sometimes eating.  Don't think that didn't look a little ridiculous!  Heck, I could have put an eye shield on her, er ME and it would have still fit!   Still, I went with a reader version since the lens implants reversed my almost life time nearsightedness to far sightedness.  Brand new world.

Changing the word "Biased"?  Did not even occur to me!  First, I thought I had to use Amy's choice.  Second, it fits.  I am opinionated and it probably comes with the fact that I am an oldest child (of 6) of an oldest child of an oldest child.  A little bossy, I admit.   They have done studies about birth order and I resemble some of these traits.  I do not suffer fools gladly and it gets worse as I have entered my sixth decade and deal with a cranky husband in his seventh.   Enough psychoanalysis of motivation there! I don't want to scare you all off!

I decided fairly early on that I wanted to make a sewing machine cover for this and incorporate my ME design into the cover.  Practical and needed.  I had won the machine in a guild fund raising auction for about a 4 buck investment and using an old pillowcase to cover it.  Or alternately, borrowing the cover from whatever machine was set up in the sewing table at the time.  It deserved better!



The process
Armed with a basic pattern for making a fitted cover from Spool Sewing,  and a great video from The Crafty Gemini plus a whole lot of looking around on Pinterest, I drug out the quadrille paper to make the applique placement printout work for my needs.   Why quadrile paper?  It is the biggest sheet of paper I have and it is gridded.  Math is not my strong suit.


First she/me needed to have the lettering switched around just to be sure it didn't disappear at the bottom!  Like a lot of the gals, I have bobbed hair about to my shoulders so I tried to lengthen it a bit. I taped that to my base printout.  The pincushion would go to the wrist area.  That gave me a centered motif position with some idea of what the borders would need to be cut. Amazingly, it was square once I tinkered with the border widths.



Measurements of the machine height, length and width were taken, re- taken and taken again, I finally cut out the tops and sides for my pattern pieces.  I knew I wanted a pocket at least on one side to hold the machine cord. ( This machine has a collapsible, hinged foot so it stows under the free arm which is pretty cool.)  I had messed up a machine cover for another machine by making a math mistake and I wanted this one more fitted.  (Picture of it at the end)


As far as fabrics went, I like about anything but dark and muddy.  I didn't have a whole lot of stripes in my stash, or at least enough of it.  All we have in a 20 miles radius of my home is Wal-mart and Hobby Lobby.  I love dots and paisleys so I found stuff that would work at Hobby Lobby.  I love bright colors and any leftovers will work on my pro bono quilts.  I know where to find more!




And here she/I am, ready for the closeup


How she/I came to be:

  • That dress is loud but something I probably would wear, LOL though I am a jeans and t-shirt girl primarily.  I thought I had to use stripes for the hair since I had switched out the background making me look sort of brunette while I am truly a graying red head.  
  • The pink is border is actually a Connecting Thread Christmas print printed as a diagonal.  Good plan there as at least I was not dealing with bias on what needed to be straight of grain borders.  I toned it down the slightly wrong shade color by using the reverse side. Same with the glasses when I could not find a pale blue or gray in the stash.   Paid for both sides, right? 
  •  Pearl like beads were used on the pincushion and floral beads for earrings.  That was a design opportunity. I had not captured the hair quite right leaving a gap at her/mine neck/shoulder area.   Does she even HAVE shoulders,  LOL? 
  •  I would like to say that the upside down S was the rebel in me coming out but I would be lying since I didn't realize it was not a symmetrical letter------till it was stitched down! Our little secret---I'm a rebel. 
  •  I used a different stripe print for biased, a bit of it for the pin cushion and later covered buttons too.  I do not believe you should match every color in a quilt exactly especially when you can't see it from 10 foot away!  Well, I might be able to now that my eye refraction was switched, LOL.
  • The whole deal is bound with the same stripe as the dress, including the top flaps and pocket.


Showing the pocket area for the machine cord.



Using an idea I got from Pinterest and specifically from Georgiana Life:  I made an overlapping flap area on top so there would be a space to grab the handle when needed for carrying but I wanted it conceal the opening when not in use.  Monday evening I decided to add some covered buttons and an elastic loop to keep the flap area closed.  It would have been easier to do those loops BEFORE the binding went on.  I had "stitch witchery-ed" it down so that stuff was not going to let me loosen it up to do this the "right" way.  They barely show up in the paisley fabric so no picture of that!


It is lined, with that brown/aqua dot I used in the pocket, but the quilting part left exposed seams inside.  Oh maybe if I had wanted to just quilt the top to batting it would have been "seamtress optimal" but who is going to be looking at the interior??  I had to do the appliance covers in the kitchen in much the same manner.  The pocket and top flaps are just interfaced with medium to heavyweight interfacing while I used a craft batt in the remaining sections to give it a bit more body.  I even drug out the old dress makers pressing ham and roll to sharpen up the creases.  This will stand up by itself!

It is diagonally quilted on paisley parts of the cover with a YLI variegated machine quilting thread (Carnival or Rio de Janiero or something like that).  The front part, I used monofilament as I didn't want to distract from the motif.  I am pleased that my "honey" of a machine will be protected and it makes a nice bright addition to my sewing room.

Past Amy Projects:

Having made both Amy Bradley's  "Kitty City" and all the blocks for "Dazzling Dogs", I knew what to expect in her designs.  Bright fabric choices, fun subject material and well written patterns.  My completed Dazzling Dog examples HEREHERE, one HERE  (below the embroidery---keep scrolling, LOL).  I haven't unearthed them all but you get the idea anyway!! Below, a few shots of my version of  "Kitty City"


.....  with my actual kitty, Skyler.  He was hoping he could run off with the buttons. 



I have all the fabrics to make her "Quilt Diva" -- I would love  that on my sewing room door!  I also have plans to do her "Seasonal Quilter" designs which are in my pattern library.  I did do the "Boo" block that goes on one of the interchangeable mini quilts for a friend's pass around row quilt, slightly re-sized. This was the practice block but I plan on putting it into my own Halloween row quilt at some point.  Debora got the better of the two attempts.



Then there are the 3 Happy Halloween pieces I made from a Bradley pattern in Quilter's World magazine in October 2003.  I made three, two as birthday gifts.   This one just plain makes me smile, even if I am a cat person!  Thanks again to Amy for the wonderful designs and inspiration over the years!



Oh and here is the other machine cover---made with the help of my friend Pam who bailed me out on the math and piping.   It goes on the old Singer that once belonged to one of my quilting friend's mom.   Cute than the dickens, but not as fitted, thanks to my boo-boos and thinking I needed it wider than I did.  Not blaming Cotton Ginny for my mistakes.


Thanks to YOU for hanging out with me for awhile!  Now hop off and see the remaining entries.  Me?  Back to stitching on something for the hop I will be doing in late March!

68 comments:

  1. So glad you were able to get into the hop. Love, love your (you) machine cover! Thank you for showing how you made it.

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  2. Nice new machine cover. Thanks for also sharing your kitty and your other quilts ... :) Pat

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  3. Your machine cover looks great!Love your ME!

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  4. I love your machine cover. it is awesome. Thanks for sharing

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  5. Very nice job! I love her dress and you made a great cover out of her.

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  6. Fabulous machine cover - and I love all your other AB projects too!
    Thank you for sharing!

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  7. Fantastic job on creating your machine cover YOU! and your other AB pieces are great!

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  8. Great job! Thanks for sharing.

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  9. Great machine cover. I'm sure you will enjoy it. Thanks for sharing.

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  10. Love it!!! Wonderful idea for your little lady

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  11. Great idea for a machine cover - love the dress fabric.

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  12. Love it as a machine cover and you out did yourself it looks wonderful. Thanks for doing a tutorial on it. I think I may alter one that I am working on now or just finishe it and start from scratch. Thanks for letting us in your world...have a great day.

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  13. Great sewing machine cover.... a perfect use for your lady. I agree... I love Amy Bradley patterns...such fun! Thanks for sharing!

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  14. Wow what a lovely project, love the pouch vey clever Linda and your added bias very well done

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  15. FABULOUS! Now I need to make two covers and I know what pattern to use!

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  16. Rosemary B here:
    Oh my goodness I love your machine cover, well done! I love all of your other projects too, wow!
    Thank you so much for showing the other stuff as well. You made a lot of really cute A.B. creations!
    Thank you so much for sharing
    I know exactly the oldest child personality. .... e-hem!
    Well, hubbs and I are both 3rd child (out of 4) also a very interesting set of traits. funny
    Love your dress!

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  17. You did an awesome job and I love that you turned it into something useful.

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  18. a GREAT cover!!! This is such a fun hop, my day is here http://blog.patsloan.com/2013/02/its-all-about-mmm-me-you-who.html

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  19. All your projects are "SEW" great !

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  20. Hey I have that connecting thread fabric in my stash too!! I loved that line, and bought a few colors.
    Great machine cover. Wonderful idea for the handle flap too. I really need to make something for my machine!

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  21. Love that you did a sewing machine cover - great job!

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  22. Oh my goondess so many gorgeous projects. Thanks for shareing all fo them....

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  23. Your lady is just fine! Thanks for sharing all your fun projects.

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  24. best machine cover ever! thanks for all the additional photos of Amy stuff..I had never seen the kitty cover..what a hoot! your usual fabulous work my friend

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  25. Thanks for sharing....you shouldn't tell us all your design decisions ( aka boo boos:))
    It is an original!

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  26. What a great idea! You really did a great job on your machine cover!

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  27. I should have had you make my sewing machine cover--I like yours better! It looks like you actually followed the pattern (which I didn't.) Your YOU turned out just too cute!

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  28. This is just awesome!! Thanks for sharing - it's great to make something that's so much fun - and have it be useful too! Well done....

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  29. Your 'you' and sewing machine cover are wonderful. Great job.

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  30. Great job on the machine cover and I love all your Amy Bradley projects! Way to go!

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  31. Great cover, thanks for sharing all your projects!

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  32. I love it! It is such a nice cover. The fabric is some I would definitely use, too. Great job.

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  33. How cute! Thanks for sharing all of your previous Amy patterns too! Your cover is prescious even with those S's, lol!

    Thanks too for stopping by my version and leaving such nice words!

    Jane

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  34. How cute Linda!! You did a great job. Love it. And I adore your *other* machine cover too. ;o)

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  35. Great machine cover, love the pocket on the side.

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  36. That is such a great idea. Congratulations on one of the top spots today. You did a great job!

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  37. GAH!!! I love that cover! I need to make one now!!! And your lady is fantastic. I adore her dress. I'd probably wear one like it! Good job!

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  38. Hi Linda I love your mini me and a great idea for a machine cover. Thanks for sharing. Love Skyler too. Susie x

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  39. I like your gal. You do good work.

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  40. I love both of those covers. ANd adding the pocket for the cord is a great idea. Thanks for sharing with us. Very inspirational.

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  41. You absolutely had me in "stitches" today. I started thinking about the pressing ham my mom had - I don't remember seeing that when we cleaned out her house. You are a serious seamstress to get those out. I adore each of your sewing covers. I love polka dots and kitties, so I'm sold. Thank you for taking time to tell how you did that. Hope your recovery from cataract surgery is going well. I've been facing that for over a year and just can't decide if I want to do it or not. Congrats on a job well done.

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  42. Love your dress! And love that you made your fabulous me into a cover. You have SO much creative energy! :)

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  43. WOW! work work work!! but not really right....not in quilting!! it is a place a haven where you can relax and be yourself!!...Thank you so much, wonderful projects!! gorgeous!

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  44. Totally awesome machine cover!!! Your Biased Babe is great and I love her dress!!!

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  45. I love both of your machine covers! Great job!

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  46. Love your "Me" lady....and your sewing machine cover!!! AWESOME!!!! Love all the other quilty things ( & Kitty sewin' machine cover!) you shared too..and fun seein' Skyler tryin' to snitch your buttons too! :)

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  47. Fabulous machine cover! Your lady on the side will give you, and others, lots of smiles every time you start a sewing session :-)

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  48. Great machine cover , and a really terrific idea for Amy's pattern . Congrats on being one of the top for today !!

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  49. Love the sewing machine cover! Great idea to add the pocket. Congrats on being one of the chosen!

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  50. That's a great machine cover! The pocket is a very handy idea.

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  51. I love your sewing machine cover and your wonderful sense of humor! Amy Bradley's patterns are certainly amazing and I'm loving the cat one. :) Your cat machine cover is great too - wonderful bright colors! blessings, marlene

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  52. Love those bright colors and how cool that you made your ME into a sewing machine cover. Pretty!

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  53. I adore your practical version of Ms. Biased. I have never seen sew many Amy Bradley patterns and you have really done them proud! Thank you for participating in this uber fun hop. Creative Hearts are Happy Hearts...

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  54. I love your project! It turned out so awesome, I really love the fabric you used for the dress. I have a sewing machine cover on my to do list. I really love how yours turned out.

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  55. Great idea! love the sewing machine cover.

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  56. Those are great projects you did with Amy's patterns. Biased looks wonderful and your sewing machine cover is just right. Loved the cord pocket and the flap you added. You may not have changed your "ME" as much as others but that didn't affect your ability to "change" the pattern to fit the cover. Great work.

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  57. Hi!!! Love your lady!!! Very fun machine cover!!! I love the cat cover too!!!! All of your projects are so fun!!! Thank You

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  58. What an amazing project! Excellent way to showcase your cute mini-ME! Thanks for the how-to as well.

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  59. I had a great time reading your post and looking at all of your Outstanding projects! Thank you for sharing and for giving me such inspiration!

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  60. Love your machine cover! So clever to add the side pocket and the flap on top. Love how "you" turned out, hehe and a great blog post! Thanks for sharing wih us.

    usairdoll(at)gmail(dot)com

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  61. love the cover the dress and background are perfect Thanks for sharing with us Becky

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  62. Wonderful idea for a sewing project. Thanks for the quilt show of all the other wonderful Amy B. designs.

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  63. Your covers with the cord pocket is genius....why didn't I think of that?
    Love it
    Gmama Jane

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  64. too darn cute. Love your parade of pictures. fun blog hop.

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  65. The best sewingmachine cover ever, looks wonderful!
    All your Amy Bradley quilts are ardorable.
    Thanks for sharing!
    Bente

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  66. Congratulations on winning, "Most Creative"! Definitely deserving!

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